m^^KtummmtmJ^i^: 
 
 I 
 
 
 I I j«" — ' "->~^^HP.iJ .. iw*»^ ' ifvrm 
 
CORNELL 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 MUSIC 
 
Cornell University Library 
 ML 160.C46 
 
 3 1924 022 389 054 
 
The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924022389054 
 
THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 

 THE 
 
 HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 (art ant> Science.) 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 FROM THE EARLIEST RECORDS TO THE FALL OF THE 
 ROMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 WITH EXPLANATIONS OF ANCIENT SYSTEMS OF MUSIC, MUSICAL INSTKUMENTS, 
 
 AND OF THE TEUE PHYSIOLOGICAL BASIS FOE THE SCIENCE OF MUSIC, 
 
 WHETHER ANCIENT OB MODERN. 
 
 W. CHAPPELL, FS.A., 
 
 AUTHOR OF "A HISTORY OF THE BALLAD LITERATURE AND POPULAR MUSIC 
 OF THE OLDEN TIME." 
 
 CHAPPELL & Co., 50, NEW BOND STEEET, W. ; 
 
 AND 
 
 SIMPKIN & MARSHALL, STATIONERS' COURT, E.G. 
 
 lAlL SIGHTS RESERTED.'l 
 
 \ 
 
LONDON 
 
 HKNDKHtiOK, RAIT. AND F£KTON, OENBRAL PKINTISRS, 
 
 60, AIAU?LBBONB LANB, OXFORD ST.f W. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 It is now nearly a century since the two General 
 Histories of Music from the earliest times, by Sir 
 John Hawkins and by Charles Burney, Mus. Doc, 
 F.K.S., were first pubhshed. The subsequent minoi 
 histories by Dr. Busby, by Stafibrd, by George 
 Hogarth, and by others, were not offered as original, 
 but are avowedly derived, either whoUy or mainly, 
 from the works of their predecessors. 
 
 The following is a reaUy new History of the 
 Art and of the Science of Music from the earliest 
 records. The study was undertaken as an amuse- 
 ment, without any intention of writing ; but the 
 inducements to publish have been threefold. First, 
 that I am now able to clear away difficulties which 
 have hitherto been reputed as insurmountable ; 
 secondly, that this solution will afford a clue to 
 many passages in the classics as to the interpretation 
 of which learned men have been doubtful ; and, 
 thirdly, because I trust to be able to explain the 
 whole system of ancient music, theoretical and 
 practical, so that any reader may understand it. 
 Besides this, I can give the reasons for so many 
 
11 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 things hitherto unexplained, that I hope to make 
 a book which will be useful for any one interested 
 in music. The most ancient music is extremely 
 simple ; for the only difference between the musical 
 notes sounded even in ancient Egypt and those of 
 a well-tuned scale of to-day is the introduction of 
 minor tones alternating with major, and they differ 
 but . by the eighty-first part of a string. This 
 change made the intervals of major Thirds con- 
 sonant, as from C to E on the pianoforte. In 
 melody the former imperfection would commonly 
 pass unnoticed, but not so in harmony. 
 
 I will first say a few words about our two musical 
 historians, and thus show the desirability of a new 
 history. Sir John Hawkins's complete work and 
 Dr. Burney's first volume were printed in the year 
 1776. Dr. Burney's second volume was delayed 
 till 1782, and his third and fourth were not published 
 before 1789. In the last-named year Sir John 
 Hawkins died, but Dr. Burney lived on tiU 1814 ; 
 so that, many now living may claim to have been his 
 contemporaries for the last few years of his life, and 
 among them I am one. 
 
 On the first appearance of the two histories, they 
 met with very opposite fortunes. Popularity ran 
 altogether on the side of Dr. Burney. For six years 
 after the publication of Sir John Hawkins's complpte 
 work there was but one volume of Dr. Burney's to 
 afford a fair comparison with it ; and yet the world 
 decided unhesitatingly in favour of Dr. Burney. 
 The plan of Sir Jehn Hawkins was too elaborate. 
 
INTRODUCTION. Ill 
 
 6 
 
 It combined the biography' of musicians and the 
 bibliography of music with the history of the art. 
 Sir John's reason for attempting so much was 
 because at that time there was no satisfactory work 
 to be found upon any one of the three branches — at 
 least, not in the English language. 
 
 In pursuance of this triple design, Sir John dis- 
 cusses the merits of author after author, and of book 
 after, book, just as he might take them in chrono- 
 logical order from the shelves of his extensive and 
 valuable musical library. He adds an analysis of 
 each work, but it is too slight to embrace some of 
 the most important points. His history thus 
 becomes of a very desultory character ; and it in- 
 volves much repetition, because the same subjects 
 and the same branches of the art are treated on 
 by authors of very different dates. The plan is as 
 fatal to condensation as to continuity of subject ; 
 and thus Sir John has supplied a book of reference, 
 containing stores of materials for history, rather than 
 one consecutive and well-digested whole. 
 
 It was further unfortunate for him that only one 
 volume of. his rival's work should have been issued 
 when the comparison was so over-hastily instituted. 
 Sir John had found that he could not understand 
 ancient Greek music ; and my impression is, that 
 he had not learnt the Greek language, which would 
 sufficiently account for it. He therefore contented 
 himself with giving "an impartial state* of the 
 several opinions that at different times have pre- 
 
 » The word " statement " had not been coined when Sir John wrote. 
 
IV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 vailed among the moderns." In this, whether from 
 a desire to demonstrate the obscurity of the subject, 
 or from unwillingness to trouble himself with the 
 translation of technical words which he might not 
 fully understand, he wrote quite unintelligibly for 
 general readers. By passing over technical words, 
 and even others which were not limited to technical 
 use, he raised grave doubts as to the sufficiency of 
 his scholarship. He anghcised Greek words ; and 
 no one but a Greek scholar coidd understand them, 
 because they had not been admitted into the English 
 language. Sometimes, indeed, he added notes to 
 explain these words, but the notes were not always 
 intelligible. For example, having formed a new 
 adjective, " hemioHan," he subscribes to it : — " This 
 is but another name for sesquialtera, as Andreas 
 Ornithoparcus asserts in his Micrologus, lib. ii., on 
 the authority of Aulus Gellius." — (I., 86, 4to.) 
 But who was Andreas Ornithoparcus 1 The world 
 would not know that he was a German writer of 
 the end of the fifteenth century, whose proper name 
 is said to have been Vogelsang. And wherefore, 
 rely upon the authority of Aulus Gellius, a Roman 
 of the second centviry, for the meaning of a Greek 
 word? It is simple enough in itself, and is to be 
 found in every, or nearly every, treatise upon music 
 written by a Greek. If Sir John deemed it neces- 
 sary to add " hemiolian " to the English language, 
 he should have explained its meaning to be " in the 
 ratio of 3 to 2." Then he would have been intelli- 
 gible ; but to describe it by " sesquialtera " is not so. 
 
INTRODUCTION. V 
 
 In the same obscure style he defines a monochord 
 as consisting of one string stretched over two 
 " magades ; " these are simply " bridges ; " again, 
 of " diastems ; " meaning " intervals ;" and he gives 
 such charmingly long words, as " sesquidecima- 
 septima ratio," instead of " the ratio of 18 to 17." 
 
 It is true that Sir John had ample authority for 
 •this style of writing. It had been adopted by most 
 of the translators of Greek works upon music into 
 Latin ; and it has one great advantage, that the 
 words ai'e sure to be right, which might not have 
 been the case if he or they had attempted to render 
 them into another language. There was, however, 
 one objection to the plan — the reader must first 
 understand the subject, and perhaps be better 
 acquainted with the meaning of the Greek terms 
 than the writer. Unluckily that did not always 
 prove to be the case ; indeed, readers so well 
 informed would naturally prefer an original text. 
 
 English musicians were not prepared for the 
 numberless new words which Sir John incorporated 
 into the language. One of them. Dr. J. W. CaUcott, 
 the celebrated glee-wiiter, turned this style of 
 composition into ridicule by a mischievous catch, 
 of which he wrote both the words and the music : — 
 
 1st Voice. Have you Sir John Hawkins' Hist'ry ? 
 
 Some folks think it quite a myst'ry. 
 2nd Voice. Music filled his wondrous brain — 
 
 How d'ye like him ? Is it plain V 
 3rd Voice. Both I've read, and must agree 
 
 That Burney's Hist'ry pleases me. 
 
 When the the third singer has sung his part, the 
 
VI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 three ' take up the croas-readings in the following 
 order :— (1), " Sir John Hawkins ; " (2), " How d'ye 
 like him 1 " (3), " Burney's Hiat'ry, Barney's His- 
 t'ry " — the last sounding like " Burn his Hist'ry ! 
 burn his Hist'ry ! " 
 
 This piece of waggery was fatal to the success of 
 a work upon which the labour of many years had 
 been expended. Its merits remained in the back- 
 ground until within the second half of the present 
 century. In 1853 Sir John Hawkins's History of 
 Music was republished in two closely printed large 
 octavo volumes, with the addition of posthxunous 
 notes by the author, and a few curtailments. 
 
 Dr. Burney had the triumph of a second edition 
 of his first volume during his life ; but the three 
 remaining volumes of his history have never been, 
 and are not likely to be, republished. There are 
 great objections to them, to which I shall presently 
 refer, because I cannot find that others have noticed 
 a twentieth part of them ; but, in the meantime, as to 
 his first volume. 
 
 Dr. Burney's system of writing upon ancient 
 Greek music was identical with that of Sir John 
 Hawkins, so far as reliance upon the moderns 
 to have done all that was possible towards under- 
 standing it. Therefore the subject was not further 
 advanced by the one than by the other, although 
 Dr. Burney had the advantage in being at least an 
 intelligible writer. It may, at first, appear un- 
 accountable that, among the numbers of learned 
 men who made the attempt to understand the 
 
INTRODUCTION. Vll 
 
 Greek system during so many ages, no one should 
 have succeeded, especially considering that it will 
 hereafter be shown, even to the quarter-tone, to be our 
 modern system of music. So simple a result seems 
 ludicrous. But this general failure is to be accounted 
 for by the fact, that the Romans had twisted round 
 the meanings of the Greek words in so extraordi- 
 nary a fashion, that perhaps " tone " and " diatonic " 
 are the only two which remain nearly identical in 
 the two languages. So that, to unriddle the sub- 
 ject, the student had first to unlearn all that he 
 had been taught as to the meanings of musical 
 terms, and then to begin again, trusting onJy the 
 Greek authors. No Latin treatise would avail, 
 nor would any modern language in which musical 
 terras had been derived through the Latin, or 
 through the Western Church. The misuse of Greek 
 technical language by Romans was by no means 
 limited to music. 
 
 Dr. Btirney's education was sure to include Greek, 
 he having been a pupil at Shrewsbury School. He 
 had copies of the treatises on music by Greek 
 authors imder his hand, in two volumes, which were 
 printed only a century before. But he did not 
 consider it necessary that he should study them, 
 because he had been examined as to his knowledge 
 of Greek music from the Latin treatise of Boethius, 
 when he took his degree in music at the university. 
 He therefore employed the works of the Greeks 
 only as books of reference in case of need. 
 
 The treatise on music by Boethius, upon which 
 
Vm INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Dr. Bumey relied, has proved a most unfortunate 
 
 inheritance for modern Europe. Scholars of various 
 
 countries have flown to it to learn ancient music, 
 
 because it is written in Latin, instead of in Greek ; 
 
 but no one of them ever did, or could, learn from it. 
 
 Boethius was unable to teach that which he did not 
 
 himself understand ; and he took up music simply 
 
 as a branch of arithmetic. Boethius had no 
 
 practical knowledge of music ; he could not even 
 
 tell whether a Greek scale began at the top or at 
 
 the bottom. BewUdered by the two words, nete 
 
 and hypate ("lowest" and "highest"), he did not 
 
 succeed in discovering that they referred to length 
 
 of string ; and that therefore the " highest " string 
 
 (in length) is the one which yields the lowest sound, 
 
 and must be consequently at the bottom of the 
 
 musical scale. And yet it is inexcusable that he 
 
 should not have arrived at so elementary a piece of 
 
 information, because he makes several extracts from 
 
 the treatise on music by Nicomachus, and Nicomachus 
 
 is one who fully explains the two words. The 
 
 reader will find the explanation given by Nicomachus 
 
 in one of the following pages. (See p. 36.) 
 
 Having dispensed with the only sound grammars 
 
 of Greek music, by rejectiag the Greek treatises. 
 
 Dr. Burney's difficulties soon began. At p. 17 of 
 
 his first volume he says : — 
 
 " The perplexity concerning the scale is a subject that required 
 more time and meditation than I was able to bestow upon it ;" (I) 
 " however, I was very unwilling to leave it till I had discovered, 
 by some indisputable rule, how to determine the question, as the 
 few fragments left of Greek music, by a mistake in this particular, 
 
INTRODUCTION. IX 
 
 would be as much injured as a poem, by reading it backwards. 
 At length, an infallible rule presented itself to me, in the works of the 
 great Euclid, who has been regarded for so many ages as the legis- 
 lator of mathematicians, and whose writings have been their code." 
 
 Even this polished compliment to Euclid will not 
 palliate Dr. Bumey's utter neglect of Euclid's treatise, 
 which is the first complete one in point of date, and 
 the most necessary of all for beginners. If he would 
 but have opened the pages of Euclid before he began 
 to write, he would have been spared all his " time and 
 meditation :" he would have found a diagram which 
 sufficiently distinguishes the bottom of the scale 
 from the top, without even the trouble of reading. 
 After all, it was from that diagram that he learnt 
 the scale, although he refers his readers to the page 
 of text which accompanies it. 
 
 As another specimen of Dr. Burney's method of 
 writing history, he devotes a chapter of 37 pages 
 to discuss the question, " Whether the ancients 
 had counterpoint, or music in parts."" He there 
 collects all the " opinions " and aU the " conjectures " 
 of the moderns, both pro and con, and sums up as 
 the constituted judge. Unhappily, neither the dis- 
 putants nor the judge had first ascertained the 
 correct meaning of the Greek word harmonia. 
 Bumey did not even think it necessary to include 
 Greek definitions of harmonia in the chapter. 
 
 Dr. Burney had a strong preference for deriving 
 his knowledge of the Greek authors at second-hand ; 
 and the reason was evidently because it saved him 
 
 » p. 108 to 145 of the second aU my after-quotations are derived, 
 edition of vol. i., from which edition unless otherwise specified. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the trouble of deciphering the contractions used in 
 Greek books printed during the preceding century. 
 He read Meibomius's notes upon the Greek authors, 
 and adopted his views even too indiscriminately ; so 
 that when Meibomius trips, Burney stumbles also. 
 Meibomius is usually a good authority, therefore 
 any particular lapses on his part are noticed in the 
 following pages. 
 
 Burney was, indeed, a bold man to undertake 
 second and third volumes without the help of some 
 one more capable than himself to read for him. He 
 had proved -in his first volume that old English 
 printing was too much for him to decipher, and 
 what could he do among manuscripts ? The second 
 and third volumes of his history were to embrace 
 the period of the Middle Ages, down to the six- 
 teenth century ; therefore it could only be sought 
 for in manuscripts, or in early printed books. 
 
 Burney's deficiencies have been so generally over- 
 looked that I must recall the reader to his first 
 volume (p. 235 of the first edition and p. 241 of the 
 second). I examined both editions, to give him the 
 benefit of any doubt. In the first line on p. 241 he 
 states the text to be "after the Psalmes before 
 whyche it is prefyred," instead of "prefyxed;" and, 
 only a few lines below, we read as follows: — 
 " The same expounder informs us that the Hebrew 
 word, Nehiloth, used in the title to Psalm v., 
 signifyeth, by interpretation, beretrages." The 
 last word is plainly printed " Heretages " in the 
 original. All this is from an English Bible printed. 
 
INTRODUCTION. XI 
 
 in 1549/ in the usual black letter. The capital 
 H is indeed more nearly like a B in black letter 
 than in modern print, and the small x is a little 
 like an r ; but, considering that milkmaids had their 
 ballads printed in black letter, down to the end of 
 the seventeenth century, it §eems strange that Dr. 
 Burney sho].ild not have been able to decipher it. 
 
 The reader may from this form an opinion as to 
 the value of Dr. Bumey's readings from manuscripts, 
 when there was no Sir John Hawkins from whom 
 he could copy, and no Twining to help him, as in 
 bis first volume. I have necessarily followed some 
 of Burney's steps, and have found that, in manu- 
 scripts, his guessing is even more objectionable than 
 " beretrages." There he makes harmless nonsense, 
 but in manuscripts he frequently inverts the sense 
 of the author. A comparison would be amusing, if 
 it were not also provoking to observe the shallow- 
 ness and the assurance of the man who has so long 
 been allowed to impose his blunders upon us under 
 the name of history. 
 
 When Dr. Burney proceeded to Oxford, armed 
 with letters of introduction from Dr. Johnson, every 
 attention was shown to him, every facility was 
 afforded him. He dined well, he was allowed to 
 make transcripts, after his fashion, from any of the 
 manuscripts in the libraries, and he published his 
 judgments upon their authors in his history. In 
 1869 I had also occasion to go to Oxford. It wa^ 
 
 • It iathe first edition of Edmund dale's Prologues, fol. 1549. Printed 
 Becke's Bible, which includes Tin- by John Daye and William Seres. 
 
 h 
 
Xll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 for the purpose of collating a manuscript treatise on 
 music, written in the fourteenth century, by Theinred 
 of Dover, the only known copy of which is included 
 in the Bodleian Library. I then observed some 
 short rules for singing descant, which are written in 
 old English, and are. bound up with Theinred's 
 treatise. (Bodley, No. 842, fol. 48.) At my request 
 Mr. George Parker, one of the very able assistants 
 in the Bodleian library, copied those rules for me ; 
 and, as they related to church music, I sent Mr. 
 Parker's transcript to the musical periodical, The 
 Choir. I made only the additions of a moderniza- 
 tion of the language, to be printed by the side of 
 the old text, and wrote a few lines of introduction. 
 It had then escaped me that the rules had been 
 published by Burney ; for, after having once read 
 his work, I did not often refer to it. The difference 
 between the two versions is, however, remarkable. 
 Where the direction^ in the text are that the voice 
 should rise " abown" ("above "), Dr. Burney writes 
 " belowyn " (Burney language for " below ") ; and 
 where it is "levyd" ("leaved" or "permitted" to 
 do so and so), he says it is " denyd." If any reader 
 should be curious to make a comparison between 
 two such opposite versions from one manuscript, he 
 has but to invest twopence in the purchase of The 
 Choir of the 9th of April, 1870, and to compare Mr. 
 Parker's transcript with that of Burney, at p. 434 of 
 his second volume. Burney states these rules to be 
 the " compositio Ricardi Cutell de London " — per- 
 haps an ancestor of the famous Captain Cuttle — but 
 
INTRODUCTION. XIU 
 
 the manuscript attributes to him only the operatio, 
 the "copying," instead of the "composition." So, 
 again, with Theinred's treatise ; although Bumey 
 quotes only the first line of the Latin, he states it 
 incorrectly. Instead of " Quoniam musicorum de 
 his cantibus frequens est distinctio," the last word 
 should be " dissensio." Well might he complain of 
 "the barbarism and obscurity of the Latin," as he 
 read it (p. 397) ; but this is only another proof of 
 his unfortunate incompetence. 
 
