Part 1

BOARD OF EDUCATION, SOUTH KENSINGTON,

VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM.

MUSICAL

INSTRUMENTS

BY

CARL ENGEL

_WITH SEVENTY-EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS_

REVISED EDITION.

LONDON:

PRINTED FOR HIS MAJESTY’S STATIONERY OFFICE,

By WYMAN AND SONS, LIMITED, 109, FETTER LANE, E.C.

And to be purchased, either directly or through any Bookseller, from

WYMAN AND SONS, LIMITED, 109, FETTER LANE, FLEET STREET, E.C. or

OLIVER AND BOYD, TWEEDDALE COURT, EDINBURGH; or

E. PONSONBY, 116, GRAFTON STREET, DUBLIN.

1908.

_Price_ 1_s._ 6_d._; _in Cloth_, 2_s._ 3_d._

NOTE.

In the preparation of the revised edition of the late Dr. Engel’s handbook, first published in 1875, care has been taken to make as few alterations as possible and to express no views from which he might have dissented.

The greatly enlarged chapter relating to post-mediæval instruments has been chiefly compiled from Dr. Engel’s Descriptive Catalogue of the musical instruments in the Museum, published in 1874.

The pages relating to the Ancient Egyptians have been revised by Dr. W. M. Flinders Petrie, those dealing with the Greeks, Etruscans and Romans by Dr. Cecil H. Smith, and the description of Chinese and Japanese instruments by Dr. Stephen W. Bushell. The thanks of the Board are due to these gentlemen for their valuable co-operation.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

NOTE iii

LIST OF CONTENTS v

“ ” ILLUSTRATIONS vii

CHAPTER I.――Introduction 1

“ II.――Pre-Historic Relics and Ancient Egyptian 9

“ III.――Assyrian and Hebrew 16

“ IV.――Greek, Etruscan and Roman 27

“ V.――Oriental 37

“ VI.――American Indian 58

“ VII.――European Instruments of the Middle Ages 83

“ VIII.――European Instruments of the Middle Ages 92

“ IX.――European Instruments of the Middle Ages 99

“ X.――Post-Mediæval Instruments 104

APPENDIX 135

INDEX 139

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

FIG. PAGE.

1.――MUSIC, after an oil painting attributed to Melozzo da Forlì (1438-1494) _Frontispiece_

2.――PAINTED WOODEN HARP. Ancient Egyptian. XVIIIth dynasty (B.C. 1450) _Facing_ 10

3.――BRONZE AND REED FLUTES. Ancient Egyptian. B.C. 600, or later _Facing_ 12

4.――BRONZE SISTRA. Ancient Egyptian. XXIInd-XXVIth dynasty (B.C. 1000-600) _Facing_ 14

5.――SERIES OF BELLS. Ancient Egyptian. Late Period 15

6.――A MUSE WITH A HARP, AND TWO OTHERS WITH LYRES. From a Greek vase 29

7.――PAIR OF BRONZE FLUTES, with mouthpiece in the form of a bust of a Mænad holding a bunch of grapes. Greek _Facing_ 30

8.――A MUSE PLAYING THE DIAULOS. Greek 31

9.――WALL PAINTING of a youth wearing a myrtle wreath and playing on the DOUBLE PIPES. Said to have been found in a columbarium in the Vigna Ammendola on the Appian Way near Rome, about 1823. British Museum _Facing_ 34

10.――TUBA, CORNU AND LITUUS. Roman 35

11.――HSÜAN. Chinese 42

12.――(_a_) CH’IN (a species of Lute). Modern Chinese (_b_) SHÊNG (Mouth Organ). Chinese. 19th century (_c_) YUEH-CH’IN (Moon Guitar). Chinese. 19th century _Facing_ 42

13.――(_a_) KOTO (a species of Lute). Japanese. 19th century (_b_) BIWA (a species of Guitar). Modern Japanese (_c_) SÂMISEN. Japanese _Facing_ 44

