Musical Myths and Facts Volume I Part 5

[3] 'Notes and Queries on Anthropology, for the Use of Travellers and Residents in Uncivilized Lands. Drawn up by a Committee appointed by the British a.s.sociation for the Advancement of Science. London, 1874.'

[4] The book contains the note: "The Council of the Anthropological Inst.i.tute of Great Britain and Ireland will be glad to receive any communications relating to the queries contained in this volume.

Communications to be addressed to the Secretary, 4, St. Martin's Place, Trafalgar Square, London." It is understood that a certain number of copies of the book will be gratuitously distributed by the committee to English consular agents, naval officers, missionaries, and others who are likely to turn them to good account.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

COLLECTIONS OF MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

In Thibet, and other Asiatic countries in which the Buddhist religion is established, variously-constructed musical instruments are generally deposited in a certain part of the temple, to be at hand for the priests when required in ceremonies and processions. In examining the a.s.syrian bas-reliefs in the British Museum, we are led to surmise that a similar custom prevailed in Western Asia before the Christian era. At any rate, it appears probable that the various instruments represented in the hands of musicians who a.s.sisted in religious rites observed by the king were usually deposited in a room appropriated to their reception. The same appears to have been the case in the Temple of Jerusalem. King David had, it is recorded, musical instruments made of a wood called _berosh_, which afterwards, under the reign of Solomon, were made of _algum_, or _almug_, a more precious wood imported from foreign districts. King Solomon, being in possession of superior instruments, probably preserved the inferior ones of his father as venerated memorials; and the _kinnor_ upon which David played before Saul may have been as carefully guarded by King Solomon as the Emperor of Germany guards in his cabinet of curiosities the flute of Frederick the Great.

Howbeit, Josephus records that Solomon had made for the musical performances at the dedication of the Temple a large number of stringed instruments and trumpets, all of which were kept together in the Temple with the treasures. It is not likely that at so early a period collections of antiquated instruments were formed for any scientific purpose; the art of music was too much in its infancy to suggest the preservation of evidences elucidating its gradual development.

The collections of ancient and scarce musical instruments which, in modern time, have been made in several European countries are very interesting to the lover of music, although they have, in most instances, evidently been formed less with the object of ill.u.s.trating the history of the art of music than for the purpose of preserving curious and tasteful relics of bygone time, or of exhibiting characteristic contrivances of foreign nations.

In Italy some of the Conservatories of Music possess antiquated instruments of great rarity. Curious old spinets, lutes, mandolines, and guitars, are said to be found dispersed among private families and in convents, especially in Naples and its vicinity. In the Liceo Comunale di Musica, at Bologna, are deposited above fifty instruments, among which are an Italian cither (_cetera_) of the beginning of the sixteenth century; an archlute by "Hieronymus Brensius, Bonon" (Bologna); a chitarrone, by "Matteo Selles, alla Corona in Venetia, 1639;" a chitarrone inscribed "In Padova Uvendelio Veneto, 1609;" a theorbo by "Hans Frei in Bologna, 1597;" a lute by "Magno Stegher in Venetia." A lute, "Magno Dieffopruchar a Venetia, 1612." This lute has fourteen strings arranged in seven pairs, each pair being tuned in unison.

Several marine trumpets, one of which bears the inscription, "Pieter Rombouts, Amsterdam, 17." A viola da gamba, inscribed "Antonius Bononiensis." A sordino, or pochette, by "Baptista Bressano," supposed to date from the end of the fifteenth century. Its shape is peculiar, somewhat resembling that of the Portuguese _machete_, representing a fish. A viola d'amore, with the inscription "Mattias Grieser, Lauten and Geigenmacher in Insbrugg, Anno 1727;" two curious old harps; an old tenor flute, measuring in length about three feet; some curious double flutes; cornetti, or zinken, of different dimensions. An archicembalo.

This is a kind of harpsichord with four rows of keys, made after the invention of Nicolo Vicentino, and described in his work "L'Antica Musica ridotta alla moderna prattica. Rome, 1555." The compa.s.s of this archicembalo comprises only four octaves; but each octave is divided into thirty-one intervals, forming in all one hundred and twenty-five keys. It was made by Vito Trasuntino, a Venetian, who lived towards the end of the sixteenth century, and who added a _tetracordo_ to it, to facilitate the tuning of its minute intervals. However, the archicembalo was probably not the first instrument of the harpsichord kind which contained an enharmonic arrangement of intervals. The clavicymbalum perfectum, or Universal-clavicymbel, which Praetorius states he saw in Prague, and which was likewise made in the sixteenth century, was of a similar construction. One of the most singular instruments in the collection of the Liceo Comunale de Musica at Bologna is the _cornamusa_, which consists of five pipes inserted into a cross-tube, through which they are sounded. Four of the pipes serve as drones; and the fifth, which is the largest, is provided with finger-holes, like the chanter of a bagpipe. The instrument has, however, no bag, although it is probably the predecessor of the species of bagpipe called _cornamusa_.