 If Dr. Bumey had been able to contribute a few 
 examples of ancient music, and to present them in 
 an intelligible form, he would have done something 
 towards history ; but he could only copy specimens 
 from others. " The study of ancient music," says 
 he, iti his Preface, " is now become the business of 
 an antiquary more than of a musician ; " and he, at 
 least, would not claim to be an antiquary. It might 
 have been as well if his sense of deficiency in that 
 respect had acted as a check upon his flippant judg- 
 ments of old musicians whose works he could not 
 read; but then he would have lost occasions for 
 smartness, upon which he relied as a great attraction 
 in his writing. 
 
 Although Dr. Burney was admitted as a Fellow 
 of the Royal Society, he does not exhibit great quali- 
 fications either in musical or in acoustical science. At 
 p. 445 of his first volume, he says : — " The com- 
 pound interval, for instance, of the 8th and 4th, 
 though undoubtedly concord, they" (the Pytha- 
 goreans) "would not admit as such." Dr. Burney 
 
 • h 2 
 
XIV INTB0DUCTI02Sr. 
 
 is here peculiarly unhappy in his correction of the 
 Pythagoreans. Eeader, try- the Burney concord; 
 strike C, G, F, on the pianoforte. Now take away 
 the lower C, and substitute F for the base. That is 
 what other people call concord, and the first they 
 term discord. Burney is demonstrably wrong, 
 because no such sound as our F can ever arise from 
 the root of C This is unequivocally proved in the 
 following chapter tipon the basis of the science of 
 music. No concord can arise between any two 
 sounds if they cannot be traced to one root. 
 
 To cultivate a lively style and to follow the fashion- 
 able tastes of the day were Dr. Burney 's two ideas 
 of the desiderata for a history of music. His direct 
 model was his admired J. J. Rousseau, as evinced in 
 Rousseau's clever and caustic, but shallow and unjust 
 writings upon musicians and upon music. The Trou- 
 badours of Provence, and Italian music, especially 
 1 taHan opera, are Rousseau's all but exclusive themes 
 of praise ; and he raises them to greater prominence 
 by an undue disparagement, if not a sweeping 
 condemnation, of the music of other countries. 
 Burney is, in some cases, a direct plagiarist from 
 Rousseau; but, as often happens with imitators, 
 he exceeds his original. In order to appear very 
 smart and very clever. Dr. Burney does not scruple 
 to misstate the words of an author in order to make 
 jokes at his expense, and to be thought to correct 
 him. I have given so many proofs of his habit of 
 perversion in my Introduction to Popular Music of 
 the Olden Time, that, although those quotations are 
 
INTRODUCTION. ±^' 
 
 limited to one subject, they afford sufficient evidence 
 of the fact, without further devotion of space. 
 
 Unfortunately, our two historians were equally 
 unable to judge of the age of early manuscripts, and 
 neither the one nor the other took the precaution of 
 enquiring from those who were skilled in paleography. 
 Thus they have inverted the course of history, and 
 sometimes in a curious manner. An important manu 
 script, written in the first half of the thirteenth 
 century, is postponed to the fifteenth, and one of 
 the second half of the fifteenth is antedated as of the 
 fourteenth century. A new history would therefore 
 be necessary, if it were only to re-work the old 
 materials, but the whole face of those times is now 
 changed by new evidence. 
 
 It is unfortunate that Dr. Burney's History of 
 Music should not have been adequately tested before 
 it was adopted as an authority ; for, since his death, 
 we have been too often treated to lectures upon 
 music which are simply cut out of his work. This 
 is the most melancholy part of the affait. Every 
 allowance may be made for a man who fails in some 
 of the very numerous requirements for histories of 
 music. The various languages, ancient and modem, 
 the 'obsolete technicalities within those languages, the 
 obsolete notation in which ancient music is written, 
 the chronology of manuscripts and their decipher- 
 ment, the necessity of a grounding in .general as well 
 as in particular science, the wide extent of general 
 reading reqxiired, ntiastery of the subject to draw 
 sound conclusions, and, finally, the unremunerativo 
 
XVI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 character of the amusemefit, .or the task, as the 
 chance may be, , will afford some excuses ; but it 
 would be difficiilt to find any for one who seeks, 
 by a perversion of texts, to gain undue credit for 
 himself as of superior ability to their authors. 
 
 Histories of music require one who is willing to 
 devote time to them, especially for the earlier por- 
 tions. But, when once the foundations have been 
 securely laid, the grea,t diffiqulties of the task 
 are overcome, and then abler men, who have made 
 special studies upon particular branches, may well 
 step in and raise the general standard of knowledge. 
 Hitherto we have lost those advantages for- want 
 of the secure basis to start upon. I • hope to have 
 at last succeeded in that fundamental part, and to 
 submit an ample number of good authorities in proof 
 of it. Henceforth how simple and continuous is the 
 chain. Commencing from our modern end, note first 
 the long or white keys of the pianoforte. Their 
 arrangement was copied from the keys of organs. 
 Modern Europe derived organs originally from the 
 Greeks. The white keys in question, our a, b, c, 
 D, E, F, G, form the " Common " Greek scale, con- 
 veyed to us through the organ. The intervals of 
 tone and semitone will hereafter be proved to be 
 precisely the same in every Greek "diatonic" scale. 
 
 Next, the Greeks and Romans derived their organs 
 from ancient Egypt. In evidence of this, and carry- 
 ing the proof even to the very action of the key, we 
 go back to an extant work on Pneumatics, written 
 in Greek in the third century before the birth of 
 
INTRODUCTION. XVll 
 
 Christ, by Heron of Alexandria. It includes a then 
 new kind of pneumatic organ, one to be set in action 
 by a windmill, as well as a full description of the 
 organ called hydraulic, which had been recently 
 invented by Ctesibius, the Egyptian barber of Alex- 
 andria, and the reputed teacher of Heron. After 
 translating Heron's description of the latter, I made, 
 with the assistance of a friend, a working model 
 sufficient to test the principle of the hydraulic 
 organ, according to Heron's du-ections, and it 
 answers perfectly. By a little consideration, I 
 find that the especial object, and the one advan- 
 tage of his invention is, that it prevents the possi- 
 bility of overblowing the instrument so as to injure 
 it. If too much pressure be applied to the bellows, 
 the surplus air wUl escape through water before it 
 reaches the wind-chest, and so the instrument wUl 
 remain uninjured. 
 
 With this information, we go back to the history 
 of the ordinary pneumatic organ, blown hke those 
 of to-day, by bellows directly into the wind -chest. 
 Through an oracle referred to by Herodotus, I find 
 evidence that the ancient Greek " pairs of bellows '* 
 were precisely the same as those which we see de- 
 picted in Egyptian smithies on the paintings in the 
 tombs, one of which is here copied to illustrate 
 them. Next, that those identical " pairs of bellows " 
 are to be seen sculptured upon Roman organs as 
 late as the fourth century of our era. The blower 
 stood upon the bellows, and exhausted them alter- 
 nately by throwing his weight first upon one leg) 
 
XVIU INTRODUCTION. 
 
 and then upon the, other. Therefore the pressure 
 upon the wind-chest was the weight of the man, 
 whether the organ was large or small. But in the 
 hydraulic organ the pressure could be regulated, not 
 only by making the receiver of a size in proportion 
 to the instrument, but even to the nicety of a pound, 
 by the proportionate weight of water applied ; there- 
 fore, at once, the advantages of the Egyptian barber s 
 improvement become evident. 
 
 After Heron, I found no difficulty in translating 
 the description of a double-acting hydraulic organ, 
 as given by Vitruvius about 20 years B.C., although 
 his description has been reputed to be unintelligible. 
 Neither Sir John Hawkins nor Dr. Burney would 
 attempt it, and the translations of architects, New- 
 ton, Gwilt, and others, are really unintelligible. 
 
 Then turning to another subject, I found, through 
 a quotation upon an astronomical computation, that 
 the number of notes in the Egyptian musical scale 
 was precisely the same as in the Greek, including 
 the three Greek scales, diatonic, enharmonic, and 
 chromatic. This quotation had been open to all pre- 
 ceding readers of the Greek authors upon music, but 
 its importance had passed unnoticed. The evidence 
 is altogether in accordance with my expectation, 
 because no Greek writer alludes to any difference 
 between the Egyptian and Greek systems of music, 
 although the best Greek works upon the science of 
 music, saving the Problems of Aristotle, were written 
 on the soil of Egypt, and the Egyptians were un- 
 doubtedly the teachers of musical science to the 
 
INTRODUCTION. XIX 
 
 Greeks. It eftectually disposes of claims set up by 
 comparatively late Greek writers for their country- 
 men as originators of the enharmonic and chromatic 
 scales. 
 
 Then next to the Ghaldaeans, or learned men of 
 Babylon, and again I find, through an astronomical 
 comment which, as usual, supposes the motion of 
 the planets to be regulated by musical intervals, 
 and thus to make everlasting harmony, that the 
 Chaldseans had the same musical intervals of Fourth, 
 Fifth, and Octave, as the Egyptians. By that 
 means we may identify the musical systems of the 
 two great ^nations between which the Hebrews were 
 situated, and with whom they had frequent com- 
 munications. Next, as to the musical system of the 
 Hebrews. There I should have been at a loss, 
 through not understanding the Hebrew language. 
 I could but have referred to Jewish writers who 
 flourished under the empu-es of Greece and Rome, 
 and who wrote in Greek — such &,s PhUo Judaeus and 
 Josephus — and have said that they make no mention 
 of any differences of system, although they not in- 
 frequently refer to music. Also that the m'usical 
 instruments named in the Book of Daniel, if Jewish, 
 are wonderfxilly like Greek, and that there ate lyres 
 of unmistakable Greek formfe ilpon Jewish coins. 
 But here my learned friefid, Dr. Ginsburg, one of 
 the committee for revision of the Old Testament, 
 assists me, and enables me to state, upon his au- 
 thority, that the names of the musical instruments 
 in the Book of Daniel are not derived from Hebrew 
 
XX INTKODUCTION. 
 
 roots ; and, further, that he has found proofs in the 
 Talmud of the use of the hydrauHc organ by the 
 Jews. So henceforth we may fairly conclude that 
 we have at last arrived at the musical system of 
 ancient Asia, and that it is our A, B, c, D, e, f, g. 
 
 Then the interesting question arises, "Did the 
 ancients practise harmony 1 " — Undoubtedly they 
 did> even at the time of building the Pyramids of 
 Egypt. It is not a matter of doubt, but a mathe- 
 matical certainty. This is shown in the following 
 chapter on Egypt, and the reader will find, towards 
 the end of this vohime, an Egyptian caricature of a 
 quartet concert at the Court of Rameses III., in 
 which the King plays, not first fiddle, because the 
 Egyptians had not arrived at the use of bowed 
 instruments, but) instead of it, he sounds the 
 lyre. 
 
 All this tends to show the- vast antiquity of the 
 science of music ; also what an open and neglected 
 field there has been for any dihgent enquirer into 
 musical history who started with an elementary 
 knowledge of the principles of sound. 
 
 Now, in another direction, as to the changed 
 meanings of technical words. Let us take the two 
 last named, " enharmonic and chromatic." The 
 Greek enharmonic scale is the diatonic A, b, o, d e 
 F, G, A, minus the Fourth and the Seventh. If we • 
 count it from the key-note upwards, as in modem 
 scales, it is our A, B, c, E, F, A. As to the quarter- 
 tones of this scale, they were merely added to utihze 
 the two unemployed strings, D and g. Quai-ter-tones 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXI 
 
 both were, and are, insusceptible of harmony, and, 
 therefore, they could only be used as grace-notes, 
 to give a little graceful whine at the end of a phrase, 
 just as the modem player sometimes whines, for 
 expression, upon his violin. It rests upon the best 
 authority that the quarter-tones were not an essential 
 part of the scale, and that they were not sung 
 originally. Plutarch states that ancient singers, and 
 singers in the ancient manner, did not employ them ; 
 and when Aristotle says, as in his fifteenth problem of 
 Section 1 9, that enharmonic melodies were preferred . 
 to diatonic, on account of their ease and simplicity, 
 so long as it was the custom for gentlemen to sing 
 in the dithyrambic choruses, it may be taken for 
 certain that the gentlemen did not attempt to sing 
 quarter-tones in chorus. The gentlemen's reason for 
 preferring the enharmonic was a valid one. The 
 ascending Fourth and' the minor Seventh are not 
 easy to sing by ear without accompaniment, because 
 they come from different roots to that of the key-note, 
 and want the support of a different base. The 
 reader will find this fully explained in the chapter 
 on the basis of the science. The minor Seventh is 
 rejected, and the major Seventh, only half a tone 
 below the octave, is substituted for it' in our present 
 minor scales because the former is so imsatisfactory 
 to the ear. 
 
 The Greek chromatic scale was a great improve- 
 ment upon the Greek enharmonic. It includes the 
 enharmonic minor scale of the A, B, c, E, F, A, but it 
 changes the two quarter-tones into f sharp and c sharp. 
 
XXll INTEODUGTION. 
 
 By these sharps, when used instead of the correspond- 
 ing naturals, it adds a major scale of the same number 
 of notes as the minor ; each wanting the Fourth and 
 the Seventh. This kind of major has been popularly 
 called the Scotch scale, and it has been recently 
 named pentatonic, Or "five-toned." The last is not 
 a happy designation, because it consists, not of tones 
 onlv, b'ut of tones and minor Thirds. If the name 
 must be Greek, pentCiphonic would be a less equivo- 
 cal cofiipound. The nainor Thirds are caiised by the 
 omission of the two semitones of the scale. Sup- 
 posing, it on the white keys of the pianoforte, the 
 notes would be c, D, B, G, A, c, omitting F and 
 B. If transposed to the black keys of the pianoforte, 
 it would be in regular ascending order froral F 
 sharp. I offer explanations in this digested form 
 in order to bring ihe points more vividly before 
 the mind of the 'reader. The mere recapittila- 
 tion 'df the notes, or intervals, would make but 
 Uttle impression on the memory ; but by the system 
 of Explanation which I make a rule to employ, 
 we "See at a glance the tise of the scales, -and we 
 appreciate the ears of the Egyptians and of the 
 Greeks. It is remarkable that, out of the three 
 specimens of Greek mUsic, which the readers will 
 find here given in a more intelligible form than by 
 Dr. Bumey, one hymn should be in a major key, 
 although the Greek diatonic system hardly admits 
 of such a scE^e. It eofold oiriy be by change of key 
 in a piece of musifc, thus making a Second key-note, 
 or Mese, on the third note of the scale. Yet how 
 
INTBODUCTION. XXIU 
 
 natural it is, having A, B, c, B, E, F, G, as a scale, 
 to begin gometimes on the third note, c, and thus 
 to change a minor into a major key. The ear guided 
 to it, against the laws of the time. 
 
 And now to a point which more immediately con- 
 cerns the reader of classics than the musician, and 
 which, being now developed through music, may 
 deserve a little further consideration from the lexico- 
 grapher. The misapplication of Greek words by the 
 Romans was by no means limited to musical terms ; 
 it extended into various arts and sciences, and it 
 has affected the translations made within the last 
 three or four centuries from Greek authors. One 
 extract fron^ Vitruviiis (here quoted in a note at p. 
 380) will suffice to establish the case as to the ad- 
 mitted corruption of terms in architecture ; but, I 
 submit, a very simple and general example of a per- 
 verted meaning in the Greek preposition anti. 
 When anti is compounded into newly invented 
 English words, it is invariably in the Roman sense 
 of " against ;" whQe in translations from the Greek, 
 where " ag^iinst " would contradict the sense of the 
 author — aa in all references to a future time — it is 
 commonly rendered by the Latin " loco," or " in the 
 place of.'' If a thing be " against " another, it cannot 
 be " in its place ; " therefore one of these two must be 
 incorrect, or, at best, but a secondary sense, due to 
 the word with which anti is then compounded. But 
 there is a third translation, which should be brought 
 more strongly than hitherto into notice, and one too 
 firmly supported by the highest Greek authorities to 
 
XXIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 be at all doubtful. It will be seen by them that 
 anti means "accompanying," "corresponding," and 
 "in harmony with." Therefore, far from being 
 " against," it is in perfect concord and agreement 
 with its fellow ; and it is certainly not " instead," 
 or "in the place of" anjrthing, because the simul- 
 taneousness of the two is often necessary to constitute 
 the harmony. 
 
 Meibomius, in the preface to his translation of the 
 Greek authors upon music, admits this to be one 
 sense ; " but still he prefers pro, " for," which is 
 perhaps doubtful, as well as " against," as primary 
 senses, for the following reasons. The four letters, 
 anti, cannot have three meanings so opposed to one 
 another ■ and, consequently, two of the three, if cor- 
 rect, must depend upon their compounds. I submit 
 that the primary sense, which yields all the three in 
 composition, is nearly expressed by our word counter, 
 as compounded in counterpart, — not being necessarily 
 " opposed to," but more frequently "like," or "cor- 
 responding with." Perhaps we have no exact word 
 to express anti fully in the Enghsh language, as it 
 means both •"accompanying" and "corresponding 
 with;" "the fellow," or "the other." "Counter" 
 seems to be the nearest. In the excellent lexicon 
 of Liddell and Scott these appear as sixth and 
 seventh meanings to anti, but only in composition. 
 
 " Qnam enim falsa est vocia avri- transoripsit Stephanus), cum expli- 
 
 XopSoQ interpretatio ; "contrarias oandum sit "consomis, conveniens, 
 
 chordas habens, contrariwm sonum concordans,congruens," -atTieajchiaB 
 
 chordis emittens, ohsomis, dissonus" et Suidaa illam optime explicamnt, 
 
 (quam etiam in Thesaurum suum ' &c. 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXV 
 
 Two " fellows " may accompany one another in con- 
 cord ; but they may also be hostile, and then are 
 "against" one another. Or, one may follow and take 
 the place of the other, and thus become, ia a secondary 
 sense, his substitute, or "instead of" him. The 
 Romans employed anti in the sense of " against," 
 sometimes with an admission that their use varied 
 from that of the Greeks.* It is only through the 
 Latin that we derive such corrupt meanings of Greek 
 words, as in " antiphonary," "antiphonal" singing, 
 as well as many more which wiU 'be shown in this 
 history, more especially when it descends to the 
 mediaeval period, to have hardly any relation to the 
 Greek sense. Upon the point of antiphonary and 
 antiphonal singing, full authorities are given here at 
 p. 11, beginning with Plato and Aristotle, down to 
 Byzantine Greek. These all agree as to the consonant 
 and corresponding sense of anti, which, therefore, 
 seems to deserve greater prominence than it has yet 
 received. If we take such a compound as antibasis, it 
 is a " fellow or companion " base of a second column,'' 
 neither opposed to, nor as a substitute for the first. 
 But the real test of the meaning of the word is where 
 anti stands alone ; and, without having travelled out 
 of my path to seek for examples, there are two in 
 the following pages, in which anti can neither mean 
 
 = Interdum enim substituitur mu- pro Vareno in familiam Anchiran- 
 
 tua aoouaatio, qnam Grseei dirucar))- iam. — [Ibid, 10.) 
 
 ■yopiavvooant, nostronimveroconcer- ^ Columellae basis in solo forami- 
 
 tatlvam. — (QuintiUan vii. , cap. 2, 9. ) nnm octo. . . Posterior minor 
 
 In quibus similis, atque in avriKan}- colnmna, quae Greece dicitur avri- 
 
 yopia, personarum, causarum, cete- PaaiQ. — (Vitruvius, lib. x., cap. 10, 
 
 rorum comparatio est : ut Cicero, vuJgo 15.) 
 
