There used to be in Italy various kinds of mandolines, of which the Milanese and the Neapolitan were the most common. The first-named had usually ten strings, constituting five pairs. The Neapolitan mandolino had eight strings, constituting four pairs. The strings were usually twanged with a quill. Mozart, in his “Don Giovanni,” has made use of the Neapolitan mandolino in the serenade; but, as the instrument has fallen into disuse, at least in most
countries except Italy, the part written for it by Mozart is now generally played on the violin, pizzicato. The mandolino is now often strung with catgut strings. It resembles a diminutive lute; but its fingerboard has metal frets, and its strings are fastened to little ivory pins at the end of the body, instead of being looped through holes in the bridge. The convex back of the mandoline is deeper than that of the lute. It is one of the handsomest musical instruments.
Besides the mandoline the Italians had various instruments in shape resembling the lute. Of this description are, for instance, the mandora, mandorina, and the pandurina. The mandoline differs from the pandurina chiefly in having a rounder and deeper body, and in having the tuning-pegs placed at the back of the head; while the pandurina has a sort of scroll, with the tuning-pegs situated sideways, similar to the old English cither ([Fig. 43]). The mandora had usually for each tone two strings, which were of catgut and wire; and there were eight pairs of them. The mandorina had four wire strings.
The guitar ([Fig. 44]) is evidently an importation from the East, but it has undergone various modifications since its adoption by European nations. It was an instrument of the Moors in Spain, and became known in France about the 11th century. The French called it formerly guiterne, and the English gittern, ghittern, and gythorn. At the time of Henry VIII. we find it occasionally called “the Spanish viol.” At an early period it probably had the oval shape of the kuitra, still in use by the Arab musicians in Tunis and Algiers. In Spain it had formerly also the name of vihuela.
Instruction books for the old Spanish guitar have been written by:—Ludovico Milan, Valencia, 1534; Sixtus Kargel, Mayence, 1569; Joannes Carolus, Lerida, 1626; Pietro Milioni, Rome, 1638; Lucas Ruiz de Ribayaz, Madrid, 1672, etc. The number of guitar manuals published during the 18th century is enormous. Germany alone contributed above fifty.
Fig. 43.—Pandurina. On the back is carved a group consisting of Juno, Minerva and Venus. French. Second half of 16th century. L. 16½ in., W. 4½ in. No. 219-’66.
Victoria and Albert Museum.
