explanation. A glance at the finger-board reveals at once that the
different tones were obtained by raising the keys placed on the neck
under the strings, and that the keys were raised by means of the
handles at the side of the neck. Of the two bridges shown on the body,
the one situated nearest the middle was formed by a wheel in the
inside, which projected through the sound-board. The wheel which
slightly touched the strings vibrated them by friction when turned by
the handle at the end. The order of intervals was _c_, _d_, _e_, _f_,
_g_, _a_, _b-flat_, _b-natural_, _c_, and were obtainable on the
highest string. There is reason to suppose that the other two strings
were generally tuned a fifth and an octave below the highest. The
_organistrum_ may be regarded as the predecessor of the hurdy-gurdy,
and was rather a cumbrous contrivance. Two persons seem to have been
required to sound it, one to turn the handle and the other to manage
the keys. Thus it is generally represented in mediæval concerts.
The _monochord_ was mounted with a single string stretched over two
bridges which were fixed on an oblong box. The string could be
tightened or slackened by means of a turning screw inserted into one
end of the box. The intervals of the scale were marked on the side,
and were regulated by a sort of movable bridge placed beneath the
string when required. As might be expected, the _monochord_ was
chiefly used by theorists; for any musical performance it was but
little suitable. About a thousand years ago when this monochord was in
use the musical scale was diatonic, with the exception of the interval
of the seventh, which was chromatic inasmuch as both _b-flat_ and
_b-natural_ formed part of the scale.
This ought to be borne in mind in examining the representations of
musical instruments transmitted to us from that period.
As regards the wind instruments popular during the Middle Ages, some
were of quaint form as well as of rude construction.
[Illustration: FIG. 31.――ORGANISTRUM.]
The _chorus_, or _choron_, had either one or two tubes. There were
several varieties of this instrument; sometimes it was constructed
with a bladder into which the tube is inserted; this kind of _chorus_
resembled the bagpipe; another kind resembled the _pungi_ of the
Hindus, mentioned on page 52. The name _chorus_ was also applied to
certain stringed instruments. One of these had much the form of the
_cithara_, page 84. It appears, however, probable that _chorus_ or
_choron_ originally designated a horn (Hebrew, _keren_; Greek,
_keras_; Latin, _cornu_).
The flutes of the Middle Ages were blown at the end, like the
flageolet. Of the _syrinx_ there are extant some illustrations of the
ninth and tenth centuries, which exhibit the instrument with a number
of tubes tied together, just like the Pandean pipe still in use. In
one specimen,[6] from a manuscript of the eleventh century, the tubes
were inserted into a bowl-shaped box. This is probably the _frestele_,
_fretel_, or _fretian_, which in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries
was in favour with the French ménétriers.
Some large Anglo-Saxon trumpets may be seen in a manuscript of the
eighth century in the British Museum. The largest kind of trumpet was
placed on a stand when blown. Of the _oliphant_, or hunting horn, some
fine specimens are in the Victoria and Albert Museum collection. The
_sackbut_ (Fig. 32), probably made of metal, could be drawn out to
alter the pitch of sound. The sackbut of the ninth century had,
however, a very different shape to that in use about three centuries
ago, and much more resembled the present _trombone_. The name
_sackbut_ is supposed to be a corruption of _sambuca_. The French,
about the fifteenth century, called it _sacqueboute_ and _saquebutte_.
[Illustration: FIG. 32.――SACKBUT.]
The most important wind instrument――in fact, the king of all the
musical instruments――is the organ.
[Illustration: FIG. 33.――ORGAN. From a 12th century psalter in the
Library of Trinity College, Cambridge.]
The _pneumatic organ_ is sculptured on the base of an obelisk which
was erected in Constantinople under Theodosius the Great towards the
end of the fourth century. The bellows were pressed by men standing on
them. This interesting monument also exhibits performers on the double
flute. The _hydraulic organ_, which is recorded to have been already
known about two hundred years before the Christian era, was according
to some statements occasionally employed in churches during the
earlier centuries of the Middle Ages. Probably it was more frequently
heard in secular entertainments, for which it was more suitable; and
at the beginning of the fourteenth century it appears to have been
entirely supplanted by the pneumatic organ. The earliest organs had
only about a dozen pipes. The largest, which were made about nine
hundred years ago, had only three octaves, in which the chromatic
intervals did not occur. Some progress in the construction of the
organ is shewn in a psalter of Eadwine, in the library of Trinity
College, Cambridge (Fig. 33). The instrument has ten pipes, or perhaps
fourteen, as four of them appear to be double pipes. It required four
men exerting all their power to produce the necessary wind, and two
men to play the instrument. Moreover, both players seem also to be
busily engaged in directing the blowers about the proper supply of
wind. Six men and only fourteen pipes!