XXVI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 "against" nor "in the place of." In both of these 
 cases the translators have rendered anti by " in the 
 place of " (loco), and they thus reverse the meaning of 
 the authors. The first quotation is at p. 53 of the 
 following, where the reputed Demetrius Phalereus, 
 but rather Dionysius of Halicamassus, recommends 
 the use of a musical instrument to accompany the 
 voice, in order to keep it in tune, and the translators 
 have changed it into advice to sing without an 
 accompaniment by their "in the place of" instead 
 of "with the accompaniment of." In the second 
 instance, p. 305, the translator has been driven 
 to a perversion of the words of Sophocles, of which 
 he must have been fully conscious (translating 
 w(7irepei \vpai as if Sophocles had written 6? Trepi 
 y^vpas), in order to create a justification for his 
 rendering of anti by loco. The Greek original is 
 by Polydeuces, who was appointed to the Chair of 
 Rhetoric at Athens by the Roman Emperor Corn- 
 modus. He is now more generally known, under 
 the romanized form of his name, as Julius Pollux., 
 In reference to this second example, it is to be 
 remembered that, according to authorities, there 
 were but two horns, usually goats' horjis, to a lyre, 
 and that they were on opposite sides. The only 
 further use of horn in a lyre seems to have been for 
 the pegs, which, having been originally made from 
 the thick skin of the neck of an ox, retained the 
 name of koUopes, as weU as of kollaboi. AU sculp- 
 tures and paintings agree as to two horns only, as 
 do authors, so far as I can trace them, who make 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXVll 
 
 specific mention of the parts of the lyre.* Such a 
 material as horn would have been unsmtable for the 
 lower bar, or hypolyrion, of the lyre, to which the 
 strings were attached in primitive instruments ; for, 
 even if straight, a natural horn would taper in cir- 
 cumference, and if a large piece of horn were pared 
 down to a suitable size and length, it would be 
 unfit for the purpose, owing to its elasticity. The 
 drawing up of one string would disarrange the rest. 
 Upon these grounds I am of opinion that there was 
 not any third horn on the lyre. 
 
 As to anti in the sense of "against" and "opposite 
 to," there is sufficient reason for rejecting both as 
 not being primary translations, because they are 
 demonstrably incorrect when the Greek word is 
 used in reference to a fiiture time. For instance, 
 when Archelaus reigned in Judea, " in the room of 
 his father Herod " {avri 'UpdSov tov irarpos avroO 
 — Matthew ii. 22), Archelaus could neither be 
 " against " nor " opposite to " his father, because 
 he ruled only after Herod was dead. Perhaps our 
 translators might have been justified in translating 
 that Archelaus reigned "correspondingly to," or 
 " like " his father Herod, since we admit the render- 
 ing of anti by " like " in the compound word, anti- 
 theos, "godlike," in the works of Homer, of Plutarch, 
 and elsewhere. These, however, are questions which 
 must be left wholly to the judgment and to the 
 decision of our eminent and matured Greek scholara 
 
 " Tqe Xvpae TO m^vsita vpHroQ yap gipag atyig I'JaXow, voarrai ^atn. 
 'Ep/iijg im^a'Sm Xiyerai Kcparoiv Svolv — (Philostrati Imagines, i. 10 ; Am- 
 xal Jiiyow Kai X'^WC ... TO fiiv phion. ) 
 
XXVUl INTRODUCTION. 
 
 It is still right that I should draw attention to any 
 points which the investigation of Greek musical 
 terms may suggest, and it appears to me that 
 musical evidence runs in this direction ; unques- 
 tionably it is so in musical compounds. There is 
 stiU some amusement in store for Greek scholars 
 with the preposition anti. 
 
 In the chapter on ancient musical science, and 
 upon those immutable laws which should form the 
 basis of all musical science, whether ancient or modern 
 (pp. 186to 251), I have endeavoured to explain 
 the laws of nature as to sounds in a more generally 
 intelligible manner than they have, perhaps, been 
 hitherto presented. This is by reverting to the 
 teaching of the string and of the pipe, from which 
 those laws were first learnt. Nothing can be more 
 simple, and I take it to be a great desideratum 
 in writers of history that they should make them- 
 selves understood by the largest number of readers. 
 
 Some misconceptions of the science are reaUy curi- 
 ous, and I can but think that even the laws which 
 determine musical sounds are not well understood, if 
 we may take some of the most popular works of the 
 day as examples. I would instance Die Lehre von 
 den Tonempjindungen als physiologische Grundlage 
 fur die Theorie der Musih, by H. Helmholtz, Pro- 
 fessor of Physiology in the University of Heidelberg. 
 This work has been widely popularized through a 
 series of lectures delivered at the Royal Institution 
 of Great Britain, and subsequently in other parts, 
 bs' the Professor of Natural Philosophy in that 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXIX 
 
 institution. The third edition of Hehnholtz's work 
 'bears the date of 1870, and the second edition of 
 the Eight Lectures on Sound by Professor Tyndall, 
 of 1869. The lectures are largely derived from 
 Helmholtz, but still they include some antidotes 
 to his doctrines. 
 
 I cannot admit that Helmholtz's deductions from 
 the Tonempfindungen are such as will lay a true 
 "physiological groundwork for the theory of music," 
 as designed by the learned author. Not only are 
 there reasons for differing with him as to the due 
 employment of the scale of natural sounds, but also 
 as to his theory of harmonics ; as to his supposed 
 causes of consonance and dissonance ; as to his 
 imaginary causes of difference in the tone of musical 
 instruments; and as to the true nature of "resultant 
 tones," to which he has assigned the new name of 
 " difference tones." I might add to this Hst of 
 objections; but, since physiology is defined as "the 
 doctrine of the constitution of the laws of nature," 
 such examples as the above are essentially within 
 it, and may suffice. 
 
 If Professor Helmholtz had duly appreciated the 
 use of the scale of natural sounds or harmonics to. 
 which he assigns the name of " overtones" — and I 
 demur, contending that they are not over, but 
 simply a scale of successively rising sounds — he 
 would have taken the primary note of the whole 
 string for his No. 1, just as Dr. Pole has done in his 
 Tables of the natural harmonic notes, incorporated 
 in the Treatise on Harmony by the Rev. Sir F. A. 
 
 c 2 
 
XXX INTBODUCTION. 
 
 Gore Ouseley, Bart. The reason for preferring it so 
 is obvious. No. 1 is the sound of the whole string ; 
 No. 2, when it divides itself into two halves, each 
 half simultaneously sounding the Octave above No. 1. 
 No. 3 is when it divides itself into three parts, each 
 of the three sounding the Twelfth (a Fifth added 
 on to the Octave) above the fundamental note. 
 Mem., that the third part of the whole string is 
 identical with two-thirds of the half string, there- 
 fore they yield the same note, viz., a Twelfth above 
 that of the whole length. 
 
 In order to avoid explanations embarrassing to 
 the reader by simultaneous calculations of the rising 
 Octaves in the Harmonic Scale, I have explained all 
 the sounds as they lie within one Octave of the 
 whole string. Therefore I say, "Stop the half 
 string, and you raise the pitch of the remainder by 
 an Octave. Stop the third part of a string, and you 
 raise the pitch by the interval called a Fifth. Stop 
 the quarter of a string, and you raise the pitch by 
 the interval of a Fourth. Stop the fifth part of a 
 string, and you raise it by a major Third. Stop the 
 sixth part, and you raise it by a minor Third. Stop 
 .the seventh part, and you raise the pitch by some- 
 thing less than a minor Third, it being the propor- 
 tion of 7 to 6, and the exact interval which divides 
 the Fifth of the Scale from the Harmonic Seventh. 
 Stop the eighth part of a string, and you raise it by 
 the still smaller interval between the Harmonic,, or 
 true. Seventh and the Octave. 
 
 These seventh and eighth sounds are not used by 
 
INTRODUCTIOK. XXXI 
 
 US in music, but they are Nature's primary divisions 
 of the interval of the Fourth, as betv?een G and C, 
 in the key of C. Nature has the same number of 
 divisions for that Fourth as for the Fifth below it, 
 viz., C to G, but we lack words to express the two 
 sounds which divide the interval of the Fourth, be- 
 cause, having already a minor Third, we have but a 
 " minimum " Third to give to each of them, unless 
 technical use will permit us to name the former a 
 diminished minor Third, and the latter the minimum 
 minor Third. 
 
 If we pursue the division further, stop the ninth 
 part of a string to raise it by a major tone, and 
 stop a tenth part to raise it by a minor tone. So 
 just as the string divides itself in nature (exempli- 
 fied in the ^olian harp), or is divided by art into a 
 smaller number of aliquot parts, the musical intervals 
 diminish and the pitch rises. 
 
 But Professor Helmholtz holds a theory that, when 
 a string is struck, aU these harmonics are simul- 
 taneously superposed (see Helmholtz, pp. 262-3, and 
 Tyndall's Lectures on Sound, pp. 116 and 127.) 
 How is it possible that a string can divide itself 
 by nodes into all these sounds simultaneously'? 
 If this theory be true, there can be no such thing 
 as concord in music. We might as well play with our 
 elbows upon the pianoforte, and sound an Octave of 
 notes, or more, at once, as lay the finger upon a par- 
 ticular key. This singular conclusion seems to have 
 been arrived at through the use of a Resonator ; for- 
 getting that — like a shell held to the ear — it might be 
 
XXXU INTRODUCTION. 
 
 producing, instead of repeating, a sound : or else, by 
 mistaking reverberation for the simultaneous emission 
 of many notes from one string. The changes are cer- 
 tainly rapid after the primary sound. I have listened 
 to -them, perhaps a thousand times, in' years gone by, 
 to try to follow the scale as I heard it rising, and .to 
 test the judgment of my ear by trying to touch the 
 final note upon the pianoforte. There were many 
 sharers with me in those experiments. Some of the' 
 old grand pianofortes yielded harmonics very freely. 
 I appeal to any practical musician, but especially to 
 those accustomed to pianofortes ; also to pianoforte 
 manufacturers and all tuners, whether it is not indis- 
 putable that harmonics succeed one another. Surely 
 it is Helmholtz's error in this respect which has led 
 him into numerous others. If the reader should 
 still have any doubt, let him turn to Regnault's 
 Experiments upon sound conveyed through gas 
 pipes at Ivry, printed in the appendix to Professor 
 TyndaU's Lectures (p. 329, edit. 1869). I quote a 
 few words. " In very long conduits, to hear well 
 it is necessary to employ a baritone " (voice) ; " the 
 fundamental sounds are heard before the harmonics, 
 which then succeed each other in the order of pitch." 
 If more evidence be required, turn to Professor 
 TyndaU's Fifth Lecture (pp. 202-3) for an account 
 of Kundt's experiments. He strewed the light dust 
 of lycopodium within a glass tube, and the formation 
 of the nodes could be seen, and how they were all 
 changed with any change of note. It is, of course, 
 impossible that a column of air within a pipe can 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXXUl 
 
 divide itself simultaneously into four, five, and six 
 parts, because the nodes of the four must interfere 
 with those of the five, and those of the five will be 
 altogether different firom those of the six. It is 
 precisely as impossible in a string. The little paper 
 jockeys that are saddled by experimentalists upon 
 the nodes of a string are thrown off the moment the 
 note is changed, and they prove that the nodes 
 no longer exist in the same places. These nodes 
 are the junction points of uniform vibrations which 
 act in opposite directions. Each node is kept at 
 rest by the equality of tension in those opposite 
 directions. 
 
 Next, Professor Helmholtz asserts that " it is the 
 addition of such overtones " (which I call harmonics) 
 " to fundamental tones of the same pitch, which en- 
 ables us to distinguish the sound of a clarionet from 
 that of a flute, and the sound of a violin from both." 
 (Tyndall, p. 127.) This is, indeed, a strange theory. 
 It falls to the groimd at once by the fact that the 
 harmonics of the flute and of the violin are the same ! 
 How would the learned Professor account for the great 
 differences of tone produced in harmoniums of many 
 stops ? He cannot, surely, be aware that the springs 
 of harmoniums emit no harmonics, but only Resultant 
 Tones when certain two notes are sounded together. 
 Helmholtz has written upon harmonics without 
 having studied them sufficiently, for he cannot even 
 know that, if there are three organ pipes, one 
 triangular, one square, and the third a parallelogram 
 of two to one in breadth of sides to breadth of ends, 
 
XXXIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 they will pro(iuce different qualities of tone, and yet 
 aU have the same harmonics. 
 
 Next, as to consonance and dissonance. Surely 
 the meaning of those two words is sufficiently ex- 
 pressed in their names, derived from consono and 
 dissono, and yet Helmholtz misunderstands them. 
 I have fully explained them at p. 221, and the theory 
 of Helmholtz follows, at p. 225. After my sheet had 
 been sent to the printer, I observed that an explana- 
 tion, anticipating mine, had been more concisely 
 expressed by Sir John Herschel, in a quotation 
 given by Mr. J. H. Griesbach. I have re-quoted 
 Sir John, through Mr. Griesbach, at p. 237, but 
 should have covered myself with Sir John Herschel's 
 aegis, if I had noticed the passage in sufficient time. 
 
 Next, as to Resultant Tones. The unsoundness 
 of Helmholtz's theory is, I think, sufficiently shown 
 at my pp. 247-8. In his change of the name of 
 Resultant Tones to Difference Tones he was misled 
 by his imperfect experiments. He employed the 
 Syren, a nondescript instrument, through which 
 numerous puffs of air are simultaneously emitted, 
 one puff through each hole. He forgot that each 
 puff then becomes a separate column of air, and, 
 therefore, a separate instrument. Although he 
 heard the one sound neutrahzing the other, thus 
 causing intervals of silence, he did not allow him- 
 self time to think. This was the case of the two 
 tuning-forks over again, as illustrated at p. 258 of 
 Tyndall's lectures. The condensations of the waves 
 of sound issued by the one coincided with the rare- 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXXV 
 
 factions of the other ; therefore, while the one urged 
 the particles of air forward, the other drove them 
 backward, and, the two having equal forces, each 
 neutralized the other. The experiment to prove 
 this may be put in practice by any one, as it was 
 by me repeatedly in days long ago. Take two 
 tuning-forks of equal size and perfect tune together; 
 set them into vibration ; hold one at an angle to the 
 ear, and turn the other slowly round close to it ; 
 sometimes each will diminish the tone of the other, 
 and, if held equidistant and the two forks are 
 exactly equal, they should neutralize one another. 
 You may perhaps require a looking-glass to hold the 
 two exactly equidistant, but another person can 
 hold them. Partial neutralization is easUy attained, 
 but complete neutrahzation is hardly practicable in 
 this rough experiment, from the time lost in finding 
 the requisite distance, and the short duration of the 
 vibrations. The two forks must not be struck 
 together, because it is necessary that the one shall 
 begin on the half vibration of the other, in order to 
 neutralize its sound. 
 
 I am persuaded that the Tonempjindungen is a 
 hasty book, vsrritten under the pressure of manifold 
 engagements, and that the amount of fame and 
 popularity which has attended its production was 
 not fully anticipated. Therefore the value of time 
 was too largely considered in its composition, and 
 some very necessary experiments, such as those 
 upon harmonics, were omitted. But, since success 
 has been so widely attained, it may be hoped that 
 
XXXVl , INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the author will find time to revise the next edition 
 of his popular book, and, in doing so, that he will 
 bear in mind an admirable motto for men of science, 
 Chi va sano, va piano. 
 
 I will note one more error, not only because an 
 important one, but because in it Professor Hehnholtz 
 stands by no means alone. It seems to me the 
 invariable practice of mathematicians who write upon 
 musical scales, to mark the Fourth above the key- 
 note as in the proportion of 4 to 3, and the Sixth as 
 in the proportion of 5 to 3. Thus they ascribe 
 concordant proportions to two discords. 
 
 When a string divides itself successively into 
 three, four, and five equal parts, making three, four, 
 and five vibrations in the same time as one vibration 
 of the whole length, the notes produced are the 
 Twelfth (or Octave and Fifth) which arises from the 
 three parts — the Fifteenth (a double Octave) from 
 the four parts — and the Seventeenth (a Major Third 
 above the Double Octave) from the five parts. 
 This may be verified by any one who wUl refer 
 to the scale at p. 217 of this book] but it 
 may also be, satisfactorily proved to the ear in 
 a moment. Suppose the scale to be that of C : the 
 F above C is stUl marked as 4 to 3 — i.e., as 4 vibra- 
 tions of F to 3 of C — and A, the sixth above C, as 
 5 to 8. This will only be true if you play F as the 
 base, for F is the required Twelfth below C, and the 
 two concords belong only to the key of F. If we 
 take such a base as C, one or two octaves below the 
 nominal key-note, our string is too long or too short, 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXXVU 
 
 and we change our concords into discords. The only 
 true 4 to 3 and 5 to 3 in the key of C, are the Fourth 
 of C down to G ; and the Sixth of E down to G. 
 
 The reason of the misapprehension of old mathe- 
 maticians is that they knew not the Harmonfc Scale. 
 They calculated intervals, but did not limit them 
 to their proper places. The order of a scale may 
 not be changed. Although called Octave Scales, 
 ours are not really so. Each has two roots, derived 
 from two Greek Tetrachords or Fourths, which I 
 show to have been borrowed from Egypt. We owe 
 more to those old gentlemen of the Pyramids than 
 has been hitherto suspected. 
 
 In the exceediagly wide range of subjects which 
 a history of music entails, I have often desired to 
 consult others, especially to hear objections to any 
 conclusions I might be inclined to draw, and some- 
 times to avail myself of the sanction of great names 
 as authorities. To these gentlemen acknowledg- 
 ments are usually made in situ, but there ai-e other 
 obligations which have not been expressed. Some 
 authors have a preference, in which I largely parti- 
 cipate, of having their errors pointed out before, 
 rather than after, their books have appeared in 
 print. I confess to a particular objection against 
 having too often to sing Plaustrum perculi.'' My 
 own proofs would have been indifferently corrected 
 if wholly by myself, for I can hardly read them 
 critically, knowing what was intended, and often 
 overlooking typographical errors from worn sight. 
 
 » " I have upaet my apple-cart— I am done for !" 
 
XXXVm INTRODUCTION. 
 
 I had also a dread of tripping in my translations 
 from the Greek, since my antiquated studies ended 
 in the year 1823, but I have had the kind assistance 
 of a very learned friend, Mr. W. Aldis Wright, 
 M.A., Bursar of Trinity College, CaiDabridge. He 
 most obligingly looked over the proofs of the first 
 eight chapters, which contain most of the hard 
 Greek passages ; and kindly contributed the note 
 on p, 30, which bears his initials ; he also examined 
 my translation of Heron's Hydraulic Organ. Lastly, 
 I am indebted to the Eev. J. P. Mahaflfy, f.t.cd., 
 and Lecturer on Ancient History in the University 
 of Dublin, for having carefully revised the proofsj 
 after all sheets except the last had been printed off. 
 To Mr. Mahaify I am further indebted for the use 
 of the Egyptian caricature which appears at my 
 p. 399, and which forms the frontispiece to his 
 Prolegomena to Ancient History, 8vo. 1871. 
 
 This calls to mind my very great obligations to 
 Mr. Murray for casts from the woodcuts in Sir 
 Gardner Wilkinson's works on Ancient Egypt. 
 It would have been scarcely possible for me to 
 have given an adequate representation of the 
 musical instruments of ancient Egypt, without 
 recourse to Sir Gardner Wilkinsdn's works, for 
 they contain more examples than all the other 
 splendid publications upon Egypt together. Never- 
 theless, I have sometimes drawn from other sources, 
 and am indebted to Lepsius's Denkmaler for 
 establishing the certain practice of harmony among 
 the ancient Egyptians. When three pipers are 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXXIX 
 
 playing together witli pipes of different lengths, 
 we can almost establish the notes which they 
 are playing. 
 
