The Lute is a very distinct type and equally ancient, except that we may infer it to have arisen after the Boated and the Bar types, inasmuch as it bespeaks a higher order of skill and intelligence that comprehends and grasps a musical system; the design of the instrument was conceived accidentally perhaps, but the idea of obtaining a series of sounds from proportional measurements upon one string was an advance in the mechanics of music making.
I distinguish Class III. as of the lute form or the paddle form, originating maybe, in association with the coracle, used by the man to move himself about in water-courses and lakes in his daily business of fishing. The coracle, exactly like those of ancient British build, is depicted on the Babylonian slabs.
The Egyptian name for this lute is the Nefer, so ancient is the Nefer that it is found in paintings in tombs of the VI. dynasty, B.C. 2000.
Many paintings show this little instrument, it is small and flat, is from three to four feet in length, and has from two to five strings, and always this form suggestive of its paddle origin; the pole, called by us a long neck, has at the top pegs which are turned to bring the strings into tune; the instrument is played with the plectrum. Sometimes it is shown played with the fingers only. Often we meet with the statement that the Nefer finger-board had frets, but I am myself not quite satisfied upon this point, because the lines that in black and white look like frets, yet when inspected in the large coloured fac-simile productions given by Rosellini and others, appear as nothing other than lines of the decorative patterns inlaid on the flat finger-board.
| The Nefer supported by a silk band. | Fig. 57. |
That such fancy designings should be a guide to the player seems very probable, but I do not think that the idea of a raised fret had then arisen; in later times there is no question that frets were adopted when precise relations of pitch were sought for in the closer study of the art of playing. In their rudest form pieces of camel gut are tied on the neck to act as frets.
| Dancer with the Nefer. | Fig. 58. |
It is still a vexed question whether the Egyptians required, from even their many stringed harps, anything more than certain runs or conventional sequences of tones, little simple tunes that were traditionally retained, and reiterated rhythms, or possessed the knowledge of harmony as a science, and used their instruments in pursuance of aims to produce effects of sound regulated by laws based upon science. They had a great variety of instruments we know, and that the fingers of both hands were used to pluck the strings of the harps, and it seems hard to deny such a claim to a people so skilful and intelligent. Mr. W. Chappell strenuously insisted that the Egyptians understood and practiced harmony, and some other writers support the claim. The most learned authorities take the adverse view and say that nothing yet discovered by investigation warrants such a supposition. All that can be conceded is that the simple consonances of two sounds were known and practised. The present state of Asiatic nations tells very plainly that a large number of instruments may be used in combination without, through the course of ages, any idea of harmony being evolved. The Chinese, Japanese, and Siamese Orchestras are a standing witness of this fact in the history of human races.
A little cane harp, used by the natives of Borneo I believe, came into my possession many years past, and is probably nearly a century old. This simple instrument shows how easily satisfied the ear is with pleasing sounds when the people have continued in an early stage of civilization, and still represent the primitive state of nations that have passed away. The harp is 13-1/2 inches by 9, and is constructed of pieces of cane, 29 in number, lashed together raft-fashion. The strings are formed of the outer silicious layer of the cane; a double incision is made on the surface of each rod to within an inch of each end, and the strip thus severed is lifted up to form a string: the opposite side of the rod is treated in the same way: the strips vary in width from a sixteenth of an inch, less or more. The 29 rods are laid together and firmly braided with a wire-like fibre, making a flat, raft-like form, shewing the strips or strings back and front; then rods are slipped under the strips, making bridges for them at each end, all the front strings sound, but the strips at the back merely exercise a counter strain against the pull of the front, and are interlaced criss-cross in threes, so as to admit a pair of tension bars, which act as required to tighten or slacken the front strings as a whole, since when unused the tension should be lowered as is the case with gut strings. The ingenuity of the construction of this instrument is admirable in its simplicity, and the work is beautifully done. All the Malagasy are expert in this braiding which to them is a fine art. The instrument is well worthy of illustration, speaking to us of the past within the present. (See [plate] inserted).
This cane-harp yields sounds bright and delicate and clear, it is held tambourine fashion over the head, and played by the finger nails of the right hand gliding at will over the strings, producing a succession of sounds rhythmical and wild, incessantly varied: four or five sounds repeatedly renewed over the series of strings, and intermingled with these, little bells strung on cords at each side, rattle against them. Imagine the native scene, groups of young girls decked with flowers, their brown skins flashing with the sunlight, dancing with the abandon of youthful vigour, in full exuberance of the joy of living, striking their uplifted harps in a wild frequency of orderly confusion, guided by instinct yet the while obeying the rules their mothers had taught them, dancing in heedless delight in the ways made imperative by tradition, rushing hither and thither, in and out, and around, weaving circle within circle, a dazzling maze of lithe bodies, of rapid feet, and laughing voices, eyes flashing as jewels, brown arms and hands swinging a cloud of harps over a restless sea of sound,—bring to the mind’s eye a scene like this, then you will understand how the multitudinous music of the ancient days, simple as were its means, satisfied by the wealth of sensuous excitement it created in young and old.