UNIVERSITY OFCAL.^.., AT LOS ANGELES Ji ■I^^^v^i ! !'l I it^ iCi;.'<': :;'- \\ 1%'i te:tgi Mulo/./.j d.i l.nli (1438-1494). National Gallery, BOARD OF EDUCATION, SOUTH KENSINGTON, VICTORIA AND .VLBERT MUSEUM. MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS BY CARL ENGEL UlTH SEVENTY-EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS REVISED EDITION. LONDON : PRINTED FOR HIS MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE. By WV.MAX and SONS, Limiikd, 109, I-ErTi;i< Lank, K.C. And to be purchased, eilher directly or through any Booksiller, from WYMAX AND SONS, LiMiTKi), 109, Fetter Lane, Fleet Street, K.C. or OLIVER AND BOYD, Tweepdaee Coiirt, Edinuurgh ; or E. POXSONBY, 116, Graiton Street, ntru .^N. 1908. Price IS. G.I.; in Cloth, 2s. ^d. t t » » » » • c t < t Music Library 460 N O T \l In the preparation of the revised edition of the late Dr. Engel's handbook, first published in 1875, care lias been taken to make as few alterations as possible and to express no views from which he might have dissented. The greatly enlarged chapter relating to post-medianal instruments has been chieily compiled from Dr. Engel's Descriptive Catalogue of the musical instruments in the Museum, published in 1874. The pages relating to the .\ncient Egyptians have been revised by Dr. W. I\I. b'linders Petrie, those dealing with the (ireeks, Etruscans raid Komans by J)r. Cecil 11. Smith, and the description of Chinese and Japanese instruments by Dr. Stephen \V. Bushell. The thanks of the Doard are due to these gentlemen for their valuable co-operation. 9S4J. 1,0110 W I. :»•_';{_'. m/OS. \Vy. \. S. {)\\~\r i> .J32 CON T E X T S . Pagf. Ill Vll Note - - - . . List of Contents ., ,, Illustrations Chapter I. — Introduction j II. — I're-Historic Rtlics and Anciiiit I-:},'yptian - - y III- — Assyrian and Ikbrtw - - - - - - i^) I^'- — Cireek, Etruscan and Roman 2/ v.— Oriental ---■-... ^^^ VI. — American Indian - - - - . . - q8 . 'VII. — I'-uropean Instruments of tlie Midille Ages - - «3 vi. , \I1I. — European Instruments of the Middle Ages - - 92 , MX.— El -European Instruments of the Middle Ages - - 99 i X. — Post-Media!val Instruments - - . . Al'I'HNDIX •--....... I.\UEX - --.-... 104 List of illi'stkations. Fig. Page. -Mi;sic, after au oil painting attribiittil to Mclozzo tla Forii (1438-1494) . . - . Frontispiece -Paintku Wooden Harp. Ancient Kgy])tian. XVIIItli tlynasty (B.C. 1450) . - . . Facing 10 -Bronze and Rkkd Flutes. Ancient Egyj)tian. k.c. 6ou, or later ------ Facing 12 . — Bronze Sistra. Ancient Egyptian. XXlIn(I-XX\'Ith dynasty (b.c. 1000-600) - - - Facing 14 -Series of Bells. Ancient Egyptian. Late Period - 15 -A MrsE WITH a Harp, and two others with Lyres. From a Greek vase - - - - - - 29 7. — Pair of Bronze Flutes, with mouthpiece in the form of a bust of a M;rnad holding a bunch of grapes. Greek ------- Facing 30 8. — A MrsE Playini; the Diai'los. Greek - - - 31 9. — Wall Painting of a youth wearing a myrtle wreath and ])laying on the Doiule Pipes. Said to have been found in a columbarium in the Vigna Ammen- dola on the Appian Way near Rome, about 1823. British Museum ----- Facing 34 10. — TuuA, Cornu and Lituus. Roman " " - 35 II. — Hsi'AN. Chinese -------- 42 12. — (a) Ch'in (a species of Lute). Modern Chinese (b)- Shi':ng (Mouth Organ). Chinese. 19th century (c) YuEH-cu'iN (Moon Guitar). Chinese. 19th century Facing 42 13. — {a) Koto (a sjiccies of Lute). Japanese. 19th century - (b) Biwa (a species of Guitar). 5lodern Japanese (c) S.vMisEN. Jaj)anese ----- Facing 44 14. — (a) S.\RiNDA AND Bow. luilian (J3engal). 19th century - (b) RuDRA Vina. Southern Indian (Madras). i9tli centur\' -------- (c) Sarangi and Bow. Southern Indian. 19th century Facing 48 15. — (a) Kemangeh or Sitara or Fiddle. IVrsian. About 1800 --------- (b) NuY (Flute). Persian. i9t]i centur\- (c) Santir (Dulcimer) Casi;. Persian - - Facing ;.^ viii MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. Fig. Page. i6, — Pottery Whistles, with lingei-hoks. Ancient Mexican - 59 17. — Pottery Flageolets, with finger-holes, (a) and (c) Ancient Mexican ; (h) from the Island of Sacrificios Facing 60 18. — Bone Flutes. Ancient Peruvian, (a) and (6) Truxillo ; (c) Lima Facing 60 19. — HuAYR.v-PUHURA, discovcrcd in a Peruvian tomb - - 64 20. — Wooden Trumpet. Used by Indians near the Orinoco - 65 21. — JuRUPARis, with and without cover. South American - 66 22. — BoTUTO. Used by Indians near the Orinoco - - - 68 2-. — CiTHARA. From a 9th century MS. formerly in the monastery of St. Blasius in the Black Forest - - 84 24. — Psalterium. From a 9th century MS. formerly in the monastery of St. Blasius in the Black Forest - - 85 25. CiTHARA. From a 9th century MS. formerly in the monas- tery of St. Blasius in the Black Forest - - - 85 26. King playing Psaltery. After an engraving in N. X. Willcmin's Monuments Franrais Inidits, Vol. I., pi. 19, taken from llortus DcHciurum, a MS. of the 12th century .---.-. 86 2j. — Nablum. From a 9th century MS. at Angers - - 86 28. Female playing a Species of Citole. From a 9th century MS. formerly in the monastery of St. Blasius in the Black Forest . - - . 86 25._11ari'. From a 9th century MS. formerly in the monastery of St. Blasius in the Black Forest - - - 87 30.— Crwtii. Welsh. 1 8th century - - •■ Facing 90 31. — Organistrum 93 12. — Sackbut 94 32^ Organ. From a wth century psalter in the library of Trinity College, Cambridge 95 34.— Organ (Grand Orgue). After an engraving in N. X. Willemin's Monuments Frani^ais Inrdils - - 96 ,5. Bas-relief, representing a group of musicians, formerly at the abbev of St. Georges de Boscherville. Late iith century (?). After an engraving in N. X. Willemin's Monuments Fran<;ais Inidits Facing 98 ,(5_ HuRDY-GuRnY (Vielle). With arms of France and crowned monogram of Henry II. on back and front. About 1550 Facing 100 ,- Tympanum of the Glory Gate of the Cathedral of Santiago (Ic Compostelia. Dated 11 88. From a jilaster ca.st in the Victoria and Albert Museum Facing 100 38 Minstrel Gallery, Exeter Catheilral. 14th century. From a plaster cast in the Victoria and Albert Museum Facing 102 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. ix Fro. Page. 39. — Lute. Italian (WiKtian). Beginning of tlu- i-tli century Fiuing IU4 40. — Angel Playing a Lute. After an oil painting by Anibrogio (la Pn-dis. Late 15th century I-'aciiiu 104 41. — Archlute. Inscribed " Rauche in ("handos Street. London, 1762 " - - • - - - Facing 104 42. — Chitarrone. Italian. Made by Buclunberg in Rome, anno 1614 ------ I'aciiic; lofi 43.— Pandurina. French. Second half of i6th century F WooDi.N 11*1(1'. Aiicieiii E;;ypti.ni. X\ 1 1 Itli Ivna-tv (ii.. . m5j). liiili-.li Miiseiiin. THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. ir ments are depicted in scul}:)tures and paintings*. Whoever has examined these interesting monuments with ewn ordinary care cannot but be convinced that the rt'jiresen tat ions which they exhibit are faithful transcrijits from life. Moreover, it there remained any doubt respecting the accuracy of the representations of the musical instruments it miglit be dis- pelled by existing evidence. Several specimens have bet-n discovered in tombs, preserved in a more or less perfect condition. The Egvptians possessed various kinds of harps, some of which were elegantly shaped and tastefully ornamented. The largest were about 6J- feet high ; and the small ones frequently had some sort of stand which enal)led the per- former to play upon the instrument while standing. The name of the harp was bene. Its frame had no front pillar ; the tension of the strings therefore cannot have l)een aiu'thing like so strong as on our present harp. (Fig. 2.) The Egyptian harps most remarkable for elegance of form and elaborate decoration are the two which were first noticed by Bruce who found them painted in fresco on the walls of a sepulchre at Thebes, supposed to be the tomb of Rameses III. who reigned about 1170 B.C. Bruce's discover}- created a sensation among musicians. The fact tliat at so remote an age the Egj'ptians should have possessed harps which vie with our own in elegance and beauty of form ajipeared to some so incredible that the correctness of Bruc(^'s rej^resentations. as engraved in his " Travels," was greatly doubted. Sketches of the same harps, taken subsequently and at dilTerent times from the frescoes, have since l)een pulilished, but they differ more or less from each other in app.nirance and in the nuinber of strings. A kinrl of triangul.ir harp of the EgNptians wa^ * The best instance is to Ix- fomul in lA-psiiis' Dttikiiinlcr, III. luc.a.. where a music-school of the .\khenali-n iienud (al)oiit 14110 B.e.) i^ depicted. 12 MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. discovered in a well-preserved condition and is now deposited in the Louvre. It has twenty-one strings ; a greater number than is generally represented on the monuments. All these instruments, however much they differed from each other in form, had one peculiarity in common, namely the absence of the fore pillar. The nefer, a kind of guitar, was almost identical in con- struction with the Tamboura at the present day in use among several eastern nations. It was evidently a great favourite with the ancient Egyptians, and occurs in representa- tions of concerts dating earlier than from B.C. 1500. The nefer affords the best proof that the Egyptians had made considerable progress in music at a very early age ; since it shows that they understood how to produce on a few strings, by means of the finger-board, a greater number of notes than were obtainable even on their harps. The inst . ..ment had two or four strings, was played with a plectrum and appears to have been sometimes, if not always, provided with frets. In the British Museum is a fragment of a fresco obtained from a tomb at Thebes, on which two female performers on the nefer are represented. The painter has distinctly indicated the frets. Small pipes or flutes of the Egyptians have been discovered, made of reed, with three, four, five, or more finger-holes. There are some interesting examples in the British Museum ; one of which has seven holes burnt in at the side (Fig. 3). Two straws were found with it of nearly the same length as the pipe, which is about one foot long. In some other pipes pieces of a kind of thick straw have also been found inserted into the tube, obviously serving for a similar purpose as the reed in our oboe or clarionet. The seba, a single flute, was of considerable length, and the performer appears to have been obliged to extend his arms THE ANCIENT EGYPT TINS. 13 almost at full length in order to reach the furthest finger-hole. As sebd is also the name of the leg-bone (like the Latin tibia) it may be supposed that the Egyptian flute was originally made of bone.