 I have had the advantage of consulting other 
 learned friends upon special subjects ; among them 
 I may gratefully mention Dr. Ginsburg, Professor 
 T. Chenery, Dr. Samuel Birch, LL.D.,'Sir Charles 
 Wheatstoiie, F.R.S., Dr. Pole, F.11.S., and Mr. J. 
 H. Griesbach, besides, in numberless cases, my old 
 friend Mr. G. A. Macfarren, Professor of Harmony 
 at the B. A. M. His criticisms have been of great 
 value, and have often led me into new trains of 
 thought ; for he is unquestionably one of the most 
 scientific of eminent musicians in Europe. Still, no 
 one of my more learned friends is to be held respon- 
 sible for any opinions that I may have expressed. I 
 can only plead endeavours on my part to arrive at 
 truth, and that I had no pre-conceived theory to 
 support, which might have had the effect of warping 
 the judgment. As to whether I have added any 
 original remarks which may be of value, I really 
 cannot tell, not having read the works of modern 
 writers sufficiently. Too often have I been reminded 
 of the truth that " nuUum est jam dictum quod non 
 sit dictum prius," by finding that what I supposed to 
 be my own had been anticipated by others. There- 
 fore, I find it safer to make no claim. It is aU the 
 more probable that I may have been anticipated, 
 because I have started without any crotchets. Still, 
 I hope that the book may be found a useful sifting 
 of true from false doctrtne. 
 
xl 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 I have been induced to write this long introduc- 
 tioti by the recommendation of a friend. It is to 
 give an epitome of some main points of the jjook for 
 those who may feel interest only in one of the 
 numerous subjects, and who may not care to enter 
 upon aU. Space can be given to it for the following 
 reason. My intention was to have included Hebrew 
 Music, and to have made a thicker volume. While 
 labouring at that subject, and when, through not 
 understanding the Hebrew language, I could not 
 advance further than the Septuagint, with Philo 
 Judseus and Josephus, who wrote in Greek, add- 
 ing to these a few extracts from Greek authors, 
 my learned friend, Dr. Ginsburg took pity on my 
 case, and offered to undertake that part of the 
 history. I was exceedingly glad of such an offer, 
 for everything relating, even indirectly, to the Bible, 
 ought to be done in the best possible way. But the 
 subject grew in his hands to such an extent as to 
 exceed the limits of the proposed volume. This 
 was discovered only after many sheets had been 
 printed off. I then added one more sheet to my 
 own work, which therefore appears with starred 
 pages, and Dr. Ginsburg's History of Hebrew 
 Music will form a second volume. 
 
 The recommendation to me, to make an attempt 
 to explain Greek music, proceeded many years ago 
 from the late eminent historian, George Grote, 
 at one of many intellectual gatherings at his house, 
 first in Eccleston Street, and afterwards in Savile 
 Row. It was no doubt owing to my having shown 
 
INTRODUCTION. xli 
 
 a disposition for any work which would advance 
 the cause of music. Between 1838 and 1840, in 
 addition to every day duties, I had collected 
 and published, in two quarto volumes, the National 
 EngHsh Airs with their history, and had projected 
 and taken an active part in carrying out two societies 
 — the Percy, for the pubUcation of old ballads, lyric 
 poetry, and such prose as would exemplify the 
 manners and customs of our forefathers ; and the 
 Musical Antiquarian Society, for the pubhcation 
 of early English music. The two societies flourished 
 together for eleven years, and did good service in 
 their time. The latter brought around me many 
 eminent musicians, from whose discussions I could 
 but profit, and thus improved my small acquaintance 
 with the principles of the art and of the science. The 
 like advantages of association with first-rate musicians 
 subsequently enabled my youngest brother to direct 
 the Monday Popular Concerts, and to bring forward 
 many unknown musical gems of the highest order 
 for the patrons of those concerts. Thus, he has now 
 been working for many years at one end of the 
 chain, to advance the knowledge and to improve the 
 cultivation of music, while I have still laboured on 
 at the other, to establish the basis, and to unite the 
 scientific with the practical knowledge of the art. I 
 hope to have presented the science in so simple a 
 form that no one who intends to be a musician wQl 
 think it too much to digest. How greatly a little 
 science wiU help will be seen in many parts of this 
 little volume. 
 
xlii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Mr. Grote's enthusiasm for the Greeks somewhat 
 exceeded mine ; and, although my recollection of the 
 language was fresher than now, I did not suppose 
 that, even if I should succeed, a knowledge of Greek 
 art and science would greatly advance those of the 
 moderns ; therefore, I received the proposal rather 
 lukewarmly. But when favoured with the twelfth 
 and last volume of the History of Greece, with an 
 inscription from the illustrious author, in deference 
 to his long-antecedent recommendation, I took the 
 first step forward, by buying the works of the 
 Greek writers upon music. StUl, it appeared to me 
 that the Greeks could wait until I might be able to 
 devote uninterrupted attention to them ; and thus 
 years passed on. 
 
 It was therefore not improbable that my attempts 
 upon Greek music might have been deferred to the 
 Greek Kalends, but for an accident of comparatively 
 recent date, in consequence of attempting too youth- 
 ful a jump with gun in hand. This confined me to 
 the house, gave me more time for reading, and the 
 books were then taken from the shelves. 
 
 In the intervening years I had so enlarged the 
 collection of National English Airs, and had so many 
 anecdotes to add in illustration of them, that I re- wrote 
 the entire work, arranged the airs in chronological 
 order, and changed the title to Popular Music of the 
 Olden Time. I had also assisted M. de Coussemaker 
 in his Scriptores de Musica veterum, nova series, so 
 far as having prepared for publication some dozen 
 of mediaeval manuscripts, copied from the British 
 
INTRODUCTION. xliii 
 
 Museum or the Bodleian Library. Having retired 
 from publishing music in 1861, I had time to give to 
 an enthusiastic correspondent who would imdertake so 
 desirable, though pecuniarily unprofitable, an enter- 
 prise. M. de Coussemaker's predecessor, the Abb^ 
 Gerbert, had not examined the libraries of England. 
 
 While thus engaged I had taken note of the odd 
 uses of Greek words in manuscripts of the Middle 
 Ages written in Latin. Therefore, while reading 
 the Greek authors on music, I continued to copy 
 out such definitions of musical terms as I then en- 
 countered. I began without expectation of success 
 as to understanding the music of the Greeks, owing 
 to the number of abler men whom it had baffled ; 
 but I thought the definitions might be useful for 
 a glossary of musical terms projected by my friend 
 Dr. Rimbault. My little glossary seemed, however, 
 to afford the clue, and soon made me interested in 
 the subject. It became evident that the Roman 
 perversion of Greek musical terms had been one 
 of the great difficulties in the way of previous 
 enquirers (although by no means the only one), for 
 I could then understand the system. Eventually, 
 I found that the theoretical and practical system 
 of the Greeks had been borrowed entire from Egypt 
 or from Asia. 
 
 Music and Astronomy were so intimately mixed 
 together by the ancients, that some of the most de- 
 cisive passages about music were gathered from 
 descriptions of the planetary system, in reference 
 to the supposed harmony of the spheres. 
 
 d 
 
xliv INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Astronomy was included in the ancient definition 
 of music, which comprised all arts and sciences over 
 which the Muses were supposed to preside. Whether 
 the result of an Egyptian origin for Greek music 
 woiild have gratified my late friend, I cannot tell ; 
 but I have one great regret — that I did not com- 
 mence the enquiry a year or two earlier, so as to 
 have pubhshed this volume during the life of the 
 illustrious historian by whom it was suggested so 
 many years ago. It would have gratified me to 
 have presented him with the solution of the 'riddle, 
 in memory of earlier days. 
 
 Music has a just claim to rank highest among the 
 arts. It held that position undisputed for many ages 
 in all civilized countries. The over-zeal of would-be- 
 reformers in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries 
 — a zeal which culminated in the destruction of all 
 cathedral organs by the mob during the Common- 
 wealth — threw the first cloud over the cultivation of 
 music in England. 
 
 In the desire for radical change, some of the 
 zealots objected to alternate, or " antiphonal," sing- 
 ing, wherein the psalms are chanted by one half of 
 the choir in response to the other, each taking up 
 alternate verses. 
 
 Ignoring church history, they did not care to. 
 know that this was an ancient Jewish way of chanting 
 the Psalms of David, or that it had been introduced 
 into the Christian Church in the fourth century, and 
 with such unequivocal approval on all sides that it 
 spread immediately from the eastern to the western 
 
IISrTRODUCTXON. xlv 
 
 branch. The Puritans termed it "tossiag and 
 bandying about the Psalms from one side to the 
 other like tennis balls." To them it signified not that 
 the very meaning of " Psalm "is " to be sung with 
 the accompaniment of a musical instrument," and 
 that no words can constitute a Psalm if unsung. 
 They would have the words read, without music ; 
 but yet they inconsistently " bandied them about " 
 between the minister and the people. A Babel-like 
 confusion of tongues then took the place of the 
 orderly, time-keeping chant, and each man strove to 
 make his own voice distinguishable by its difference 
 of pitch and pace, one at the most rapid rate of 
 utterance, another at the most lengthened-out drawl. 
 The Puritans strenuously objected to all music : 
 they complained that it was the companion of mirth 
 and frivolity, and that it incited to dancing and 
 sports, all which they desired unequivocally to put 
 down. The world ought, in their judgment, only to 
 be sorrowful and full of lamentations — not even ex- 
 pressing thankfulness for mercies. In the words of 
 Prynne, one of their sect, the people should be " not 
 dancers, but mourners, whose tune is Lachrymce; 
 whose music is sighs for sin ; who know no other 
 Cinque-pace but this to heaven — to go mourning 
 all day long for their iniquities ; to mourn in secret 
 like doves, to chatter like cranes for their own and 
 others' sins." Some may think that " others " should 
 take care of themselves ; and it might be questioned 
 whether life would be desirable if such were to be its 
 one melancholy employment. 
 
 d 2 
 
xlvi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The cloud which these men left upon music is even 
 now but slowly and gradually passing away. It is 
 to be hoped that, when removed from one side of the 
 intellect, it may not stop to settle down upon any 
 other. 
 
 Music is incomparably the mo^ original of arts : 
 it is the pure creation of human intellect. Music is 
 the perfection of an art, for it has no evil tendency. 
 Music has a far greater and more immediate influence 
 upon the mind than any other art. And yet, since 
 the melancholy advent of puritan gloom over England, 
 the cultivation of the eye has far exceeded that of 
 the more delicate organ, the ear. What other art 
 than music can claim to induce cheerfulness, to 
 soothe alike the excited, the overburdened, and the 
 overworked mind ; and to have the power of raising 
 the spirits so far as even to warlike emotion ? While 
 imitation enters largely into aU those which are collo- 
 quially termed Fine Arts, and a perfect representation 
 of Nature in her best moods is a great perfection in 
 a painting, imitation of Nature is hardly admissible 
 in music. It is but as an accessory in descriptive 
 pieces that it is in any way permissible. 
 
 To bring up a child from infancy to hear and to 
 cultivate music is to add a new pleasure to its life. 
 The taste is one which never dies away. Indeed, 
 music may be cultivated to any extent, and afford 
 new pleasures at every stage of cultivation. Begin- 
 ning with the simplest sounds, one at a time, the ear 
 is gradually led on to the appreciation of many 
 simultaneous movements in the most delicate and 
 
INTRODUCTION. xlvii 
 
 even intricate combinations of sound. The infant 
 is perhaps invariably susceptible to the powers of 
 music, but this gift of Nature is too often put aside 
 and neglected until susceptibility is so much dimi- 
 nished that complaints are made of bad ears for 
 music. These bad ears are generally recoverable, if 
 the neglect has not been too long continued. Upon 
 this point T can speak vrith certain knowledge. But 
 there are cases in which, through long neglect, sus- 
 ceptibility does pass away, and then, in after life, 
 music becomes tantalizing, or even irksome. Such 
 men are to be pitied. Too often their dispositions 
 become morose, or we read of shattered nerves 
 unable to bear music, to which it ought to have been 
 the greatest comfort ; perhaps, also, of a statistical 
 increase of insanity. It did increase largely in the 
 days of the first descendants of the Puritans, for 
 whose special requirements New Bethlem or Bedlam 
 was built. Music is now found to be so great a 
 solace to the insane, as to be almost universally 
 adopted in their treatment. Let the irritable man 
 console himself with music, as did Achilles with his 
 lyre. 
 
 Many persons now wonder at the enthusiastic 
 love of music of the simpler kind expressed by 
 Shakespeare ; but they will find like expressions of 
 admiration in other great writers, both of his time 
 and before it. These men cannot all have combined 
 to deceive their own age or that of the modems. 
 There must be truth in it. Susceptibility is now 
 less only because cultivation is diminished, and too 
 
xlviii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 long delayed. The most brilliant examples of de-^ 
 velopment are among those who heard music from 
 the cradle. Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, were 
 all sons of musicians — the first of an organist, the 
 second of a violin teacher and composer, the third 
 of a tenor singer. 
 
 The consent of ancient nations in favour of music 
 is so universal that it would be but a question of 
 time to coUect a thousand proofs. I wUl cite one 
 passage from Plutarch's De Animce Procreatione^ 
 because it bears upon a supposed difficulty. In 
 ancient sculptures and painting we see representa- 
 tions of musical instruments, such as heavily orna- 
 mented lyres, with only four or five strings, and 
 other fanciful instruments, which, for musical pur- 
 poses, would have been useless. These are usually 
 found in the hands of gods and goddesses ; and the 
 painter or sculptor has indulged his fancy as to their 
 forms and frames, because he intended them only as 
 emblerns. Thus Plutarch says : — " Theologians of 
 early times, the most ancient of philosophers, repre- 
 sented the gods as holding musical instruments in 
 their hands, not indeed because they supposed them 
 to play the lyre or the pipe, but because they judged 
 no work more appropriate to a god than harmony 
 and music." 
 
 The first step to the advance of music in England 
 
 should be the repeal of that unwise Act of Parliament, 
 
 ' 25th of George the Second, which made a license 
 
 necessary for the public performance of music. 
 
 Under the plea of preventing thefts and robberies. 
 
INTKaDUCTION. xlix 
 
 every room or garden " kept for dancing, musick, or 
 other publick entertainment of the like kind, must 
 be licensed." Why should men be restrained from 
 singing anything that they are permitted to speak \ 
 Other countries do not find such precaution neces- 
 sary. The people require social gatherings, and 
 cannot always go to a distant licensed house, and 
 pay for admission. They should be allowed to 
 have their fiddler again, and to pay him as they 
 did. The effect of the Act has been only to 
 engender a race of public-house politicians, who 
 persuade themselves that they alone are fitted 
 to govern the country, so that every spouting 
 demagogue can now draw a train of excitable fol- 
 lowers, rather anxious for a grievance, and boding 
 disturbance to the State. The Government which 
 would bring about the repeal of that Act would 
 deserve well of the country. If music had the 
 faculty of engendering demagogues, there would 
 have been a storin about it long ago. 
 
 If one would further stimulate ministers to be a 
 little less shabby in their treatment of the Royal 
 Academy of Music — which, with proper assistance, 
 would be a far more useful institution than the 
 Royal Academy of Arts — he would deserve the 
 hearty acknowledgments of all lovers of music, both 
 now and hereafter. Only a few can buy a picture, 
 but all may have a Beethoven at home for a shilling. 
 A paltry £500 a year to so useful an institution 
 as the Royal Academy of Music is a stigma and a 
 disgrace to England. A single church, such as St. 
 
1 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Andrews, Wells Street, spends at least double that 
 amount upon its music. Indeed, the art deserves 
 altogether more consideration than it now receives. 
 
 Time still wears on, and although the author of 
 Maritana sings " Turn on, old Time!" such is rather 
 the desire of the young than of those who begin to 
 feel his advances. In order, to proAdde that no one of 
 my fiiends or patrons shall incur the risk of having an 
 unfinished work, each volume of this history will 
 embrace a period complete in itself, and have its 
 index. Although I have reasonable expectation of 
 carrying it to the end, the production of the whole 
 promises occupation for several years. The music 
 of the Middle Ages will form my next subject, and 
 it is one for which preparations have already been 
 made. It has hitherto rivalled Greek music in 
 obscurity, and the present accounts abound in errors. 
 
 My friend Dr. Rimbault proposes to write a new 
 history of modem music, uniformly as to size with 
 mine, and commencing where I may leave off. He 
 will exhibit, by extracts, the progress of modem 
 harmony, which will be a boon to the musical world, 
 and it is one which only a musician, and one who 
 possesses, or has access to, a very large library of 
 early authors can carry out. 
 
 WM. CHAPPELL. 
 
 1st Jime, 1874. 
 
 Steafpobd Lodob, Oatlands Park, StJEREY ; 
 or, to the care of my Son, 
 B. Ohappell, at 50, New Bond Street, London. 
 
GLOSSARIAL AND EXPLANATORY INDEX. 
 
 {Oreek and Latin words in italics, and y grec for Greek v.) 
 
 A, B, C, D, E, F, G (The modem), form the intervals of the ancient 
 Egyptian, and of the Greek Diatonic scale, xvi. 
 
 A, B, 0, E, F, A, the intervals of the Greek Common Genus, 123, and of 
 the Greek Enharmonic scale, which is pentaplimic, or of five notes, like 
 the Common Genus, the two added quarter-tones being non-essential 
 grace-notes, xx. 
 
 A, B, C, E, F, A, and A, B, C sharp, E, F sharp, A, form the intervals of 
 the Greek Chromatic scale, the first suited for minor modes, and the 
 second for unavowed major keys, xxi. Essentially a pentapJionic, or a 
 five note scale, xxii. The Fourth and minor Seventh were omitted 
 because shunned by the ear, in all ages, unless prepared for them by 
 harmony, xxi., 177, 238. 
 
 Academy of Music (The Royal), the miserable pittance for its support 
 discreditable to our Government, xlix. 
 
 Accents in Poetry as guides for bars in music, 166. 
 
 Accents (Greek), 166''. The numerous discussions about, 380. Of three 
 kinds ; for pitch, for quantity, and for stress, or hard and soft 
 breathing, 381. The acute, the grave, and the circumflex, only for 
 pitch in ancient Greek, and without the stress now given to them 
 in modern Europe, including modem Greece, 381 to 385*. Accents 
 included among musical signs, 381°. Of earlier date than the 
 Alexandrian grammarians, 383. The circumflex necessarily long, 
 because both a rise and a fall of the voice, 381'. 
 
 Accentus (Accent), compounded of ad and cantns, a translation of the 
 Greek pros ode, 383. 
 
 AcetaMla, tiny cymbals, 292, 293. 
 
 Achilles taking a music lesson, 307. 
 
 Adrastus, as quoted by Theon of Smyrna, 105. 
 
 -lEnAN, the Platonist, on the musical meaning of syllabe, i'JK 
 
 .lEoLlAN Harp, xxxi., 186. The fact of the wind acting upon strings of 
 harps known to the ancients, aiid among the modems to St. Dunstan, 
 236. 
 
 jEolian Mode, our A, B, C, D, E, F, G, in Pindar's time, 101, but in and 
 after Plato's time was F minor with a minor Seventh, 103. 
 
lii GLOSSARIAL AND EXPLANATOEY INDEX. 
 
 Alcibiades get the example of discontinuing the use of the flute, because 
 
 he thought it disfigured the beauty of his mouth, 394*. A flute 
 
 designed as a remedy for this, 394*. 
 Albxasbeidbs on the Egyptian monaulos, or shepherd's pipe, 272, 
 Alexandeias Grammarians, not the originators of Greek accents, 159, 
 
 383. 
 Alexandrians, famed by the Greeks as musicians. Harp, 311. Pipes, 
 
 267, 277. 
 Alford (Dean), misconstruction of a passage in Plato relating to music, 145". 
 Aloga, without ratio, applied to intervals which are foreign to a scale, 148'*. 
 Alypius, his Greek musical notation, 115, 184, diflters somewhat from that 
 
 of Aristides Quintilianus, 131. Each by capital letters, 172, 184. 
 