Instruments played with a bow of the celebrated Cremona makers are at the present day more likely to be met with in England than in Italy. In the beginning of the present century Luigi Tarisio, an Italian by birth, and a great connoisseur and collector of old violins, hunted over all Italy and other European countries for old fiddles. To avoid the high custom dues which he would have had to pay on the old instruments, he took them all to pieces, as small as possible, and carried the bits about him in his pockets and in a bag under his arm. So thoroughly was he acquainted with his acquisitions that, having arrived at the place of his destination, he soon restored them to their former condition, a.s.signing to each fragment its original position. Tarisio made his first appearance in Paris, in the year 1827, with a bag full of valuable _debris_ from Italy; and he continued his searches for nearly thirty years. During this time he imported into France most of the beautiful violins by Antonius Stradiuarius, Joseph Guarnerius, Bergonzi, Montagnana, and Ruggeri, which are of highest repute, and the greater number of which have afterwards found their way into England.

In Germany we meet with several collections of interest. The Museum of Antiquities, at Berlin, contains, among other musical curiosities, well-preserved lyres which have been found in tombs of the ancient Egyptians. The Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde ("Society of Lovers of Music"), at Vienna, possesses a collection of antiquated instruments, among which are noteworthy: a viola di bardone by Jacobus Stainer, 1660; a viola di bardone by Magnus Feldlen, Vienna, 1556; a viola di bardone by H. Kramer, Vienna, 1717; a viola d'amore by Weigert, Linz, 1721; a viola d'amore by Joannes Schorn, Salzburg, 1699; a tromba marina (marine trumpet) by J. Fischer, Landshut, 1722; a lute by Leonardo Tieffenbrucker, Padua, 1587; a theorbo by Wenger, Padua, 1622; a theorbo by Ba.s.siano, Rome, 1666; a Polish cither by J. Schorn, Salzburg, 1696; a large flute made in the year 1501; an old German schalmey (English _shalm_ or _shawm_) by Sebastian Koch; an old German trumpet by Schnitzer, Nurnberg, 1598; an oboe d'amore, made about the year 1770, etc.

A curious a.s.semblage of scarce relics of this kind is also to be found in the Museum of the Germanic Society at Nurnberg. The most noteworthy specimens in this collection are: two marine trumpets, fifteenth century; a German cither with a double neck (bijuga-cither) sixteenth century; a German dulcimer (_hackbret_), sixteenth century; a lute by Michael Harton, Padua, 1602; a viola da gamba by Paul Hiltz, Nurnberg, 1656; a viola d'amore, with five catgut strings, and eight sympathetic wire strings, seventeenth century; an arpanetta (_harpanetta_, German _spitzharfe_) mounted on one side with bra.s.s wire, and on the opposite side with steel wire, sixteenth century; a clavecin with finely painted cover, by Martinus van der Biest, Antwerp, 1580; two German zinken (_cornetti_) sixteenth century; two specimens of the bombardo, viz., a German alt-pommer and tenor-pommer, by J. C. Denner, seventeenth century; some specimens of the cormorne (German _krummhorn_) of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries; a trumpet made by J. C. Kodisch, Nurnberg, anno 1690; a splendid bra.s.s trombone (German ba.s.s-posaune) ornamented with the German eagle and imperial crown, made by Friedrich Ehe, in Nurnberg, anno 1612; a Polish bagpipe, seventeenth century; a syrinx of reeds covered with black leather, sixteenth century; eight military pipes, made by H. F. Kynsker, in Nurnberg, seventeenth century; a small portable organ (_regal_) with two rows of keys, sixteenth century. The regal has become very scarce. There are only a few specimens known to be in existence; one, of the sixteenth century, is in the possession of the Chanoinesses de Berlaimont, at Brussels; another, made about the middle of the seventeenth century, belongs to the Duke of Athol, and is at Blair Athol, in Scotland; another, which belongs to Mr. Wyndham S.

Portal, Malshanger, Basingstoke, is in the shape of a book, and its pipes have reeds, or vibrating tongues of metal. This regal, which probably dates from the sixteenth century, is of the kind which was called in German _Bibelregal_, because it resembles a Bible in appearance.

