_Pericles_ I, i, 81. Pericles addresses the daughter of King
Antiochus.
_Per._ You're a _fair viol_, and _your sense the strings_,
Who, _finger'd_ to make man his _lawful music_,
Would draw heaven down and all the gods to hearken;
But being _play'd upon before your time_,
Hell only danceth at so harsh a chime.
Pericles compares the lawful love of a wife with the performance of a
good viol player, the proper characteristics of which would be, 'in
tune,' and 'in time.' The comparison in l. 84 is of this girl's
lawless passion with the 'disorder'd' playing of a bad violist, who
has got 'out,' as we say; who is playing 'before his time,' thus
entirely spoiling the music, which becomes a dance for devils rather
than angels.
The viol was decidedly the most important stringed instrument played
with a bow that was in use in Elizabethan times. There were three
different sizes.
The reader will get a sufficiently accurate idea, both of the sizes
and the use of viols, if he will consider the treble viol to have
corresponded closely with our modern violin, the tenor viol to the
modern viola [which is also called Alto, Tenor, or Bratsche--_i.e._,
braccio, 'arm' fiddle], and the bass-viol, or viol-da-gamba [so called
because held between the knees], to the modern violoncello.
The principal difference from our modern stringed instruments was that
all the viols had _six_ strings, whereas now there is no 'fiddle' of
any sort with more than four. A secondary difference was, that all the
viol family had _frets_ on the fingerboard to mark out the notes,
whereas the finger-boards of all our modern instruments are smooth,
and the finger of the performer has to do without any help of that
kind.[7]
[Footnote 7: See Frontispiece.]
John Playford, in 1683, published his 'Introduction to the Skill of
Music,' which gives an account of the viols, and Thomas Mace, of
Cambridge, lay clerk of Trinity, in his 'Musick's Monument,' pub.
1676, gives full instructions how many viols and other instruments of
this kind are necessary. From these we learn that viols were always
kept in sets of six--two trebles, two tenors, and two basses--which
set was technically known as a 'Chest' of viols. Mace also says that
the treble viol had its strings just half the length of the bass viol,
and the tenor was of a medium size between these. Also he says that if
you add to these a couple of violins (which were then thought somewhat
vulgar, loud instruments) for jovial occasions, and a pair of 'lusty,
full-sized Theorboes,'[8] 'you have a ready entertainment for the
greatest prince in the world.'
[Footnote 8: Theorbo, a lute with a double neck; so called from
Tiorba, a mortar for pounding perfumes, referring to the basin-shaped
back of a lute.]
The tuning of the six strings on the _bass_-viol was, on the bass
staff, 1st string, or treble, D over the staff; 2nd or small mean, A
on the top line; 3rd or great mean, E in the third space; 4th or
counter-tenor, C in the second space; 5th or tenor, or gamut, G on the
first line; and the 6th or bass, low D, under the staff. On the most
complete viol there would be seven frets, arranged semitonally, so the
compass of the Bass Viol or Viol da Gamba would be about two octaves
and a half, from D under the bass staff to A on the second space of
the treble staff. [In South Kensington Museum is a Viol da Gamba with
no less than twelve frets still remaining. This would make the compass
nearly _three_ octaves.]
The tenor-viol had its top string tuned to G on the second line of the
treble staff; and the remaining five were the same in pitch as the top
five on the bass viol. The treble viol (as mentioned above) was tuned
exactly an octave above the bass.
The tone of the viols is very much like that of our modern bowed
instruments, the principal difference being that they are a little
feebler, and naturally more calm. The reason is that vigorous 'bowing'
is a risky thing on the viol, for, as there are _six_ strings on the
arc of the bridge, more care is required to avoid striking two or even
three at once than on the violin, which has only four.