- Those, however, which have been found are of wood or reed. A flute-concert is ])ainted on one of the toml)s in the pyramids of Gizeli and dates, according to Lepsius, from an age earlier than B.C. 2000. Eight musicians are jierforming on flutes. Three of them, one behind the other, are kneeling and holding their flutes in exactly the same manner. Facing these are three others, in a jirecisely similar position. A seventh is sitting on the ground to the left of the six, with his back turned towards them, but also in the act of blowing his flute, like the others. An eighth is standing at the right side of the grouj) with his face turned towards them, holding his flute before him with both hands, as if he were going to put it to his mouth, or had just left off playing. He is clothed, while the others have only a narrow girdle round their loins. Perhaps he is the director of this singular band, or the 50/0 performer who is waiting for the termination of the Inlti before renewing his part of the i)crlormance. The division of the players into two sets, facing each other, suggests the possibility that the instruments were classed somewhat like the first and secontl violins, or the //fir///o pn'ino and flaiilo secondo ot our orchestras. The occasional employnimt of the interval of the third, or the fifth, as accompaniment to tlie melody, is not unusual even with nations less advanced in nuisic than were tli' ancient Egyj)tians. The Double-Pipe, called »i(i)n, apj^eais to have been a very popular instrument, if we judgr from tla- fr('(iu('ncy of its occurrence in lln' representations of musical performances. Furthermore, the Egyi)tians had. as tar as is known to u-,. / 14 MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. two kinds of trumpets ; three kinds of tambourines, or little hand diTims ; three kinds of drums, chiefly barrel-shaped ; and various kinds of gongs, bells, cymbals, and castanets. The trumpet appears to have been usually of brass. A peculiar wind-instrument, somewhat the shape of a cham- pagne bottle and perhaps made of pottery or wood, also occurs in the representations transmitted to us. The Egyptian drum was from two to three feet in length, covered with parchment at both ends and braced by cords. The performer carried it before him, generally by means of a band over his shoulder, while he was beating it with his hands on both ends. Of another kind of drum an actual specimen has been found in the excavations made in the year 1823 at Thebes. It was i| feet high and 2 feet broad, and had cords for bracing it. A piece of catgut encircled each end of the drum, being wound round each cord, by means of which the / cords could be tightened or slackened at pleasure by pushing I the two bands of catgut towards or from each other. It was \ beaten with two drumsticks slightly bent. The Egyptians \had also straight drumsticks with a handle, and a knob at the end. The Berlin museum possesses some of these. The third kind of drum was almost identical with the darabuka of the moiern Egyptians. The Tambourine was either round, like that which is at the present time in use in Europe as well as in the east ; or it was of an oblong square shape, slightly incurved on the four sides. The Sistrum consisted of a frame of bronze into which three or four metal bars were loosely inserted, so as to produce a jingling noise when the instrument was shaken. (Fig. 4.) The bars were often made in the form of snakes, or they ter- minated in the head of a goose. Not unfrequently a few metal rings were strung on the bars, to increase the noise. The frame was sometimes ornamented with the figure of a •ii.. 1. -I'kon/k Simeii)e and another is beating a small hand-drum covered only at the top. Close behind the instrumental performers are the singers, consisting of a chorus of females and children. They arc cla])]iing their hands in time with the music, and some of the musicians are dancing to the measure. One of the female singers is holding her hand to her throat in the same manner as the women in vSyria. Arabia, and Persia are in the habit of doing at the i)re.sent day when i)roducing, on festive occasions, those peculiarly shrill sounds of rejoicing which have been repeatedly noticed by travellers. The dulcimer is in too imjierfect a state on the bas-relief to familiarize us with its construction. The slal) representing the procession in which it occurs has been injured ; the defect which extended over a portion of the dulcimer has been re- paired, and it cannot be said that in repairing it much musical knowledge has been evinced. The instrument of the Trigonon sj')ccies was held hori- zontally, and was twanged with a rather long plectrum sliglitlv bent at the end at which it was held by tlic performer. It is of frequent occurrence on the bas-reliefs. A number of them appear to have been generally i)layed together. At any rate. we find almost invariably on the monuments two togt'ther. evidently imi)lying " more than one," " a number." The left hand of the j-jcrformer seems to have been occu])ied in checking the vibration of the strings wlien its discontinuance was required. From the jiosition of the strings the performer could not have struck them as those of the dulcimer are strnck. If he did not twang them, he may have drawn the jilectrum across them. Indeed, for twanging, a short pU'ctriini wnuid 9S4J. I? i8 MUSICAL TNSTRU}fENTS. have been more practical, considering that the strings are placed horizontally one above the other at regular distances. It is therefore by no means improbalile that we hav^e here a rude prototype of the violin bow. The lyre occurs in three different forms, and is held horizon- tally in playing, or at least nearly so. Its front bar was generally cither oblique or slightly curved. The strings were tied round the bar so as to allow of their being pushed upwards or downwards. In the former case the tension of the strings increases, and the notes become therefore higher ; on the other hand, if the strings are pushed lower down the pitch of the notes must become deeper. Tlic lyre was played with a small plectrum as well as with the lingers. The Assyrian trumpet was very similar to the Egyptian. Furthermore, we meet with three kinds of drums, of which one is especially noteworthy on account of its odd shape, somewhat resembling a sugar loaf ; with the tamb ourine ; with two kinds of cymbals ; and with bells, of which a con- siderable number have been found in the mound of Nimroud. These bells, which have greatly withstood the devastation of time, are but small in size, the largest of them being only 3 J inches in height and 2| inches in diameter. Most of them have a hole at the top, in which probably the clapper was fastened. They are made of copper mi.xed with 14 per cent, of tin. Instrumental music was used by the Assyrians and Baby- lonians in their religious observances. This is obvious from the sculptures, and is to some extent confirmed by the mode of worship paid by command of king Nebuchadnezzar to the golden image ; " Then an herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages, that at what time ye hear ihc sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and .\ ASSYRIAN AND HEBREW. 19 worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up." The kings appear to have maintained at their courts musical l)ands, whose office it was to perform secular music at certain times of the day or on fixed occasions. Of king Darius we are told that, when he had cast Daniel into the den of lions, he " went to his palace, and passed the night fasting, neither were instruments of musick brought before him ; " from which we may conclude that his band was in the habit of playing before him in the evening. A similar custom prevailed also at the court of Jerusalem, at least in the time of David and Solomon ; both of whom ajipcar to have had their royal private bands, besides a large number of singers and instrumental performers of sacred music who were engaged in the Temple. Tin- Hi:hri-:ws. As regards the musical instruments of the Hebrews, we are from biblical records acquainted with the names of many of them ; but representations to be tnisted are still wanting, and it is chiefly from an (Examination of the ancient Egyptian and Assyrian instruments that we can conjecture almost to a certainty their construction and caj^abilities. From various indications, which it would be too circumstantial here to point out, we believe the Hebrews to haw ] possessed the following instruments : The H.\rp. — There can hv no doubt that tlic Htbrews possessed the liarj), seeing that it wasacomnntn instrument among tlie Egyptians and Assyrians. IJut it is uncertain which of the Hebrew names of the stringed instruments oc- curring in the P)ible really designates thf harp. The Dulcimer. — Some writers on Hebrew nuisie cousidi-r the nevcl to have been a kind of dulcimer ; others coiij(( tun.' 9S42. II •_' 20 MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. the same of the psnnferin niciilioiiod in llie book of Daniel, — a name wliicli a]ipcars to l)e sjmonymous willi the psalterion of tlie Greeks, and from wliich also the jiresent oriental dul- cimer, saniir, may have been deri\-cd. Some of the instru- ments mentioned in tlio l)ook of Daniel may have been synonymous with some wliicli occur in other parts of the Bible under Hebrew names ; the names given in Daniel being Chald;can. Tlie asor was a ten-stringed instrument played with a plectrum, and is su]ijK)sed to have liornc some re- semblance to the ncv:l. The Lyre. — This instrument is represented on some Hebrew coins generally ascribed to Judas Maccab^eus, who lived in the second century before the Christian era. There are several of them in the British Museum ; some are of silver, and the others of copper. On three of them are lyres witli three strings, another has one with five, and another one with six strings. The two sides of the frame appear to have been made of the horns of animals, or they may have been of wood formed in imitation of two liorns which originally were used. Lyres thus constructed are still found in Abyssinia. The Hebrew square-sha])ed lyre of the time of Simon Maccabaeus is ])ro])abl3' identical witii lln' psalterion. The kinnor, the favourite instrument of king David, was most likely a lyre if not a small triangular harp. The \\rc was evidently an universally known and favoured instrument among ancient eastern nations. l-Jeing more simple in construction than most other stringed instruments it un- doubtedly preceded them in antiquity. The kinnor is men- tioned in the Bil)le as the oldest stringed instrument, and as the invention of Jubal. Even if the name of one particular stringed instrument is here used for stringed instruments in general, which may possibly be the case, it is only reason- able to suppose that the oldest and most universally known ASSYRIAN AND HEBREW. 