Old musical instruments are generally so fragile, and were formerly thought so little of when they came out of use, that it is perhaps not surprising to find of those dating from a period earlier than the sixteenth century very few specimens, and these have generally been altered, and it is seldom that they have been properly restored to their original condition. As an instance how valuable specimens are gradually becoming more and more scarce, may be mentioned the interesting collection of obsolete German harps, pipes, and trumpets, dating from a period anterior to the year 1600, which was preserved in the Town Library of Stra.s.sburg, and which, at the recent bombardment of the town, was reduced to ashes. It contained, among other curiosities: a cornetto curvo; some specimens of the cornetto dritto; a flauto dolce. Several specimens of the bombardone, the predecessor of the ba.s.soon; a dulcinum f.a.gotto; two specimens of the cormorne, an oddly-shaped wind instrument belonging to the shalm or oboe family. An arpanetta. This instrument, called in German _spitzharfe_ or _drathharfe_, is especially interesting, inasmuch as it resembles the old Irish harp called _keirnine_, which was of a similar form, and which was also strung with wire instead of catgut. There is such a harp extant in the museum of the Society of Lovers of Music, at Vienna, before-mentioned.

If the lumber-rooms of old castles and mansions in Germany were ransacked for the purpose, some interesting relics of the kind would probably be brought to light. In the year 1872 Dr. E. Schebeck, of Prague, was requested by Prince Moriz Lobkowitz to examine the musical instruments preserved in Eisenberg, a castle of the Prince, situated at the foot of the Erzgebirge, in Bohemia. Most of them had formerly been used in the private orchestra kept by Prince Josef Franz Maximilian Lobkowitz, the well-known patron of Beethoven, to whom the composer has dedicated some of his great works. The present Prince Lobkowitz, who seems to have inherited his parent's love for music, wished to have an examination of the instruments, with the object of making a selection of the most interesting ones for the great Vienna Exhibition in 1873. Dr.

Schebeck found, among other rarities, violins by Gaspar di Salo, Amati, Grancino, Techler, Stainer, and Albani; a violoncello by Andreas Guarnerius; a scarce specimen of a double-ba.s.s by Jacobus Stainer; two precious old lutes by Laux Maler, who lived at Bologna during the first half of the fifteenth century; a lute, highly finished, and apparently as old as those of Laux Maler, with the inscription in the inside "Marx Unverdorben a Venetia;" a lute, with the inscription "Magno Dieffoprukhar a Venetia, 1607." There can be no doubt that we have here the Italianised name of the German Magnus Tieffenbrucker, who lived in Italy.[5]

Fortunately for musical antiquarians the collection of rare instruments in the Conservatoire de Musique at Paris has been preserved uninjured during the recent disasters in that city. Among the instruments may be noticed, a small and beautiful musette with drones of ivory and gold, which belonged to Louis XIII.; a German regal, or portable organ, sixteenth century; a pochette by Stradiuarius; a _courtaud_, an early kind of ba.s.soon, dating from the fifteenth century; several ba.s.s-flutes, and other rare old wind instruments; Boeldieu's pianoforte; Gretry's clavichord; a "Trumpet of Honour," which was made by order of Napoleon I., and which has the name of "T. Harper" engraven on its silver rim. M. Victor Schoelcher has presented to the Conservatoire de Musique about twenty rather primitive instruments of uncivilised nations obtained by him during his travels in Western Africa and South America, among which may be noted several Negro contrivances of the harp and guitar kind.

An interesting catalogue of the instruments in the Musee du Conservatoire National de Musique has recently been published by Gustave Chouquet, the curator of the museum. It comprises 630 instruments, or portions of instruments, each fiddle-bow, mute, etc., being separately numbered. On the whole, the Paris collection, though large, is far less valuable than that of the South Kensington Museum.

One of the most valuable private collections ever formed of ancient musical instruments was that of M. Louis Clap.i.s.son in Paris. During a course of more than twenty years M. Louis Clap.i.s.son succeeded in procuring a considerable number of scarce and highly decorated specimens of instruments of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The collection has been dispersed since the death of its owner; a large portion of it is now incorporated with the collection of the Conservatoire de Musique at Paris, and some of its most valuable specimens were secured for the South Kensington Museum. It was, however, so unique that the following short survey of its contents will probably be welcome to the archaeological musician.