Another illustration is given of an organ of the 14th century (Fig.
34).
[Illustration: FIG. 34.――ORGAN (Grand Orgue), after an engraving in
N. X. Willemin’s _Monuments Français Inédits_, Vol.
I., pl. 133, taken from a psalter of the 14th
century.]
The pedal is generally believed to have been invented by Bernhard, a
German, who lived in Venice about the year 1470. There are, however,
indications extant pointing to an earlier date of its invention.
Perhaps Bernhard was the first who, by adopting a more practicable
construction, made the pedal more generally known. On the earliest
organs the keys of the finger-board were of enormous size, compared
with those of the present day; so that a finger-board with only nine
keys had a breadth of from four to five feet. The organist struck the
keys down with his fist, as is done in playing the _carillon_ still in
use on the Continent, of which presently some account will be given.
Of the little portable organ, known as the _regal_ or _regals_, often
tastefully shaped and embellished, some interesting sculptured
representations are still extant in the old ecclesiastical edifices of
England and Scotland. There is, for instance, in Beverley Minster a
figure of a man playing on a single regal, or a regal provided with
only one set of pipes; and in Melrose Abbey the figure of an angel
holding in his arms a double regal, the pipes of which are in two
sets. The regal generally had keys like those of the organ but
smaller. A painting in the National Gallery, attributed to Melozzo da
Forlì (1438-1494) contains a regal which has keys of a peculiar shape,
rather resembling the pistons of certain brass instruments. (Fig. 1,
_Frontispiece_.) To avoid misapprehension, it is necessary to mention
that the name _regal_ (or _regals_, _rigols_) was also applied to an
instrument of percussion with sonorous slabs of wood. This contrivance
was, in short, a kind of harmonica, resembling in shape as well as in
the principle of its construction the little glass harmonica, a mere
toy, in which slips of glass are arranged according to our musical
scale. In England it appears to have been still known in the beginning
of the eighteenth century. Grassineau describes the “Rigols” as “a
kind of musical instrument consisting of several sticks bound
together, only separated by beads. It makes a tolerable harmony, being
well struck with a ball at the end of a stick.” In the earlier
centuries of the Middle Ages there appear to have been some
instruments of percussion in favour, to which Grassineau’s expression
“a tolerable harmony” would scarcely have been applicable. Drums, of
course, were known; and their rhythmical noise must have been soft
music, compared with the shrill sounds of the _cymbalum_ (a
contrivance consisting of a number of metal plates suspended on cords,
so that they would be clashed together simultaneously) or with the
clangour of the _cymbalum_ constructed with bells instead of plates;
or with the piercing noise of the _bunibulum_, or _bombulom_; an
instrument which consisted of an angular frame to which were loosely
attached metal plates of various shapes and sizes. The lower part of
the frame constituted the handle; and to produce the noise it
evidently was shaken somewhat like the sistrum of the ancient
Egyptians.[7]
The _triangle_ nearly resembled the instrument of this name in use at
the present day; it was more elegant in shape and had some metal
ornamentation in the middle.
The _tintinnabulum_ consisted of a number of bells arranged in regular
order and suspended in a frame.
[Illustration: FIG. 35.――BAS RELIEF, representing a group of
Musicians, formerly at the Abbey of St. Georges de
Boscherville. Late 11th century(?). After an
engraving in N.N. Willemin’s _Monuments Français
Inédits_, Vol. I., pl. 52.
Museum of Rouen.]
IX.
EUROPEAN INSTRUMENTS OF THE MIDDLE AGES. (_Continued_).
Respecting the orchestras, or musical bands, represented on monuments
of the Middle Ages, there can hardly be a doubt that the artists who
sculptured them were not unfrequently led by their imagination rather
than by an adherence to actual fact. It is, however, not likely that
they introduced into such representations instruments that were never
admitted in the orchestras, and which would have appeared
inappropriate to the contemporaries of the artists. An examination of
one or two of the orchestras may therefore find a place here,
especially as they throw some additional light upon the characteristics
of the instrumental music of mediæval time.