14.――(_a_) SÂRINDA AND BOW. Indian (Bengal). 19th century (_b_) RUDRA VINA. Southern Indian (Madras). 19th century (_c_) SÂRANGI AND BOW. Southern Indian. 19th century _Facing_ 48

15.――(_a_) KEMÁNGEH OR SITÂRA OR FIDDLE. Persian. About 1800 (_b_) NUY (Flute). Persian. 19th century (_c_) SANTIR (Dulcimer) CASE. Persian _Facing_ 54

16.――POTTERY WHISTLES, with finger-holes. Ancient Mexican 59

17.――POTTERY FLAGEOLETS, with finger-holes. (_a_) and (_c_) Ancient Mexican; (_b_) from the Island of Sacrificios _Facing_ 60

18.――BONE FLUTES. Ancient Peruvian, (_a_) and (_b_) Truxillo; (_c_) Lima _Facing_ 60

19.――HUAYRA-PUHURA, discovered in a Peruvian tomb 64

20.――WOODEN TRUMPET. Used by Indians near the Orinoco 65

21.――JURUPARIS, with and without cover. South American 66

22.――BOTUTO. Used by Indians near the Orinoco 68

23.――CITHARA. From a 9th century MS. formerly in the monastery of St. Blasius in the Black Forest 84

24.――PSALTERIUM. From a 9th century MS. formerly in the monastery of St. Blasius in the Black Forest 85

25.――CITHARA. From a 9th century MS. formerly in the monastery of St. Blasius in the Black Forest 85

26.――KING PLAYING PSALTERY. After an engraving in N. X. Willemin’s _Monuments Français Inédits_, Vol. I., pl. 19, taken from _Hortus Deliciarum_, a MS. of the 12th century 86

27.――NABLUM. From a 9th century MS. at Angers 86

28.――FEMALE PLAYING A SPECIES OF CITOLE. From a 9th century MS. formerly in the monastery of St. Blasius in the Black Forest 86

29.――HARP. From a 9th century MS. formerly in the monastery of St. Blasius in the Black Forest 87

30.――CRWTH. Welsh. 18th century _Facing_ 90

31.――ORGANISTRUM 93

32.――SACKBUT 94

33.――ORGAN. From a 12th century psalter in the library of Trinity College, Cambridge 95

34.――ORGAN (Grand Orgue). After an engraving in N. X. Willemin’s _Monuments Français Inédits_ 96

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. X. Willemin’s _Monuments Français Inédits_ _Facing_ 98

36.――HURDY-GURDY (Vielle). With arms of France and crowned monogram of Henry II. on back and front. About 1550 _Facing_ 100

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 _Facing_ 100

38.――MINSTREL GALLERY, Exeter Cathedral. 14th century. From a plaster cast in the Victoria and Albert Museum _Facing_ 102

39.――LUTE. Italian (Venetian). Beginning of the 17th century _Facing_ 104

40.――ANGEL PLAYING A LUTE. After an oil painting by Ambrogio da Predis. Late 15th century _Facing_ 104

41.――ARCHLUTE. Inscribed “Rauche in Chandos Street, London, 1762” _Facing_ 104

42.――CHITARRONE. Italian. Made by Buchenberg in Rome, anno 1614 _Facing_ 106

43.――PANDURINA. French. Second half of 16th century _Facing_ 108

44.――GUITAR. French (?). 17th century _Facing_ 108

45.――QUINTERNA, OR CHITERNA. German. Dated 1539 _Facing_ 108

46.――CITHER. German. End of 17th century _Facing_ 108

47.――HARP THEORBO. Made by Harley. English. About 1800 _Facing_ 110

48.――HARP VENTURA. English. Early 19th century _Facing_ 110

49.――BANDURIA. English. Early 19th century _Facing_ 110

50.――HARP. Old Irish _Facing_ 110

51.――HARP. French. About 1770 _Facing_ 112

52.――VIOLIN. Said to have belonged to James I. English. Early 17th century _Facing_ 112

53.――ANGEL PLAYING A VIOL. After an oil painting by Ambrogio da Predis. Late 15th century _Facing_ 104