 Notes of a hymn in the Hypo-Lydian mode, 161. His scales trans- 
 posed a Fourth lower by Claudius Ptolemy, 168, 179. He includes 
 
 accents among marks of musical notation, 381^ 
 Amasis, King of Egypt (the Amos of Herodotus), encouraged Greek visitors 
 
 to Egypt, 47, 76. 
 Ambrosian Mtrsic, so called, but later than the date of St. Ambrose, ,398*. 
 
 Its meaning is " according to the use of Milan," 398*. 
 ATnetabole, without mutation, or change, of mode or scale, 104. 
 Amosis, first Pharaoh of the 18th dynasty. Lyres of 17 strings before the 
 
 birth of Moses, 49'. 
 Amphion (Fame of), due to recitations, which were included in the general 
 
 word, music, 32, 49. 
 Anacreon had a Lydian Magadis, 14, 255. A Lesbian lyre, or Barbitos, 
 
 296. A Lydian Pektis, 301. Heal music first to lyric poetry, but 
 
 not to epic, 385*. 
 Ancient Music all simple and intelligible, ii. The systems of ancient 
 
 Egypt, Babylon, Judsea and Greece alike, xviii., xix. The intervals 
 
 of our A, B, C, D, E, F, G, in them aU, xx. 
 Anghones, the lower parts of the curved sides of the lyre, 306. 
 . Artti (The Greek preposition) discussed, xxiii. to xxvii., 11, 53, 305", 306. 
 Antibasis, the base of a second and minor column, xxv"". 
 Antkhordos, a concordant string, an octave below, xxiv"., 12. 
 Antikategona, comparison, xxv". 
 Antiphonal Singing, introduced from Jewish and Syrian customs, 10. 
 
 Not Greek, 11. Greek antiphonal is our congregational singing, when 
 
 men sing, naturally, the corresponding sounds an octave below women 
 
 and children, 11. 
 Antiphthongos, a sound an octave below, 13. 
 Antipmimos, an accompaniment an octave below, 13. 
 Antistrophe, a corresponding strophe, 13. 
 Antitheos, god-like, xxvii. 
 
 Antitheton, the corresponding sound an octave below, 13. 
 Apis Tablets for Egyptian dates, 33". 
 Apollo (Hymn to), 174, 178. (Nomes to), 107. (Paeans, or choral songs to), 
 
 108. His fight with the Python described, 265. Osiris as Apollo, 302. 
 Apollodorus, 28, 39", 278, 279. 
 
 Apotome, the larger segment of a tone, 202. Its proportions, 202. 
 Apuleius, on flutes in the worship of Serapis, 275. 
 
GLOSSARIAL AND EXPLANATORY INDEX. liii 
 
 Apycni, the extremes of the two Greek systems, viz., prosXwmhanome.noH 
 for the lowest, and nete. hyperbolmon, or synemmenon, for the highest 
 sound, 144''. 
 
 Arabian Pipes, proverbially long. A man of whose tongue there was no 
 end was called au Arabian piper, 268. 
 
 Abatus (Greek hymns in the Oxford edition of), 156. 
 
 Aecadius, of Autioch, De Accentihm, 383, 384, 384". 
 
 Archilochus, later than Terpander, 12, 33, 34, 35. 
 
 Archimedes (The hydraulic organ wrongly attributed to), 365. 
 
 Archytas, the Pythagorean, 77, 80, 126, 128, 207. 
 
 Arcula, the wind-chest of an organ, 354. 
 
 Akgos (Reputed foundation of), by an Egyptian, 59, 94. 
 
 Aristides QuiNTiLiANUs, 31, 36=, 50, 52, 75, 79% 83", 83'', 84", 85", 88, 92, 
 101, 104«, 118, 130 to 134, 1.37", 184, 185, 277, 295, 296, 297. Too 
 early a date ascribed to this author, who adds gamma to his scale, who 
 misunderstands Plato, and the "mixed " Greek scales. See 130 to 134. 
 
 Aristophanes, 305", 385". 
 
 Aristophanes of Byzantium, not the inventor of Greek accents, 383, 384. 
 His grammar, 384", 385*. 
 
 Aristotle. Enharmonic melodies preferred to diatonic because easier to 
 sing, xxi. Cicero copied from, 4, 390*. On Antiphon, 11 to 13. On 
 the octave, 46. Music of the heavens, 76''. Stateliness of the Hypo- 
 Dorian mode, 81, 110. The note omitted on the seveu-sti-inged lyre was 
 the minor Third above the key-note, 81. On Mese, the key-note, 85, 
 86, 87, 176. On Melos, 88. On Melopceia, 90. On Greek Nmnes, 
 107. Takes note of different (jrenera, 126. Harmonia axiA EnlMrmonia, 
 
 127. Octaves only in magadizing, 142". Concordant sounds more 
 pleasing than single notes, and the sweetest of concords is the octave, 
 146". Passing discords, 148. Vibration of high notes, 190. Doctrine 
 of superparticular ratios, 206. On pipes used for lamentatLons, 262''. 
 The Phoiniio and Atropos lyres for playing octaves, 298. Definition of 
 a harp, 307. On Rhetoric, 390*, 390*". 
 
 Aristoxenians, those who relied on the judgment of the ear, 30". 
 Aristoxenus, 4, 5, 16, 56, 80, 92, 100, 109, 118, 119, 123, 125, 126, 127, 
 
 128, 129, 131, 300, 383, 385. 
 
 Ards and Thesis, in music the up beat and down beat ; in dancing the 
 up-spring the stronger, but the reverse in music, 164. The two con- 
 stitute a pons, or foot, in verse, 89. 
 
 Artemon, on the tripod lyre attributed to Pythagoras, 299. 
 
 Arts, why music is the highest, xliv., xlvi. to xlviii. 
 
 Ascauks (Latin), a bagpiper, 351". The bagpipe {askaulos), rather a 
 Roman than a Greek instrument, 280. 
 
 Askoi (Greek), bellows of an organ, inade of hides, 351". 
 
 Asor, the Hebrew numeral, ten, 291. 
 
 Assyrian Musical Instruments, Harp, 392*, Dulcimer, 291, 'Trumpet, 
 282. Otlier examples vAll appear in the volume on Hebrew Music. 
 
 Assyrian System of music same as Egyptian, 3. 
 
 Astronomy, a branch of ancient music, xix, xUii., xliv. The first obser- 
 vations attributed to the Egyptian Hermes, or Thoth, 31''. 
 
 Athanasius (Saint), Bishop of Alexandria, his style of chanting, .397*, 398*. 
 
liv GLOSSARIAL AND EXPLANATORY INDEX. 
 
 Athen^us, 13, 56, 69«, 74, lOP, 110, 148, 149, 159, 167, 253, 255'', 
 ,2551, 256«, 261, 272, 273, 275, 276, 278, 279, 282, 294, 296»; 298', 299, 
 
 301", SOP, 301", 306", 308, 309, 311, 311", 311", 311°, 326, 329, 365, 
 
 400*". 
 AthInS (Minerva, Greek worship of), 2, 55 ; reputed identity with Neth, 
 
 the Egyptian goddess, noticed by Plato, 58. 
 Athens (Poundatiou of), attributed to the Egyptian Oecrops, 58. 
 Atropos, a lyre of the magadizing kind, 298. 
 
 Augustine (Saiiit), Bishop of Hippo, 293, 375, 396», 397*", 397**, 397* «. 
 Aulas, a general name for pipe and flute, 267 ; made of various woods, 
 
 metals, reeds, bones, &c., 267. 
 AuLUS Gellius, Nodes Atticae, iv., 394*". 
 
 Babylon. See Chaldseans, or learned men of Babylon. 
 Bacohius, Senr., 85*, 94", 101, 102", 114". 
 
 Bagpipe, although having a Greek name, asi:a%ihs (from ashoi, hides) un- 
 noticed by Greek writers, 280. The Emperor Nero vowed to compete 
 
 with the bagpipers (utricularii) in the public games, 361. 
 Barbitos, a many -stringed Lesbian Lyre, 255, 296 ; possibly identical with 
 
 the Barmos and Barwmitos, but Euphorion speaks of the BarSmos 
 
 arid the Barbitos separately, 296". 
 Bars in music equal to measures in poetry, 164 How to bar music, 164 
 
 to 166. 
 Bartholinus De TiUis Veterum, 256'', 262*. 
 Barypyhwi, the lowest strings of tetrachords, but only in the Chromatic or 
 
 Enharmonic scale, 145, in Note. 
 Bassoon, a base to the hautboy, 261. Played upon with a double reed, 
 
 and the tube " stopped," or folded back, 262. 
 Batera, lower cross-bar of the lyre, to which the strings were attached, 
 
 and where they were tuned, 306. 
 Becke (Edmund), Bible of 154^, xi". 
 
 Bekker (Im.), Anecdota Orceca, 381", 382. Scholia of tJie Iliad, 384''. 
 Bbllbrmann (Dr. F.). Collated early manuscripts of the Greek hymns, 
 
 167, 178, 181". 
 Bellows (Ancient, of Organs) blown by standing upon, xvii., 370, .373, 374. 
 
 Made of buUs' hides, 376. A condensing syringe used instead of 
 
 bellows for the hydraulic organ, 328. 
 Bbbecynthian pipes (named from Berecynthus in Phrygia), had small 
 
 tubes, but deep-toned, and with horns at the end, 276. Probably 
 
 pipes played with reeds, like clarionets, 276. 
 Bernouilli on the vibrations of strings, 236. 
 Birch (Dr. Samuel), xxxix., SS'', 61, 66. 
 Bishop (Mr.). Thanks to, 403*. 
 Blanchinus on ancient musical instruments, 283". 
 Blind (The) taught music ifor their living in ancient Egjrpt, 320, 321. 
 BocCHORis imprecates Menes for the luxuries he introduced into Egypt, 69. 
 Bodleian Library, xii., xliii. 
 BoECKH, 4, 21. Inadmissible date for Psammetichus I., 33''. His Corpus 
 
 Inscriptionwm, 37". His difficulties about music, 81. Character of 
 
 modes, 100. Proslambcmomenos, 104. Other mistakes, 116*, 116". 
 
GLOSSARIAL AND EXPLANATORY INDEX. Iv 
 
 BoETHitrs, vii. Misunderstood the Greek scale, viii. His treatise, 6-10, 
 31, 36, 41. 73, 115, 120, 178. On harmony of the spheres, 251. Mis- 
 understood Mete and liypate, 323. The great confounder of Greek 
 music, 324. His treatise on arithmetic, 391*". 
 
 BoMBAED of the Middle Ages, a long base pipe, probably deriving its name 
 from the Greek Bombos, 262. 
 
 Bomboa, the base part of a scale, and the name of a long pipe with deep 
 notes, used at funerals, 262. As the name signifies " humming " or 
 " buzzing," it was probably played upon with a double reed, like the 
 bassoon, 262. 
 
 Bombyx, a, pipe which, from its name, was perhaps thought to bear an 
 external resemblance to a silkworm, 268. It was long, made of reed, 
 perhaps a flossy one, must have had a reed mouthpiece; it required 
 much breath, and was only blown with considerable exertion, 268, 269. 
 Pliny describes the reed, and the supposed bombyx here at p. 269. 
 Single reeds for pipes made of bombyx, 276. 
 
 Boimi, the Egyptian name for Harp, 316. 
 
 British Museum, xliii. 
 
 Bruob, the Abyssinian traveller, 290. Egyptian Hai-ps, 314, 315, 316. 
 
 Brycbson (Mr.). Thanks to, 403*. 
 
 Bkyennius (Manuel), 12. His account of the lyre, 30. Copies from Intro- 
 ductio Hojnnonica, now erroneously attributed to EuoHd, 30". On 
 Melos, 88. Scales differ only in pitch, 116", 177. 
 
 BiikanS (Greek), Buccina (Latin), a horn, originally made of a Triton's 
 shell, 283, afterwards a straight horn of metal, 284. 
 
 BuNSEN (0. C. J.), 28°, 60°, 61, 61", 68, 69, 290*. 
 
 BoEETTE (P. J.), 34% 147', 157, 159, 160, 177, 178, 184. 
 
 BuENEY (Dr.), History of Music, i., dates of publication, ii., popularity, ii., 
 first volume reprinted, vi., Greek treatises unstudied, vii., consequences, 
 viii., ix., unskilled in reading old books, x., and still less old manu- 
 scripts, xii., attempt to correct the Pythagoreans, xiii., his history 
 too inadequately tested, xv., mistakes in dates of manuscripts, xv. 
 Odd comment on an Egyptian urn, 19. On the difficulty of Greek 
 music, 23, Nile story of the invention of the lyre referred to Apollo- 
 dorus incorrectly, 39", 40. Copies a mistake of Meibomius, 96''. Makes 
 the two Greek systems into one, 98, 99. Mistake about' Harmonia, 
 154. His ill-advised system of timing Greek hymns, 159-165. Contra- 
 dicted by the Greek laws, 172. Thought that no tolerable base could be 
 added to the first Greek hymn, but two here contributed, 160. His 
 timing of lines from the Hecuba of Euripides, 165". Quotes Burette, 
 178, 184. Did not observe the table of musical notation by Aristides 
 Quintilianus, 185. Musical instrument, from a sarcophagus, 269. 
 Mistakes about the Photinx and the Monaulos, 275. Also about the 
 Tromha Marina, 283. The Sistrum, 288. Fabulous tripod lyre, 299. 
 Copies an imaginary psaltery, without a sounding body, 307. Mistakes 
 the character of the Egyptian people from a false text of Ammia;nus 
 Marcellinus, 317. Could not understand the hydraulic organ, 3.32, 
 now fully explained, 333 et seq. His translation of Julian's epigram, 
 375. Was not acquainted with Heron's descriptions of organs, 378. 
 
 Busby (Dr.), History of Mask, i., 330, 331", 376. 
 
Ivi GLOSSARIAL AND EXPLANATORY INDEX. 
 
 Bwxus, boxwood (Greek pyxos), any flutes or pipes made of the wood might 
 be, and were, so called, 256. 
 
 Oaccini (Scale attributed to the time of), 240". 
 
 C^SAB (C), the Roman orator, on unmusical chanting, 398*. 
 
 Calamus, not only a reed and a reed pipe, but also a metal organ pipe, 376. 
 
 Oallcott (Dr. John Wall), hia catch upon Hawkins and Burney's Histories 
 
 of Music, V. 
 Calliope (Hymn to), 168. 
 Oambysbs. Conquest of Egypt e.g. 525, as a starting point for retrogression 
 
 in Egyptian chronology, 33". 
 Canalis, the air-channel under the pipes of an organ, 354. 
 Ocmonici, a name given to Pythagorean musicians because they measured 
 
 strings by a rule {hanon), 80. 
 Oantus, chanting, or inflections of the voice, with or without correct musical 
 
 intervals, and not necessarily singing, 396*. 
 Capblla (Martianus), 74. 
 
 Gapistrum, a bandage worn by pipers over the cheeks, and its use, 279, 280. 
 Capitolinus, life of Antoninus Pius, 177. 
 Cabians used the gmgras, or small pipe blown with a double reed, like 
 
 the hautboy, in their wailings. 261. 
 Carioatuee of an Egyptian royal quartet concert, 399*, 400*. 
 Cabnbian Games (Musical contests at), 32. 
 Cakte (Richard). Thanks to, 403*. 
 Cassiodobus, 5, 6, 258, 367, 377, 378, 392*, 393*. 
 Castanets (Greek Krenibala,), made of nutshells, cockles, oyster shells, and 
 
 later of metal, 293. ' ' And beating down the limpets from the rooks, 
 
 they made a noise like castanets," 294. 
 Catch upon Hawkins and Burney's History of Music, v. 
 Catgut and oats ; M. Fetis's mistake, 26". 
 Censobinus De Die NaiaM, 401*. 
 ChaldjEANS (The) used the same musical intervals as Egyptians, xix. 
 
 Octave, Fifth, and Fourth, 3, 41". Other Chaldseans besides the 
 
 learned, 41''. 
 Ohalumeau. See Clarionet. 
 ChampollioSi on Egypt, 319, .370^. 
 
 Chanting of the Christian Church originally Greek rhapsodizing, 396*. 
 Chappell (S. Arthur), Monday Popular Concerts, xli. 
 Chabactbr in Greek modes, all dependent upon the words, high pitch, 
 
 and metres, 99. 
 Chdys, a lyre so named from its shell back, 29, 295. 
 Chbneby (Professor T. ). Thanks to, xxxix. 
 Chilmead (Edward), Oxford editor of Aratus, 156. Presented his prepared 
 
 edition of Gaudentius to Meibom, 157. 
 Chinese, the inventors of the free reed used in all harmoniums, and in 
 
 some modern organs, 281. Use canes or reeds of great size for organ 
 
 pipes, 331. 
 Chladni on Acoustics, 236. 
 Choir (The), Musical Periodical, xii. 
 Choragium, the conduoting-rod from the key to the slider of an organ, 355. 
 
GLOSSARIAL AND EXPLANATORY INDEX. Ivii 
 
 Ghorauloi, pipes of the clarionet order, the same as Pythauloi, 265. For 
 choruses, 267- 
 
 Chords (Greek), means not only a string, but also a musical sound, 28=", 
 146". 
 
 Chordotonos, the lower bar of the lyre to which the strings were attached 
 and where they were tuned, 306. 
 
 Chorikoi, pipes for accompanying choral dances, 267. 
 
 Chroai, shades of difference in scales, 121, 127, 128, 129. 
 
 Chroma hemidlion, or sesquialteral Chromatic, 128 ; division of, 129. 
 
 Chroma malak6n, or soft Chromatic, 128 ; division of, 129. 
 
 Chroma tonaion, the ordinary Chromatic, 128, 129. 
 
 Cheomatic Scale (Greek), derived from Egypt, xviii. Consists of a major 
 scale without Fourth or Seventh, and of a minor scale without Fourth 
 or Seventh, xxii, 121. How formed on the lyre, 122. 
 
 Chronolosy (A choice of), for the reader, 61". 
 
 Church Scales are not Greek, 17. 
 
 Cicero, xxv'', 4. On music in parts, 152. Definition of concetUvs, 152. On 
 celestial sounds, 251. Intus canere, and foris canere explained, 365. 
 AspeTidii cithariske, 366. Careless treatment of Cicero by his editors, 
 386*, 386*t, 388*", 388* ', 388* «. Pipe player for pitch to orators, 395*. 
 
 CiTTEBN, the carved head once thought peculiar to the old English cittern, 
 found upon an Egyptian lute, or nefer, 321. 
 
 Clarion, an octave trumpet, 266, 284. 
 
 Clarionet (The) is of the nature of a stopped pipe, and therefore sounds 
 an octave lower than other pipes, 242. Only two harmonics can be 
 produced, one Twelfth above another, Nos. 3 and 9 of the harmonic 
 scale, 242. The peculiar harmonics first brought into notice by Sir 
 Charles Wheatstone, F.R.S., 242. The clarionet represents the 
 Shawm, Schalm, Schalmuse, or Chalumeau of a few centuries ago, 
 264. A straight tube while the hautboy is conical, 264. The b6ll 
 end of a clarionet is useless, 264. A stiff reed makes harsh tone, 
 264. The name clarionet the diminutive of "clarion," on account 
 of its power, 266. 
 
 Claudian, 268», 330, 331. 
 
 Clemens Alexandrinus, 293, 309. 
 