21 stringed instrument would be mentioned as a rejiresentativu of tlie whole class rather tlian any other. Besides, the kinnor was a light and easily i)ortal)le instrument ; king David, according to the Rabbinic records, used to suspend it (lurini; the night over his pillow.' All its uses mentioned in the Bible are especialh* applicable to the hre. And the resemblance of the word kinnor to kithaya, kissar, and similar names known to denote the lyre, also tends to confirm the supposition that it refers to this instrument. It is, however, not likely that the mstruments of the Hebrews — intleed their music altogether — should have remained entirely unchanged during a period of many centuries. Some modi- fications were likely to occur even from accidental causL-s ; such, for instance, as the influence of neighbouring nations when the Hebrews came into closer contact with them. Thus may be explained why the accounts of the Hel)rew instruments given by Josephus, who lived in the first century of the Christian era, are not in exact accordance with those in the Bible. The lyres at the time (jf Simon Maccabieus may probably be different from those which were in use about a thousand years earlier, or at the time of David and Solomon, wlirii the art of music with the Hebrews was at its zenith. There a])pears to bu a probability that a Hebrew lyre of the time of JosL'])h (about 1700 i;.c.) is i\'])resented on an ancient Egy])tian painting* discovered in a tomb at Jniii Hassan — which is tlie name of certain grottoes on the eastern ])ank of the Nile. Sir Gardner Wilkinson, in his " Mannrrs and Customs of the Ancient Egyi)tians," observes : " If, wln'ii we become better acquainted with the interj)retation of hieroglyphics, the 'strangers' at lUni Hassan should prow 1- 'le arrival of Jacob's family in lvg\ pt. wr may examim- * For coloured plate iifUr lliis j aiiiliii^,' si c Wilkinson's Aiuuiit lliiyptians, Vol. I., i'l. xii. (facing' [lui^c- 4.'^<>). 22 MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. the Jewish lyre drawn by an Egyptian artist. That this event took place about the period when the inmate of the tomb Uved is highly probable — at least, it 1 am correct in con- sidering Usertsen I. to be the Pharaoh who was the patron of Joseph ; and it remains lor us to decide whether the disagree- ment in the number of j^ersons here introduced, thirty-seven being written over llK-ni in hieroglyphics, is a suflicient objection to their identity. It will not be foreign to the present subject to introduce those figures, which are curious, if on]}- considered as illustrative of ancient customs at that early period, and which will be looked upon with unbounded interest should they ever be found to refer to the Jews. The first figure is an Egyptian scribe, who presents an account of their arrival to a person seated, the owner of the tomb, and one of the jjrincipal officers of the reigning Pharaoh. The next, also an Egyptian, ushers them into his presence ; and two advance bringing presents, the wild goat or ibex and the gazelle, the productions of their country. Four men, carrying bows and clubs, follow, leading an ass on which two children are placed in panniers, accompanied by a boy and four women ; and, last of nil, another ass laden, and two men — one holding a bow and club, the other a lyre, which he plays with the plectrum. All the men have beards, contrary to the custom of the Egyptians, but very general in the East at that period, and noticed as a peculiarity of foreign un- civihzed nations throughout their sculptures. The men have sandals, the women a sort of boot reaching to the ankle, both which were worn by many Asiatic people The lyre is rude, and differs in form from those generally used in Egypt." In the engraving thr lyre-player, another man, and some strange animals from this group, are represented. The Tamboura. — Minvim, muchulath, and ncvcl are usually supposed to be the names of instruments of the lute ASSYRIAN AND HEBREW. 23 or guitar kind. Minnim, however, aj^pcars more likely to imply stringed instruments in general than any particular instrument. "The Single Pipe. — Chalil and nckcb were the names of the Hebrew pipes or tlutes. The Double Pipe. — Probably the mishrokitha mentioned in Daniel. The mishrokitha is represented in the drawings of our histories of music as a small organ, consisting of seven pipes placed in a box with a mouthpiece for l)lowin{^. But the shape of the pipes and of the box ;is well as the row of keys for the fingers exhibited in the representation of the mishrokitha have too much of the European type not to suggest that they are prol)ably a product of the imagination. Respecting the illustrations of He])rew instruments which usually accompany historical treatises on music and com- mentaries on the Bible, it ought to be borne in mind that most of them are merely the offspring of conjectures founded on some obscure hints in the Bible, or vague accounts by the Rabbins. ^~~^1IE Syrinx ok P.\nde.\n Pipe. ^Probably the iii!,ab, which in the Englisli authorised version of the Bible is ren- dered " organ." Till-: Ba'.i'II'E. — The word siiinphonia, which occurs in the book of Daniel, is, by Forkel and others, supposed to denote a l)agpipe. It is remarkable that at the present day the bagpii)e is called by the Italian peasantry Zami)ogna. Another Hebrew instrument, the iiKii^rcphd, generally de- scribed as an organ, was more likely only a kind <»f bagpipe. The mui^rcphu is not mentioned in the Bii>le l)Ui is described in the Talmud. In tract Krachin it is recorded to have been a powerful organ which stood in the temple at Jerusalem, and consisted of a case or wind-chest, with ten holes, con- taining ten pii)es. Ka( h i)iiir was capaljlc ol emitting ten 24 MUSICAL TNSTRUXfENTS. different sounds, by means of finger-holes or some similar contrivance : thus one hundred different sounds could be produced on this instrument. Further, the magrcpha is said to have been provided with two pairs of bellows and with ten keys, by means of which it was played with the fingers. Its tone was, according to the Rabbinic accounts, so loud that it could be heard at an incredibly long distance from the temple. Authorities so widely differ that we must leave it uncertain whether the much-lauded magrepha was a bagpipe, an organ, or a kettle-drum. The Trumpet. — Three kinds are mentioned in the Bible, viz., the key en, the shophur, and the chatzozerah. The first two were more or less curved and might properly be con- sidered as horns. Most commentators are of opinion that the keren — made of ram's horn — was almost identical with the shophur, the only difference l)eing that the latter was more curved than the former. The shophar is especially remarkable as being the only Hebrew musical instrument which has been preserved to the present day in the religious services of the Jews. It is still blown in the synagogue, as in time of old, at the Jewish new-year's festival, according to the command of Moses (Numb. xxix. i). The chatzozerah was a straight trumpet, about two feet in length, and was sometimes made of silver. Two of these straight trumpets are shown in the famous triumphal procession after the fall of Jerusalem on the arch of Titus. The Drum. — There can be no doubt that the Hebrews had several kinds of drums. We know, however, only of the toph, which appears to ha\e been a taml)ourinc or a small hand-drum like the Egyptian darabuka. In the English version of the Bible the word is rendered timbrel or tabret. This instrument was especially used in processions on occa- sions of rejoicing, and also frequently by females. \Vc find ASSYRIAN AND IIEBRFAV. 25' it in the hands of !\Iiriani. when she was celehrating with the Israehtish women in songs of joy the destruction of Pharaoh's host ; and in the hands of Jephtha's daughter, when she went out to welcome her father. There exists at the present day in the East a small hand-drum called doff, diff, or adiife — a name which appears to I)e synonymous with the Hebrew topli. The Sistrum. — Winer, Saalschiitz, and several other com- mentators are of opinion that the menaaneim, mentioned in 2 Sam. vi. 5, denotes the sistrum. In the English Bil^le the original is translated cymbals. Cymb.\ls. — The tziitzdim. mctzilloth. and uictzilthaim. appear to have been cymljals or similar metallic instruments of percussion, differing in shape and sound. \ Bells. — The little bells on the vestments \f the liigh- priest were called ■phaamon. Small golden bells were attached to the lower part of the robes of the high-priest in his sacred ministrations. The Jews have, at the })resent day, in their synagogues small l)ells fastened to the rolls of the Law containing the Pentateuch : a kind of ornamenta- tion which is supposed to have been in use from time immemorial. Besides the names of Hebrew instruments already given there occur several others in the Old Testament, upon the real meaning of which much diversity of o])inion ])revails. Johel is by some commentators classed with the truni])ets, but it is by others believed to designate a loud and cheerful blast of the trumpet, used on i)articidar occasions. \i Jobcl (from which juhilare is supposed to be (leri\-ed) is identical with thf name Jiibul, the inventcjr (jf musical instrinnents. it would ai)pear that the Hebrew^ a])preciated prt-eiiiinently the exhilarating power of music. S/talisOini is supposed to denote a triangle. Ncchilulh, '^itlitli, and niachalalh, which 26 MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. occur in the headings of some psalms, are also by commen- tators supposed to be musical instruments. Nechiloth is said to have been a flute, and gittith and machalath to have been stringed instruments, and machol a kind of flute. ' Again, others maintain that the words denote peculiar modes of performance or certain favourite melodies to which the psalms were directed to be sung, or chanted. According to the records of the Rabbins, the Hebrews in the time of David and Solomon possessed thirty-six different musical instru- ments. In the Bible only about half that number are mentioned. Most nations of antiquity ascribed the invention of their musical instruments to their gods, or to certain superhuman beings. The Hebrews attributed it to man ; Jubal is men- tioned in Genesis as " the father of all such as handle the harp and organ " {i.e., performers on stringed instruments and wind instruments). As instruments of percussion are almost invariably in use long before people are led to construct stringed and wind instruments it might perhaps be surmised that Jubal was not regarded as the inventor of all the Hebrew instruments, but