_mishrokitha_ is represented in the drawings of our histories of music
as a small organ, consisting of seven pipes placed in a box with a
mouthpiece for blowing. But the shape of the pipes and of the box as
well as the row of keys for the fingers exhibited in the
representation of the _mishrokitha_ have too much of the European type
not to suggest that they are probably a product of the imagination.
Respecting the illustrations of Hebrew instruments which usually
accompany historical treatises on music and commentaries on the Bible,
it ought to be borne in mind that most of them are merely the
offspring of conjectures founded on some obscure hints in the Bible,
or vague accounts by the Rabbins.
THE SYRINX OR PANDEAN PIPE.――Probably the _ugab_, which in the English
authorised version of the Bible is rendered “organ.”
THE BAGPIPE.――The word _sumphonia_, which occurs in the book of
Daniel, is, by Forkel and others, supposed to denote a bagpipe. It is
remarkable that at the present day the bagpipe is called by the
Italian peasantry Zampogna. Another Hebrew instrument, the _magrepha_,
generally described as an organ, was more likely only a kind of
bagpipe. The _magrepha_ is not mentioned in the Bible but is described
in the Talmud. In tract Erachin it is recorded to have been a powerful
organ which stood in the temple at Jerusalem, and consisted of a case
or wind-chest, with ten holes, containing ten pipes. Each pipe was
capable of emitting ten different sounds, by means of finger-holes or
some similar contrivance: thus one hundred different sounds could be
produced on this instrument. Further, the _magrepha_ is said to have
been provided with two pairs of bellows and with ten keys, by means of
which it was played with the fingers. Its tone was, according to the
Rabbinic accounts, so loud that it could be heard at an incredibly
long distance from the temple. Authorities so widely differ that we
must leave it uncertain whether the much-lauded _magrepha_ was a
bagpipe, an organ, or a kettle-drum.
THE TRUMPET.――Three kinds are mentioned in the Bible, viz., the
_keren_, the _shophar_, and the _chatzozerah_. The first two were more
or less curved and might properly be considered as horns. Most
commentators are of opinion that the _keren_――made of ram’s horn――was
almost identical with the _shophar_, the only difference being that
the latter was more curved than the former. The _shophar_ is
especially remarkable as being the only Hebrew musical instrument
which has been preserved to the present day in the religious services
of the Jews. It is still blown in the synagogue, as in time of old, at
the Jewish new-year’s festival, according to the command of Moses
(Numb. xxix. 1). The _chatzozerah_ was a straight trumpet, about two
feet in length, and was sometimes made of silver. Two of these
straight trumpets are shown in the famous triumphal procession after
the fall of Jerusalem on the arch of Titus.
THE DRUM.――There can be no doubt that the Hebrews had several kinds of
drums. We know, however, only of the _toph_, which appears to have
been a tambourine or a small hand-drum like the Egyptian darabuka. In
the English version of the Bible the word is rendered _timbrel_ or
_tabret_. This instrument was especially used in processions on
occasions of rejoicing, and also frequently by females. We find it in
the hands of Miriam, when she was celebrating with the Israelitish
women in songs of joy the destruction of Pharaoh’s host; and in the
hands of Jephtha’s daughter, when she went out to welcome her father.
There exists at the present day in the East a small hand-drum called
_doff_, _diff_, or _adufe_――a name which appears to be synonymous with
the Hebrew _toph_.
THE SISTRUM.――Winer, Saalschütz, and several other commentators are of
opinion that the _menaaneim_, mentioned in 2 Sam. vi. 5, denotes the
sistrum. In the English Bible the original is translated _cymbals_.
CYMBALS.――The _tzeltzelim_, _metzilloth_, and _metzilthaim_, appear to
have been cymbals or similar metallic instruments of percussion,
differing in shape and sound.
BELLS.――The little bells on the vestments of the high-priest were
called _phaamon_. Small golden bells were attached to the lower part
of the robes of the high-priest in his sacred ministrations. The Jews
have, at the present day, in their synagogues small bells fastened to
the rolls of the Law containing the Pentateuch: a kind of
ornamentation which is supposed to have been in use from time
immemorial.
