In Oscan Land.—Italia.
FOUND AT POMPEII.
THE GRECO-ROMAN FLUTES.
Four flutes were found at Pompeii, and they were all of one pattern, of
greater length, yet following the same system as in that latest Greek
invention illustrated and described in the last chapter, and indeed
may be considered as the final development attained by the Greeks
in instruments of the flute kind, for nothing has to this day been
discovered in advanced superiority to it for musical capability or for
display of refined workmanship and technical ingenuity.
These instruments, are, it is true, classed as Greco-Roman, but they
are essentially Greek, although of the period of the Roman dominion.
The body of the flute is ivory, and it is twenty-one inches long,
bored throughout in perfect cylindrical bore three-eighths of an inch
diameter. Think of the skill necessary to accomplish this with most
primitive tools! Then the ivory is surrounded by a closely fitting
series of cylinders of bronze and silver alternately in sections, and
each section possesses just sufficient ease of fitting that it may be
caused to rotate on the ivory by simple pressure of the finger upon a
little metal loop which had been provided for that purpose. The end
sections are fixed to the ivory tube, and thus hold the others in their
positions. The appearance of the instrument is most attractive—bands
of olive-coloured bronze, with bands of silver intervening. The finger
holes, to the number of eleven, are bored in the ivory at the proper
distances, and corresponding holes are made in the bronze tube.
When these holes in the ivory and in the bronze are set in line and
correspond, then the note can be sounded proper to each opening as
related to the sounding lengths of the tube; but the player, by turning
any selected bronze section to the right or left, can close the finger
hole so that the note is left out of the scale. It is a charmingly
simple device, and yet how many ages had to pass before human
intelligence contrived it, and nations of men had passed likewise—gone
back into the dust that they rose out of.
This city of Pompeii still speaks to us. Its message is of dust and
ashes, very human in its meaning. From the ashes came this silent
record of a dead music. There was a day of garlands and of feasting;
young men and women joining in dance and song, and listening to this
flute piping its well-loved melodies; and the flute was laid down,
warm with the fingers of the player resting awhile from mirth inviting
music, and then—after a long while—it is found just as it was left that
day, with the four notes closed off, which the player wanted not, in
the scale of the mode chosen for that last melody breathed from this
flute by living breath.
This was the series of notes which the flute was capable of giving, and
the closed-off notes are, as will be seen, each marked with a cross,
Nos. 1, 4, 5, 6:
[Illustration: No. 1.]
The depth of pitch may seem cause for surprise when we remember that
our flutes of the present day that are nearest in length of tube to
this Greek instrument do not reach by an octave this extreme low
compass. The difference arises through the means of excitation for
producing sound from a _cylindrical_ pipe; this therefore is a reed
blown, not a lip blown, flute, and properly belongs to the clarionet
species. In pitch, it descends lower than our A clarionet, and we have
to modify the conclusion generally held that the Greeks only used
instruments of high range of tones.
Now, taking up the remaining three of these four flutes which were
found together in one mansion, on which was written the name, “Caio
Vibio” (as was seen on the day of their discovery, December 10th,
1867), we notice that they also had their lowest note B in the
8-foot octave. The reeds were placed at the top of the instruments,
not branching out aslant as indicated in the specimens illustrated,
earlier, (page 96), of this particular construction; and the instrument
was held in position like our clarionet, only lifted more to the
horizontal probably, for on this point we have not, that I am aware
of, any ancient representation. No. 2 has twelve notes, there being one
note interposed which is not found in No. 1. It is F♮; but the extent
of compass is the same, whilst the closed holes are 4 and 7:—
[Illustration: No. 2.]
In No. 3 we find other differences, and this peculiarity, that
the second and fifth sections are not pierced with holes, so that
practically the corresponding notes were permanently closed—there is no
note between B and C♯, no note between D and E. Observe that the first
note in each is marked (0), for this is the note from the open end of
the pipe when all finger holes are closed:—
[Illustration: No. 3.]
In No. 4 we find other distinctions and an extended range:—
[Illustration: No. 4.]