rather as the first professional cultivator of instrumental music. IV. GREEK, ETRUSCAN AND ROMAN". The (jkekks. Many musical instruments of the ancic-nt Greeks are known to us 1)}' name ; but resj)ecting their exact construction and capabilities there still ])revails almost as nuich diversity of opinion as is the case witJi those of the Hebrews. It is generally believed tliat the Greeks derived lluir nnisical system from the Egyptians. Pythagoras and other pliijo- sophers are said to have studied nuisic in Egypt. It would, however, a})pear that the Egyi:)tian influence upon Greece, eis far as regards this art, has been overrated. Not only have the more perfect Egyi)tian instruments — such as Uie larger harj)s, the tamboura — never ])een much in favour with the Greeks, but almost all the stringed instruments which the Greeks possessed are stated to have been originall\" deri\ed from Asia. Strabo saj's : " Those who regard the whole of Asia, as far as India, as consecrated to Bacchus, point t(j tliat country as the origin of a great portion of the i)resent nmsic. One author speaks of ' striking forcibl\- the Asiatic kithara,' another calls the pii)es Berecynthian and Phrygian. Some of the instruments also have foreign names, as Xablas, Sambyke, Barbitos, Magadis, and many others." We know at present little UKjre ol ihese instruments than that they were in use in Greece. The Magadis is described as having twenty strings. The other three are known to ha\e been stringed instruments. But they cannot haw been any- thing like such universal favourites a.s the lyre, because lliis 28 MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. instrument and perhaps the trigonon are ahnost the only stringed instruments represented in the Greek paintings on pottery and other monumental records. If, as might perhaps be suggested, their taste for beauty of form induced the Greeks to represent the elegant lyre in i)reference to other stringed instruments, we might at least expect to meet with the harp ; an instrument which equals if it does not surpass the lyre in elegance of form. The representation of a Muse with a harp, depicted on a splendid Greek vase now in the Munich Museum {Mun. Vase Cat. No. 805), may be noted as an exceptional instance. This valuable relic dates from the end of the filth century B.C. The instrument resembles in construction as well as in shape the Assyrian harp, and has fifteen strings. The Muse is touching them with both hands, using the right hand for the treble and the left for the bass. She is seated, holding the instrument in her lap. The little tuning-pegs, whicli in number are not in accordance witli the strings, are placed on the sound-board at the upper part of the frame, exactly as on the AssjTian liar]). If we have here.' the Greek harp, it \vp.s more likely an importation from Asia than from ' Egypt. likewise a huge trumpet of bronze. An Etruscan cornu is deposited in the British Museum, and measures about four feet in Irngth. To the Etruscans is also attributed by some the invention of the hydraulic organ. The Greeks possessed a somewhat similar contrivance which they called hydraiilis, i.e., water- thitc. and wliic li j)n)hahly ^was identical with tjie urganiim GREEK. ETRUSCAN AND Ru.\LiN. 33 hydranlicnm ot the Romans. The instrument ought more properly to be regarded as a pneumatic organ, for the sound was produced by the current of air througli the pipes ; the water apphed serving merely to give the necessary pressure to the l)ellows and to regulate their action. The pijies were probal:)ly caused to sound by means of sto{)s, pcrha])s resemb- ling those on our organ, which were drawn out or pushed in. Thf constructinii was evidently Init a ])rimitive contrivance, contained in a case which could hv carried l)v one or two persons and which was placed on a table. The highest degree of perfection which the hydraulic organ obtained with the ancients is perhaps shown in a representation on a coin of the Emjjeror Xero, in the British Museum. Only ten j)i[ics are given to it, and there is no indication of any ke3board, which would probably luue been shown liad it existed. The man standing at tlu' side and holding a laurel leaf in his hand is surmised to represent a victor in the e.Kliibitions of the circus or the amphitheatre. The hydraulic organ probably was played on such occasions ; and the medal containing an imj^rcssion of it may have been bestowed uj)on the victor. During the time of the Republic, and especially subsetpientl}' under the reign of the Emperors, ihr Romans adopted many new instruments fromdreece, Egypt, and e\-en from western Asia; without essentially improving any of their importations. Their most favourite stringed instrument was the lyre, (jf which they had various kinds, called, according to their form and arrangement of strings, lyra. cithara, chclys, tcstudo, and fidis (or fides). The name cornu was gi\-en to the hre when the sides of the frame terminatetl at the top in the sliaj)e of two horns. The barbilos was a kintl of lyre witli a large body, which gave the instnunent somewhat the shape of ilic Welsh crii'lh. The psaltcriiim was a kind of lyre of an oblong 9842. C 34 MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. square shape. Like most of the Roman lyres, it was played with a rather large plectrum. The /rigoniim was the same as the Greek irigonon. It is recorded that a certain musician of the name of Alexander Alexandrinus was so admirable a per- former upon it that when exhibiting his skill in Rome he created ths greatest furore. Less common, and derived from Asia, were the samhuca and nahlia, the exact construction of which is unknown. Srho. flute, tibia, was originally made of the shin bone, and mbd a mouth-hole and four finger-holes. Its shape was retained even when, at a later period, it was constructed of other substances than bone. The tibia gingrina consisted of a long and thin tube of reed with a mouth-hole at the side of one end. The tibia obliqua and tibia vasca were provided with mouth-pieces affixed at a right angle to the tube ; a contrivance somewhat similar to that on our bassoon. The I tibia longa was especially used in religious worship. The tibia curva was curved at its broadest end. The tibia ligula appears to have resembled our flageolet. The calamus was nothing more than a simple pi]')e cut off the kind of reed which the ancients used as a pen for writing. The Romans had double flutes as well as single flutes. The double flute consisted of two tubes united, cither so as to have a mouth-piece in common or to have each a separate mouth- piece. If the tubes were exactly alike the double flute was called tibia pares ; if they were different from each other, tibia impares. Little plugs, or stoppers, were inserted into the finger-holes to regulate the order of intervals. The tibia was made in various shapes. The tibia dextra was usually constructed of the upper and thinner part of a reed ; and the tibia sinistra, of the lower and broader part. The performers used also the capistruin, — a bandage round the cheeks identical with the phorbeia of the Greeks. Fir,. Q.— Wai.i. I',\intin<. i>I a yi'iuli ue;ii in),' ;i iii\ rill- u 11 .all ^iml |>l,i\ iiifi mi iIh Donlil.- I'ipi Kchtori'd ill pl.icts. S;iiIi'I.i nil tilt' Appiaii Way m-.u Ruhr, iLn.iit it.'i. Iiliti>.ll M:s: ii:r. CREEK. ETRUSCAN AND ROMAN. 35 The British Museum contains a wall painting (Fig. 9) repre- senting a Roman youth playing the double pipes, which is stated to have been disinterred in the year 1823 on the Via Appia. Here the holmos or mouth-piece, somewhat resembling the reed of our oboe, is distinctly shown. The finger-holes, probably four, are not indicated, although they undoubtedly existed on the instrument. ^ Furthermore, the Romans had two kinds of Pandean pipes viz., the syrinx and the fishdoi^Thc l)agpipe, /ibia u/ricularis, is said to have liecn a favourite instrument of the Emperor Xero. The coniu was a large horn of bronze, curN'cd. The \)vr- former held it under his arm with the broad end upwards over his shoulder. It is represented in the engraving (Fig. 10), with the (uba and the lituus. The tuba was a straight trumpet. Both the cormt and the Utl)ii were eni- ])loyc(l ill war to con- vey signals. The same was the case with the bitccina, — originally perhaps a conch shell, and afterwards a simple horn of an animal, — and the /i/iiiis. which was bent at the broad end but otherwise straight. The tympanum resembled the tambourine, and was beaten like the latter with the hands. Among the Roman instruments of percussion the scabcllum, which consisted of two ])lates com- l)B4-j. ^-' - l-iG. 10.— TiiiA CoRNL- and Lituus. 36 MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. bined by means of a sort of hinge, deserves to be noticed; it was fastened under the foot and trodden in time, to produce certain rythmical effects in musical performances. The cymhahim consisted of two metal plates similar to our cymbals. The crotala and the crusmata were kinds of cas- tanets, the former being oblong and of a larger size than the latter. The Romans had also a triangulum, which resembled the triangle occasionally used in our orchestra. The sisiriim they derived from Egypt with the introduction of the worship of Isis. Metal bells, arranged according to a regular order of intervals and placed in a frame, were called tintinnabula. The crepitaculum appears to have been a somewhat similar contrivance on a hoop with a handle. 