A Complete History of Music / for Schools, Clubs, and Private Reading

by W. J. Baltzell

Varieties of Percussion Instruments.—Percussion instruments are almost endless in variety. The most primitive example is that of a hollow log beaten with a war-club by some prehistoric savage. The next step leads to the hollow gourd or other hollow body, across the open end of which is stretched the dried membrane of some wild animal. From these descend all the long line of drums of all sorts, ending with the modern orchestral kettle-drums (tympani) which, by means of a mechanism for changing the tension of their parchment heads, may be tuned in various keys. Percussion instruments of metal are of very ancient origin. In this category are included cymbals of various sizes and shapes, gongs of all sorts, and later, bells and triangles. Comparatively few of the percussion instruments emit sounds of any definite pitch. They were and are to a great extent noise-producing, used for the purpose of marking rhythms.

Wind Instruments: Vibrating Column of Air in a Tube.—The next step in advance of noise-producing instruments is the discovery of means for the production of musical sound, which differs from noise in the possession of definite pitch. This leads to a consideration of the wind instruments that produce sound by means of a vibrating column of air enclosed in a tube. This is an important class and has several subdivisions, as will be seen. The simplest form of the wind instrument is the plain tube, producing a single sound when blown across the top. A series of such tubes fastened together side by side constitutes the Syrinx or Pan’s pipe, an instrument known over all the world from the remotest ages. This is thought to be the instrument mentioned in Genesis with the Hebrew name Ugab—translated organ, in the verse: “Jubal was the father of all such as handle the harp or the organ.” It is generally believed by scholars that the Pandean Pipe or Syrinx is the oldest of musical instruments; but long before a sufficient advance had been made to bind together several reeds giving different sounds, the discovery was made that sound might be produced in this way. Some prehistoric man found it out, perhaps by blowing across the top of a hollow bone. A whistle of this kind, of prehistoric make, bored from one of the bones of a reindeer’s foot, was found in a bone cave in France. It may have been used as a signal, and we may imagine that it may have guided a troop of palæolithic hunters in the chase of the mammoth or rhinoceros, when these animals still roamed over the plains of Europe.

A Tube Pierced with Holes.—The next advance was the discovery that one tube could be made to give several sounds by piercing holes in it. The effect of piercing is equivalent to shortening the tube; thus the Flute came into existence. There are three forms of the flute; the simplest is the old Japanese flute, blown at the end and pierced with a few holes. Next, the endless variety of flutes blown at a hole in the side, hence called the cross flute, or Flauto Traverso, in German, Querflöte. A perfect series of these flutes may be made. From the piece of bamboo with three or four holes, up to the exquisite workmanship and musical possibilities of the orchestral Boehm flute, all these flutes are identical in principle. The third kind of flute is blown at the end and is furnished with a diaphragm, which directs the air in a thin stream against the edge of the opening. Flutes of this kind were once used under the names of flageolet and recorder. Their chief interest lies in the fact that they have served as the model for the flue pipes of the organ, from the ponderous thirty-two foot Diapason to the half-inch extreme of the Mixture.

The Tube with a Reed.—The next subdivision is: The tube in conjunction with a tongue or slip of cane, called a reed. Reed instruments are further divided into single and double reed instruments. The double reed instrument is of great antiquity and widely known. This is the instrument generally meant by the term “flute” in the ancient Greek authors. It is known in China and Thibet, and in its modern form as Hautboy (oboe), English Horn or Bassoon, is an important member of the modern orchestra. The beating or single reed is so-called because it is made a little larger than the orifice over which it is fixed, and therefore beats against this orifice at every vibration, closing it and causing the air to be emitted in puffs. This form of reed instrument is also widely distributed. By the Greeks it was called the Berecynthian pipe; in modern Egypt Arghool, in early England the Shawm, which is a corruption of an older French name—Chalumeau. Under the name Clarinet it is another important member of the orchestra. The beating reed also furnishes the model after which the reed stops of the organ are constructed.

The Tube with the Lips of the Player.—The last subdivision is the tube in conjunction with the lip of the performer, the lips assuming the rôle of the reed. Countless varieties of trumpets have been used from time immemorial, made at first from that natural tube that has given them their generic name, the “horn” of the ox or goat or antelope. The forms of the horn are endless, but from the conch shell of the Japanese or the ram’s horn Shofar of the Hebrews to the perfectly tuned and mechanically perfect instruments of our bands and orchestras the series is complete, and the acoustic principle in all respects identical.

Stringed Instruments Played by Plucking.—The stringed instruments are those which depend for their sound upon the vibration of stretched strings. This class of instruments is of very ancient origin. As in the case of the wind instruments, the discovery of the principle of the vibration of a stretched string was probably accidental. The twanging of a bow-string suggests a possible clue, or the membranes of animals used for any purpose in which tension is required. Earliest among stringed instruments are the various forms of Harp or Lyre, in which each string gives a single sound, and is put in motion by being plucked by the finger or struck by a rod or flat strip of wood, ivory, etc., called a plectrum. In the next class are included those instruments that are furnished with a neck or fingerboard, with or without frets. In this class the strings are comparatively few in number, as many sounds may be obtained from each string by altering its length by the pressure of the fingers on the neck. These instruments are also played either with the fingers or the plectrum; to this class belong the Guitar, Lute, Mandolin, etc.

The Lute Family.—For many years, until displaced by instruments of the violin family, the Lute occupied the foremost position among instruments. It was a favorite instrument in the East, whence it reached Spain and lower Italy. During the 14th century, it spread over all Europe, retaining its popularity from the 15th to the 17th centuries. In shape it was similar to the mandolin of the present day. It had, however, a far greater number of strings. Five pairs of these and a single melody string lay over the keyboard, while the bass strings (finally five in number and used only as open strings) lay at the side. More elaborate forms of the lute, owing to improvements in the arrangement of the bass strings, were the Theorbo and the Archilute. For the various forms of the lute the ordinary measured notation was not used, but special letters or figures were given to indicate, not the pitch of the sound, but the proper fret on the fingerboard of the instrument to be used by the player. This method of notation was called Tablature; it differed somewhat in the various countries. Until displaced by the violin, the lute was in use as an orchestral instrument. In addition, transcriptions of all sorts of vocal and instrumental pieces were made for the lute, for home use, much in the same manner as they are at the present day made for the pianoforte.

Stringed Instruments Played with a Bow.—The next and most important class resembles the last in being furnished with a neck or fingerboard, but with strings put in vibration by a bow, the familiar Violin family. A German writer on the stringed instruments played with a bow gives the following as the successive steps in the evolution of the violin: Rebec, Tromba Marina, Hurdy Gurdy, Fidel (Fidula), Chrotta, Viole, and Violin. The early history of instruments is shrouded in darkness, which existed up to the 16th century. Before that time, although writers on music made reference to the instruments in use, they did not give detailed descriptions. Virdung, who published a work in 1511; Agricola, in 1528; and Gerle, in 1546, were among the first writers. Yet much confusion has arisen from the fact that these writers used different terms for the same instruments, a difficulty that confronts the student of musical history who consults German, French, or Italian works.

1. The Rebec was of Oriental origin and consisted of a wooden frame, which formed the side walls, the top and the bottom being spanned with skin, like a drum. The instrument had only two strings, and was used in accompanying singing. Later the number of strings was increased to three. In the 8th or 9th century an instrument called the Lyra (Lyre) was in use. Its shape shows a change toward the pear-shaped body and narrow neck of the lute.