 Commas in music, the Pythagorean Komyna and its ratio, 202. Comma 
 of Didymus, sometimes entitled the syntonic comma, being the 
 diOferenoe between a major and a minor tone (80 to 81), 204. The 
 great importance of this comma in harmony, 204. 
 
 Common Genus (The), a minor scale without Fourth or Seventh, 123, same 
 as the Enharmonic of Olympus, 52, 123. 
 
 Conjunct or Lesser System of the Greeks, 95. It was the hymnal 
 system, 30, 93, 94, 95, 178. Additions made to it by a tetrachord at 
 at a time, 92. 
 
 Consecutive Fourths and Fifths not allowed by the Greeks (and with 
 good reason, in aU cases, because they make consecutive changes of 
 key), 146. 
 
 Consonance (Cause of), xxxiv., 221.' Hehnholtz's incorrect theory, 225. 
 Sir John Herschel's true theory, 237. 
 
 Copernicus, 106. 
 
Iviii GLOSSABIAL AND EXPLANATORY INDEX, 
 
 CoKKBT (The old), formerly of horn, is now of metal, and called Corno 
 Inglese; it is the tenor to the hautboy, aa the bassoon is the base, 261. 
 
 Cortma, the air-compreaser of the hydraulic organ, why so called, 337. 
 
 Cousin (Victor), indifferent translation of Plato, 143, 144. 
 
 CoussBMAKEE (Chev. de), xUi., 368, 373. 
 
 Crotala (Greek Krotala), clappers, originally Egyptian, used by the Greeks 
 and Komans in the worship of Cybele, flew apart by a hinge or spring 
 on opening the hand, and clapped together by shutting it, 293. Made 
 of split reed or wood, with heads or maces at the ends, to be knocked 
 together, 293. The stork called crotalistria, on account of the noise 
 made by the bird in striking together the two bones of its beak, 293. 
 
 Ctesibius of Alexandria, the son of an Egyptian barber, and, therefore, 
 also a barber, inventor of the hydraulic organ, xvii., xviii. His date 
 proved, 326, 328. Teaches the elasticity of air, 328. 
 
 Cyeele (Worship of), with flutes and with Krotala or clappers, 293. 
 
 Cymbals, Etruscan, 263. The Greek of three sizes, called Kymbala, 
 Lekidoi, and Oxybaphoi, some round and some oval; the Oxybaphoi 
 named after little vinegar saucers, 292, 293. Eoman cymbals, large and 
 small, the least called Acetahda, or vinegar cups, 293. Used as valves 
 in hydraulic organs, 353. The war instruments of the Arabs, 293. 
 "Cymbals are compared," says St. Augustine, "to our lips, because 
 they sound by touching one another," 293. Roman Faun with cymbals, 
 from an ancient statue, 404*. 
 
 D'Albmbbrt on acoustics, 236. 
 
 Daniel (Book of). The musical instruments have Greek names, xix., 259. 
 
 Danjou (M.), 368, 369. 
 
 Daphne, named after the laurel, had musical instruments made of laurel 
 
 wood, aa the Pandoura, at her Festivals, 74. 
 Demetbhts Phalbrbds (A work wrongly attributed to), xx vi. See Dionysius 
 
 of HaUcarnaasus, , 
 
 Dbmoclidbs. The Gingras pipe named after Adonis, 261. 
 Description de VEgypte, 62'', 64. 
 Diapason ("through aU"), the Octave, 46, 79. 
 Diapente, interval of a Fifth, 32, 46. 
 Diaphonia, discord, 11'. Euclid's definition, 136". 
 Diaschisma, the approximate half of a Umma, 204. 
 Diastems, intervals, v. 
 
 Diatesaaron, or interval of a Fourth, 31, 32, 46. 
 Diatonic, derivation of the word, 129". It meana "on the stretch 
 
 throughout," being the most tightly drawn up of ancient scales, 131». 
 Diatonic Scales (Greek), the intervals of tones and semitones as on the 
 
 white keys of a pianoforte from A to G, xvi. 
 Diatonon Jwmalon, 201. 
 
 Diatonon malakdn (soft), 128. Diviaion of, 129. 
 Diatonon syntonon (atrained tight), 128, 129, 210. 
 Diatonos, sometimes used for the highest string but one (the lichanos or the 
 
 paraTiete) of any tetrachord in the diatonic scale, 97, 98. 
 DiAZBUCTio Tone, the disjunctive major tone between two Greek tetra 
 
 chorda in a scale, 81, 82, 129, 193. 
 
6L0SSAEIAL AND EXPLANATORY INDEX. lix 
 
 Diazeuxia, disjunction. See the syatem at p. 97. 
 
 Diezeugmenon, the tetrachord of the Disjunct System, which is next above 
 the key-note, 97. 
 
 DiDBON, Annates Areh4ologiques, 368, 369, 373. 
 
 DiDYMUS, 8, 68, 123», 128. His Chromatic and Enharmonic Greek scales the 
 best that could be, 197. His true quarter-tone, 203. Comma, 204. 
 Correction of the ditone, 204. True major and minor Thirds, 205. 
 He first carried out superparticular ratios, 207. Largely quoted by 
 Claudius Ptolemy and by Porphyry, 207°. Wrote a treatise on the 
 differences between Pythagoreans and Aristoxenians, 207. Scale of, 
 compared with Ptolemy's, 208, 209. 
 
 Diesis, originally a limma, or semitone, 79. Later a third or a quarter of 
 a tone in the Chromatic or Enharmonic scales, 79. The modem Enhar- 
 monic diesis has the ratio of 125-128, which is less than the true 
 quarter-tone of Didymus, 203. 
 
 Difference Tones, a misnomer for Resultant tones, 247. 
 
 DiODORCS SicuLDS, 3P, 39", 40, 41, 48, 60, 62, 68, 94^ 318. 
 
 Diogenes Labbtius, 48''. 
 
 Diogenes, the tragic poet, 300. 
 
 Dion Cassius, 3. 
 
 Dion Chrysostom, 318. 
 
 DiONYSius of Halicarnassus, xxvi. On the advantages of having a lyre 
 to accompany the voice, 53, 84. On the phrasing of a composition, 
 172. On the extent of the fluctuations of the voice in discourse, 385. 
 On the pitch for orations, 396, 396". 
 
 DiONYsius (Two of the hymns attributed to), 173. 
 
 DlONYSlDS of Thrace, the grammarian, 381", 382 in note, 384. 
 
 Dionysus (Bacchus), his birth the proper subject of dithyrambic poetry, 
 189. 
 
 Dioxia (di' oxeian), meaning ' ' through the acute " strings of the lyre ; the 
 interval of a Fifth, 46, 78. Name changed to diapente when there were 
 five strings in the treble, 83. 
 
 Discords (Ancient), 11*, 136», 147, 148. 
 
 Disjunct System of the Greeks, the greater' or two-octave system, 97. 
 Called the Perfect System by Claudius Ptolemy, 79». 
 
 DiTHYR^i-MBic Choruses in the Enharmonic scale, xxi. Verses on the 
 birth of Dionysus, 189. 
 
 Ditones, or ancient Thirds, how to tune so as to hear how discordant they 
 were, 119, 148. How they were corrected by Didymus, 204, 205. 
 
 Dominant of a key the Greek Hypo, 24. 
 
 Donaldson (Dr. J. W.), TUatre of tlie Greeks, 166". 
 
 Donaldson (The late Professor, of Edinburgh), his acoustical experiments, 
 251. 
 
 DoncKC, a reed, and a reed pipe, also a metal organ pipe, 376. 
 
 Dorian Mode, originally associated with words severe, firm, and manly, 
 afterwards nothing more than the key of D minor with a minor 
 Seventh, 99, 103, 112. Only fit for a tenor voice, 107. Hypo- 
 Dorian included as Dorian, 109. Dorian transposed by Claudius 
 Ptolemy, 113. 
 
 DoRLiKs reputed to be of Egyptian origin, 303. 
 
Ix GLOSSARIAL AND EXPLANATORY INDEX. 
 
 E sharp, a deairable addition to our scale, 220. Its ratio, 216*. 
 Eak (Tlje), less cultivated than the eye, xlvi. Bad ears for music recover- 
 able, xlvi. The ear has guided to true music in all ages against the 
 laws of the times, 177. More delicately organized than the eye, 205. 
 Range for musical sounds,. 234, 250, seven Octaves, while that of the eye 
 haardly exceeds one Octave, 250. 
 
 Ecclesiastical Scales with improper Greek names, 16. 
 
 JScheion, the sounding board and body of the lyre, 306. 
 
 Egypt, opened to the Greeks 7th century, B.C., 33. Different estimates of 
 chronology, 61". The three empires, 69. Egyptians copied nothing 
 from Greeks, 49. An Egyptian barber the teacher of science to two 
 celebrated Greeks, Philon of Byzantium and Herqn of Alexandria, 3rd 
 century B.C.; 328. Egyptians reputed founders of Greek cities, 58, 59. 
 Egyptians a great and free people under their own kings, learned, 
 skilful, inventive, scientiiic, industrious, sportive, and mirthful ; more 
 humane than Assyrians and Romans, because more civilized, 317, 318. 
 Two additional points in Egyptian religious ceremonies imported into 
 Christianity, 289, 290. Egyptian year of 365 days, 48. 
 
 Egyptian Music. The three Greek scales. Diatonic, Enharmonic, and Chro- 
 matic, borrowed from Egypt, xviii., 51. The practice of music in parts 
 unequivocal, 65, 274, 399. Egyptian lutes had two Octaves on each 
 string, 3, 49, 50. An Egyptian dirge generally sung in Greece, 59. 
 Egyptian flutes had many nqtes, and must have h^d some extra semi- 
 tones to play in various modes, 268. Very ancient base-flute blown 
 at the side, 65, 274. Names found in hieroglyphics, Sebi, or Seba, 
 side-blown flute ; Maim, pipe or flute blown at the end, 67. Bowni, 
 a harp ; Ta Bowni, "The, Harp," 316. Nefer, a lute, plural, Nefru, 
 61. Side-blown flutes used in the worship qf Serapis, 275. Horns, 
 trumpets, and speaking-trumpets, 282. The Sistrmn, 286-290. Vibrat- 
 ing rods pulled to produce Harmonics, 291. Large and small drums, 
 timbrels, or tambourines, and clappers, or short maces to be clapped 
 together (see also Grotala), 292. Rhythmical music, 66. 
 
 Elymos, a pipe, probably a small Phrygian pipe, played with a double 
 reed, 278. A double pipe, said to be made of boxwood with horn 
 ends, used in worship of Cybele, 278. 
 
 Elymoa, a stringed instrument, 279. 
 
 Miharmonia, once so popular as to have usurped the general name of Music 
 {harmonia), 127. 
 
 Enhaemonic Scale (Greek) derived from Egypt, xviii. Consists of a minor 
 scale, without Fourth or Seventh, and of two quarter-tones which 
 were only to be used as grace notes, xx,, 125, 147. Preferred by 
 gentlemen for choruses becaxise easy to sing, xxi. Attributed to 
 Olympus the Phrygian by Aristoxenus, according to Plutarch, 123. 
 Examples, 134. Its attraction consisted in the omission of notes not 
 derived from the string, and therefore it was more fitted for natural 
 singing, 125. 
 
 Enneachordon, a nine-stringed instrument, 279. 
 
 Epigoneion, an Egyptian harp with forty strings, introduced to the Greeks 
 by Epigonos, 68, 149, 310. The name transferred to »■ psaltery, 149, 
 311. 
 
GLOSSARIAL AND • EXPLANATORY INDEX. Ixi 
 
 Epiqonos, account of his skill in music, 149. Brought his forty-stringed 
 harp from Alexandria, 311. Introduced the Chromatic scale and insti- 
 tuted a chorus, 311. 
 
 Epimorioi, superparticular ratios the unit above another number, 206. 
 
 Epistomia, the stops of an organ, 354. 
 
 Epkynaphe, the system of three conjoined tetraohords, 94. 
 
 Epitritos, the ratio of 4 to 3, and the musical interval of a Fourth, 389. 
 
 Eratosthenes, 68. His chronology, 69. Scales, 128, 207. • 
 
 Etruscan'Lyre (A peculiar), 298. Etruscan pipes, 267, with double reeds, 
 262. An emblematic harp, 300. Among Etruscan instruments are 
 lyres, tambourines, both with and without little jingling cymbals 
 attached to them, the Pan's pipe, or Syrinx, and the harp, 263. Curved 
 trumpets and horns reputed to be of Etruscan origin, 282. 
 
 Euclid's treatise on music, ix. Not author of the IntroductU) ffarmonka, 
 but of the Sectio Canonis, 30», 46, 50, 51, 85«, 85°, 92, 93. On modu- 
 lation, 103°, 103''. On music in one key, 104". On compass of the 
 human voice, 109. On the Hypo-Dorian or Common scale, 110. On 
 Octaves, 114, 117- Mathematical proportions of scales, 115. Common 
 Genus, 123. Distinguishes Hannonia from Enharmonia, 127- Divides 
 tetraohords into thirty, 129. On syntonon, 131. Definitions of Sym- 
 pJionia and Diaphonia, 136". Of pyknoi, barypyhnoi, oxypyknoi, and 
 mesopyknoi, 144''. Transposition to any semitone within the Octave, 
 179». The base of a scale, 262. 
 
 EULER, 236. 
 
 Muouae, the vowels of "Seculorum, Amen," 54. The spelling ilvooae is 
 now a mistake, the v being only the old form of the letter u. 
 
 EaphoHon, 256, 296", 301. 
 
 EupoLis gave to Harmonia the name of Harmoge, 137". 
 
 Euripides, 40, 89, 165", 296. 
 
 EuSBBius, Chronicle, 177. 
 
 Eustathius, Commentary on the Iliad, 385". 
 
 F£tis (F. J.), on cats and catgut, 26". Error about KUhara, 29". Egyp- 
 tian flute, 56. Supposed by him to have been in the modern Chromatic 
 scale, 57". Deficient in knowledge of harmonics, 57" ; also misunder- 
 stood Greek Harmonia, 138, 139. Did not understand Greek or Hebrew, 
 but ventured to correct Josephus, Aristoxenus, Juba, and all Greeks, 
 140, 311''. His fancied triumph over Descartes, Leibnitz, Sir Isaac 
 Newton, and others, 140. His curious errors and singular courage, 
 141 to 143, 150. Corrects Athenseus, 274". 
 
 FiiTHS, the nearest to equal division of a Fifth, 207- Consecutive Fifths 
 not permitted by the Greeks, the scientific reason being that they 
 cause consecutive changes of key, which the ear will not bear, 146. 
 Twelve perfect Fifths sharper than seven Octaves, 203. 
 
 FlPPLB, the sharp edge of the notch, against which the breath is 
 directed in an old English flute, or in a flageolet, to produce the sound, 
 
 271. 
 Fine Arts (The), more or less imitative, but music not so, xlvi. 
 Finger-boards to lutes, guitars, or violins (The use of), 44. 
 Flageolet (Principle of the), 271- 
 
 e 2 
 
Ixii GLOSSARIAL AND EXPLANATORY INDEX. 
 
 Flutes of two kinds, blown at the end and at the side ; the side-blown 
 flute is Egyptian, in Greek Plagiaulos, formerly called ''German" 
 in England, and the "Swiss flute " in Germany, 273, 270. Flutes blown 
 at the end, like the Soft flute, or English flute, and the flageolet, also 
 Egyptian : see frontispiece and p. 63. Their tone produced without 
 the lips by blowing against a sharp edge or notch to cause the air to 
 vibrate, 270, 274. Flute driven out of fashion in Athens by Alcibiades, 
 who thought it disfigured the beauty of his mouth, 394*. A flute free 
 from that objection, 394. 
 
 Flute (Egyptian), 65, 274. One in the Museuru at Florence, 56. F^tis's 
 curious error about, 57°. Used for three kinds of scale, 58. 
 
 FoRKEL misled by Dr. Bumey as to the author of the Nile story of the 
 lyre, 39». 
 
 Fourth (The) in a scale, rejected by Egyptians and by Greeks in the 
 Enharmonic and Chromatic scales, xx. With good reason, xxi. Shunned 
 by susceptible ears in all ages, 125, 238. Consecutive Fourths not 
 allowed, by the ancients, 146-151. The two kinds of Fourth, the one a 
 concord and the other a discord, 192. A puzzle to old writers on 
 harmony, 192, 193. The nearest to equal divisions of a Fourth, 207. 
 From the key-note to the Fourth above is from one key to another, 
 237. The due position of Fourths, 238. 
 
 Franz (Dr. J.), of Berlin, 10", 15", 40>. 
 
 Frets to Egyptian musical instruments, 44. 
 
 Fundnlvs, the piston of a condensing- syringe for the hydraulic organ, 352. 
 
 Galen on pipes for funerals, 262". 
 
 Galilei (Vincenzo), Dialogo della Mimca imiica, 156. 
 
 Galileo (The great mathematician and astronomer), 73. 
 
 Gamma, or the base note G included in a late Greek scale, 130. 
 
 Gaudentius, 12, 19, 35^ 73, 114, 148", 163, 179. 
 
 Gehenna not included in the creed of the heathen, 167. 
 
 Gbrbert (Abbot), Scriptores de Musica vetemm, xliii. 
 
 Gerhard (Ed.) on a Greek vase, 56. 
 
 German musical historians have complicated Greek music for themselves, 
 
 17, 18. 
 Gingrae, a tiny pipe played with the double reed like the hautboy ; an 
 
 Egyptian example of the instrument in the British Museum, 261. 
 
 Name derived from Gingres, Adonis, and used for lamentations for 
 
 Adonis, 261. 
 Ginsburg (Dr. C. D.), xix., xxxix., xl. 
 Glaucus on ancient poets and musicians, 35. 
 Glossa or glotta, the reed or tongue of a pipe, 266. 
 Glossohomeion, or glossohomon, a shallow little box with a sliding top to 
 
 hold the reeds or tongues with which pipes of the clarionet or hautboy 
 
 kind were played upon, 266, 267. 
 Glottis, the mouthpiece of a pipe in which the reed or tongue was inserted, 
 
 266". 
 Goats' Horns to Greek lyres, xxvi., xxvii. 
 GoODisoN (Charles). Thanks to, 403. 
 ■ Grammata, written lettered characters, to represent notes for music, 185. 
 
, GLOSSAllIAL AND EXPLANATORY INDEX. Ixiii 
 
 XrKBATER Systbm of the Greeks, a compaaa of two transposable Octaves, 97. 
 / Greek Accents. See Accents (Greek). 
 
 Greek Hymns— to Kalliope, 168, 170. To ApoEo, 173, 174. To Nemesis, 
 179, really in a major key, xxii., 176. The oiily trustworthy remains o' 
 Greek music, 158. Their historical interest, 162. Hymn to Kalliope, 
 for a ten-stringed lyre, 162. In the major key a Third below, rather 
 than minor, 170. Dr. Bumeys way of writing the music, 162, 163. 
 Greek hynms tranquil music, emblematic of a mind at ease, 167- 
 Greeting the Gods with hymns and odes, and banqueting with them, 
 167. Greek music not restricted to one note for each syllable, 172. 
 May have long notes to short vowels, 172. The musical notation of, 
 172. Probable date of the hymns, 177, 178. 
 
 Greek Musical Notation, called semaaui, nemeia, and sometimes gram- 
 maia, 168, 172. See Alypius and Abistides Quintilianus. 
 
 Greek Octaves explained, 114, US', 117. Exemplified on the octave lyre, 
 112, 113. 
 
 Greek Scales all minor, no perfect major scale among them, 115. But 
 beginning on the Third of the key makes a major, 176. Or on the 
 Third below, which is Nature's key-note for all minors, 170. Greek 
 ears resisted Greek laws, 177. All the scales derived from Egypt, 
 50, 51. 
 