'T' Through the Greeks and Romans we have the first well- authenticated proof of musical instruments having been introduced into Europe from Asia/ The Romans in their conquests undoubtedly made their musical instruments known, to some extent, also in western Europe. But the Greeks and Romans are not the only nations which intro- duced Eastern instruments into Europe. The Phoenicians at an early period colonized Sardinia, and traces of them are still to be found on that island. Among these is a peculiarly constructed double-pipe, called lioncdda or latmedda. Again, at a much later period the Arabs introduced several of their instruments into Spain, from which country they became known in France, Germany, and England. Also the crusaders, during the eleventh and twelfth centuries, may have helped to familiarize the western European nations with instruments of the East. V. ORIENTAL. The Chinese. \AllowIi\g for any exaggeration as to chronology, natural ^ to the lively imagination of Asiatics^ there is no reason to doubt that the Chinese possessed long before our Christian era musical instruments to which they attribute a fabulously high antiquity. There is an ancient tradition, according to which they obtained their musical scale from a miraculous l)ird, called jen^-huang, which appears to have been a sort of phanix. When Confucius, who lived about B.C. 551-479. happened to hear on a certain occasion some Chinese music, he is said to have become so greatly enraptured that he could not take any food for three months afterwards. The sounds which produced this effect were those of K'uei, the Orpheus of the Chinese, whose j^erformance on the ch'ing — a kind of harmonicon constructed of slabs of sonorous stone — would draw wild animals around him and make them subservient to his will. As regards the invention of musical instruments the Chinese have other traditions. In one of these we are told that the origin of some of their most popular instruments dates from the period when China was under the dominion of heavenly spirits, called ("h'i. Another assigns the inven- tion of several stringed instruments to the great Fu-hsi who was the founder of the ciiipin; and who lix-ed about n.r. ;o()o, which was long after the dominion ol the Ch'i, or spirits. Again, another tradition holds that the most important instruments and systematic arrangements of sounds are an invention of Kii-wa, sist-r and successor ol Fu h-^i. G92232 38 MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. According to their records, the Chinese possessed their much-esteemed cKing 2200 years before our Christian era, and employed it for accomi)anying songs of praise. It was re- garded as a sacred instrument. During rehgious observances at the solemn moment when the ch'ing was sounded sticks of incense were burnt. It was likewise played before the em- peror early in the morning when he awoke. The Chinese have long since constructed various kinds of the ch'ing, by using different species of stones. Their most famous stone selected for this purpose is called yii. Yii includes the two varieties of jade, nephrite and jadeite. It is not only very sonorous but also beautiful in appearance. It is found in mountain streams and crevices of rocks. The largest known specimens measure from two to three feet in diameter, but examples of this size rarely occur. The yii is very hard and heavy. Some European mineralogists, to whom the missionaries transmitted specimens for exam- ination, pronounce it to be a sj)ecies of agate (ma-nao). It is found of different colours, and the Chinese appear to have preferred in different centuries particular colours for the ch'ing. The Chinese consider the yU especially valuable for musical purposes, because it always retains exactly the same pitch. All other musical instruments, they say, are in this respect doubtful ; but the tone of the yii is influenced neither by cold nor heat, nor by humidity, nor drjaiess. The stones used for the ch'ing have been cut from time to time in various grotesque shapes. Some represent animals : as, for instance, a bat with outstretched wings ; or two fishes placed side by side : others are in the shape of an ancient Chinese bell. The angular shape appears to be the oldest form and is still retained in the ornamental stones of the picn-ch'ing, which is a more modern instrument than the ORIENTAL. 39 citing. The tones of the picn-ch'ing are attuned according to the Chinese intervals called lii, of which there are twelve in the compass of an octave. The same is the case with t)ie other Chinese instruments of this class. They vary, however, in pitch. The pitch of the siiiig-ch'iiii;, for instance, is four intervals lower than that of the picn-cK ing. Sonorous stones have always ])een used In' the Chinese / also singly, as rhythmical instruments. Such a single stone is called fe-cJiing. The ancient Chinese had several kinds of bells, frequently arranged in sets so as to constitute a musical scale. The Chinese name for the bell is chiing. At an early period they had a somewhat square-slia])ed bell called t'e-chung. Like other ancient Chinese bells it was made of cojjper alloyed with tin, the proportion being one part of tin to six of coj)per. The t'e-chiing, which is also known by the name of piao, was principally used to indicate the time and divisions in musical performances. It had a fixed pitch of sound, and several of these bells attuned to a certain order of intervals were not unfrequently ranged in a regular succession, thus forming a musical instrument wliich was called picn-chnng. The musical scale of the sixteen bells which the pien-chiiiig con- tained was the same as that of the ch'ing before mentioned. The hsilan-chung was, according to ])()pular tradition, included with the antique instruments al the time of Con- fucius, and came into popular use during llie Han dynasty (from B.C. 200 until A.D. 200). It was of a peculiar oval shape and had nearly the same quaint ornamentation as the t'e-chung ; this consisted of s\-ml)olical figures, in four (li\'i- visions, each containing nine mammals. The mouth was cresccnt-shai)ed. Every figure had a deep meaning referring to the seasons and to the mysteries of ilu- P.uddhist religion. Tile largest hsiian-chnng was about t\\ent\- inches in length , 40 MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. and, like the t'e-chung, was sounded by means of a small wooden mallet with an oval knob. None of the bells of this description had a clapper. It would, however, appear that the Chinese had at an early period some kind of bell provided with a wooden tongue : this was used for military purposes as well as for calling the ]:)Coplc together when an imperial messenger promulgated his sovereign's commands. An expression of Confucius is recorded to the effect that he wished to be " A w'ooden-tongued bell of Heaven," i.e., a herald of heaven to proclaim the divine purposes to the multitude. The fang-hsiang was a kind of wood-harmonicon. It con- tained sixteen wooden slabs of an oblong square shape, sus- pended in a wooden frame elegantly decorated. The slabs were arranged in two tiers, one above the other, and were all of equal length and breadth but differed in thickness. The cKim-tu consisted of twelve slips of bamboo, and was used for beating time and for rhythmical purposes. The slips being banded together at one end could be expanded somewhat like a fan. The Chinese state that they used the ch'un-tii for writing upon before they invented paper. The yii, likewise an ancient Chinese instrument of per- cussion and still in use, is made of wood in the shape of a crouching tiger. It is hollow, and along its back are about twenty small pieces of metal, pointed, and in ap])earance not unUke the teeth of a saw. The i)crformer strikes them with a sort of plectrum resembling a brush, or with a small stick called chen. Occasionally the yii is made with pieces of metal shaped like reeds. -« The ancient yii was constructed with only six tones which were attuned thus — /, g, a, c, d, f. The instrument appears to have deteriorated in the course of time ; for, although it has gradually acquired as many as twenty-seven pieces ORIENTAL. 41 of metal, it evidently serves at tlie jircsent day more for the production of rhythmical noise than for the execution of any melody. The modern yii is made of a species of wood called k'iuov ch'iii ; and the tiger rests generally on a hollow wooden pedestal about three feet six inches long, which serves as a sound-board. The chn, likewise an instrument of percussion, was made of the wood of a tree called ch'in-mu, the stem of which resembles that of the pine and whose foliage is much like that of the cypress. It was constructed of boards about three- quarters of an inch in thickness. In the middle of one of the sides was an aperture into which the hand was passed for the purpose of holding the handle of a wooden hammer, the end of which entered into a hole situated in the bottom of the chu. The handle was ke})t in its place by means of a wooden pin, on which it moved right and left when the instru- ment was struck with a hammer. The Chinese ascribe to the chu a very high antiquity, as they almost invariably do with any of their inventions when the date of its origin is unknown to them. The po-fii was a drum, about one foot four inches in length, and seven inches in diameter. It liad a parchment at each end. which was prepared in a peculiar way by being boiled in water. The po-fu used to l>e partly filled witli a ])re])ara- tion made from the husk of rice, in order to mellow the sound. The Chinese name for the drum is kn. The chin-kit, a large drum fixed on a pedestal which raises it above six feet from the ground, is embcllisheil with symbolical designs. A similar drum on which natural phenomena are depicted is called Ici-ku ; and anotlier of the kind, with figures of certain birds ant! beasts wliicli are regarded as symbols of hmg life, is called yvng-kn, and also tsu-kn. 42 MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. The flutes, ii, yikh, and ch'ih were generally made of bamboo. The kuan-tzu was a Pandean pipe containing twelve tubes of bamboo. The hsiao, hkewise a Pandean pipe, contained sixteen tubes. The p'ai-hsiao differed from the hsiao inasmuch as the tubes were inserted into an oddly-shaped case highly ornamented with grotesque designs and silken appendages. . The Chinese are known to have constructed at an early \^'' period a curious wind-instrument, called hsilan (the "Chinese ocarina") (Fig. ii). It was made of baked clay/ and had five finger-holes,/ three of which were placed on one side anc^ two on the opposite side!, as in the cut. Its tones were in conformity with the pentatonic scale. The reader unacquainted with ilie pentatonic scale may ascertain its character by playing on the pianoforte the scale of C major with the omission of / and h (the fourth and seventh) ; or by striking the black keys in regular succession from /-sharp to the next /-sharp above or below. The sheng (Fig. i2h) is one of the oldest instruments of the Chinese still in use, and may be regarded as the most ancient species of organ with which we are exactly acquainted. Formerly it had either thirteen, nineteen, or twenty-four tubes placed in a calabash; and a long curved lube served as a mouth-piece. A similarly-constructed instru- ment, though different in outward appearance, is the ken of Siam and P>urniab'; The Siamese call the ken "The Laos organ," and it is principally used by the in- habitants of the Laos states. Moreover, there deserves to be noticed another Chinese instrument of this kind, simple in Fig. II.— Hst'AN. 9> 111.. i2^-(i. Cii'iN (a spi-< iis (if I.iilt ;. Mndi rii CliiiK se. Nu. >;-'7u. I.. ;^A in., W . Un. li. Siii.N(. (Mouth <)ri;an). Chiiusi-. il,i1i cciiiury. No. 977 '7.'. L. 1 7 iii..\\ . 4 ', in. f. Vi.-i;ii-< h'in (Moon Giiit.ii). Cliincsi . mtli CLiitiuy. No. .■50- --• Virloriii anil Albert Mu^clUll. ORIENTAL. 