Clap.i.s.son's collection comprised (according to the catalogue of its contents which was published in French, and which is now scarce) 167 instruments. Among them are especially noteworthy:--A clavecin (or harpsichord) with two rows of keys, dated 1612; embellished with paintings which date from the time of Louis XIV. In front is a painting by Teniers, and in the inside are some fine paintings by Paul Brill. An Italian spinet of the time of Louis XIV., embellished with paintings of garlands of flowers, cupids, etc., attributed to Poussin. The fine carving and the ornamentation of engraved amber on this spinet give it a stamp of originality. An Italian spinet, bearing the inscription "Francisci di Portalvpis Veronen opus, 1523," of ebony inlaid with ivory. An Italian spinet of the sixteenth century, ornamented with marquetry of various coloured woods. The corners of the key-board are adorned with caryatides finely carved in box-wood. A travelling spinet made in the shape of a mail-trunk dating from the time of Henri II. It is signed "Marins," which is the name of a celebrated manufacturer of that period. A clavecin made in France in the year 1657, ornamented with paintings and with marquetry of ivory, with the arms of the family of Pierre di Dreux (called Mauclere), Duke of Bretagne, who lived about the year 1250. An Italian dulcimer of wood carved and gilt, dating from the seventeenth century. It is tastefully inlaid with slips of silvered gla.s.s. A French dulcimer of the time of Louis XIV., with twisted columns of wood carved and gilt, and with paintings of flowers and birds. A French dulcimer, or timpanon, of the time of Louis XIII., ornamented with roses neatly carved in wood. The instrument is in a case, which is ornamented with paintings and inlaid slips of silvered gla.s.s. A French dulcimer of carved wood, ornamented with slips of engraved Venetian gla.s.s, with turquoises, and with paintings on _Vernis Martin_. A sonorous stone from China, in the form of a fish. A French harp, of the time of Louis XV., gilt and carved with flowers and paintings in relief.

A harp of the time of Louis XVI., having belonged to the Princesse de Lamballe, whose name is engraven on it. It is finely painted with medallions on _Vernis Martin_. A theorbo of the time of Louis XIII., inlaid with designs in ivory. Engraven on it is the coat of arms of the House of Austria; also a portrait, and the device _Non omnes_. A French guitar made, according to an inscription, by Voboam, a celebrated lute-maker at the court of Louis XIV. It is made in the figure of a tortoise, the body being of tortoise-sh.e.l.l, and the head, feet and tail of coloured enamel. A French guitar of the time of Louis XIII., inlaid with ivory, on which are engraven subjects of the chase. A French guitar of the time of Louis XIII., inlaid with ivory engraved with mythological subjects. An Italian mandoline of citron-wood inlaid with mother-of-pearl, engraven with figures. An Italian mandoline, ornamented with marquetry, mother-of-pearl, and carving; a.s.signed to Stradiuarius.

A French mandoline of the time of Louis XVI., with the arms of the Dauphin inlaid with mother-of-pearl. A small Italian mandoline with three strings. A mandora of the time of Henri II., inlaid with broad strips of ivory, and with _fleurs de lys_ in ebony. A French hurdy-gurdy (or _vielle_) of the time of Louis XIV., made of box-wood and citron-wood, carved, and ornamented with medallions of mother-of-pearl and with turquoises; formerly the property of Madame Adelade. A French hurdy-gurdy by Louvet, dated 1750; tastefully ornamented. A small hurdy-gurdy for the use of ladies, made in France during the period of Louis XVI. This _vielle_, elegant in form and tastefully inlaid with ivory, bears the inscription "Delaunay." A Hungarian violin, made in Presburg, inlaid with marquetry of various coloured woods. A small violin by Jacobus Stainer, inlaid with ornaments in silver, including the coat of arms of France; with a finely-carved head of a faun. A French _quinton_, or five-stringed viol, made by Guersan, in 1755. A viola da gamba, with a finely-carved head representing an angel bandaging the eyes of a female. A small viola da gamba of the kind on which the French ladies used to play at the time of Louis XIII. A pochette by Stradiuarius, known to be genuine. A pochette of the sixteenth century, of engraved ivory and ebony, inlaid with precious stones. A pochette of ivory and coloured woods, dating from the period of Louis XIII., and bearing the inscription "Marins." A crystal flute, the invention of Laurent; silver keys enriched with amethysts. A small Italian double-flute of ivory, made by Anciuti in Milan, anno 1722. An oboe of ivory, carved by Anciuti in Milan, beginning of the eighteenth century. A French oboe of ebony, inlaid with ivory, tortoise-sh.e.l.l, and enriched with gold and precious stones; of the time of Louis XIII. A small French oboe of the time of Louis XIV., made of ivory, with three silver keys. A French _musette_ (a species of bagpipe with bellows); the pipes of ivory; twenty-one silver keys; the bag ornamented with embroidery in gold. This fine _musette_ dates from the period of Louis XV. A small French _musette_ of ivory, with silver keys, having belonged to the painter Vanloo. A _cornemuse bretonne_ (bagpipe of Brittany) of the time of Louis XIII. A trumpet of the time of Henri IV., ornamented with embossed _fleurs de lys_ and with the portrait of Henri IV., surrounded by b.u.t.terflies. A serpent of the sixteenth century, made of wood, with the carved head of a demon finely executed.