A very interesting group of music performers, dating, it is said, from
the end of the eleventh century, is preserved in a bas-relief which
formerly ornamented the abbey of St. Georges de Boscherville and which
is now removed to the museum of Rouen (Fig. 35). The orchestra
comprises twelve performers, most of whom wear a crown. The first of
them plays upon a viol, which he holds between his knees as the
violoncello is held. His instrument is scarcely as large as the
smallest viola da gamba. By his side are a royal lady and her
attendant, the former playing on an _organistrum_ of which the latter
is turning the wheel. Next to these is represented a performer on a
_syrinx_; and next to him a performer on a stringed instrument
resembling a lute, which, however, is too much dilapidated to be
recognisable. Then we have a musician with a small stringed instrument
resembling the _nablum_ (_see_ p. 86). The next musician, also
represented as a royal personage, plays on a small species of harp.
Then follows a crowned musician playing the _viol_ which he holds in
almost precisely the same manner as the violin is held. Again,
another, likewise crowned, plays upon a harp, using with the right
hand a plectrum and with the left hand merely his fingers. The last
two performers, apparently a gentleman and a gentlewoman, are engaged
in striking the _tintinnabulum_――a set of bells in a frame.
In this group of crowned minstrels the sculptor has introduced a
tumbler standing on his head, perhaps the vocalist of the company, as
he has no instrument to play upon. Possibly the sculptor desired to
symbolise the hilarious effects which music is capable of producing,
as well as its elevating influence upon the devotional feelings.
The two positions in which we find the _viol_ held is worthy of
notice, inasmuch as it refers the inquirer further back than might be
expected for the origin of our peculiar method of holding the violin,
and the violoncello, in playing. There were several kinds of the
_viol_ in use, differing in size and in compass of sound. The most
common number of strings was five, and it was tuned in various ways.
One kind had a string tuned to the note [Music: Bass clef, quarter
note D] running at the side of the finger-board instead of over it;
this string was, therefore, only capable of producing a single tone.
The four other strings were tuned thus: [Music: Bass clef, quarter
notes G (low) G (high) Treble clef, quarter notes D (low) D (low)] Two
other species, on which all the strings were placed over the
finger-board, were tuned: [Music: Bass clef, quarter notes D G (low) G
(high) Treble clef, quarter notes D (low) G] and: [Music: Bass clef,
quarter notes G (low) C G (high) Treble clef, quarter notes D (low) G]
A very beautiful _vielle_ is represented in Fig. 36. It is of French
workmanship of about 1550, with monograms of Henri II., and is
preserved in the Museum.
[Illustration: FIG. 36.――HURDY-GURDY (Vielle). With arms of France
and crowned monogram of Henry II. on back and front.
Near the handle are monograms of Catherine de
Médicis. About 1550. L. 22½ in., W. 8¼ in. No.
220-’66.
Victoria and Albert Museum.]
[Illustration: FIG. 37.――TYMPANUM of the Glory Gate of the Cathedral
of Santiago de Compostella. Dated 1188.
From a plaster cast in the Victoria and Albert Museum.]
The contrivance of placing a string or two at the side of the
finger-board is evidently very old, and was also gradually adopted on
other instruments of the violin class of a somewhat later period than
that of the _vielle_; for instance, on the _lira di braccio_ of the
Italians. It was likewise adopted on the lute, to obtain a fuller
power in the bass; and hence arose the _theorbo_, the _archlute_, and
other varieties of the old lute.
A grand assemblage of musical performers is represented on the Portico
della Gloria of the famous pilgrimage church of Santiago de
Compostella, in Spain. This triple portal, which is stated by an
inscription on the lintel to have been executed in the year 1188,
consists of a large semi-circular arch with a smaller arch on either
side. The central arch is filled by a tympanum, round which are
twenty-four life-sized seated figures, in high relief, representing
the twenty-four elders seen by St. John in the Apocalypse, each with
an instrument of music. These instruments are carefully represented,
and are of great interest as showing those in use in Spain about the
twelfth century. A cast of this sculpture is in the Museum (Fig. 37).
In examining the group of musicians on this sculpture the reader will
probably recognise several instruments in their hands which are
identical with those already described in the preceding pages. The
_organistrum_, played by two persons, is placed in the centre of the
group, perhaps owing to its being the largest of the instruments
rather than that it was distinguished by any superiority in sound or
musical effect. Besides the small harp seen in the hands of the eighth
and nineteenth musicians (in form nearly identical with the
Anglo-Saxon harp) we find a small triangular harp, without a
front-pillar, held on the lap by the fifth and eighteenth musicians.