43 construction, which probably represents the shcng in its most primitive condition. It is to be found among the Miao-tsze, or mountaineers, who are supposed to be the aboriginal in- habitants of China. They call it sang. This species has no bowl, or air-chest ; it rather resembles the Panpipe, but is sounded by means of a common mouthpiece consisting of a tube, which is placed at a right angle across the pipes. The Chinese assert that the sheng was used in olden time in the religious rites performed in honour of Confucius. Tradescant Lay, in his account of the Chinese, calls it " Jubal's organ," and remarks, " this sei^ns to be the embryo of our multiform and magnificent orgapj^ The ancient stringed instruments, tiie cii in (Fig. 12a) and ^c, were of the dulcimer kind, they are still in use, and specimens of them are in the Museum. The yiteh-ch'tn (Fig. I2() is a favourite nistrument ol the Chinese. The Canton pronunciation of yueh-ch'in is yiiet-kiim, and this may be the reason why some European travellers in China have called the instrument gut-komm. The wood 01 which it is made is called liy the Chinese shwan-chc. The strings are twanged with a plectrum, or with the nails, which, it will be remembered, are grown l)y the Chimse to an ex- travagant length. The Buddhists introduced from Tibet into China their god of music, who is represented as a rather jovial-looking man witli a moustache and an imperial, playing tlic fi-p'ci, a kind of lute with four silken strings. Perhaps some interesting information respecting the ancient Chinese musical instru- ments may be gathered from the famous ruins of the Buddhist temples Angcor-Wnt and Angcor-Tlwrn, in CanibotUa. Tliese splendid ruins are supi)osed to be al)ove two thousand years old : and, at any rate, the circumstance ol thuir age not being known to the Caml)odians suggests a higli antiquity. On 44 MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. the bas-reliefs with which the temples were enriched are figured musical instruments, which European travellers describe as " flutes, organs, trumpets, and drums, resembling those of the Chinese." Faithful sketches of these representa- tions, might, very likely, afford valuable hints to the student of musical history. <;. The Japanese. "he Japanese musical instruments are in the main derived from those of China, and their names consequently represent the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese sounds. - The hiwa (Fig. 13^*) is almost identical with the Chinese p'i-p'a. The example illustrated is of wood, lacquered black and ornamented with a band of Japanese design in gold lacquer. It has four silken strings, and two very small sound holes. The sa-iniseii (the Chinese san-hsien or " three-stringed guitar ") is played especially by the Japanese ladies, and is as great a favourite with them as the lute was formerly with us. An exam])le in tlic Museum (Fig. 13c) has three strings of silk. Both the hmi i.ni. (ORIENTAL. 45 ikitia-golo is learnt chiefly by Japanese ladies moving in the upper circles of society. It is a rather expensive instrument, and requires much practice. The perfornur places it on the floor, and, sitting in the usual Japanese attitude, hends over it and twangs the strings with her fingers, the tii)S of which are encased in plectra, resembling thimbks. which terminate in a little projecting piece of ivory in size and form like the finger nail. Of wind instruments the Japanese use three principal kinds :-^,i) The fnyc, like our flute, with six or seven finger- Tioles ; (2) the hichiriki, a reed-flageolet, with seven finger- holes and two thumb-holes ; (3) the shakiihachi. a liam.boo pipe 20 inches high. ' The sheng (described on p. 42) is also ])0])u]ar in Japan. The Japanese name f(jr it is slio. The general name in Japanese for the drum is taiko (^ Chinese in kii. "large drum " ). The Japanese have a great variety of drums, some of which are used at religious ceremonies in th( temj)les. The shimc-daiko is a shallow drum hung obUcjueU before the player in a low wooden frame. It is l)eat(ii with two plain sticks, and is used to accom])any singers. The isudzumi is a small hand-drum with hour-glass-shaped l)ody. The Japanese have different kinds of gongs {dora ^- ("liinese t'ung-lo, " copper gong " ), which are used in the service of the temple, in processions, at funerals, and on se\-eral other solemn occasions. The dohachi ( Chinese t'liu'^ Po, " copper bowl ") resembles a copjxT basin. Another consists of two metal basins susjxmded by cords (ju a frame composed of a pole and two cross-sticks. The Ja])anese, as well as the Chinese, ])ossess suj)erbly ornamented gongs (Ar/) raised on a stand. Those of the former are perha])s the more magnificent. 46 MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. The Japanese em])loy large bells {kanc or isnri-gane = Chinese chiing) in their Buddhist worship. There is a famous bell, richly decorated, near the Daibutsu at Kioto, which is struck*, at different hours of the day, with a heavy wooden mallet ; and its sound is said to be particularly sonorous, mellow, and far-reaching. Another celebrated Japanese bell is placed on a high hill near the town of Nara. It is suspended in a wooden shed, close to the Todaiji Temple. A thick pole, affixed to the rafters, is drawn backwards, and then, by being let loose, is made to rebound so as to hit the bell sideways in the usual manner. This bell is admired throughout the countr\', and pictures representing it are sold on the spot to the visitors, who have to ascend a long flight of narrow steps before they reach its station on the summit of the hill. Small bells {rin) are used by the Buddhist priests in Japan while officiating in the temple, just as is the case in China, Thibet and other districts of the Asiatic continent. The Hindu?. In the Brahmin mythology of the Hindus the demi-god Nareda is the inventor of the vina. the principal national instrument ot Hindustan. His mother, Saraswati, the consort of Brahma, may ])e regarded as the Minerva of the Hindus. She is the goddess of music as well as of speech. To her is attributed the invention of the systematic arrangement of the sounds into a musical scale. She is represented seated on a peacock and playing either on the southern vina or the bill, stringed instruments of the lute kind. Brahma himself we occasionally find depicted as a vigorous man with four handsome heads, beating with his hands upon a small drum ; and Vishnu, in his incarnation as Krishna, is represented as a beautiful youtli ])laying upon a llute. The Hindus ORIENTAL. 47 construct a peculiar kind of tiutc, the hansi. which thcv consider as the favourite instrument of Krishna. The sankha, or conch-shell trumpet of victory, one of the important attributes of \'ishnu the pri'server, and his consort Lalcshmi, is occasionally represented in tlie possession of Siva, and other deities. Siva the destroyer, and his consort Parvati, also carry the hitdhitdika, or damarit, a rattle-drum shaped like an hour-glass. It is a suggestive fact that we find among several nations in different parts of the world an ancient tradition, according to which their most popular stringed instrument was originally derived from the water. Thus with Xareda and the vina. the latter has also the name kach'-hapi, signifying a tortoise {tcstudo), whilst nara denotes in Sanskrit water, and narada, or nareda, the giver of water. Like Xareda, Xereus and his fifty daughters, the Xereides, were much renowned for their musical accomplishments ; and Hermes (it will he remembered) made his lyre, the chelys, of a tortoise-shell. The Scandi- navian god Odin, the originator of magic songs, is mentioned as the ruler of the sea, and as such he had the name of Nikarr. In the depth of the sea he i)layo(l the harj) with liis sul)ordinate spirits, who occasionally came u}) to tlie surface of the water to teach some favoured human being their wonderful instru- ment. Wiiinamoinen. the divine ])layer on the I'^inni^h kantcle (according to the Kalewala, the old national epic of the Finns) constructed his instrument of hsh-bones. The frame he made out of the bones of the i)ike ; and the teeth of the pike he used for the tuning-pegs. Jacob Grimm in his work on German mythology points out an old tradition, preserved in Swedish and Scotch national ballads, of a skilful harper who constructs his instrument out of the bones of a young girl drowiitd \)\ a wickrd W(>man. Her fingers hr u. Ki'DRA \'lN\. Siiuthi^ni Iiidi.in (M.ulrav). mill ri 11111: y, I,, liin- I. S.VKANi.l AMI I'.OW. Snllthllll Ill'liall. l'(lll c. iiliuy. L. ■.• in. Nil. 1)2 1 iS. I S. \'icl<)ii:i iikI Allii rl Mu. niii. - ORIENTAL. 49 Of these the Bharata Natya S'astra l)y Bharata Aluni (period : B.C. 200 to a.d. iou), and the Sangita Ratnakara, arc prol)al)ly the oldest and most \ahial)Ir. The hitter, according to information suj)phe(l by the hite Major C. K. Day, is an exhaustive work, consisting of seven adliyayas, compiled by Sarnga Deva. son of Sotala De\a, King of Karnata, and grandson of Bhaskara. a Kashmirian (i)eri(>d : so far undetermined). The villa is luidouhtedly of higli anticiuity. It has seven wire strings, and moval)le frets wiiirh are generally fastened with wax. (iourds, often tastefully ornamented, are affixed for the ])uri)0se of increasing the sonorousness. Then- are several kinds of the -ri-iia in tlifferent districts. Concerning tlie two [jrincipal presi-nt-day (U'rix-ations from the ancient viiui, the following al)hre\i;ited di'scriptions of the rudra vina of Southern India and tlie bin or viahati vina of Northern India, are obtained from " The ^fusic an the strings on the fnts, whilst ti-i' fingers, or ratlier ti;e fingow, called vinavah. which has two strings of different kinds, one made of a species of flax, and the other of horsehair, which is the material also of the string of the bow. . . . The hollow i)art of this in- strument is half a cocoa-nut shell polished, covered with the dried skin of a lizard, and })erforated below." (Day, p. 102.) This instrument again is almost identical with the Chinese fiddle called ttr-heen, which also has two strings, and a body consisting of a small block of wood, hollowed out and covered 9842. i> -i 52 MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. with the skin of a serpent. The nr-heen has not been mentioned among the most "ancient instruments of the Chinese, since there is no evidence of its having been known in China before the introduction of the Buddhist rehgion into that country. From indications, which to point out would lead too far here, it would appear that several instruments found in China originated in Hindustan. They seem to have been gradually diffused from Hindustan and Thibet, more or less altered in the course of time, through the East as far as Japan, v^nother curious Hindu instrument, probably of very high antiquity, is the piingi, or jinagovi, also called toumrie and magoudi. It consists of a gourd or of the ciiddos nut, hollowed, into which two reed-pipes are inserted. The piingi therefore, somewhat resembles in appearance a bagpipe. It is generally used by the saperd or snake-charmer, who plays upon it when exhibiting the antics of the cobra. The name magoudi, given in certain districts to this instrument, rather tends to corroborate the opinion of some musical historians that the magadis of the ancient Greeks was a sort of double-pipe, or bagpipe/ Many instruments of Hindustan are known by different names in different districts, and there are many varieties. On the whole, the Hindus jwssess about fifty instruments. To describe them properly would fill a volume. Some, which are in the Museum, will be found well described and illustrated in the previously mentioned work by the late Major C. R. Day, which, in addition to affording much valuable information to the student and collector, contains a lengthy bibliography of Indian music and musicnl instruments. The Persians and Arabs. Of the musical instruments of the ancient Persians, before the Christian era, scarcely anything is known. It may be ORIENTAL. 