54.――VIOLA DA GAMBA. Italian. About 1600 _Facing_ 114

55.――VIOLA DA GAMBA. Italian. 17th century _Facing_ 114

56.――VIOLA DI BARDONE, OR BARITON, WITH BOW. German. 17th century _Facing_ 114

57.――VIOLA D’AMORE. Probably English. Late 17th century _Facing_ 116

58.――DOUBLE-BASS, WITH BOW. Known as “The Giant.” Italian. 17th century _Facing_ 116

59.――SORDINO, OR POCHETTE. Probably German. Late 17th or early 18th century _Facing_ 118

60.――BÛCHE, OR SCHEITHOLZ. Made by Fleurot, of the Val d’Ajol in the Vosges Mountains. Early 19th century _Facing_ 118

61.――VIRGINAL. Formerly belonging to Queen Elizabeth. Italian. Second half of 16th century _Facing_ 118

62.――VIRGINAL. Flemish. Second half of 16th century _Facing_ 118

63.――SPINET. Made by Annibale dei Rossi of Milan. Italian. Dated 1577 _Facing_ 120

64.――SPINET. Signed “Johannes Player fecit” English. About 1700 _Facing_ 120

65.――CLAVICHORD. Inscribed “Barthold Fritz fecit, Braunschweig, anno 1751.” German. 18th century _Facing_ 120

66.――CLAVICEMBALO. Signed “Joanes Antonius Baffo, Venetus.” Italian. Dated 1574 _Facing_ 122

67.――CLAVECIN. Made by Pascal Taskin of Paris. French. Dated 1786 _Facing_ 124

68.――ORGAN-HARPSICHORD, OR CLAVIORGANUM. Formerly in the chapel of Ightham Mote, near Sevenoaks, Kent. Probably English _Facing_ 124

69.――TRIPLE FLAGEOLET. Italian. About 1820 _Facing_ 124

70.――FLAUTO DOLCE, OR FLUTE. Ivory. Inscribed “Anciuti a Milan, 1740” _Facing_ 124

71.――FLAGEOLET. Italian. Middle of 18th century _Facing_ 126

72.――OBOE. Made by Anciuti of Milan. Formerly in the possession of the composer Rossini. Latter half of 18th century _Facing_ 126

73.――BASSOON, species of. English. Late 18th, or early 19th century _Facing_ 128

74.――THE SERPENT. Made by Gerock Wolf, in London. English. Early 19th century _Facing_ 128

75.――SERINETTE OR BIRD ORGAN. French. Period of Louis XIV. _Facing_ 128

76.――ORGAN (Positive). German. Dated 1627 _Facing_ 128

77.――BAGPIPES. English. 18th century _Facing_ 130

78.――HANDEL’S HARPSICHORD. Made by Andreas Ruckers, of Antwerp, 1651 _Facing_ 134

MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

I.

INTRODUCTION.

Music, in however primitive a stage of development it may be with some nations, is universally appreciated as one of the Fine Arts. The origin of vocal music may have been coeval with that of language; and the construction of musical instruments evidently dates with the earliest inventions which suggested themselves to human ingenuity. There exist even at the present day some savage tribes in Australia and South America who, although they have no more than the five first numerals in their language and are thereby unable to count the fingers of both hands together, nevertheless possess musical instruments of their own contrivance, with which they accompany their songs and dances.

Wood, metal, and the hide of animals are the most common substances used in the construction of musical instruments. In tropical countries bamboo or some similar kind of cane and gourds are especially made use of for this purpose. The ingenuity of man has contrived to employ in producing music, horn, bone, glass, pottery, slabs of sonorous stone――in fact, almost all vibrating matter. The strings of instruments have been made of the hair of animals, of silk, the runners of creeping plants, the fibrous roots of certain trees, of cane, catgut (which, absurdly referred to the cat, is from the sheep, goat, lamb, camel, and some other animals), metal, etc.