Besides the names of Hebrew instruments already given there occur
several others in the Old Testament, upon the real meaning of which
much diversity of opinion prevails. _Jobel_ is by some commentators
classed with the trumpets, but it is by others believed to designate a
loud and cheerful blast of the trumpet, used on particular occasions.
If _Jobel_ (from which _jubilare_ is supposed to be derived) is
identical with the name _Jubal_, the inventor of musical instruments,
it would appear that the Hebrews appreciated pre-eminently the
exhilarating power of music. _Shalisbim_ is supposed to denote a
triangle. _Nechiloth_, _gittith_, and _machalath_, which occur in the
headings of some psalms, are also by commentators supposed to be
musical instruments. _Nechiloth_ is said to have been a flute, and
_gittith_ and _machalath_ to have been stringed instruments, and
_machol_ a kind of flute. Again, others maintain that the words denote
peculiar modes of performance or certain favourite melodies to which
the psalms were directed to be sung, or chanted. According to the
records of the Rabbins, the Hebrews in the time of David and Solomon
possessed thirty-six different musical instruments. In the Bible only
about half that number are mentioned.
Most nations of antiquity ascribed the invention of their musical
instruments to their gods, or to certain superhuman beings. The
Hebrews attributed it to man; Jubal is mentioned in Genesis as “the
father of all such as handle the harp and organ” (_i.e._, performers
on stringed instruments and wind instruments). As instruments of
percussion are almost invariably in use long before people are led to
construct stringed and wind instruments it might perhaps be surmised
that Jubal was not regarded as the inventor of all the Hebrew
instruments, but rather as the first professional cultivator of
instrumental music.
IV.
GREEK, ETRUSCAN AND ROMAN.
THE GREEKS.
Many musical instruments of the ancient Greeks are known to us by
name; but respecting their exact construction and capabilities there
still prevails almost as much diversity of opinion as is the case with
those of the Hebrews.
It is generally believed that the Greeks derived their musical system
from the Egyptians. Pythagoras and other philosophers are said to have
studied music in Egypt. It would, however, appear that the Egyptian
influence upon Greece, as far as regards this art, has been overrated.
Not only have the more perfect Egyptian instruments――such as the
larger harps, the tamboura――never been much in favour with the Greeks,
but almost all the stringed instruments which the Greeks possessed are
stated to have been originally derived from Asia. Strabo says: “Those
who regard the whole of Asia, as far as India, as consecrated to
Bacchus, point to that country as the origin of a great portion of the
present music. One author speaks of ‘striking forcibly the Asiatic
kithara,’ another calls the pipes Berecynthian and Phrygian. Some of
the instruments also have foreign names, as Nablas, Sambyke, Barbitos,
Magadis, and many others.”
We know at present little more of these instruments than that they
were in use in Greece. The Magadis is described as having twenty
strings. The other three are known to have been stringed instruments.
But they cannot have been anything like such universal favourites as
the lyre, because this instrument and perhaps the _trigonon_ are
almost the only stringed instruments represented in the Greek
paintings on pottery and other monumental records. If, as might
perhaps be suggested, their taste for beauty of form induced the
Greeks to represent the elegant lyre in preference to other stringed
instruments, we might at least expect to meet with the harp; an
instrument which equals if it does not surpass the lyre in elegance of
form.
The representation of a Muse with a harp, depicted on a splendid Greek
vase now in the Munich Museum (_Mun. Vase Cat. No. 805_), may be noted
as an exceptional instance. This valuable relic dates from the end of
the fifth century B.C. The instrument resembles in construction as
well as in shape the Assyrian harp, and has fifteen strings. The Muse
is touching them with both hands, using the right hand for the treble
and the left for the bass. She is seated, holding the instrument in
her lap. The little tuning-pegs, which in number are not in accordance
with the strings, are placed on the sound-board at the upper part of
the frame, exactly as on the Assyrian harp. If we have here the Greek
harp, it was more likely an importation from Asia than from Egypt. In
short, as far as can be ascertained, the most complete of the Greek
instruments appear to be of Asiatic origin. Especially from the
nations who inhabited Asia Minor the Greeks are stated to have adopted
several of the most popular. Thus we may read of the short and
shrill-sounding pipes of the Carians; of the Phrygian pastoral flute;
of the three-stringed _kithara_ of the Lydians; and so on.