53 surmised that they closely resembled those of the Assyrians, and probably also those of the Hebrews. The harp, chang. in olden time a favourite instrument of the Persians, has gradually fallen into desuetude. A small harp is represented in the celel)rated sculptures which exist on a stupendous rock, called Tak-i-l'.ostan, in the vicinity of the town of Kermanshah. TJicse sculptures are said to have been executed during the lifetime of the Persian monarch Chosroes II. (591-628). They form the ornaments of two lofty arches, and consist of rei)resentations of field sports and aquatic amusements. In one of the boats is seated a man in an ornamental dress, with a halo round his head, who is receiving an arrow from one of his attendants ; while a female, who is sitting near him, plays on a Trigonon. Towards the top of the bas-relief is represented a stage, on which are performers on small straight trumpets and little hand drums ; six harpers ; and four other musicians, appa- rently females— the first of whom i)lays a tiate ; the second, a sort of Pandean pipe ; the third, an instrument which is too much defaced to be recognisable ; and the fourth, a bagpip,'. Two har{)s of a peculiar shape were copied by Sir Gore Ousely from Persian manuscripts about four hundred years old, resembling, in the principle on which they are constructed, all other oriental harps. There existed evidently various kinds of the chang. It may be remarked here that the instru- ment tschenk (or chang) in use at the i)resent day in Persia, is more like a dulcimer than a harp. 7'he Arabs adopted the harp from the Persians, and called it junk. The Persians appear to have adopted, al an early period, smaller musical intervals than semitones. When the Arabs conquered Persia (.\.D. 641) the Persians had already attainctl a higher degree of civilisation tiian their conquerors. The latter found in Persia the cultivation of music considerabl\- 54 MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. in advance of their own, and the musical instruments superior also. They soon adopted the Persian instruments, and there can bs no doubt that the musical system exhibited by the earliest Arab writers whose works on the theory of music have been preserved was based upon an older system of the Persians. In these works the octave is divided in seventeen one-third-iones — intervals which are still made use of in the East. Some of the Arabian instruments are constructed so as to enable the })erformer to produce the intervals with exactness. The frets on the lute and tamboura, for instance, are regulated with a view to this object. The Arabs had to some extent become acquamted with many of the Persian instruments before the time of their conquest of Persia. An Arab musician of the name of Nadr Ben el-Hares Ben Kelde is recorded as having been sent to the Persian King Chosroes II., in the sixth century, for the purpose of learning Persian singing and performing on the lute. Through him, it is said, the lute was brought to Mekka. Saib Chatir, the son of a Persian, is spoken of as the first performer on the lute in Medina, a.d. 682 ; and of an Arab lutist, Ebn Soreidsch from Mekka, a.d. 683, it is especially mentioned that he played in the Persian style ; evidently the suj^erior one. The lute, el-ood, had before the tenth century only four strings, or four pairs j)roducing four tones, each tone having two strings tuned in unison. About the tenth century a string for a fifth tone was added. The strings were made of silk neatly twisted. The neck of the instrument was provided with frets of string, which were carefully regu- lated according to the system of seventeen intervals in the compass of an octave before mentioned. Other favourite stringed instruments were the taynboura, a kind of luti' with a long neck, and the quaiiun, a kind of dulcimer strung with lamb's gut strings (generally ilinu" in unison tor each tone) 1-"1G. I5.— ''• Kemam.kii, SiiAKA or I'liuii.i:. I'rr-i.in. Ab'iut i- No. >;) ;i(- 1.. ^n[ in. ; (iiiiiii. S in. /'. NiN (I'liitf). I'tr>i;iii. Kithcinmry I.. ];:iii. Kn. .,y, ■>!. 1. Sam in (l>ulciim,-i) Cam:. Pi rsi.iii. 1. jiiii.; W. uliii. N.>. 771, ',-(.. Victoria and Allnii Musmiii. ORIENTAL. 55 and played upon with two little pk'ctra which the performer had fastened to his fingers. The qiiannn is likewise still in use in countries inhabited by Muhammadans. The Persian santir, the prototype of our dulcimer, is mounted with wire strings and played with two slightly curved sticks. The musician depicted in the left-hand corner of Fig. 15c is playing a santir. Al-Farabi, one of the earliest Arabian musical theorists known, who lived in the beginning of the tenth century, does not allude to the fiddle-bow. This is notewortlu' inasmuch as it seems in some measure to supj^ort the opinion maintained by some historians that the bow originated in England or Wales. Unfortunately we possess no e.xact descriptions of the Persian and Arabian instruments between the tenth and fourteenth centuries, otherwise we should proljubly have earlier accounts of some instrum.'nt of the violin kind in Persia. Ash-shakandi, who lived in Spain about a.d. 1200, mentions the rahob, which may have been in use for centuries without having been thought worthv of notice on account of its rudeness. Persian writers of the fourteenth century speak of two instruments of the violin class, \\z.. the rahdb and the kcmdngch. As regards the kemnngi'/i, the Aral)s them- selves assert that they obtained it from Persia, and their statement appears all the more worthy of belief from the fact that both names, rahob and kemdngch. are originally Persian. The nuy, a flute (Fig. 15^), and the surnai, a species of oboe, are still popular in the East. The sitara is a Persian three stringed instrum -nt with a wooden body and a parchment belly (Fig. I5(/). The Arabs must ha\-e been indefatigable constructors ot nnisiral instruments. Kiesewetti'r gives a li>^t ol .ibove two hundred names ot Ar.ibian instruments, and this does not inchide many known to us througli S|)aius!i historians. 56 MUSICAL INSTRUMIiNTS. A careful investigation of the musical instruments of the Arabs during their sojourn in Spain is particularly interesting to the student of mcdinsval music, inasmuch as it reveals the Eastern origin of many instruments which are generally regarded as European inventions. Introduced into Spain by the Saracens and the Moors they were gradually diffused towards northern Euroi)e. The English, for instance, adopted not only the Moorish dance (morris dance) Init also the kuitra (gittern), the el-ood (lute), the rabob (rebec), the nakkdrah (naker), and several others. In an old Cornish sacred drama, su})posed to date from the fourteenth century, we have in an enumeration of musical instruments the nakrys, designating " kettle-drums." It must be remembered that the Cornish language, which has now become obsolete, was nearly akin to the Welsh. Indeed, names of musical in- struments deri\V(l from Ihe Moors in Spain occur in almost every European language. Not a few fanciful stories are traditionally preserved among the Arabs testifying to the wonderful effects they ascribed to the power of their instrumental performances. One example will sufflce. Al-Farabi had acquired his pro- ficiency in Spain, in one of the schools at Cordova which flourished as early as towards the end of the ninth century, and his reputation became so great that ultimately it ex- tended to Asia. The mighty Caliph of Bagdad himself desired to hear the celebrated musician, and sent messengers to Spain with instructions to offer rich presents to him and to convey him to the court. But Al-Farabi feared that it he went he should be retained in Asia, and should never again see the home to which he felt deeply attached. At last he resolved to disguise himself, and ventured to under- take the journey which promised him a rich harvest. Dressed in a mean costume, he made his appearance at the court ORIENTAL. 57 just at the tirnc when tlie cahpli was being entertained with his daily concert. Al-Farabi, unknown to everyone, was permitted to exhibit his skill on the lute. Scarcely Iiad he commenced his performance in a certain musical mode when he set all his audience laughing aloud, notwithstanding the efforts of the courtiers to suppress so unbecoming an exhibition of mirth in the royal presence. In truth, even the cali[)h himself was comj)clled to I)urst out into a ht of laughter. Presently the ])erformer changed to another mode, and the effect was that immediately all his hearers began to sigh, and soon tears of sadness replaced the previous tears of mirth. Again he i)layed in another mode, which e.xcited his audience to such a rage that they would have fought each other if he, seeing the danger, had not directly gone over to an appeasing nuxU'. After this wonderful exliibition of his skill Al-Farabi concludetl in a mode which had the effect of making his listeners fall into a profound sleej), during which he took his departure. It will lie seen that this incident is almost identical with one recorded as having happened about twelve hundred years earlier at the court of Alexander the Oreat, and which forms the subject of Dryden's "Alexander's Feast." The distinguished flutist Timotheus successively aroused and subdued different passions by changing the musical modes during his jierformance, exactly in the same way as did Al-Faral)i. VI. AMERICAN INDIAN. If the preserved antiquities of the American Indians, dating from a period anterior to our discovery of the western hemisphere, possess an extraordinary interest because they afford trustworthy evidence of the degree of progress which the aborigines had attained in the cultivation of the arts and in their social condition before they came in contact with Europeans, it must be admitted that the ancient musical instruments of the American Indians are also worthy of examination. Several of them are constructed in a manner which, in some degree, reveals the characteristics of the musical system prevalent among the people who used the instruments. And although most of these interesting relics, which have been obtained from tombs and other hiding- places, may not ])0 of great anti(inil\-. it has been satisfactorily ascertained that they are genume contrivances of the Indians before they were influenced l)y European civilisation. Some account of these relics is therefore likely to prove of interest also to the ethnologist, especially as several facts may perhaps be found of assistance in elucidating the still un- solved problem as to the probable original connection of the American with Asiatic races. Among the instruments of the Aztecs in Mexico and of the Peruvians none have been found so frequently, and have been preserved in their former condition so unaltered, as pipes and flutes. They are generally made of pottery or of bone, substances which are unsuitable for the construction AMERICA X INDIAN. 