Part 4

The flute, _tibia_, was originally made of the shin bone, and had a mouth-hole and four finger-holes.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.

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_.

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.

Allowing for any exaggeration as to chronology, natural to the lively imagination of Asiatics, there is no reason to doubt that the Chinese possessed long before our Christian era musical instruments to which they attribute a fabulously high antiquity. There is an ancient tradition, according to which they obtained their musical scale from a miraculous bird, called _fêng-huang_, which appears to have been a sort of phœnix. When Confucius, who lived about B.C. 551-479, happened to hear on a certain occasion some Chinese music, he is said to have become so greatly enraptured that he could not take any food for three months afterwards. The sounds which produced this effect were those of K’uei, the Orpheus of the Chinese, whose performance on the _ch’ing_――a kind of harmonicon constructed of slabs of sonorous stone――would draw wild animals around him and make them subservient to his will. As regards the invention of musical instruments the Chinese have other traditions. In one of these we are told that the origin of some of their most popular instruments dates from the period when China was under the dominion of heavenly spirits, called Ch’i. Another assigns the invention of several stringed instruments to the great Fu-hsi who was the founder of the empire and who lived about B.C. 3000, which was long after the dominion of the Ch’i, or spirits. Again, another tradition holds that the most important instruments and systematic arrangements of sounds are an invention of Nü-wa, sister and successor of Fu-hsi.

According to their records, the Chinese possessed their much-esteemed _ch’ing_ 2200 years before our Christian era, and employed it for accompanying songs of praise. It was regarded as a sacred instrument. During religious observances at the solemn moment when the _ch’ing_ was sounded sticks of incense were burnt. It was likewise played before the emperor early in the morning when he awoke. The Chinese have long since constructed various kinds of the _ch’ing_, by using different species of stones. Their most famous stone selected for this purpose is called _yü_. _Yü_ includes the two varieties of jade, nephrite and jadeite. It is not only very sonorous but also beautiful in appearance. It is found in mountain streams and crevices of rocks. The largest known specimens measure from two to three feet in diameter, but examples of this size rarely occur. The _yü_ is very hard and heavy. Some European mineralogists, to whom the missionaries transmitted specimens for examination, pronounce it to be a species of agate (_ma-nao_). It is found of different colours, and the Chinese appear to have preferred in different centuries particular colours for the _ch’ing_.

The Chinese consider the _yü_ especially valuable for musical purposes, because it always retains exactly the same pitch. All other musical instruments, they say, are in this respect doubtful; but the tone of the _yü_ is influenced neither by cold nor heat, nor by humidity, nor dryness.

The stones used for the _ch’ing_ have been cut from time to time in various grotesque shapes. Some represent animals: as, for instance, a bat with outstretched wings; or two fishes placed side by side: others are in the shape of an ancient Chinese bell. The angular shape appears to be the oldest form and is still retained in the ornamental stones of the _pien-ch’ing_, which is a more modern instrument than the _ch’ing_. The tones of the _pien-ch’ing_ are attuned according to the Chinese intervals called _lü_, of which there are twelve in the compass of an octave. The same is the case with the other Chinese instruments of this class. They vary, however, in pitch. The pitch of the _sung-ch’ing_, for instance, is four intervals lower than that of the _pien-ch’ing_.

Sonorous stones have always been used by the Chinese also singly, as rhythmical instruments. Such a single stone is called _t’ê-ch’ing_.

The ancient Chinese had several kinds of bells, frequently arranged in sets so as to constitute a musical scale. The Chinese name for the bell is _chung_. At an early period they had a somewhat square-shaped bell called _t’ê-chung_. Like other ancient Chinese bells it was made of copper alloyed with tin, the proportion being one part of tin to six of copper. The _t’ê-chung_, which is also known by the name of _piao_, was principally used to indicate the time and divisions in musical performances. It had a fixed pitch of sound, and several of these bells attuned to a certain order of intervals were not unfrequently ranged in a regular succession, thus forming a musical instrument which was called _pien-chung_. The musical scale of the sixteen bells which the _pien-chung_ contained was the same as that of the _ch’ing_ before mentioned.