I have had further correspondence with M. Mahillon, and he out of his
abundant courtesy has added to my obligations to him, by sending to me
his two large photographs of the Pompeian flutes, taken as they are in
the Naples Museum; and I have had these photographed in reduced size,
and engraved. They show the closure rings in the position in which they
were [Illustration: _Fig. 22._
_The Pompeian Flute._
_1. Front View._
_2. Back View._]
found (refer to final chapter for clearer outline drawings). The large
expanded portion at the top of the pipe is made of ivory, and is cup
shaped, and into this the reed was fitted for playing. Whatever the
original reeds were, they perished in the heat of the lava and ashes
that overwhelmed the city. The cup would have suitably held either
_Arghool_ reeds, or bulbed reeds, enclosing these or other kinds of
reeds. When M. Mahillon first investigated these flutes, he supposed
that the _Arghool_ reed had been used by the players in their day; but
he now tells me that, having in more recent years made the acquaintance
of most of the pipes of the middle ages—the cromornes, the courtauds,
the dolziana, racket and others—he has come to the conclusion that the
Pompeian flutes were blown by some sort of _double_ reed, but differing
from the oboe and bassoon type, which are adapted on a short metallic
tube of small bore; and he considers that probably they were of the
sort now existing in the Japanese pipe called the _Hichirichi_, but
I do not see how this could be, since such have a broad base, quite
half an inch in diameter, to fit into a tube corresponding. Moreover
this explanation or supposition leaves the chief part of the problem
unanswered—what then was the utility and purpose of the three bulbs?
The mystery is there still. Perchance the meaning of it is this—the
era of the concealed reed has closed, and this Pompeian instrument
announces a new departure in flutes, played by a broad double reed
sensitive to a _ligature_ pressed by the lips, the precursor therefore
of all modern reeds that can be accommodated to pitch.
I have myself one of these interesting little Japanese instruments, and
will in another chapter describe and illustrate it; and the curious
thing about it is that, in the splendid work on Egypt got up by order
of the great Napoleon, such an instrument is figured there complete
in every detail of pipe and reed, full size, and is claimed as an
instrument belonging to Egypt. Did Japan get it from that motherland?
The plot seems to thicken.
You will notice a curious application of the closure in this last
specimen, No. 4, there being no fewer than seven holes shut off from
speaking, sections 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10; and we cannot well understand
or suppose it likely that during the progress of the piece of music the
setting of the rings was changed. The player on this was able to supply
three notes beyond the compass of the other flutes.
In reference to specimen No. 3, there is one particular which we
should not omit to refer to. The ring closing the _a_ (section 8), has
a second hole bored at a little distance lower, and so gives a note
flatter than that which the chief opening emits. In fact, we have a
second _g_♯, which is a little higher, and establishes two quarters
of a tone between _g_ and _a_, and the _g_ itself it is remarked is
too low by a quarter of a tone. The various skips fixed by the closed
holes cannot be without meaning. In one instance, we find a skip of a
fourth; and the minor or neuter third, which I remarked upon as common
to the earlier flutes as a fixed interval, and for some reason or other
preserved, is also exemplified; in No. 4, we have D♯ to F♯, and again
all sounds closed for the fourth between F♯ and A♯; and in No. 1, all
sounds closed between D and G.
One wonders whether we have not some reminiscence of an earlier
pentatonic scale in these, some traits by inheritance and tradition.
Travellers in Persia have remarked that the singers seem to have a
custom of making a drop of a fourth in the two concluding notes of
their song; and the people in that land of the rose and the bulbul are
passionately fond of song, and gather together, sitting out half the
night in the open air, listening to song following song. All national
traits are worth studying, and very often simple things render true
clear light to the investigator.
All the details respecting the construction, the scales, and the
conditions of these Pompeian flutes, we owe to M. Charles Victor
Mahillon, who, travelling with M. Gevaert, the Director of the
Conservatoire of Music at Brussels, found these unheeded relics of
the musical art in a corner at the Naples Museum; and, fired with
enthusiasm, was able, by his recognized position, to obtain the
necessary permission to fulfil his desire, which was to make copies of
them for a full investigation of their musical nature. He made most
exact copies, down to the minutest details, and so enriched the museum
which has long been under his fostering care, and increased the world’s
knowledge because enthusiasm was allied to practical skill.