59 of most other instruments, but which are remarkably well qualified to withstand the decaying influence of time. There is, therefore, no reason to conclude from the frequent occur- rence of such instruments that they were more common than other kinds of which specimens haw rarely been discovered. The Mexicans possessed a small whistle formed of baked clay, a considerable number of which have been found. Some specimens (Fig. 16) are singularly grotesque in shape, 4 ^Mn^ Fig. 16. — Pottery Whistlef. Ancient Mexican. British Museum. representing caricatures of the human face and figure, birds, l)easts, and flowers. Some were provided at the top with a finger-hole which, when closed, altered the pitch of the sound, so that two different tones were prodiicihle on the instrument. (3thers had a little Itall . Ancii 111 I'l nivlin. ./. .11x1 /'. I'nixillo. , . I iiii.c. Hi ili-.li Mii-iiirii. AM ERIC AX INDIAN. 6i held in honour of Tezcatlepoca — a divinity depicted as a handsome youth, and considered second only to the supreme being — a young man was sacriliced who, in preparation tor the ceremony, had been instructed in the art of playing the flute. Twenty days before his death four young girls, named after the principal goddesses, were given to him as companions ; and when the hour arrived in which he was to be sacrificed he observed the established symbolical rite of l)reaking a flute on each of the steps, as lie ascended the tcmi)le. Again, at the pul)lic ceremonies which took j)lace on the accession of a prince to the throne the new monarch addressed a prayer to the god, in which occurred the following allegt)rical expression : — " I am thy flute ; reveal to me thy will ; breathe into me thy breath like into a flute, as thou hast done to my predecessors on the throne. As thou hast opened their eyes, their ears, and their mouth to utter what is good, so likewise do to me. I resign myself entirely to thy guidance." Similar sentences occur in the orations addressed to the monarch. In reading them one can hardly fail to be re- minded of Hamlet's reflections addressed to (iuildenstern, when the servile courtier expresses his inability to '• govern the ventages " of the pipe and to make the instrument " discourse most eloquent music," which the prince bids him to do. !\I. de Castelnau in his " E.\])edition dans rAiiuriciue," gives among the illustrations of ol)jccts discoxcrrd in ancient Peruvian tombs a flute made of a human bone. It has four finger holes at its upjier surface and a])p(.-ars to haw been blown into at one end. Two bone flutes (Figs. i8/> A: (), in appear- ance similar to the engraving given liy .M. de Castelnau, which have been disinterred at Tru.xillo. are deposited in thelhitish Museum. They are about si.v inches in length, and each is provided with five finger holes. One of these has all Wu) 62 MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. holes at its upper side, and one of the holes is considerably smaller than the rest. The specimen which we illustrate (Fig. i8a) is ornamented with some simple designs in black. The other has four holes at its upper side and one under- neath, the latter being placed near to the end at which the instrument evidently was blown. In the aperture of this end some remains of a hardened paste, or resinous substance, are still preserved. This substance probably was inserted for the purpose of narrowing the end of the tube, in order to facilitate the producing of the sounds. The same con- trivance is still resorted to in the construction of the bone flutes by some Indian tribes in Guiana. The bones of slain enemies appear to have been considered especially appropriate for such flutes. The Araucanians having killed a prisoner, made flutes of his l)ones, and danced and " thundered out their dreadful war songs, accompanied by the mournful sounds of these horrid instruments." Alonso de Ovalle saj^s of the Indians in Chili: "Their flutes, which they play upon in their dances, are made of the bones of the Spaniards and other enemies whom they have overcome in war. This they do by way of triumph and glory for their victory. They make them likewise of bones of animals ; but the warriors dance only to the flutes made of their enemies." The Mexicans and Peruvians obviously possessed a great variety of pipes and flutes, some of which are still in use among certain Indian tribes. Those which were found in the famous ruins at Palenque are deposited in the museum in Mexico. They are : — The cuyvi, a pipe on which only five tones were producible ; the huayllaca, a sort of flageolet ; the pincullu, a flute ; and the chayna, which is described as " a flute whose lugubrious and melancholy tones filled the heart with indescribable sadness, and brought involuntary tearsi into the eyes." It was perhaps a kind of oboe, AMERICAN INDIAN. 63 The Peruvians had the syrinx, wliich they called huayra- puhura. Some clue to the proper meaning of this name may perhaps be gathered from the word huayra, which signifies " air." The hiiayra-puhura was made of cane, and also of stone. Sometimes an embroidery of needlework was attached to it as an ornament. One specimen which has been disinterred is adorned with twelve figures precisely resembling Maltese crosses. The cross is a figure which may readily be supposed to suggest itself very naturally ; and it is therefore not so surprising, as it may appear at a first glance, that the American Indians used it not un- frequently in designs and sculptures before they came in contact with Christians. The British Museum possesses a hnayra-puhura consisting of fourteen reed pipes of a brownish colour, tied together in two rows by means of thread, so as to form a double set of seven reads. Both sets are almost exactly of the same dimen- sions and are placed side by side. The shortest of these reeds measure three inches, and the longest six and a half. In one set they are open at the bottom, and in the other they are closed. Consequently octavos are produced. The reader is probabh' aware that the closing of a pipe at the end raises its pitch an octave. Thus, in our organ, the so-called stopjied diapason, a set of closed pip?s, requires tubes of only half the length of those which constitute the open diapason, although both these stops produce tones in the same pitch ; the only difference between them being the quality of sound, which in the former is less bright than in the latter. The tones yielded by the huayra-puh'.ira n\ (piestjon are as t follows : A\ A * TT "' r ~ '^*^ highest octave is indistinct, owing to some injury done to the shortest tubes ; 64 MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. but sufficient evidence remains to show that the intervals were purposely arranged according to the pcntatonic scale. This interesting relic was brought to light from a tomb at Arica. Another huayra-puhura (Fig. 19), likewise still yielding sounds, was discovered placed over a corpse in a Peruvian tomb, and was procured l:)y the French general, Paroissien. This instrument is made of soapstone, and contains eight pipes. It now belongs to the Rev. Canon J. H. Rawdon.* Ifni^llll In the Museum may li-ljlLIlL 1 ' J 1 + be seen a good plaster cast taken from this curious relic. The height is five and three-quarter inches, and its width six and a quarter inches. Four of the tubes have small lateral finger-holes, which, when closed, lower the pitch a semitone. These holes are on the second, fourth, six, and seventh pipe, as shown in the engraving. When the holes are open, the i L a * -r tones are : •/■jr nrt-a^^^tf— I — ; and when they are closed : Fig. 19.— Hl'ayra-puhi'ra, discovered in a Peruvian loinb. The properly of the Rev. Canon Rawdon. TIk' other tubes have nnaUeral)le tones. The following notation exhibits all the tones producible on the instrument : W, -TTj3-^^S=?^P-f~f '^ The musician is likely to speculate what could have induced * - / lansactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Vol. %x, , Part I ( i'-'5i'j. A MERIT. IX INDIAN. 65 the Peruvians to adopt so strange a series of intervals : it seems rather arbitrary than premeditated. If (and this seems not to be improbal)le) the Peruvians con- sidered those tones which are produced by closing the lateral holes as additional intervals only, a v^ariety of scales or kinds of modes may have been contrived by the admission of one or other of these tones among the essential ones. If we may conjecture from some remarks of Garcilasso de la Vega, and other historians, the Peruvians appear to have used different orders of intervals for different kinds of tunes, in a way similar to what we find to be the case with certain Asiatic nations. We are told, for instance, "Each poem, or song, had its appropriate tune, and they could not put two different songs to one tune ; and this was why the enamoured gallant, making music at niglit on his flute, with the tune which l)elonged to it, told the lady and a'l the world the joy or sorrow of his soul, the favour or ill-will which he possessed; so that it might be said that bMMr'- A he spoke by the flute." Thus also the Hindus have certain tunes for certain seasons and fixed occasions, and likewise a number of different modes or scales used for i)articular kinds of songs. Trumpets are often mentioned by writers who have recorded the manners and customs of the Indians at the time of the discovery of America. There are, Fio. ?«. WOODHN Tl