The _hsüan-chung_ was, according to popular tradition, included with the antique instruments at the time of Confucius, and came into popular use during the Han dynasty (from B.C. 200 until A.D. 200). It was of a peculiar oval shape and had nearly the same quaint ornamentation as the _t’ê-chung_; this consisted of symbolical figures, in four divisions, each containing nine mammals. The mouth was crescent-shaped. Every figure had a deep meaning referring to the seasons and to the mysteries of the Buddhist religion. The largest _hsüan-chung_ was about twenty inches in length; and, like the _t’ê-chung_, was sounded by means of a small wooden mallet with an oval knob. None of the bells of this description had a clapper. It would, however, appear that the Chinese had at an early period some kind of bell provided with a wooden tongue: this was used for military purposes as well as for calling the people together when an imperial messenger promulgated his sovereign’s commands. An expression of Confucius is recorded to the effect that he wished to be “A wooden-tongued bell of Heaven,” _i.e._, a herald of heaven to proclaim the divine purposes to the multitude.

The _fang-hsiang_ was a kind of wood-harmonicon. It contained sixteen wooden slabs of an oblong square shape, suspended in a wooden frame elegantly decorated. The slabs were arranged in two tiers, one above the other, and were all of equal length and breadth but differed in thickness. The _ch’un-tu_ consisted of twelve slips of bamboo, and was used for beating time and for rhythmical purposes. The slips being banded together at one end could be expanded somewhat like a fan. The Chinese state that they used the _ch’un-tu_ for writing upon before they invented paper.

The _yü_, likewise an ancient Chinese instrument of percussion and still in use, is made of wood in the shape of a crouching tiger. It is hollow, and along its back are about twenty small pieces of metal, pointed, and in appearance not unlike the teeth of a saw. The performer strikes them with a sort of plectrum resembling a brush, or with a small stick called _chên_. Occasionally the _yü_ is made with pieces of metal shaped like reeds.

The ancient _yü_ was constructed with only six tones which were attuned thus――_f_, _g_, _a_, _c_, _d_, _f_. The instrument appears to have deteriorated in the course of time; for, although it has gradually acquired as many as twenty-seven pieces of metal, it evidently serves at the present day more for the production of rhythmical noise than for the execution of any melody. The modern _yü_ is made of a species of wood called _k’iu_ or _ch’iu_; and the tiger rests generally on a hollow wooden pedestal about three feet six inches long, which serves as a sound-board.

The _chu_, likewise an instrument of percussion, was made of the wood of a tree called _ch’iu-mu_, the stem of which resembles that of the pine and whose foliage is much like that of the cypress. It was constructed of boards about three-quarters of an inch in thickness. In the middle of one of the sides was an aperture into which the hand was passed for the purpose of holding the handle of a wooden hammer, the end of which entered into a hole situated in the bottom of the _chu_. The handle was kept in its place by means of a wooden pin, on which it moved right and left when the instrument was struck with a hammer. The Chinese ascribe to the _chu_ a very high antiquity, as they almost invariably do with any of their inventions when the date of its origin is unknown to them.

The _po-fu_ was a drum, about one foot four inches in length, and seven inches in diameter. It had a parchment at each end, which was prepared in a peculiar way by being boiled in water. The _po-fu_ used to be partly filled with a preparation made from the husk of rice, in order to mellow the sound. The Chinese name for the drum is _ku_.

The _chin-ku_, a large drum fixed on a pedestal which raises it above six feet from the ground, is embellished with symbolical designs. A similar drum on which natural phenomena are depicted is called _lei-ku_; and another of the kind, with figures of certain birds and beasts which are regarded as symbols of long life, is called _ying-ku_, and also _tsu-ku_.

The flutes, _ti_, _yüeh_, and _ch’ih_ were generally made of bamboo. The _kuan-tzŭ_ was a Pandean pipe containing twelve tubes of bamboo. The _hsiao_, likewise a Pandean pipe, contained sixteen tubes. The _p’ai-hsiao_ differed from the _hsiao_ inasmuch as the tubes were inserted into an oddly-shaped case highly ornamented with grotesque designs and silken appendages.