As Nature goes on in the same old way, never changing her laws or her
behaviour, we can hear from these models the same tones as were heard
by the Greeks, centuries ago; the flutes are faithful even to the
pitch, for a pipe preserves its interior diameter, and is a true record
which age does not imperil. In this respect, the wind instruments have
the advantage over the stringed kind. The shapes of the Greek lyres
we know from the vases, and from the paintings and sculpture; but of
the nature of the strings and their tension, and the amount of sound
elicited from the sounding-board, we remain in ignorance, and our best
surmises fail to explain or account for the effects attributed to the
skill of the players on these instruments.
Whether by some peculiar skill the flute players were able to produce
a series of harmonics, is a puzzling problem. There is no reason to
suppose that they could control the reed, unless they used a reed with
reversed cut of tongue, like that of the old Chalumeau, or some other
kind of reed, or a double reed as just now suggested; not the _Arghool_
reed. To obtain harmonics merely by hard blowing would be a hazardous
affair, especially in public performance before an audience professedly
merciless to failure. The only harmonics to instruments of this class
are twelfths and possibly fifths. Yet on the other hand, in the
contests between ancient flute players, the especial aim of the rivals
was to outdo each other in producing the highest notes.
Our players on oboi and clarionets only obtain harmonics with certainty
by pressing the reed with the lip, so as to shorten the reed’s active
portion. On the Egyptian flutes, as stated in a previous chapter,
fifths were obtained in series, and after that octaves. A fine straw
reed tongue was used in this case, and may account for results so
different from modern custom.
One of these four Pompeian flutes produces three notes beyond the
compass of the others, and there was doubtless some intent in the
distinction; possibly the player who handled it had the dignity of
first flautist.
There is yet one other example in existence of this type of flute. It
was discovered at Salamis, in the the island of Cyprus, by Cesnola, and
is, I believe, included in that portion of his wonderful collection
which was sent to New York. It is described in his book, “Salaminia,”
and is illustrated. Although in decayed condition, its structure is
apparent. It is of bronze, with sliding cylinders; is about twenty
inches long, and is perforated with fourteen finger holes, three of
which it would seem were closed off. Careful measurements were taken,
and an exact copy made by Messrs. Carte, and they were thus able to
ascertain the original notes of the time worn instrument. The notes are
nearly those of the modern chromatic scale, the lowest note being C in
the bass clef, and the highest G (an octave and a fifth above). These
notes,
C, C♯, D, D♯, E, F, G, A, B♭, C, E, G,
were obtained by using an _Arghool_ reed, and—as they vary from the
scale obtained by M. Mahillon, on the Pompeian flutes—there is some
reason to infer that a stiffer reed was used, as anyone who has had
experience with these reeds knows how greatly pitch may differ on the
same pipe when two different reeds are tried; in fact, resultant pitch
is the effect of the combination of pitch of reed with pitch of tube.
Both F♯ and G♯ are missing from this Cyprus specimen. The age of this
flute is not indicated; but the Pompeian flutes are fixed to a year,
almost to a day, in the memorable year 79 of our era, when the gay
city was overwhelmed in the lava of Vesuvius. Thus we may say that
these flutes have been held in safe keeping through that stretch of
years between our own time and the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus,
an association of thoughts which will come home to many readers more
clearly.
Pompeii was originally founded by the Oscan people, who had nothing in
common with the Romans, and did not lose their independence until about
90 B.C. The city was the last in the Campania, which was reduced to
submission by the army of Rome.
These long Pompeian flutes could not have been played with all the
holes uncovered; indeed, I come to the conclusion that one instrument
in its purpose had the same utility as our three clarionets, enabling
the player to take the scale in a lower range. Thus, at one time he
would limit himself to the upper portion, and not use the lower; and
at another time close off the upper notes and extend the range to the
lowest extreme. And such changes might have been made at the end of
any part of the song, or measure of the music; and the rearrangement
in the closing of the holes would easily and quickly be effected. We
should not, I think, imagine that an extensive compass was desired,
as we desire it; for art was limited by precise rules and elaborate
systems, and to ignore them was to offend. Evidently, in this
instrument the capabilities of the Greek and Roman _Auloi_ attained
perfection,—nothing further was achieved; and with this we may consider
that the era of ancient flautists closed.
At the present time there are several bands of excavators at work on
classical sites. There is rivalry between the savants of four nations
(German and French, English and American), each anxious to unearth the
past, so that any day we may see new treasures that for centuries have
been waiting,
“Hid from the world in the low delvèd tombs.”