Fig. 61.—Virginal. Formerly belonging to Queen Elizabeth. Italian. Second half of 16th century. H. 8½ in., L. 65 in., D. 23 in. No. 19-’87.
Victoria and Albert Museum.
Fig. 62.—Virginal. Bears the arms of William, Duke of Cleves, Berg and Jülich, Count of La Marck and Ravensberg, and originally also Duke of Guelderland (b. 1516, d. 1592). Flemish. Second half of 16th century. H. 16 in., W. 67 in., D. 28 in. No. 447-’96.
Victoria and Albert Museum.
At the present day the people twang the bûche with a quill; but in olden time it was played thus:—The performer, having placed the instrument on a table, twanged the strings with the thumb of his right hand, while he used his left hand in pressing down, by means of a little stick, those strings which are placed over the frets, and which, being tuned in unison, serve for producing the melody. The other strings, tuned a fifth lower, were occasionally struck as an accompaniment.
Primitive in construction, and imperfect for our present musical performances as the Scheitholz is, it nevertheless is interesting, not only on account of its popularity three centuries ago, but also because it is the prototype of the horizontal cither, which has come somewhat into vogue in the last century.
The most popular instruments played with a bow, in the seventeenth century, were the treble-viol, the tenor-viol, and the bass-viol. It was usual for viol players to have “a chest of viols,” a case containing four or more viols, of different sizes. Thus, Thomas Mace in his directions for the use of the viol, “Musick’s Monument” 1676, remarks, “Your best provision, and most complete, will be a good chest of viols, six in number, viz., two basses, two tenors, and two trebles, all truly and proportionately suited.” The violist, to be properly furnished with his requirements, had therefore to supply himself with a larger stock of instruments than the violinist of the present day.
The virginal ([Figs. 61] and [62]) is said to have obtained its name from having been intended especially to be played by young ladies. The statement of some writers that it was called virginal in compliment to Queen Elizabeth, is refuted by the fact of its being mentioned among the musical instruments of King Henry VIII., in the
beginning of the sixteenth century. Probably the name was originally given to it in honour of the Virgin Mary, since the virginal was used by the nuns for accompanying their hymns addressed to the Holy Virgin. It was made of various sizes, but generally small in comparison with our square pianoforte. The Italians, about three hundred years ago, constructed a small portable instrument of this kind, which they called ottavino (or octavina) because its pitch was an octave higher than that of the clavicembalo, or harpsichord.
Queen Elizabeth was a performer on the virginal (see [Fig. 61]) as well as on the lute. Sir James Melville, the Scotch ambassador, records in his memoirs an interview with Queen Elizabeth, in the year 1564, in which he heard her play upon the virginal:—"Then sche asked wither the Quen (Mary of Scotland) or sche played best. In that I gaif hir the prayse.” During the Shakesperian age a virginal generally stood in the barbers’ shops for the amusement of the customers. The instrument had evidently retained its popularity at the time of the Great Fire of London; for Pepys (Diary, September 2nd, 1666) records:—"River full of lighters and boats taking in goods, and good goods swimming in the water; and only I observed that hardly one lighter or boat in three that had the goods of a house in, but there was a pair of virginalls in it."