The amateur of music would keep a 'Chest' of six Viols in his house,
and when his musical friends visited him, they would generally play
'Fancies' (or Fantasias) see _H. 4. B._ III, ii, 323, in several
parts, from two to the full six, according to the number of those
present. Amongst a great number of composers of this kind of music,
some very well known names are, John Jenkins, Chris. Sympson, William
Lawes, Coperario (John Cooper), and the Italian Monteverde. It was
common for the Organ or other keyed instrument to join with the viols
in these pieces, and thus fill out the chords of the 'consort,' as it
was called.
We still have one of the viol tribe left in our orchestra. The
double-bass (or viol-one) is lineal descendant of the Chest of viols.
Its shape, especially at the shoulders, is quite characteristic, and
elsewhere--_e.g._, the blunt curves of the waist, the outline of the
back, and even the shape of the bow.
The practice of playing extempore variations on the viol da gamba has
already been mentioned as one of the elegant accomplishments of a
gentleman in those days. The following two quotations therefore will
not require further remark.
_Tw._ I, iii, 24.
_Maria_ [of Sir Andrew Aguecheek] ... he's a very fool, and
a prodigal.
_Sir Toby._ Fie, that you'll say so! he _plays o' the
viol-de-gamboys_ ... and hath all the good gifts of nature.
_Richard II._ I, iii, 159. Banishment of Norfolk.
_Norfolk._ The language I have learn'd these forty years,
My native English, now I must forego;
And now my tongue's use is to me no more
Than an _unstringed viol_, or a _harp_;
Or like a _cunning instrument cas'd up_,
_Or_, being open, _put into his hands_
That knows _no touch to tune the harmony_.
The _violin_ family had only a precarious footing amongst musicians up
to 1650. After that time, the viols declined in favour, and so
rapidly, that at the very beginning of the 18th century, Dr Tudway of
Cambridge describes a chest of viols, in a letter to his son, with
such particularity, that it is clear they had entirely fallen out of
use by 1700. As the viol fell out of fashion, the violin took its
place, and has kept it ever since.
The violin family had come into general and fashionable use under the
patronage of the Court of Louis XIV., and thus the English nation,
true to their ancient habit of buying their 'doublet in Italy, round
hose in France, bonnet in Germany, and behaviour everywhere,' took up
the 'French fiddles,' and let their national Chest of viols go to the
wall.
This growing tendency to adopt French customs, even in music, is
referred to in the following:--
_Hen. VIII._ I, iii, 41. French manners in England.
_Lovell._ A _French song_, and a _fiddle_, has no fellow.
_Sands._ _The devil fiddle 'em!_ I am glad they're going,
For, sure, there's no converting of 'em: _now_,
An honest country lord, as I am, beaten
A long time out of _play_, may bring his _plain-song_,
And have an hour of hearing: and, by'r lady,
Held _current music_ too.
The only word here that has not already been fully explained is
'current music,' which I suppose to mean simply, that the old
accomplishments of which Lord Sands speaks would be still thought 'up
to date' and in the fashion.
Another instrument in common domestic use was the Recorder. This was a
kind of 'Beak-flute,' like a flageolet. Lord Bacon says it had a
conical bore, and six holes. So it had the general figure of a modern
Oboe, but was played with a 'whistle' mouthpiece instead of a reed.
The six holes may still be seen on any penny whistle, or the brass
flageolets in the music-shops.
The Recorder was known for its sweet tone. Poets used the word
'record' to signify the song of birds, especially of the nightingale.
Hawkins identifies it with the Fistula Dulcis, seu Anglica, and gives
two pictures which help to explain the next quotation.
In South Kensington Museum there is a Recorder[9] made of a dark
wood, which is nothing else but a big flageolet. Its length is 2 ft. 2
in., and its bore is that of the modern flageolet and old flute--viz.,
conical, but with the wide end nearest the player's mouth.
[Footnote 9: See Frontispiece.]
_Hamlet_ III, ii, 346. Enter Players with recorders.
_Ham._ O! the _recorders_: let me see one....
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