The Greeks had lyres of various kinds, more or less differing in
construction, form, and size, and distinguished by different names;
such as _lyra_, _kithara_, _chelys_, _phorminx_, etc. _Lyra_ appears
to have implied instruments of this class in general, and also the
lyre with a body oval at the base and held in the arms of the
performer; while the _kithara_ had a square base and was held against
the side by a sash around it. The _chelys_ was a small lyre with the
body made of the shell of a tortoise, or of wood in imitation of the
tortoise. The _phorminx_ was a large lyre, and, like the _kithara_,
was used at an early period singly, for accompanying recitations. It
is recorded that the _kithara_ was employed for solo performances as
early as B.C. 700.
[Illustration: FIG. 6.――A Muse with a HARP, and two others with LYRES.
From a Greek vase in the Munich Museum.]
The design on the Greek vase at Munich (already alluded to) represents
the nine Muses, of whom three are given in the engraving (Fig. 6),
viz., one with the harp, and two others with lyres. Some of the lyres
were provided with a bridge, while others were without it. The largest
was held probably on or between the knees, or were attached to the
left arm by means of a band, to enable the performer to use his hands
without impediment. The strings, made of catgut or sinew, were more
usually twanged with a _plektron_ than merely with the fingers. The
_plektron_ was a short stem of ivory or metal pointed at both ends.
A fragment of a Greek lyre which was found in a tomb near Athens is
deposited in the British Museum. The two pieces constituting its frame
are of wood. Their length is about 18 inches, and the length of the
cross-bar at the top is about 9 inches. The instrument is unhappily in
a condition too dilapidated and imperfect to be of any essential use
to the musical inquirer.
The _trigonon_ consisted originally of an angular frame, to which the
strings were affixed. In the course of time a third bar was added to
resist the tension of the strings, and its triangular frame resembled
in shape the Greek delta. Subsequently it was still further improved,
the upper bar of the frame being made slightly curved, whereby the
instrument obtained greater strength and more elegance of form.
The _magadis_, also called _pektis_, had twenty strings which were
tuned in octaves, and therefore produced only ten tones. It appears to
have been some sort of dulcimer, but information respecting its
construction is still wanting. There appears to have been also a kind
of bagpipe in use called _magadis_, of which nothing certain is known.
Possibly, the same name may have been applied to two different
instruments.
[Illustration: FIG. 7.――PAIR OF BRONZE FLUTES, with mouthpiece in
the form of the bust of a Mænad holding a bunch of
grapes. Greek.
British Museum.]
The _barbitos_ was likewise a stringed instrument of this kind. The
_sambyke_ is traditionally said to have been invented by Ibykos, about
560 B.C. The _simikon_ had thirty-five strings, and derived its name
from its inventor, Simos, who lived about 600 B.C. It was perhaps a
kind of dulcimer. The _nabla_ had ten, or according to Josephus,
twelve strings, and probably resembled the _nevel_ of the Hebrews, of
which but little is known with certainty. The _pandoura_ is supposed
to have been a kind of lute with three strings. Several of the
instruments just noticed were used in Greece, chiefly by musicians who
had immigrated from Asia; they can therefore hardly be considered as
national musical instruments of the Greeks. The _monochord_ had (as
its name implies) only a single string, and was used as a tuning
string.
The _aulos_, of which there were many varieties, was a highly popular
instrument, and differed in construction from the flutes and pipes of
the ancient Egyptians. Instead of being blown through a hole at the
side near the top it was held like a flageolet, and a vibrating reed
was inserted into the mouth-piece, so that it might be more properly
described as a kind of oboe or clarinet. The Greeks were accustomed to
designate by the name of _aulos_ all wind instruments of the flute and
oboe kind, some of which were constructed like the flageolet or like
our antiquated _flûte à bec_. The single flute was called _monaulos_
(Fig. 7), and the double one _diaulos_ (Fig. 8). A _diaulos_, which
was found in a tomb at Athens, is in the British Museum. The wood of
which it is made seems to be cedar, and the tubes are fifteen inches
in length. Each tube has a separate mouth-piece and six finger-holes,
five of which are at the upper side and one is underneath.