The Chinese are known to have constructed at an early period a curious wind-instrument, called _hsüan_ (the “Chinese ocarina”) (Fig. 11). It was made of baked clay and had five finger-holes, three of which were placed on one side and two on the opposite side, as in the cut. Its tones were in conformity with the pentatonic scale. The reader unacquainted with the pentatonic scale may ascertain its character by playing on the pianoforte the scale of C major with the omission of _f_ and _b_ (the _fourth_ and _seventh_); or by striking the black keys in regular succession from _f_-sharp to the next _f_-sharp above or below.

The _shêng_ (Fig. 12_b_) is one of the oldest instruments of the Chinese still in use, and may be regarded as the most ancient species of organ with which we are exactly acquainted. Formerly it had either thirteen, nineteen, or twenty-four tubes placed in a calabash; and a long curved tube served as a mouth-piece. A similarly-constructed instrument, though different in outward appearance, is the _ken_ of Siam and Burmah. The Siamese call the _ken_ “The Laos organ,” and it is principally used by the inhabitants of the Laos states. Moreover, there deserves to be noticed another Chinese instrument of this kind, simple in construction, which probably represents the _shêng_ in its most primitive condition. It is to be found among the Miao-tsze, or mountaineers, who are supposed to be the aboriginal inhabitants of China. They call it _sang_. This species has no bowl, or air-chest; it rather resembles the Panpipe, but is sounded by means of a common mouthpiece consisting of a tube, which is placed at a right angle across the pipes. The Chinese assert that the _shêng_ was used in olden time in the religious rites performed in honour of Confucius. Tradescant Lay, in his account of the Chinese, calls it “Jubal’s organ,” and remarks, “this seems to be the embryo of our multiform and magnificent organ.”

The ancient stringed instruments, the _ch’in_ (Fig. 12_a_) and _sê_, were of the dulcimer kind, they are still in use, and specimens of them are in the Museum.

The _yueh-ch’in_ (Fig. 12_c_) is a favourite instrument of the Chinese. The Canton pronunciation of _yueh-ch’in_ is _yuet-kum_, and this may be the reason why some European travellers in China have called the instrument _gut-komm_. The wood of which it is made is called by the Chinese _shwan-che_. The strings are twanged with a plectrum, or with the nails, which, it will be remembered, are grown by the Chinese to an extravagant length.

The Buddhists introduced from Tibet into China their god of music, who is represented as a rather jovial-looking man with a moustache and an imperial, playing the _p’i-p’a_, a kind of lute with four silken strings. Perhaps some interesting information respecting the ancient Chinese musical instruments may be gathered from the famous ruins of the Buddhist temples _Angcor-Wat_ and _Angcor-Thom_, in Cambodia. These splendid ruins are supposed to be above two thousand years old: and, at any rate, the circumstance of their age not being known to the Cambodians suggests a high antiquity. On the bas-reliefs with which the temples were enriched are figured musical instruments, which European travellers describe as “flutes, organs, trumpets, and drums, resembling those of the Chinese.” Faithful sketches of these representations, might, very likely, afford valuable hints to the student of musical history.

THE JAPANESE.

The Japanese musical instruments are in the main derived from those of China, and their names consequently represent the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese sounds.

The _biwa_ (Fig. 13_b_) is almost identical with the Chinese _p’i-p’a_. The example illustrated is of wood, lacquered black and ornamented with a band of Japanese design in gold lacquer. It has four silken strings, and two very small sound holes.

The _samisen_ (the Chinese _san-hsien_ or “three-stringed guitar”) is played especially by the Japanese ladies, and is as great a favourite with them as the lute was formerly with us. An example in the Museum (Fig. 13_c_) has three strings of silk. Both the _biwa_ and the _samisen_ are played with a wooden plectrum. The _ko-kiū_ is the Japanese violin, and resembles a small _samisen_, but has four strings. It is held head upwards and played with a loose-strung bow.