Turning to Belgium, we again meet with some interesting collections. M.

Fetis, the well-known musician, had a number of Eastern instruments procured from Egypt, to enable him to familiarise himself with the Arabic tonal system, which essentially differs from our own, but which undoubtedly is of much higher antiquity, and therefore of particular interest to the musical historian. After the death of Fetis, his collection was purchased by the Belgian Government. Dr. Burney, who visited Antwerp in the year 1772, records in his journal that he saw in a public edifice of the town, called Oosters Huys, a large number of wind instruments of a peculiar construction. "There are," he says, "between thirty and forty of the common flute kind, but different in some particulars--having, as they increase in length, keys and crooks, like hautbois and ba.s.soons. They were made at Hamburg, and all of one sort of wood, and by one maker, 'Casper Ravchs Scratenbach,' was engraved on a bra.s.s ring or plate, which encircled most of these instruments. The large ones have bra.s.s plates pierced, and some with human figures well engraved on them. These last are longer than a ba.s.soon would be if unfolded. The inhabitants say that it is more than a hundred years since these instruments were used, and that there is no musician at present in the town who knows how to play on any one of them, as they are quite different from those now [in the year 1772] in common use. In times when commerce flourished in this city these instruments used to be played on every day by a band of musicians, who attended the merchants trading to the Hanse Towns in procession to the Exchange."

No doubt there are some curious old harpsichords and lutes still to be found in Belgium and in the Netherlands--countries in former times distinguished for the cultivation of the art of music. Besides, the connection of the Netherlands with Asia has facilitated the acquisition of curious instruments from the East, a number of which may be seen deposited in the Museum at the Hague.

A glance at a collection made by a musical amateur, during the seventeenth century, is sure to interest the musical antiquarian. The collector, Jean-Baptiste Dandeleu, a man of position and property in Brussels, died in the year 1667. Among his effects were the following instruments, the list of which is here literally transcribed as it was written at the time of his decease:--"Une orgue, que l'on dit avoir appertenu a feu l'archiduq (de glorieuse memoire), et couste trois milles florins.--Une espinette organisee.--Un coffre dans lequel y a neuf violes de gambes d'accord.--Encor une vieille viole de gambes.--Six corps de luths ou thiorbes dans des vieilles caisses.--Une mandore aussy dans sa caisse.--Une autre pet.i.t instrument en forme de poire avec le col rompu, ou decolle.--Une caisse doublee de baye rouge, dans la quelle y a six fluttes rares d'accord, qui sont de bouys, avec leurs escorces et noeuds.--Une cornette noire de musique.--Encore une flte de bouys de la longueur d'environ un pied dans une caisse noire.--Trois caisses avec diverses fltes de bouys grandes et pet.i.tes d'accord, entre les quelles aucunes manquent.--Encor six fltes semblables, que l'on croid estre celles qui manquent cy-dessus.--Encor une grande flte, ou pippe noire.--Un violon dans sa caisse.--Un cistre aussy dans sa caisse.--Un instrument rare pour sa structure a metre les livres des musiciens dessus pour un concert de musique.--Cincq pet.i.ts lesseniers."

Most of the instruments in this collection were undoubtedly manufactured about the period in which they are mentioned. However, as regards lutes and viols, preference was given already as early as the seventeenth century to old ones, if they were the work of good makers. Thus, the lutes of Laux Maler, dating from the beginning of the fifteenth century--"pittifull old, batter'd, crack'd things," as Thomas Mace calls them in his 'Musick's Monument,' London, 1676--fetched as much as a hundred pounds apiece. "I have often seen," Mace remarks, "lutes of three or four pounds price far more ill.u.s.trious and taking to a common eye.... First know that an old lute is better than a new one." Thus also with viols: "We chiefly value old instruments before new; for by experience they are found to be far the best." The improvement by age he reasonably attributes to the circ.u.mstance that "the pores of the wood have a more and free liberty to move, stir, or secretly vibrate; by which means the air--which is the life of all things, both animate and inanimate--has a more free and easie recourse to pa.s.s and repa.s.s."

An interesting collection of antiquated musical instruments has been made by M. Cesar Snoeck, of Renaix, in Belgium. It comprises among other rarities:--A small virginal bearing the inscription: "Paulus Steinicke me fecit, Anno 1657." A harpanetta, seventeenth century. A _cetera_ or Italian cither, seventeenth century. The top terminates in a finely-carved figure, and the body is flattened towards the lower end.