[Illustration: FIG. 8.――A Muse playing the DIAULOS.]
The _syrinx_, or Pandean pipe, had from three to nine tubes, but seven
was the usual number. The straight trumpet, _salpinx_, and the curved
horn, _keras_, made of brass, were used exclusively in war. The small
hand-drum, called _tympanon_, resembled in shape our tambourine, and
was covered with parchment at the back as well as at the front. The
_kymbala_ were made of metal, and resembled our small cymbals. The
_krotala_ were almost identical with our castanets, and were made of
wood or metal.
THE ETRUSCANS AND ROMANS.
The Romans are recorded to have derived some of their most popular
instruments originally from the Etruscans, a people which at an early
period excelled all other Italian nations in the cultivation of the
arts as well as in social refinement, and which possessed musical
instruments similar to those of the Greeks. It must, however, be
remembered that many of the vases and other specimens of art which
have been found in Etruscan tombs, and on which delineations of lyres
and other instruments occur, are supposed to be productions of Greek
artists whose works were obtained from Greece by the Etruscans, or who
were induced to settle in Etruria.
The flutes of the Etruscans were not unfrequently made of ivory; those
used in religious sacrifices were of box-wood, of a species of the
lotus, of ass’ bone, bronze and silver. A bronze flute, somewhat
resembling our flageolet, has been found in a tomb; likewise a huge
trumpet of bronze. An Etruscan _cornu_ is deposited in the British
Museum, and measures about four feet in length.
To the Etruscans is also attributed by some the invention of the
hydraulic organ. The Greeks possessed a somewhat similar contrivance
which they called _hydraulis_, _i.e._, water-flute and which probably
was identical with the _organum_ _hydraulicum_ of the Romans. The
instrument ought more properly to be regarded as a pneumatic organ,
for the sound was produced by the current of air through the pipes;
the water applied serving merely to give the necessary pressure to the
bellows and to regulate their action. The pipes were probably caused
to sound by means of stops, perhaps resembling those on our organ,
which were drawn out or pushed in. The construction was evidently but
a primitive contrivance, contained in a case which could be carried by
one or two persons and which was placed on a table. The highest degree
of perfection which the hydraulic organ obtained with the ancients is
perhaps shown in a representation on a coin of the Emperor Nero, in
the British Museum. Only ten pipes are given to it, and there is no
indication of any keyboard, which would probably have been shown had
it existed. The man standing at the side and holding a laurel leaf in
his hand is surmised to represent a victor in the exhibitions of the
circus or the amphitheatre. The hydraulic organ probably was played on
such occasions; and the medal containing an impression of it may have
been bestowed upon the victor.
During the time of the Republic, and especially subsequently under the
reign of the Emperors, the Romans adopted many new instruments from
Greece, Egypt, and even from western Asia; without essentially
improving any of their importations.
Their most favourite stringed instrument was the lyre, of which they
had various kinds, called, according to their form and arrangement of
strings, _lyra_, _cithara_, _chelys_, _testudo_, and _fidis_ (or
_fides_). The name _cornu_ was given to the lyre when the sides of the
frame terminated at the top in the shape of two horns. The _barbitos_
was a kind of lyre with a large body, which gave the instrument
somewhat the shape of the Welsh _crwth_. The _psalterium_ was a kind
of lyre of an oblong square shape. Like most of the Roman lyres, it
was played with a rather large plectrum. The _trigonum_ was the same
as the Greek _trigonon_. It is recorded that a certain musician of the
name of Alexander Alexandrinus was so admirable a performer upon it
that when exhibiting his skill in Rome he created the greatest
_furore_. Less common, and derived from Asia, were the _sambuca_ and
_nablia_, the exact construction of which is unknown.