 Greek Sinoing to the gods a great strain upon the lungs, 107. The gods 
 a long way off, 108. The pitch of all principal modes very high, 109. 
 The movable do, or ut, in singing, 117. Greeks inapt pupils in music, 
 303. Sang in minor keys, with the minor Seventh, 25. 
 
 GiJebk System of Music altogether the basis of our own, 1, and borrowed 
 from Egypt, xviii. Identified by Plato and Pythagoras, 50. Its re- 
 puted difficulty, 4, 23, 24, a mere myth, ii. Dr. Burney's mistake of 
 turning two systems into one, 98. 
 
 Greek Words misapplied by Romans, vii., ^xiii., 379, 380. 
 
 Greek Worship of Athene, 55. 
 
 Greenhill (W. a. ). Error about the date of Didymus, 207". 
 
 Greenwood (J. G.), excellent edition of Heron's Pneumatika, 333. 
 
 Greookian Modes, or Tones, as now called, are Greek Octaves in the 
 Hypo-Dorian and Dorian mode, ^115. Gregorian music unknown in 
 the time of St. Gregory, 398. Its meaning is "according to the use of 
 Rome," 398. 
 
 Griesbach (J. H.), xxxiv., xxxix., 237», 244, 248, 250, 403.* 
 
 Geote (George), the historian, xl., xlii., xUv. 
 
 GuHL and Koner's Das Leben der Griechen und RBmer (1864), 364". 
 
 GuiDO d'Aeezzo, 9. Behind his age in musical knowledge, 21. 
 
 Hadrian (Emperor), 177. 
 
 Hales (Rev. Dr. W.), his chronology, 61». 
 
 Harmoge (Greek), a name substituted for Harmonia by Eupolis, 137°- 
 
 Harmonia (Greek), ix., 15. Derived from harmozdn, "to fit together," 80. 
 Means music, including both harmony and the ascent and descent of 
 the voice by musical intervals out of which melody springs, 15, 78, 
 79', 136. Definitions of, 137". The title usurped for a time by the 
 one system, Enharmonia, 15, 16, 127. Perhaps the name of Harmonia 
 
Ixiv GLOSSARIAL AND EXPLANATORY INDEX. 
 
 may have been given to the supposed wife of Cadmus to express that 
 she taught the science of music to the Greeks, just as her husband is 
 said to have taught them the alphabet, 80. 
 
 Harmonic Fourth (The) produced by an eleventh part of a string, 217. 
 A thirty-third part sharper than our Fourth, 216", 220. Its ratio is 
 11 to 8 to the key-note, 216°. Sometimes used in Switzerland instead 
 of the ordinary Fourth, 195. Used occasionally by the ancient Greeks, 
 197. And formerly upon trumpets, horns, &c., 195. It is Nature's 
 division of the minor Third, as between E and G, 202. A bold and 
 expressive melodic progression, 238^ 
 
 Harmonic Scaie (The), or scale of natural sounds arising from the suc- 
 cessive aliquot divisions of a string, showing all sounds which thus 
 arise from one root or entire string, 217, 218, xxix. to xxxi. Its im- 
 portance as the basis of science, and compared with the present scale, 
 218 to 221. Taught by the wind ftpon an .^olian harp and by a horn, 
 186. Also by a trumpet without keys or valves, 241. The six-octave' 
 scale, 234. Harmonic scale developed only in the last. century, 235. 
 Discovered in 1673 by two graduates at Oxford, and this the origin of 
 all science, as affording the first measurements, 235, 236. Experiments 
 with a pianoforte tuned to the scale for the writer, 238°. All flights 
 of genius in composers are intuitions of, and can be tested by, the 
 Harmonic scale, 236, 237. 
 
 Harmonic Seventh, the seventh part of a string, and Nature's division of 
 the Fourth up to the Octave, xxxi., 207. Now used in Switzerland, 
 195. A natural note on the horn, 195. Used occasionally by ancient 
 Greeks, 197, 201, 202. A sixty-fourth part flatter than our mhior 
 Seventh, 216''. Is a perfect Fifth to E sharp, 217, and a note much 
 wanted for melody, 238. 
 
 Harmonici, or Harmomkoi, Pythagorean musicians so called themselves, 
 80. Others called them Ccmonici, or KoMonikoi, from using the Kanon 
 to measure intervals upon strings, 74. 
 
 Harmonics. Enrichment of tone caused by them, 225. Not simultaneous, 
 but consecutive, xxxi. to xxxiii., 214, 230 to 232. Harmonics of flute, 
 violin, hautboy, and pianoforte the same, xxxiii., 233. The tapering 
 springs of harmoniums do not emit harmonics, xxxiii., 233. The 
 mixture stops of organs are to represent them, 241. Till lately more 
 thought of as a trouble to pianoforte makers than as containing the 
 essence of music, 193. Discovery at Oxford in 1673 how to produce 
 them at will, 235. A necessary study for composers, 236. Are produced 
 with some exertion of the lungs from pipes, 279, 280. Tempered scales 
 make false harmonics, 241. The number of any harmonic tells its 
 proportion to the whole string, 218, 223. 
 
 Harmonike (Greek), another name for harmonia, to avoid the confusion 
 which had been created between harmonia and enJiarmonia, 16, 127, 
 137. 
 
 Harmoniums have no audible harmonics, xxxiii,, 233. This deficiency 
 makes them unsatisfactory substitutes for organs, 246. They emit 
 resultant tones, 245. 
 
 Harmony (The practice of) as old as the pyramids of Egypt, xx., 274. 
 Proofs of the Greek and Roman practice, 147 to 153. Names of able 
 
GLOSSARIAL AND EXPLANATORY INDEX. Ixv 
 
 men who discussed that question in or before the last century, 153. 
 Dr. Bumey's mistake as to the Greek word, 154", 154''. Wherein lies 
 the charm of harmony, 224. Reputed harmony of the spheres, 76, 77. 
 
 Hahmony (in the technical sense), concords intermixed with occasional 
 discords, 237- Good or bad effects may be foretold without hearing 
 the notes, 187. 
 
 Habps (Egyptian), originally bow-shaped, 65, 67, 306. Transition to the 
 triangular shape for the sake of having short strings in the angle, 315, 
 319. Called Trigone when of triangular form, 307. And Psalteries 
 from being played with the fingers of both hands, 307. Extant with 
 twenty-five strings, 67. Harps introduced to Greece by Simicos and 
 Epigonos with thirty-five and forty strings, 149, 312. Duets for harp and 
 flute, 149. Sir J. G. Wilkinson's description of Egyptian harps, 3X3. 
 The Egyptian name of a harp Bouni, 316. Harps in the form of the 
 Greek letter delta, A, which are true Trigons, found on a Greek gem 
 in the British Museum, about 500 years B.C., and among Etruscan 
 antiquities, 318. 
 
 Hautboy (The) derived from Egypt, 2. Roman hautboys, 263. Formerly 
 called Waights in England, and why, 260. An Egyptian tiny haut- 
 boy, called by the Greeks Oingras, is in the British Museum, 261. 
 
 Hawkins (Sit Xohn), History of Mtisic, date of, and triple design, i. to iii. 
 Anglicised Greek words, iv. Was satirized as unintelligible, v. Re- 
 published with posthumous notes, vi. Unskilled in dates of manuscripts, 
 XV. On the difficulty of Greek modes, 24. These explained, 84. Sup- 
 posed the Greek musical notes added by Meibom to the Te Demn to 
 be ancient, 158. Could not understand the hydraulic organ, 332. 
 Here fully explained, 333. Did not know Heron's description, 378. 
 
 Hebrew System of Music same as Egyptian, Babylonian, and Greek, xix. 
 Greek musical instruments in the Book of Daniel, and Greek lyres on 
 Jewish coins, xix. xl. The hydraulic organ mentioned in the Talmud, 
 
 XX. 
 
 Hedylus (An epigram of) fixes the date of Ctesibius and of the hydraulic 
 organ, 326. 
 
 Helikon, an instrument for measuring sections of strings, 75. 
 
 Helmholtz (Professor H. ), Tonempjmdungen. Objections to certain of his 
 theories, xxviii. to xxxvi., 225 to 234. The Siren not a trustworthy 
 instrument for experiments, xxxiv., 248. An improvement proposed 
 in his Harmonic Scale, 219% 229, 230. Antithesis to his theory of 
 consonance, 237. ObjectioBs to his new name of "Difference Tones" 
 for " Resultant Tones," they being caused by " consonant " vibrations, 
 247. The probable origin of his novel idea, 248. On the range of the 
 ear for musical sounds, 250. Misled by his Resonators, xxxi. 
 
 Hemiolian, the ratio of 3 to 2, iv. 
 
 Hemitonb, 79. See Semitone. 
 
 Herculaneum (Paintings of). Terpsichore with an emblematic lyre, 297. 
 Erato with a ten-stringed psaltery, 308. 
 
 Hercules and the lyre, 49. 
 
 Hermes (The Greek), xxvii.«, 27, 28. Hymn to, not Homer's, 28. Lyre, 29. 
 
 Hermes (The Egyptian), 27, 39. 
 
 Hekmippus, 294. 
 
Ixvi GLOSSARIAL AND EXPLAXATORY INDEX. 
 
 Herodotus, xvii., 2, 29, 33", 49'>, 52", 59, 59^ 60, 76, 259, 303, 371. 
 
 Heb5n of Alexandria, 3rd century, B.C., xvii., 326. His descriptions of 
 organs, xvii., 328, 343 to 349. Of the box for clarionet and hautboy 
 reeds, 267. Of holy water for Egyptian temples, 290. Terms sliders 
 to organs, "plinths "to the pipes, 365. His Pneumatika consists of 
 discoveries then comparatively new, 374. 
 
 Herschel (Sir John), xxxiv., 237. 
 
 Hesychius, xxiv.», 12, 13, 258. 
 
 Hewitt (D. C), experiments upon strings, 251. 
 
 HiEBOOLYPHic, for "good," a lute, 61. With bridge, tail-piece, and pegs, 
 62, 63. 
 
 Hill (Thomas), 402*. Thanks to, 403*. 
 
 Hippophorboi, pipes for horse-keepers, made of the bark of the laurel, 267. 
 
 Historians. Causes of failure in Greek music, 20. The numerous 
 requirements for musical history, xv., xvi. 
 
 HooARTH (George), History of Music, i. 
 
 HoMEE. Antitheoa, god-like, xxvii. AmeibomenaA, responding to, 11. Lyres, 
 four strings, 26. Chant changed to a new string upon a, new peg, 27. 
 Supposed date of, 28°. Phor-minx and Kitha/ris, 29. His reported visit 
 to Egypt, 60. He mentions the hundred gates of Thebes, 28". Irregu- 
 lar lines in his poems, 159, 383. 
 
 Horace, 142; 149, 266, 276, 284, 296, 321, 322, 401*. 
 
 HoBNs to lyres originally of the antelope, oryx, 29. Greek lyres with 
 goats' horns, xxvi., xxvii." 
 
 Horn. The number of practicable notes depends on its length. If 18 
 inches, only three notes, curved or straight, 282. The lip acts as the 
 reed by tight pressure around its vibrating part, 282. Power due to 
 the bell end, 282, 284, 285. A very long curved horn, 364. 
 
 lilfOBAiD, 139. 
 
 HuLLAH (John), on the production of vowels and their scale, 381". 
 Hybeattlic OBflAif. Hycl/roMlis, or Hydraulikon. See organ (hydraulic). 
 IIyksos (The), or Shepherds who invaded Egypt, 2, 69. 
 Hypa^ogeMs, a movable bridge under the string of a monochord, for 
 
 measuring intervals, 190. 
 Ifypate, the longest string in the lowest two tetrachords of the lyre, 35, 
 
 36, 97. Counted as the first string, 36". Mistakes as to its meaning 
 
 leading to mistakes of swmmus and inms, and originating with Boethius, 
 
 322, 323. 
 Hypaton, the lowest tetrachord upon the lyre, 95. 
 ITyperboloBon, the extreme or highest tetrachord on the lyre, 97. 
 Hyper- jEoliajt moxle, B flat minor with a minor Seventh, 103. 
 JIypee-Dorian mode, key of G minor with a minor Seventh, 103, 112, 
 
 transposed, 113. 
 Hypbr-Iastian, or Hyper-Ionian mode, A flat minor with a minor Seventh, 
 
 103. 
 Hyper-Lydian mode, key of B minor with a minor Seventh, 103. 
 Hyper-Phrygian mode, key of A minor with a minor Seventh, 103. 
 HYPO-.i5EoLiAN mode, key of minor with a minor Seventh, 103. 
 Hypo-DOKIAN mode, key of A minor with a minor Seventh, the "Common" 
 
 Greek scale and our " natural " scale, 81, 103. Its compass on the 
 
GLOSSARIAL AND EXPLANATORY INDEX. Ixvii 
 
 octave lyre, 110°. Most used of all modes, 110. The notes of, 112, 
 
 transposed, 113. 
 Hypo-Iastian, or Hypo-Ionian mode, key of B flat minor with a minor 
 
 Seventh, 103. 
 Hypo-Lydian mode, key of C sharp minor with a minor Seventh, 103, 112, 
 
 transposed, 113. 
 Hypo-Phrtgiau mode, key of B minor with a minor Seventh, 103, 112, 
 
 transposed, 113. 
 Hypolyrios, the cross-bar to which the lower ends of the strings of an early 
 
 lyre were attached, 305, xxvii. 
 
 Iamblichus (Life of Pythagoras), 48, 292», 306'. 
 
 Iambic Metbb. lambos Bakclieios, irregular iambic, 163, 167. Dimeter, 
 
 or " two measure " iambic, consisting of four poetic feet, and formerly 
 
 called "minstrel measure" in England, 163. Trimeter, or six-feet 
 
 iambic, in dialogue of Greek tragedies, 165°. 
 Iastian Scale. See Ionian. 
 Immutable system of the Greeks, a bad translation of ametaboU. It 
 
 means without change of mode or key, 104. 
 Index Miqmrgatorius of Some, 106. 
 Instruments of music as emblems of divinity, xlviii. 
 Interval (Every) within the Octave may be misplaced so as to make a 
 
 discord, 193. How to add, to deduct, and to compare intervals, 198, 
 
 199, 200, 242. 
 loBAS. See Juba. 
 
 Ion, hymn for ten-stringed lyre, 93, 94, 101. His Mese or key-note, 161. 
 Ionian Scale. E flat minor, 103, 13P, 133, 134. 
 Isidore op Seville Origines, 258, 393. 
 Italian improwisatores like Greek rhapsodists, 34. 
 
 Japanese music (A report of), like the story of primitive Egyptian music, 
 
 304. 
 Jehovah, four letters in Hebrew, supposed origin of the name, 54. 
 Jbwi-sh coins with Greek lyres upon them, xix. 
 JosBPHUs, xix., xl., 284. 
 Juba, 278, 311, Sll'. 
 Julian (Emperor). Epigram upon the Pneumatic Organ, 375. Three 
 
 translations for choice, 375, 376. 
 Junius (Adrian), Nomenclator, 290". 
 
 Kalamavioi (Greek), pipes made out of reeda, like the Egyptian Movaidos ; 
 
 the tone produced as in old English flutes, or flageolets, but longer 
 
 pipes than the last, 272. 
 Kalliope (Hymn to), 168. 
 Kanon, for measuring proportions of strings, 74. The many meanings of 
 
 the word, 343, 354. 
 Katalexis, to make up time of verses like a dot or rest in music, 167. 
 Kemp (Mr.), 238». Thanks to. 403. 
 Kepler, Harmonia Mundi, 106. 
 
Ixviii GLOSSARIAL AND EXPLANATOEY INDEX. 
 
 Keras, a horn, 276. Kerata, homa, often those at the sides of a lyre, 
 
 306. 
 Keraulos, a horn pipe, 276. 
 Kemx, a horn made of a shell, used by Greek Heralds and Criers, 283, 
 
 284. 
 KiECHEE (Alhanasius), an imaginative, untrustworthy writer, 22»', 158. 
 Kithara, a portable lyre, 29, 295. Used for poetico-musical contests, 34, 
 
 37*. The lower strings played with the fingers of the left hand, and 
 
 the upper strings with a plectrum held in the right, 37*, 82. 
 Kithans, the blder name for Kitliara, 29. 
 Klepsiambos, a lyre for varied styles, 279. 
 Kollaboi, pegs for the lyre, xxvi. 
 KoUopes, pegs for the lyrej first made of dri^d skin and afterwards of horn, 
 
 xxvi. 
 Krembala. See Castanets. 
 KrotaXa. See Orotala. 
 
 Ktenid,, the fore-arms of h lyre, in place of hdrhs, 306. 
 Kondt's experiments on harmonics in glass tubes, 232, xxxli-. 
 
 LAORANtiE, the celebrated mathematician, 236. 
 
 Lanobainb (Gerard), \n.& assistance to Meibom's work on tha Greek musical 
 autht)ra, 157, 185'. 
 
 Latin idioms derived from the lyre, intus canere, a petty thief, who would 
 draio in anything ; foris canere, to be open-handed ; Aspendii citharistce, 
 thieves who drew in anything ill their way, 365, 366. 
 
 Latin treatises on Greek music of no use to any body, vii. 
 
 Laubel {daphne) for musical instruments, 74. A branch of laurel held by 
 the rhapsodists who had no lyre to accompany their voices while 
 reciting the Homeric poems, 385". 
 
 Law against idcreasing the number of strings on. the lyre, to prevent ex- 
 travagant recitations, 94. 
 
 Laws oe Sounds. See Nature's. 
 
 Lectuees on Music, copied from Bumey, xv. 
 
 Leimma, See Limma. 
 
 Lehidoi, cymbals, 292, 293. 
 
 Lepsius's DenkmaUr, xxxviii., 60^ 61% 62, 64, 65, 66, 282% 320, 321. 
 
 Liclwnos, the fore-finger string on the lyre, 7, 7", 35, 83. 
 
 Limma (leimma), the "remnant" of a Fourth after two major tones are de- 
 ducted from it (the proportion 243 to 256), called hemitone or semitone 
 by Aristoxenians, 79, 120, 194. How to hear one by tuning, 120. Now 
 called the Pythagorean Um/ma, 199, 202. How it was improved into a 
 major semitone of 15 to 16, 196, 204. 
 
 LiNtrs (Song of), 59, 60. 
 
 Lituus, a Eoman horn with a curved end, like the augur's staff, 284. 
 Usually short, for the use of cavalry, but sometimes exceeding four 
 feet in length, 285. 
 
 Loceian Mode, or scale, same as Hypo-Dorian, 110. 
 
 LoaABiTHMS, simplify calculations, but must be subject to the Harmonic 
 scale if to distinguish concord from discord, 243. Therefore inappli- 
 cable to our present scale throughout, and so the explanation by 
 
GLOSSARIAL AND EXPLANATORY INDEX. Ixix 
 
 sections of a string here reverted to, 243, 244. A book of logarithms 
 calculated for from 1 to 1,200 semi-vibrations, 243". 
 
 Longs and Bbevbs in music originally marked only the time of long and 
 short syllables, 165. 
 
 LuoiAN on the invention of the lyre, 39". 
 
 Lucretius, 258. 
 
 Lute, 302, and see Nefer. 
 
 Lyeian flute made of lotus, 268. Horsekeepers' flute of laurel bark, 267. 
 
 Lydian Mode is the key of T sharp minor with a minor Seventh, 122. 
 This was very high for a man's voice ; more fit for boys, 99, 113. The 
 head voice must have been used in it, 109. Transposed by Claudius 
 Ptolemy, 113. 
 
