Part 8

The Anglo-Saxons frequently accompanied their vocal effusions with a harp, more or less triangular in shape, an instrument which may be considered rather as constituting the transition of the lyre into the harp. The harp was especially popular in central and northern Europe, and was the favourite instrument of the German and Celtic bards and of the Scandinavian skalds. In the next illustration (Fig. 29) from the manuscript of the monastery of St. Blasius twelve strings and two sound-holes are given to it. A harp similar in form and size, but without the front pillar, was known to the ancient Egyptians. Perhaps the addition was also non-existent in the earliest specimens appertaining to European nations; and a sculptured figure of a small harp constructed like the ancient eastern harp has been discovered in the old church of Ullard in the county of Kilkenny. This curious relic, which is said to date from a period anterior to the year 800, is illustrated in Bunting’s “Ancient Music of Ireland.” As Bunting was the first who drew attention to this sculpture his account of it may interest the reader. “The drawing,” he says, “is taken from one of the ornamental compartments of a sculptured cross, at the old church of Ullard. From the style of the workmanship, as well as from the worn condition of the cross, it seems older than the similar monument at Monasterboice which is known to have been set up before the year 830. The sculpture is rude; the circular rim which binds the arms of the cross together is not pierced in the quadrants, and many of the figures originally in relievo are now wholly abraded. It is difficult to determine whether the number of strings represented is six or seven; but, as has been already remarked, accuracy in this respect cannot be expected either in sculptures or in many picturesque drawings.” The Finns had a harp (_harpu_, _kantele_) with a similar frame, devoid of a front pillar, still in use until the commencement of the last century.

One of the most interesting stringed instruments of the middle ages is the _rotta_ (German, _Rotte_; English, _rote_). It was sounded by twanging the strings, and also by the application of the bow. The first method was, of course, the elder one. There can hardly be a doubt that when the bow came into use it was applied to certain popular instruments which previously had been treated like the _cithara_ or the _psalterium_. The Hindus at the present day use their _suroda_ sometimes as a lute and sometimes as a fiddle. In some measure we do the same with the violin by playing occasionally _pizzicato_. The rotta from the manuscript of St. Blasius is called in Gerbert’s work _cithara teutonica_, while the harp is called _cithara anglica_; from which it would appear that the former was regarded as pre-eminently a German instrument. Possibly its name may have been originally _chrotta_ and the continental nations may have adopted it from the Celtic races of the British isles, dropping the guttural sound. This hypothesis is, however, one of those which have been advanced by some musical historians without any satisfactory evidence.

In the _rotta_ the ancient Asiatic lyre is easily to be recognized. An illumination of king David playing the _rotta_ forms the frontispiece of a manuscript of the eighth century preserved in the cathedral library of Durham; it is musically interesting inasmuch as it represents a _rotta_ of an oblong square shape like that just noticed and resembling the Welsh _crwth_. It has only five strings which the performer twangs with his fingers. Again, a very interesting representation of the Psalmist with a kind of _rotta_ occurs in a manuscript of the tenth century, in the British Museum (Vitellius F.XI.). The manuscript was much injured by a fire in the year 1731; but Professor Westwood has succeeded, with great care, and with the aid of a magnifying glass, in making out the lines of the figure. As it has been ascertained that the psalter is written in the Irish semiuncial character it is highly probable that the kind of _rotta_ represents the Irish _cionar cruit_, which was played by twanging the strings and also by the application of a bow. Unfortunately we possess no well-authenticated representation of the Welsh _crwth_ of an early period; otherwise we should in all probability find it played with the fingers, or with a plectrum. Venantius Fortunatus, an Italian who lived in the second half of the sixth century, mentions in a poem the “Chrotta Britanna.” He does not, however, allude to the bow, and there is no reason to suppose that it existed in England. Howbeit, the Welsh _crwth_ (Anglo-Saxon, _crudh_; English, _crowd_) is only known as a species of fiddle closely resembling the _rotta_, but having a fingerboard in the middle of the open frame and being strung with only a few strings; while the _rotta_ had sometimes above twenty strings. As it may interest the reader to examine the form of the modern _crwth_ we give an illustration of it (Fig. 30). Edward Jones, in his “Musical and poetical relicks of the Welsh bards,” records that the Welsh had before this kind of _crwth_ a three-stringed one called “Crwth Trithant,” which was, he says, “a sort of violin, or more properly a rebeck.” The three-stringed _crwth_ was chiefly used by the inferior class of bards; and was probably the Moorish fiddle which is still the favourite instrument of the itinerant bards of the Bretons in France, who call it _rébek_. The Bretons, it will be remembered, are close kinsmen of the Welsh.

A player on the _crwth_ or _crowd_ (a crowder) from a bas-relief on the under part of the seats of the choir in Worcester cathedral dates from the latter part of the fourteenth century.[5] It was probably identical with the _rotta_ of the same century on the continent.

An interesting drawing of an Anglo-Saxon fiddle――or _fithele_, as it was called――is given in a manuscript of the eleventh century in the British Museum (Cotton, Tiberius, c. 6). The instrument is of a pear shape, with four strings, and the bridge is not indicated. A German fiddle of the ninth century, called _lyra_, copied by Gerbert from the manuscripts of St. Blasius, has only one string. Other records of the employment of the fiddle-bow in Germany in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries are not wanting. For instance, in the famous “Nibelungenlied” Volker is described as wielding the fiddle-bow not less dexterously than the sword. And in “Chronicon picturatum Brunswicense” of the year 1203, the following miraculous sign is recorded as having occurred in the village of Ossemer: “On Wednesday in Whitsunweek, while the parson was fiddling to his peasants who were dancing, there came a flash of lightning and struck the parson’s arm which held the fiddle-bow, and killed twenty-four people on the spot.”

Among the oldest representations of performers on instruments of the violin kind found in England those deserve to be noticed which are painted on the interior of the roof of Peterborough Cathedral. They are said to date from the twelfth century. One of these figures is particularly interesting on account of the surprising resemblance which his instrument bears to our present violin. Not only the incurvations on the sides of the body but also the two sound-holes are nearly identical in shape with those made at the present day. Respecting the reliance to be placed on such evidence, it is necessary to state that the roof, originally constructed between the years 1177 and 1194, was thoroughly repaired in the year 1835. Although we find it asserted that “the greatest care was taken to retain every part, or to restore it to its original state, so that the figures, even where retouched, are in effect the same as when first painted,” it nevertheless remains a debatable question whether the restorers have not admitted some slight alterations, and have thereby somewhat modernised the appearance of the instruments. A slight touch with the brush at the sound-holes, the screws, or the curvatures would suffice to produce modifications which might to the artist appear as being only a renovation of the original representation, but which to the musical investigator greatly impair the value of the evidence. Sculptures are, therefore, more to be relied upon in evidence than frescoes.

VIII.

EUROPEAN INSTRUMENTS OF THE MIDDLE AGES. (_Continued._)

The construction of the _organistrum_ (Fig. 31) requires but little 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.

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_.

The most important wind instrument――in fact, the king of all the musical instruments――is the organ.

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).

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.

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.

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).