The mode in which individual nations or tribes are in the habit of embellishing their musical instruments is sometimes as characteristic as it is singular. The negroes in several districts of Western Africa affix to their drums human skulls. A war-trumpet of the king of Ashantee which was brought to England is surrounded by human jawbones. The Maoris in New Zealand carve around the mouth-hole of their trumpets a figure intended, it is said, to represent female lips. The materials for ornamentation chiefly employed by savages are bright colours, beads, shells, grasses, the bark of trees, feathers, stones, gilding, pieces of looking-glass inlaid like mosaic, etc. Uncivilised nations are sure to consider anything which is bright and glittering ornamental, especially if it is also scarce. Captain Tuckey saw in Congo a negro instrument which was ornamented with part of the broken frame of a looking-glass, to which were affixed in a semicircle a number of brass buttons with the head of Louis XVI. on them,――perhaps a relic of some French sailor drowned near the coast years ago.

Again, musical instruments are not infrequently formed in the shape of certain animals. Thus, a kind of harmonicon of the Chinese represents the figure of a crouching tiger. The Burmese possess a stringed instrument in the shape of an alligator. Even more grotesque are the imitations of various beasts adopted by the Javanese. The natives of New Guinea have a singularly shaped drum, terminating in the head of a reptile. A wooden rattle like a bird is a favourite instrument of the Indians of Nootka Sound. In short, not only the inner construction of the instruments and their peculiar quality of sound exhibit in most nations certain distinctive characteristics, but it is also in great measure true as to their outward appearance.

An arrangement of the various kinds of musical instruments in a regular order, beginning with that kind which is the most universally known, and progressing gradually to the least usual, gives the following results. Instruments of percussion of indefinite sonorousness or, in other words, pulsatile instruments which have not a sound of a fixed pitch, as the drum, rattle, castanets, etc., are most universal. Wind instruments of the flute kind――including pipes, whistles, flutes, Pandean pipes, etc.――are also to be found almost everywhere.

Much the same is the case with wind instruments of the trumpet kind. These are often made of the horns, bones, and tusks of animals; frequently of vegetable substances and of metal. Instruments of percussion of definite sonorousness are chiefly met with in China, Japan, Burmah, Siam, and Java. They not infrequently contain a series of tones produced by slabs of wood or metal, which are beaten with a sort of hammer, as our harmonicon is played.

Stringed instruments without a finger board, or any similar contrivance which enables the performer to produce a number of different tones on one string, are generally found among nations whose musical accomplishments have emerged from the earliest state of infancy. The strings are twanged with the fingers or with a piece of wood, horn, metal, or any other suitable substance serving as a _plectrum_; or are made to vibrate by being beaten with a hammer, as our dulcimer. Stringed instruments provided with a finger-board on which different tones are producible on one string by the performer shortening it more or less――as on the guitar and violin――are met with almost exclusively among nations in a somewhat advanced stage of musical progress. Such as are played with a bow are the least common; they are, however, known to the Chinese, Japanese, Hindus, Persians, Arabs, and a few other nations, besides those of Europe and their descendants in other countries.

Wind instruments of the organ kind――_i.e._, such as are constructed of a number of tubes which can be sounded together by means of a common mouthpiece or some similar contrivance, and upon which therefore chords and combinations of chords, or harmony, can be produced――are comparatively of rare occurrence. Some interesting specimens of them exist in China, Japan, Laos, and Siam.

Besides these various kinds of sound-producing means employed in musical performances, a few others less widely diffused could be pointed out, which are of a construction not represented in any of our well-known European specimens. For instance, some nations have peculiar instruments of friction, which can hardly be classed with our instruments of percussion. Again, there are contrivances in which a number of strings are caused to vibrate by a current of air much as is the case with the Æolian harp; which might with equal propriety be considered either as stringed instruments or as wind instruments. In short, our usual classification of all the various species into three distinct divisions, viz., _Stringed Instruments_, _Wind Instruments_, and _Instruments of Percussion_, is not tenable if we extend our researches over the whole globe.