This interesting instrument is of the kind which the Italian _improvisatori_ used for accompanying the voice. An a.s.semblage of specimens, varying in size, of the German, or perhaps Dutch, zinken.

These quaint-looking flute-trumpets, although blown through a mouth-tube somewhat similar to that of the trumpet, have finger-holes like a flute.

They probably were made about the year 1700. A tenor-flute and three ba.s.s-flutes, probably of the seventeenth century.

The munic.i.p.ality of Ghent, in Belgium, possesses silver trumpets which were made in the fifteenth century. It will be remembered from the biblical records (Numbers, x., 2) that Moses constructed two trumpets entirely of silver. Neither was the use of the trumpet for strategical purposes unknown to the Hebrews, as is evidenced by Gideon's employment of the instrument (Judges, vii.). There is an old German treatise, quaintly ent.i.tled 'Versuch einer Anleitung zur heroisch-musikalischen Trompeter-und Pauker-Kunst' ("An Attempt at a Guide to the heroic-musical Art of the Trumpeter and the Kettle-Drummer"), written by Johann Ernst Altenburg, Halle, 1795, which contains some interesting accounts concerning the various occasions on which the trumpet was formerly used in different European countries, at Court ceremonies and public festivities, as well as in war. Altenburg, who himself was a distinguished military trumpeter, and, no doubt, also a brave warrior, remarks: "Awful and terrible is the sound of the trumpet when it announces the near approach of the enemy; or when the enemy demands by trumpet-signal the surrender of a beleaguered town; or when he storms and enters the town with the blare of the trumpet of war! Likewise, the signal of alarm produces an uneasy impression upon a weaker corps when surprised and surrounded by a stronger corps. However, by means of this uncommon music, which has been made use of by many as a stratagem in olden time and at the present day, often important conquests have also resulted. During the Seven Years' War, in which I took part, it happened during a dark night that a large body of the enemy's troops nearly succeeded in surprising and cutting off one of our corps which was much smaller and weaker; but we, modifying the signals of our trumpets so as to make them appear to come from different quarters and from long distances, succeeded in intimidating the enemy, so that he suddenly turned and fled, believing that we were receiving succour."

This may be the place to notice a fine collection of old trumpets in the possession of Prince Charles of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen. They were made by Johann Leonard Ehe, in Nurnberg; Hieronymus Stark, in Nurnberg, anno 1669; Christopher Frank, Magnus Wolf, Wilhelm Haas, anno 1688.

Pa.s.sing over the Royal Museum of Northern Antiquities at Copenhagen, which contains highly curious specimens of the old Scandinavian bra.s.s trumpet called _lure_--especially interesting if compared with the bronze trumpets of mediaeval time excavated from bogs or mosses in Ireland, and now preserved in the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy at Dublin--we now proceed to a cursory survey of the musical antiquities in the museums of London.

The British Museum possesses several instruments, or fragments of instruments, of the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, and old Celtic trumpets which have been found in Ireland. In the ethnological department of the British Museum are particularly noteworthy:--The specimens of Chinese instruments brought over to England by Mr.

Tradescant Lay; those from Siam, obtained by Sir John Bowring; those from Java, obtained by Sir Stamford Raffles; a considerable number of flutes, including nose-flutes, and of trumpets, from Otaheite, Tongataboo, and New Zealand; well-preserved drums from the Polynesian Islands; serpent-headed drums of the natives of New Guinea; Negro instruments from Western Africa, etc.

The Museum of the East India House, in London, contains upwards of 120 musical instruments, mostly from Hindustan and Burmah, some of which are very fine, but many are out of repair. An a.s.semblage of curious pipes, trumpets, and drums of the Polynesians, as well as fiddles of the Hottentots and Kafirs in Southern Africa, may be seen in the Museum of the London Missionary Society. Furthermore, the Botanical Museum at Kew possesses several interesting contrivances of this kind, made of peculiar species of wood by Indian tribes in South America.

The collection of musical instruments belonging to the South Kensington Museum is now, as far as is known, the most comprehensive in existence.

The latest edition of its catalogue, published in the year 1874, describes 353 instruments, of which 246 belong to the Museum, and 107 are on loan. The catalogue contains 143 wood-engravings and six photographs of instruments, and is preceded by an essay on the history of musical instruments. A glance at its comprehensive index will perhaps convey to the reader the impression that it takes cognizance of almost every musical instrument in the world. This is, however, by no means the case. Even an account of all our own instruments in use at the present day would fill a large volume. But, endeavour has been made to render the catalogue as comprehensive as is consistent with its object, and the reader will find in it ill.u.s.trations and descriptions of most of the instruments mentioned in the present essay.