The Japanese have several instruments of the dulcimer class, called _koto_ (the Chinese _ch’in_) (Fig. 13_a_). Some species of the _koto_ are played with _plectra_ affixed to the fingers; and there are different successions of intervals adopted in the tuning of the several species.

The _ikuta-goto_ is provided with thirteen movable bridges, by means of which the pitch of the strings is regulated. The bridges are of wood, and about 2½ inches in height. The _ikuta-goto_ is learnt chiefly by Japanese ladies moving in the upper circles of society. It is a rather expensive instrument, and requires much practice. The performer places it on the floor, and, sitting in the usual Japanese attitude, bends over it and twangs the strings with her fingers, the tips of which are encased in _plectra_, resembling thimbles, which terminate in a little projecting piece of ivory in size and form like the finger nail.

Of wind instruments the Japanese use three principal kinds:――(1) The _fuye_, like our flute, with six or seven finger-holes; (2) the _hichiriki_, a reed-flageolet, with seven finger-holes and two thumb-holes; (3) the _shakuhachi_, a bamboo pipe 20 inches high.

The _shêng_ (described on p. 42) is also popular in Japan. The Japanese name for it is _shō_. The general name in Japanese for the drum is _taiko_ (= Chinese _ta ku_, “large drum”). The Japanese have a great variety of drums, some of which are used at religious ceremonies in the temples. The _shime-daiko_ is a shallow drum hung obliquely before the player in a low wooden frame. It is beaten with two plain sticks, and is used to accompany singers. The _tsudzumi_ is a small hand-drum with hour-glass-shaped body.

The Japanese have different kinds of gongs (_dora_ = Chinese _t’ung-lo_, “copper gong”), which are used in the service of the temple, in processions, at funerals, and on several other solemn occasions. The _dōhachi_ (= Chinese _t’ung po_, “copper bowl”) resembles a copper basin. Another consists of two metal basins suspended by cords on a frame composed of a pole and two cross-sticks.

The Japanese, as well as the Chinese, possess superbly ornamented gongs (_kei_) raised on a stand. Those of the former are perhaps the more magnificent.

The Japanese employ large bells (_kane_ or _tsuri-gane_ = Chinese _chung_) in their Buddhist worship. There is a famous bell, richly decorated, near the Daibutsu at Kiōto, which is struck, at different hours of the day, with a heavy wooden mallet; and its sound is said to be particularly sonorous, mellow, and far-reaching. Another celebrated Japanese bell is placed on a high hill near the town of Nara. It is suspended in a wooden shed, close to the Tōdaiji Temple. A thick pole, affixed to the rafters, is drawn backwards, and then, by being let loose, is made to rebound so as to hit the bell sideways in the usual manner. This bell is admired throughout the country, and pictures representing it are sold on the spot to the visitors, who have to ascend a long flight of narrow steps before they reach its station on the summit of the hill. Small bells (_rin_) are used by the Buddhist priests in Japan while officiating in the temple, just as is the case in China, Thibet and other districts of the Asiatic continent.

THE HINDUS.

In the Brahmin mythology of the Hindus the demi-god Nareda is the inventor of the _vina_, the principal national instrument of Hindustan. His mother, Saraswati, the consort of Brahma, may be regarded as the Minerva of the Hindus. She is the goddess of music as well as of speech. To her is attributed the invention of the systematic arrangement of the sounds into a musical scale. She is represented seated on a peacock and playing either on the southern _vina_ or the _bîn_, stringed instruments of the lute kind. Brahma himself we occasionally find depicted as a vigorous man with four handsome heads, beating with his hands upon a small drum; and Vishnu, in his incarnation as Krishna, is represented as a beautiful youth playing upon a flute. The Hindus construct a peculiar kind of flute, the _bansi_, which they consider as the favourite instrument of Krishna.

The _sankha_, or conch-shell trumpet of victory, one of the important attributes of Vishnu the preserver, and his consort Lakshmi, is occasionally represented in the possession of Siva, and other deities. Siva the destroyer, and his consort Parvati, also carry the _budbudika_, or _damaru_, a rattle-drum shaped like an hour-glass.