The collection at South Kensington contains several foreign instruments which cannot fail to prove interesting to the musician. Recent investigations have more and more elicited the fact that the music of every nation exhibits some distinctive characteristics which may afford valuable hints to a composer or performer. A familiarity with the popular songs of different countries is advisable on account of the remarkable originality of the airs; these mostly spring from the heart. Hence the natural and true expression, the delightful health and vigour by which they are generally distinguished. Our more artificial compositions are, on the other hand, not infrequently deficient in these charms, because they often emanate from the lingers or the pen rather than from the heart. Howbeit, the predominance of expressive melody and effective rhythm over harmonious combinations, so usual in the popular compositions of various nations, would alone suffice to recommend them to the careful attention of our modern musicians. The same may be said with regard to the surprising variety in construction and in manner of expression prevailing in the popular songs and dance-tunes of different countries. Indeed, every nation’s musical effusions exhibit a character peculiarly their own, with which the musician would find it advantageous to familiarise himself.

Now, it will easily be understood that an acquaintance with the musical instruments of a nation conveys a more correct idea than could otherwise be obtained of the characteristic features of the nation’s musical compositions. Furthermore, in many instances the construction of the instruments reveals to us the nature of the musical intervals, scales, modulations, and suchlike noteworthy facts. True, inquiries like these have hitherto not received from musicians the attention which they deserve. The adepts in most other arts are in this respect in advance. They are convinced that useful information may be gathered by investigating the productions even of uncivilised nations, and by thus tracing the gradual progress of an art from its primitive infancy to its highest degree of development.

Again, from an examination of the musical instruments of foreign nations we may derive valuable hints for the improvement of our own; or even for the invention of new. Several principles of construction have thus been adopted by us from eastern nations. For instance, the _free reed_ used in the harmonium is an importation from China. The organ builder Kratzenstein, who lived in St. Petersburg during the reign of Catherine II., happened to see the Chinese instrument _cheng_, which is of this construction, and it suggested to him, about the end of the 18th century, to apply the _free reed_ to certain organ stops. At the present day instruments of the harmonium class have become such universal favourites in western Europe as almost to compete with the pianoforte.

Several other well-authenticated instances could be cited in which one instrument has suggested the construction of another of a superior kind. The prototype of our pianoforte was evidently the dulcimer, known at an early time to the Arabs and Persians, who call it _santir_. One of the old names given to the dulcimer by European nations is _cimbal_. The Poles at the present day call it _cymbaly_, and the Magyars in Hungary _cimbalom_. The _clavicembalo_, the predecessor of the pianoforte, was in fact nothing but a _cembalo_ with a key board attached to it; and some of the old _clavicembali_ still preserved, exhibit the trapezium shape, the round hole in the middle of the sound-board, and other peculiarities of the first dulcimer. Again, the gradual development of the dulcimer from a rude contrivance, consisting merely of a wooden board across which a few strings are stretched, is distinctly traceable by a reference to the musical instruments of nations in different stages of civilisation. The same is the case with our highly perfected harp, of which curious specimens, representing the instrument in its most primitive condition, are still to be found among several barbarous tribes. We might perhaps infer from its shape that it originally consisted of nothing more than an elastic stick bent by a string. The Damaras, a native tribe of South-western Africa, actually use their bow occasionally as a musical instrument when they are not engaged in war or in the chase. They tighten the string nearly in the middle by means of a leathern thong, whereby they obtain two distinct sounds, which, for want of a sound board, are of course very weak and scarcely audible to anyone but the performer. Some neighbouring tribes, however, possess a musical instrument very similar in appearance to the bow, to which they attach a gourd, hollowed and open at the top, which serves as a sound-board. Again, other African tribes have a similar instrument, superior in construction only inasmuch as it contains more than one string, and is provided with a sound-board consisting of a suitable piece of sonorous wood. In short, the more improved we find these contrivances the closer they approach our harp. And it could be shown, if this were requisite for our present purpose, that much the same gradual progress towards perfection, which we observe in the African harp, is traceable in the harps of several nations in different parts of the world.