The _salterio_ on the lap of the tenth and seventeenth musicians
resembles the dulcimer, but seems to be played with the fingers
instead of with hammers. The most interesting instrument in this
orchestra is the _vihuela_, or Spanish viol, of the twelfth century.
The first, second, third, sixth, seventh, ninth, twentieth,
twenty-second, twenty-third, and twenty-fourth musicians are depicted
with a _vihuela_ which bears a close resemblance to the _rebec_. The
instrument is represented with three strings, although in one or two
instances five tuning-pegs are indicated. A large species of _vihuela_
is given to the eleventh, fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth
musicians. This instrument differs from the _rebec_ in so far as its
body is broader and has incurvations at the sides. Also the
sound-holes are different in form and position. The bow does not occur
with any of these viols. But, as will be observed, the musicians are
not represented in the act of playing; they are tuning and preparing
for the performance, and the second of them is adjusting the bridge of
his instrument.
The minstrel gallery of Exeter Cathedral (Fig. 38) dates from the
fourteenth century. The front is divided into twelve niches, each of
which contains a winged figure or an angel playing on an instrument of
music. There is a cast also of this famous sculpture at South
Kensington. The instruments are so much dilapidated that some of them
cannot be clearly recognised; but, as far as may be ascertained, they
appear to be as follows:――(1) The _lute_ or possibly _cittern_; (2)
the _bagpipe_; (3) the _clarion_ or the _shalm_; (4) the _rebec_; (5)
the _psaltery_ or the _harp_; (6) the _jew’s harp_ (?); (7) the
_sackbut_ or the _clarion_; (8) the _regals_; (9) the _gittern_, a
small guitar strung with catgut; (10) the _shalm_ (?); (11) the
_timbrel_, resembling our present tambourine, with a double row of
gingles; (12) _cymbals_. Most of these instruments have been already
noticed in the preceding pages. The _shalm_, or _shawm_, was a pipe
with a reed in the mouth-hole. The _wait_ was an English wind
instrument of the same construction. If it differed in any respect
from the _shalm_, the difference consisted probably in the size only.
The _wait_ obtained its name from being used principally by watchmen,
or _waights_, to proclaim the time of night. Such were the poor
ancestors of our fine oboe and clarinet.
[Illustration: FIG 38.――MINSTREL GALLERY, Exeter Cathedral. 14th
century.
From a plaster cast in the Victoria and Albert Museum.]
X.
POST-MEDIÆVAL INSTRUMENTS.
Attention must now be drawn to some instruments which originated
during the Middle Ages, but which attained their highest popularity at
a somewhat later period.
About 300 years ago the _lute_ (Fig. 39) was almost as popular as is
the pianoforte at the present day. Originally it had eight thin catgut
strings arranged in four pairs, each pair being tuned in unison; so
that its open strings produced four tones; but in the course of time
more strings were added. Until the sixteenth century twelve was the
largest number, or rather, six pairs. Eleven appears for some
centuries to have been the most usual number of strings; these
produced six tones, since they were arranged in five pairs and a
single string. The latter, called the _chanterelle_, was the highest.
According to Thomas Mace, the English lute in common use during the
seventeenth century had twenty-four strings, arranged in twelve pairs,
of which six pairs ran over the finger-board and the other six by the
side of it. This lute was therefore, more properly speaking, a
theorbo. The neck of the lute, and also of the theorbo, had frets
consisting of catgut strings tightly fastened round it at the proper
distances required for ensuring a chromatic succession of intervals.
The illustration (Fig. 40) represents a lute-player of the late
fifteenth century. The order of tones adopted for the open strings
varied in different centuries and countries; and this was also the
case with the notation of lute music. The most common practice was to
write the music on six lines, the upper line representing the first
string; the second line, the second string, etc., and to mark with
letters on the lines the frets at which the fingers ought to be
placed――_a_ indicating the open string, _b_ the first fret, _c_ the
second fret, and so on.
[Illustration: FIG. 39.――LUTE. Italian (Venetian). Beginning of 17th
century. L. 32½ in., W. 12 in. No. 1125-’69.
Victoria and Albert Museum.]
[Illustration: FIG. 40.――Angel playing a Lute, after an oil painting
by Ambrogio da Predis. Late 15th century.
National Gallery.]
[Illustration: FIG. 41.――ARCHLUTE. Inscribed “Rauche in Chandos
Street, London, 1762.” L. 49½ in., W. 14½ in.
No. 9-’71.
Victoria and Albert Museum.]