There have been some curious lists preserved of musical instruments which belonged to English amateur musicians, and which were sold, after the death of the owner, at public auctions.

The collection of musical instruments which belonged to King Henry VIII.

appears to have been remarkably comprehensive and valuable. An inventory of its contents was compiled by Philip van Wilder, a Dutch lute-player in the service of the king. The ma.n.u.script of this inventory is preserved in the British Museum. Among the instruments entered are:--Two paier of clavicordes.--A payre of new long virginalls made harp-fas.h.i.+on, of Cipres, with keys of ivory, having the King's arms crowned and supported by His Grace's beastes within a garter gilt, standing over the keys.--Gitterons which are called Spanish vialles.--Flutes called Pilgrims' staves.--A great base recorder. Two base recorders of walnut.

Pipes of ivory or wood, called cornets.

In 'The History and Antiquities of Hengrave, Suffolk, by John Gage, London, 1822,' are recorded among the effects of Sir Thomas Kytson of Hengrave Hall, about the year 1600:--Six viols in a chest. Six violins in a chest. Lutes. Citterns. Bandoras. Seven recorders in a case.

Hautboys. A curtall. Cornets. A lezarden. A pair of little virginals. A pair of double virginals. A wind-instrument like a virginal. A pair of double organs.

The "curtall" was probably the French _courtaud_ mentioned previously, page 37; and the "lezarden" was probably similar to the _serpent_, an old wind-instrument mentioned in page 41.

Among the English private collections about two centuries ago deserves to be noticed one which was formed by Thomas Britton, the small-coal man. This extraordinary musical amateur, born in the year 1656 of poor parents in Northamptons.h.i.+re, set out for London while still a lad to gain his living. After various vicissitudes he succeeded in his project by becoming a seller of small-coal. During the day he wandered through the streets carrying a sack of coals on his back, and crying them for sale. In the evening he practised his viol, and studied the theory of music. Moreover, he was as fond of studying chemistry as he was of making music. The library of books and musical compositions which he collected from second-hand book-stalls, in his peregrinations through the streets during a period of thirty-six years, was extensive, considering his position. A list of his music-books is given in Hawkins's 'History of Music.' Thomas Britton lived in Aylesbury Street, Clerkenwell, in a hired stable converted into a dwelling-house. The ground-floor he used for the repository of his small-coal; and the room above--a long and narrow s.p.a.ce, with a ceiling so low that a tall man could but just stand upright in it--was his concert-room. Here the best musicians in London--among them Dr. Pepusch, Matthew Dubourg, the violinist, who at that time was a little boy, and Handel, during the last four years of Thomas Britton's life--were glad to perform. The fine concerts and the estimable character of Thomas Britton became soon more generally appreciated; his concerts, given gratuitously, attracted a genteel audience, among whom might be seen dukes, lords, and other persons of rank and wealth. The musical instruments of this great small-coal man, which were sold by public auction after his death in 1714, are entered in the catalogue of the sale as follows:--"A fine guitar in a case. A good dulcimer. Five instruments in the shape of fish. A curious ivory Kitt and bow in case. A good violin by Ditton.

Another very good one. One said to be a Cremona. An extraordinary Rayman. Three others ditto. One very beautiful one by Claud Pieray of Paris, as good as a Cremona. One ditto. Another very good one. Another ditto. A very good one for a high violin. Another ditto. An excellent tenor. Another ditto by Mr. Lewis. A fine viol by Baker of Oxford.

Another excellent one, bellied by Mr. Norman. Another, said to be the neatest and best that Jay ever made. A fine ba.s.s violin, new-neck'd and bellied by Mr. Norman. Another rare good one by Mr. Lewis. A good harpsichord by Philip Jones. A Rucker's virginal, thought to be the best in Europe. An organ of five stops, exactly consort pitch, fit for a room, and with some adornments may serve for any chapel, being a very good one."

The "five instruments in the shape of fish" were, probably, specimens of the _machete_, a small kind of guitar made in Portugal and Madeira, and occasionally brought to England as a curiosity. However, the _pochette_ also was sometimes made in the shape of a fish. As regards the instrument-makers mentioned in Britton's list, suffice it to state that Jacob Rayman, who lived in Southwark about the year 1640, enjoyed a reputation especially as a maker of fine violas, and that Edward Lewis, who lived in London about the year 1700, was a distinguished violin-maker. Barak Norman in London, Henry Jay in Southwark, and John Baker in Oxford, were distinguished viol-makers of the seventeenth century.

Some fine collections made in the present century by English gentlemen consisted almost entirely of Italian violins, violas and violoncellos.