The flute, _tibia_, was originally made of the shin bone, and had a
mouth-hole and four finger-holes. Its shape was retained even when, at
a later period, it was constructed of other substances than bone. The
_tibia gingrina_ consisted of a long and thin tube of reed with a
mouth-hole at the side of one end. The _tibia obliqua_ and _tibia
vasca_ were provided with mouth-pieces affixed at a right angle to the
tube; a contrivance somewhat similar to that on our bassoon. The
_tibia longa_ was especially used in religious worship. The _tibia
curva_ was curved at its broadest end. The _tibia ligula_ appears to
have resembled our flageolet. The _calamus_ was nothing more than a
simple pipe cut off the kind of reed which the ancients used as a pen
for writing.
The Romans had double flutes as well as single flutes. The double
flute consisted of two tubes united, either so as to have a
mouth-piece in common or to have each a separate mouth-piece. If the
tubes were exactly alike the double flute was called _tibiæ pares_; if
they were different from each other, _tibiæ impares_. Little plugs, or
stoppers, were inserted into the finger-holes to regulate the order of
intervals. The _tibia_ was made in various shapes. The _tibia dextra_
was usually constructed of the upper and thinner part of a reed; and
the _tibia sinistra_, of the lower and broader part. The performers
used also the _capistrum_,――a bandage round the cheeks identical with
the _phorbeia_ of the Greeks.
[Illustration: FIG. 9.――WALL PAINTING of a youth wearing a myrtle
wreath and playing on the Double Pipes. Restored in
places. Said to have been found in a columbarium in
the Vigna Ammendola on the Appian Way near Rome,
about 1823.
British Museum.]
The British Museum contains a wall painting (Fig. 9) representing a
Roman youth playing the double pipes, which is stated to have been
disinterred in the year 1823 on the Via Appia. Here the _holmos_ or
mouth-piece, somewhat resembling the reed of our oboe, is distinctly
shown. The finger-holes, probably four, are not indicated, although
they undoubtedly existed on the instrument.
Furthermore, the Romans had two kinds of Pandean pipes viz., the
_syrinx_ and the _fistula_. The bagpipe, _tibia utricularis_, is said
to have been a favourite instrument of the Emperor Nero.
The _cornu_ was a large horn of bronze, curved. The performer held it
under his arm with the broad end upwards over his shoulder. It is
represented in the engraving (Fig. 10), with the _tuba_ and the
_lituus_.
[Illustration: FIG. 10.――TUBA CORNU and LITUUS.]
The _tuba_ was a straight trumpet. Both the _cornu_ and the _tuba_
were employed in war to convey signals. The same was the case with the
_buccina_,――originally perhaps a conch shell, and afterwards a simple
horn of an animal,――and the _lituus_, which was bent at the broad end
but otherwise straight. The _tympanum_ resembled the tambourine, and
was beaten like the latter with the hands. Among the Roman instruments
of percussion the _scabellum_, which consisted of two plates combined
by means of a sort of hinge, deserves to be noticed; it was fastened
under the foot and trodden in time, to produce certain rhythmical
effects in musical performances. The _cymbalum_ consisted of two metal
plates similar to our cymbals. The _crotala_ and the _crusmata_ were
kinds of castanets, the former being oblong and of a larger size than
the latter. The Romans had also a _triangulum_, which resembled the
triangle occasionally used in our orchestra. The _sistrum_ they
derived from Egypt with the introduction of the worship of Isis. Metal
bells, arranged according to a regular order of intervals and placed
in a frame, were called _tintinnabula_. The _crepitaculum_ appears to
have been a somewhat similar contrivance on a hoop with a handle.
Through the Greeks and Romans we have the first well-authenticated
proof of musical instruments having been introduced into Europe from
Asia. The Romans in their conquests undoubtedly made their musical
instruments known, to some extent, also in western Europe. But the
Greeks and Romans are not the only nations which introduced Eastern
instruments into Europe. The Phœnicians at an early period colonized
Sardinia, and traces of them are still to be found on that island.
Among these is a peculiarly constructed double-pipe, called _lionedda_
or _launedda_. Again, at a much later period the Arabs introduced
several of their instruments into Spain, from which country they
became known in France, Germany, and England. Also the crusaders,
during the eleventh and twelfth centuries, may have helped to
familiarize the western European nations with instruments of the East.
V.
ORIENTAL.
THE CHINESE.