The lute was made of various sizes, according to the purpose for which
it was intended in performance. The treble-lute was of the smallest
dimensions, and the bass-lute of the largest. The _theorbo_, or
double-necked lute which appears to have come into use during the
sixteenth century, had in addition to the strings situated over the
finger-board a number of others running at the left side of the
finger-board which could not be shortened by the fingers, and which
produced the bass tones.
The _archlute_ is a large theorbo with a peculiar arrangement of the
strings (Fig. 41). Several of them were doubled, the additional string
being tuned an octave higher than the other. The process of tuning
such instruments was evidently troublesome and tedious. Mattheson, the
quaint contemporary of Handel, in his “Das Neu-eröffnete Orchestre,”
Hamburg, 1713, remarks:――“If a lutenist attains the age of eighty, you
may be sure he has tuned sixty years; and the worst of it is that
among a hundred players, especially of the amateurs, scarcely two are
capable of tuning with accuracy. Now there is something amiss with the
strings; now with the frets; and now again with the screws; so that I
have been told that in Paris it costs as much money to keep a lute as
to keep a horse.” Also Mace, an enthusiastic admirer of the lute,
testifies to the difficulty of keeping the instrument in proper
condition; for his treatise on the lute and theorbo (contained in
“Musick’s Monument,” London, 1676) is replete with rules for
stringing, tuning, cleaning, repairing, etc. And, as regards
preserving the instrument, he gives the advice――“You shall do well,
ever when you lay it by in the day-time, to put it into a bed that is
constantly used, between the rug and blanket.”
The _chitarrone_ is a theorbo with an extraordinarily long neck, by
which the length of the eight bass strings is considerably increased
(Fig. 42). The largest instruments of this kind were made some
centuries ago, in Rome. They were used in the theatre for accompanying
the voice, before the Clavicembalo, or Harpsichord, was introduced for
this purpose. The finest instruments of the lute kind were made in
Italy, especially at Bologna, Rome, Venice, and Padua. Many of the
manufacturers in Italy were, however, foreigners. Evelyn, in his Diary
(May 21, 1645), speaking of Bologna, says, “This place has also been
celebrated for lutes made by the old masters, Mollen [Maler ?], Hans
Frey, and Nicholas Sconvelt, which were of extraordinary price; the
workmen were chiefly Germans.” One of the earliest and most celebrated
of these makers was Lucas Maler (or “Laux Maler” as he inscribed his
name on his instruments). He lived at Bologna about 1415.
[Illustration: FIG. 42.――CHITARRONE. Italian. Made by Buchenberg in
Rome, anno 1614. L. 74 in. No. 190-’82.
Victoria and Albert Museum.]
Other celebrated lute-makers[8] were:――
Ludwig Porgt, Regensburg, 1525.
Hanns Gerle, Nuremberg, b. about 1505, d. 1599.
Hans Neusedler, Nuremberg, d. 1563.
Sebastian Rauser, Verona, working about 1590 to 1605.
Mattheus Buchenberg, Rome, working about 1592-1619.
Hanns Fichtholdt, Ingoldstadt (?), about 1612; his lutes, the backs
of which are made with narrow strips of wood, in the Italian manner,
were formerly much prized by connoisseurs.
Paolo Belami, Paris, about 1612, probably an Italian. His lutes were
highly valued.
Joachim Tielke, Hamburg, b. 1641, d. 1719.
Antonio Castaro, Rome, about 1615.
Christofilo Rochi, Padua, about 1620.
Sebastian Rochi, Venice, about 1620.
Clays von Pommersbach, Cologne, probably during the sixteenth
century.
Magnus Tieffenbrucker, Venice, latter half of seventeenth century.
Wendelin Tieffenbrucker, Padua, working about 1572-1611, and
Leonhard Tieffenbrucker, Padua (?), during the sixteenth century;
their lutes were rather flat and long in body.
Michael Hartung, Padua, working about 1602 to 1624; he was a pupil
of Leonhard Tieffenbrucker.
Raphael Mest, Füssen, working about 1610 to 1650; said to have been
pupil of Michael Hartung.
Johann Christian Hoffmann, Leipzig, working about 1710 to 1750; his
lutes were exported to Holland and England.
Martin Schott, Prague, latter half of seventeenth century.
Sebastian Rauch, Prague, working about 1700 to 1724.
Matthias Hummel, Nuremberg, end of seventeenth century.
Sebastian Schelle, Nuremberg, working about 1700 to 1745; his lutes
were much valued, not only in Germany, but also in other European
countries.