It is but natural that the possessor of real or supposed works of art should feel particularly gratified when he finds them admired by persons whose judgment he has reason to esteem. Louis Spohr, in his 'Autobiography,' describes a visit which he paid to an enthusiastic musical _dilettante_ and collector of violins, in London, in the year 1820. Spohr had come over from Germany to England to give concerts, and was unacquainted with the English language. He relates: "One morning a livery-servant brought me a note containing the words: 'Mr. Spohr is requested to call upon the undersigned to-day at four o'clock precisely.' As the name of the writer was unknown to me, I answered in the same laconic manner: 'I am engaged about that time, and cannot come.' On the following morning the servant in livery brought another note, much more politely written: 'Mr. Spohr is requested to favour the undersigned with the honour of a visit, and to fix himself the time when it will be convenient for him to come.' The servant had also been desired to offer me the use of his master's carriage, and as I had meanwhile ascertained that the gentleman was a celebrated physician who habitually frequented concerts, and who took special interest in violin performances, I no longer hesitated to accept his invitation. At the time fixed by me the carriage arrived, and I drove to his house. A courteous old man, with gray hair, met me already on the stairs; but now we discovered that we could not talk together, as he spoke neither French nor German. We stood for a moment embarra.s.sed face to face, till he took me by the arm and led me into a large room, on the walls of which were hung a great number of violins. Other violins had been taken out of their cases and were placed on the tables. The Doctor gave me a violin-bow and pointed to the instruments. I now perceived that he desired to have my opinion as to the value of his fiddles. I, therefore, began at once to try one after the other, and to arrange them in a certain order, according to their merit. This was no easy task; for, there were so many, and the old gentleman brought all of them to me without missing one. When, after the lapse of an hour, I had selected the six most valuable ones, and was playing upon these alternately, to ascertain which was the best, I perceived that the Doctor cast upon one of them glances especially tender, and that whenever I touched the strings of this one with the bow his face quite brightened up. I, therefore, gladly afforded the good old man pleasure by declaring this instrument to be the most superior one of the whole collection. Highly delighted with this decision, he fetched a viola d'amore and extemporised a fantasia upon this instrument, which has long since gone out of use. I listened with pleasure, because the viola d'amore was at that time unknown to me, and the Doctor proved a by no means bad player.

Thus ended the visit to our mutual satisfaction. When I took my hat to leave, the old gentleman, with a kind smile and a deep bow, slipped a five-pound note into my hand. Surprised, I looked at the money and at the giver, not understanding at first what he meant by it; but suddenly it occurred to me that it was intended as a fee for having examined his violins. I smilingly shook my head, laid the paper on the table, pressed the Doctor's hand, and descended the stairs. He followed me to the street-door.... Some months later, when I gave my benefit-concert, the Doctor procured a ticket, for which he sent me a ten-pound note."

One of the largest private collections of this kind, more recently formed by an English musical amateur, was sold in London by auction in the year 1872, after the death of its owner, Mr. Joseph Gillott of Birmingham. It contained above 150 instruments played with a bow. Among them were two viola da gambas, by Gaspar di Salo and Barak Norman; a viola d'amore, by Bertrand, Paris, 1614; violins, violas, and violoncellos a.s.signed to Gaspar di Salo, Stradiuarius, Amati, Guarnerius, Testore, Guadagnini, Bergonzi, and other famous makers.

If, as occasionally happens, an amateur who considers himself a good judge of old violins is overreached by a dealer who professes to have but little knowledge on the subject, the transaction is simple enough.

However, the purchaser of a "splendid Amati," or an "incomparable Stradiuarius," obtained by him at a bargain, might remember that the number of violins manufactured by the famous Cremona makers is limited, and that the history of the specimens still extant is almost as traceable as the pedigree of a prince or of a racehorse. As regards the various lutes, citherns, wind instruments with reeds, etc., which were popular during the last three centuries, many of them are now so scarce as to be unknown, even to professional musicians, except to a few with an archaeological turn of mind.

It may easily be understood, that a reference to books alone does not ensure so thorough an acquaintance with the instruments as is obtainable from a careful examination of the actual specimens which are therein described. Should it interest the musician to restore to its original condition some dilapidated lute or cithern which he may happen to pick up, and to learn to play upon it according to the old method taught in some old book, he will become acquainted with niceties in the construction of the instrument, such as the peculiar arrangement of its pegs, frets, bridge, pins, and other contrivances, which are not to be learnt from books. Such knowledge of details gathered from practical experience, which at a first glance may appear unimportant, is often of great use, since it tends to throw light upon questions of more general interest relating to the history of music. Indeed, in a search after truth, every well-ascertained fact is of importance, since it serves as a solid step for progress.