 Lyra, the constellation, 62. 
 
 Lyre (The). To add a new string an idiom, 8, 91. The additions made 
 were all by tetrachords, 92. Four strings sufiiced only for recitation, 
 26, 27. Lyre of the Greek Hermes, 29, 49. Phoenician, 29. Egyptian, 
 29, 49. Four names for lyres, 29. AVhen increased from four to seven 
 strings in Greece, 30. From seven to ten, 92. How tuned originally, 
 35. Some large on stands, 82. Recommended for orators, 84. The 
 scales upon the one-octave and the two-octave lyre, 111, 112. The 
 same scales with the pitch lowered by Claudius Ptolemy, 113. A ten- 
 stringed Ijrre would include the key with its dominant and subdominant, 
 or i\a Hypo anA Hyper, 111. Comparative sizes of different kinds of 
 lyre, 295. Remains of one made of sycamore wood in the British 
 Museum, 297. Egyptian lyre also of sycamore, 297. Many-stringed 
 lyres, 118, 306. How the lyre was held, 82, 83. The lowest sounding 
 string counted as the first, 83. 
 
 Lyro-pJicmix, a Phoenician lyre, 255. 
 
 Macfabren (G. a.), xxxix., 160, 169, 170, 179, 248, 87". 
 
 Macbobius on harmony (a passage borrowed from Seneca), 150. 
 
 Magadis, a musical instrument with a bridge to divide the string into two 
 parts, in the ratio of 2 to 1, so as to play in Octaves upon one string, 14, 
 55. Egyptian, 56, 106. Any instrument which played in Octaves was 
 included as a Magadis, 25S. Anacreon's a Lydian instrument, 255. 
 Of the Psalterion kind, 279. 
 
 Magadis aulas, a double pipe, one tube to play an Octave below the other, 
 16. 
 
 Magadizein, to play in Octaves, 15. Aristotle's definitions, 142". 
 
 Magas, the bridge of a musical instrument, v., 305. 
 
 Majoe Scale of five notes in the Octave, first found in the Egyptian and 
 Greek Chromatic, xxii. Greek hymn in a major scale, but against the 
 musical laws of the time, xxii., 176. Every major scale has two 
 roots, 191. 
 
 Mahajty (Rev J. P. ) Thanks to, xxxviii. 
 
 Malahon, soft, with relaxed tuning, 129, 131, 131". 
 
 Mam, the Egyptian name for a pipe, or flute, blown at the end, 67. 
 
 Maneeos (Song of), 59. 
 
 Manetho the pseudo, and the true Manetho, 61% 69, 289, 290". 
 
 Mahusceipts. Neither Bumey nor Hawkins judges of dates, xv. 
 
Ixx GLOSSARIAL AND EXPLANATORY INDEX. 
 
 Mabcellinus (Ammianus), a corrupt text of, 317*. On enormous lyrea 
 and hydraulic organs in the palaces of Rome, 368. 
 
 Marsh (Archbishop Narcissus) communicated the discovery of harmonies 
 from a string to Dr. Wallis, 235. 
 
 Mathematicians (Error of old), and others, in marking 4 to 3, and 5 to 3, 
 as musical proportions of the Fourth and Sixth in our scale, xxxvi. , 
 212". The cause of error, xxxvii. Its Greek origin, 191. 
 
 Measure (A) consists of two poetic feet, equivalent to a bar in music, but 
 the bar must begin on the thesis, or down-beat, 164. 
 
 Medals struck in honour of successful competitors in organ playing, 361 to 
 364. 
 
 Mebeens (Charles), Cakul Mmkal, 240". 
 
 Mbibomius (Meibom or Meybaum), on the Greek authors, x. How 
 essentially he was assisted in his work by Selden, Langbaine, Chil- 
 mead, and other graduates of Oxford, 156, 157. On anti, xxiv. 
 Erroneously ascribes the Inlroductio Hwrmonica to Euclid, 30". Mis- 
 takes the Conjunct System of Ion, 96", and the order of strings on the 
 lyre, Oe"". Ascribes too remote a state to Aristides Quintilianus, 130. 
 Reasons, 130. Mistakes scales, 132. He cannot have read Aristotle's 
 Problems on Music, 132. Added Greek musical notes to the Te 
 Dewm, 158. On Kircher's errors, 22". 
 
 Mbister (A. L. F.), De vetervim hydraulo, 331. 
 
 Melodia (Greek), inflections, or undulations of the voice, in speech, in 
 rhythm, and in music, 16. A lower voice part as much as an upper, 
 87. 
 
 MelopOiia, ascent and descent of the voice, either gradually or by intervals, 
 89, 90. 
 
 Melos, the undulation of rising and falling sounds, 87, 88. Perfect when 
 it combines voice, music, and rhythm, 88. Wailing, 89. Not neces- 
 sarily the highest part in music, 87. Melos of ordinary speech, 89. 
 
 MbNjEOHMos says the Pehtis was for octave playing, 300. 
 
 Mbnbs, founder of the united empire of Upper and Lower Egypt, 68. 
 Bocchoris curses him for the luxuries that he introduced, 69. 
 
 Mese, the key-note of the lyre, taking its name from having been originally 
 the middle string, 35, 82, 84. Compared to the sun, as being the 
 centre of the musical system, 36, 86, 87, 176. Key-note of Greek 
 hymns, 161, 162. 
 
 Mesodmes, or Mbsodmedes, supposed author of Hymn to Nemesis, 173, 
 177. 
 
 Meson, tetrachord of the middle strings, extending upwards to the key- 
 note, 95. 
 
 Mesopyhnoi, the lowest string but one in each tetrachord of the Chromatic 
 or Enharmonic scale, 144''. 
 
 Metabole, Mutation or Modulation, 103. If of pitch {kata tontm), change from 
 one mode or key into another, 85. If of genus (hata genos), change 
 from Diatonic to Chromatic or Enharmonic. If of system {kata systema), 
 change from Conjunct to Disjunct, or vice versa. If of style {kata 
 Tnelopmian), change from grave to gay, or from amative to martial 
 music, 103. Transposition to any semitone within the octave, 179". 
 
 Metal vessels for adding sound in theatres, 359. 
 
GLOSSARIAL AND EXPLANATOBY INDEX. Ixxi 
 
 Mkrologus of Omithoparcus, iv. 
 
 Milton, on the pronunciation of Latin, 391. 
 
 Minor Scales with minor Sevenths are the Diatonic scales of the ancients, 
 XX. Minor scales without Fourth or Seventh are of the Common Genus, 
 the Enharmonic, or the Chromatic scale, xxii. Minor scales false to 
 Nature, 201. Their real key-note is a, major Third below, 212. So 
 proved by the intervals of the Harmonic scale, 217. See also 170 and 176. 
 
 Mixo-Lydiau Mode, key of G minor with a, minor Seventh, 103, 112. 
 Transposed, 113. 
 
 Mixture Stops in organs are to supply the sounds of harmonics which are 
 deficient in stopped pipes, 241. 
 
 Modes of the Greeks. " Particular metres appropriated to pai-ticular 
 modes," says Plato ; hence their supposed character, 99. The music 
 was never more than a question of pitch, 103. Modes for the voice, 
 Dorian, Phrygian, and Lydiau, 99, 101. Differences of opinion as to 
 their characteristics, 99. 
 
 Modiolus, the box-cylinder of » condensing syringe for the hydraulic 
 organ, 352. 
 
 Modulation (Greek), exactly like our own by some sound common to 
 both keys or modes, without flying to discords, 103, HI. See also 
 Metahole. 
 
 Monaulos, a Greek pipe made of a reed, of Egyptian origin, blown at the 
 end without a reed mouthpiece, and remarkable for sweet tone, 275, 
 272. Used by Apameans (Syrians), 275. 
 
 Monday Popular Concerts, xli. 
 
 MoNOCHORD, a one-stringed instrument, much used for measuring the pro- 
 portions of length which yield the various sounds within an Octave, v. , 
 73, 75. 
 
 Monotone, never literally employed, on account of the different sounds of 
 vowels, 27. 
 
 MONTEVERDB, 240. 
 
 Moses (Trumpets of), 284. Antiphonal song with Miriam, 11, in Note. 
 
 Mousike. See Music (Greek). 
 
 Mousikoi, men skilled in science, 106, 123. 
 
 MuNRO (H. A. J.), Latin poem of jMtna, 337. 
 
 Murray (John). Thanks to, xxxviii. 
 
 Mus^us's reputed visit to Egypt, 60. 
 
 Music (Greek), the only examples extant are three hymns, 159. Included 
 all arts and sciences over which the Muses presided, xliii. Music the 
 encyclopsedia of learning, 145*. Included all that related to sounds 
 and numbers, 16. The mental training of a young Greek, 16. Prizes 
 given at Chios for reading music from book, for rhapsodizing epic 
 poems, for accompanying with both hands upon the strings, and with 
 one hand and plectrum, 37*. 
 
 Music the most original of all arts, xlv. The perfection of art, and of greater 
 influence than any other, xlvi. A new pleasure to Ufe, and the taste 
 never dies, xlvi. The rewards of superior cultivation, 224. A remedy 
 for over-worked minds and for insanity, xlvii. Unwise law restricting 
 music in England, xlviii. The fittest medium for praise, 188. Supposed 
 music from the rotation of the planets, why not heard, 76, 77. 
 
Ixxii GLOSSAEIAL AND EXPLANATORY INDEX. 
 
 Musical Antiquarian Society, xli. 
 
 Musical Contests, 32, 33, 34. The subjects for prizes at Chios, 37*. 
 
 Contests of organists, and medals, still extant, which were struck for 
 ' the victors, 362, 363. Crowned with laurel, 338. 
 Musical Instruments emblems of divinity, xlviii. Too much poetical 
 • licence takeh with their forms, 252. Changes in name, 253. Chiefly of 
 
 Asiatic origin, 303. 
 i' Musical World " (The), periodical, 304*. 
 Musicians. Three necessary rules in science, 198. 
 
 Myrtle (A branch of), held-by rhapsodists while reciting jSlschylus, 385». 
 Mystakos, on the emblem of the lotus, 301. 
 
 Ndbla (The Greek), 61. The various accounts of, 301. 
 
 Nares (Latin), the perforations in the register table which admit air to the 
 
 orifices of organ pipes, 355. 
 National English Airs, xli., xlii. 
 Nature's laws of sound, xxix., xxx., 186, 212, 213, 214. 
 Nebel (the Hebrew instrument), 61. 
 Nebuchadnezzar's musical instruments, xix. , 259. 
 Nefer, or Egyptian lute, two Octaves on each string, 2, 43, 44, 45, 49, 50, 
 
 61, 62, 106. One with a carved head, like a Cittern, 321. 
 Nemesis (Hymn to), 179, 181 to 183. 
 Nero, the Emperor, his vow to compete foi: victory as an organist, as a 
 
 clarionet player, as a bagpiper, as an actor, and as a dancer, 361. An 
 
 extant prize-medal, gained by Laurentius, the organist, in his reign, 
 
 361, 362. 
 Nete, the shortest string of the lyre, 35, 36. Counted as the last, 36. 
 NIth, the Egyptian goddess, the supposed Athene of the Greeks, 2, 58. 
 Neumes (pmvmaia), not originally intended for any definite pitch, 185, 
 
 382. See Pnev/mata. 
 Newton (Sir Isaac), 106. 
 NicoMACHUS. Treatise on music, viii., 36*, 36*, 37, 46*, 48=, 49*, 50, 73, 
 
 74, 78, 83*, 83', 95*, 292* 306". 
 Nile (The), when at its height, and when lowest, 41*. 
 Nineveh (Musical instruments of), 3. 
 NoBBE (0. F. A. ), editor of Cicero, not over careful, 386*. 
 Noble (William), of Merton College, Oxford, discovered how to produce 
 
 harmonics at will from a string, 235. 
 Nodes in Strings. The junction points of uniform vibrations which act 
 
 in opposite directions, xxxiii., 213. 
 NoMES, nomoi, severe chants on a few notes, 107, 189. So high that few 
 
 could sing them, 107. Transposition not allowed, 108. Some on three 
 
 notes, therefore like the chant of the public crier, 108. 
 Notation (Musical) in Greek called semasia, 35*. Written notes called 
 
 music-signs, semeia mousika, 118. Also written characters, grcmvmata, 
 
 185. A very early practice, attributed to Pythagoras, 118. Much 
 
 cultivated by the Greeks, 385*. Notation of Alypius and of Aristides 
 
 QuintiUanus, 172, 185. 
 Notes (Musical), no names for in Greek beyond the general one of 
 
 semeia (signs), or j/rammato (letters), when written down, 35, 117, 118. 
 
GLOSSARIAL AND EXPLANATORY INDEX. Ixxiii 
 
 Octave System of Music, Egyptian, 60, 71, 76. The earliest Greek 
 explanation by Philolaoa, 78. Called Harmonia, 79. Two octaves a 
 perfect system, 79^ The seven and eight stringed systems exhibited, 
 81. Diflference between a Greek Octave and the modem as to the position 
 ' of the key-note, 84, 112, 113. Difficulty cleared up, 114, 116. The 
 perfect system, 97. Ancient playing in Octaves called magadizing, 
 106. Nearest to equal division of the Octave, 207. It should be of 
 eight notes instead of seven, 196. 
 
 Olympus, the poet-musician, said to have relinquished varied recitation for 
 one upon three string, 34, 147. Plutarch attributes to him the inven- 
 tion of the enharmonic scale, which is mythical, 51, 123 to 125, 126, 239. 
 
 Optatianus (Publilius). Poem representing the hydraulic organ with one 
 letter more in each succeeding line, 368. His three poems addressed 
 to Constantine, an Altar, a Syrinx, and Organon, 366, 367. Date in or 
 before 324 a.d., 369. ' 
 
 Oracle at Delphi, the clever answer oi the proplietes or priest, 371. 
 
 Organ. The indefinite meanings of organon in Greek and of organum in 
 Latin, 327, 374. St. Augustine's definition, 375. 
 
 OnoAN (Hydraulic, HydravMs or Hydraalikon). Invented in Egypt third 
 century B.C., xvii., 326, 328. Could not be overblown, xvii., 333. A 
 working model tried by the writer, xvii., 332. Pressure on the bellows 
 could be regulated, xviii. Vitruvius's double acting hydraulic organ, 
 xviii. Athenjeus's misdescription of, 253. Misleads others, 329. Why 
 a puzzle to lookers on, 325. Its lightness of touch, 330. Water used 
 only to prevent overblowing, 333. -This wise principle now out of 
 use, 333. A condensing air-syringe instead of bellows, 333. Explained, 
 334 to 337. The air-compresser, with the water bubbling, not unlike 
 an inverted cauldron, and hence called cortina, 337. Error of suppos- 
 ing the water to boil, 337. The water held in a receiver shaped like 
 a round altar, and the air-condenser like its fire extinguisher, 337. 
 Defects in diagrams of this organ, 338. Why the Harleian manuscript 
 diagram selected, 339, 340. Improved valve, 341, 350. The action of 
 the key, the box, and slide here inverted to show how they acted, 
 341, 342. Heron's description translated freely, and why, 343. The 
 Greek text freed from contractions, 344. The Latin description of 
 Vitruvius enlarged, 351. A diagram, 350. Reported improvements 
 in Nero's reign, 361. Hydraulic organ on an ancient gem, 363. Con- 
 tests of organists upon, 361, 362. And medals struck, 362. The soul 
 of man compared to an organ by TertuUian, 364. Poem on the 
 hydraulic organ by Publilius Optatianus, 366 to 368. Pipes of great 
 size, 367. 
 
 Organ Pipes, differing in shape also difl'er in tone, xxxiii., 234. Stopped 
 pipes, by doubling the length of the column of air, sound an octave 
 below open pipes, 241. Width lowers pitch, 214, 277, 402'*. 
 
 Organ (Pneumatic), Egyptian, Greek, and Roman, had Egyptian "pairs" 
 of bellows, blown by standing upon them, xvii., 370, 372. ExempUfied, 
 370, 373. The Emperor Julian's epigram upon, 376. Pipes made of 
 metal as well as of reed, 376. Organs fell into disuse at Rome after 
 the fall of the Empire, 377, 378. 
 
 Organikoi, instrumentalists, 123». 
 
Ixxiv aLOSSARIAL AND EXPLANATORY INDEX. 
 
 Organists crowned with laurel, 338. Treated reverently by the ancients, 
 
 SSI*. Medals struck and gems engraved to commemorate the best 
 
 organists, 362, 363. 
 Organs of Modern Ettropb derived from Egypt through Greece, xvi. 
 Ornithoparcus (Andreas), iv. 
 Orpheus. Fame due to his recitations, included under the name of music, 
 
 32. Fable of his lyre, 49. His reputed visit to Egypt, 60. 
 OusBLEY (Rev. Sir P. A. Gore, Bart.), Treatise on Homrnony, xxx., 243. 
 
 -One of his experiments in science, 251. 
 Overtones, a misnomer for harmonics, xxxiii. See Harmonics. 
 Ovid, 276, 290i:, 401*. 
 Oxford University Graduates were the greatest promoters of the study 
 
 of Greek musical literature, 156. 
 Oxybwphoi, small cymbals, like vinegar saucers, 292, 293. 
 Oxypyknoi, the forefinger strings, or highest but one in each tetraohord of 
 
 the Chromatic or Enharmonic scale, 144''. 
 
 Paeans, choral songs to Apollo or Artemis, 108, 189. 
 
 Pandean Pipe. See Syrinx. 
 
 Pandouka, or Pandura, properly a stringed instrument, like the Nefer, 
 
 or Egyptian lute, 74, 301. Improperly applied by mediaeval writers to 
 
 the Pandean pipes, 258. 
 Paramese, near (i.e., a tone above), the Mese, or key-note of the particular 
 
 mode, for which the lyre was prepared, 35, 97, 123''. 
 Para/mte, next below Nete, the shortest string but one in either of the 
 
 three tetrachords of the treble part of the lyre, 35, 97. 
 Para/phones, intervals to which Gaudentius attributes a middle place 
 
 between consonance and dissonance, but they are really discords, 148. 
 Parhypate, next to the lowest ; i.e., the longest string but one in either of 
 
 the lower two, or base tetrachords of the lyre, 35, 97. 
 Parker (George), of the Bodleian Library, xii. 
 Pecliees, or PecJieis, the fore-arms, or upperpart of the sides of the lyre, 
 
 sometimes used in place of horns, 29^ 306. 
 PeHis, the various accounts of this instrument, 300, 301. 
 Pelex, a kind of psaltery, 302. 
 Pentaphonic, of five-note scale, a less equivocal name than Pentatonic, xxii. 
 
 The Greek Common Genus had but five notes of the minor scale, and 
 
 the Greek enharmonic was essentially pentapMnic, also in a minor 
 
 scale, because the two quarter-tones were but grace-notes, xx., 122. 
 
 The Greek chromatic scale was also pentaphmic, having a minor scale 
 
 and a major scale of five notes, xxi. , xxii. The ear taught, in all these 
 
 cases, that the two false notes, the Fourth and the minor Seventh, 
 
 should be avoided, 238. 
 Percy Society, xli. 
 Perfect System of the Greeks, a transposable scale of two octaves in a 
 
 minor key, 97. (But all minor scales are imperfect, says Nature.) 
 Perispomene, the circumflex accent of the Greeks, a twisting round, or rise 
 
 and corresponding fall of the voice, therefore necessarily long, 381". 
 Ph^nias, the Peripatetic, 148. 
 Phandwa, a monochord, 74. 
 
GLOSSARIAL AND EXPLANATORY INDEX. Ixxv 
 
 Philo JudjEus, xix., xl., 10*, 76. 
 
 Philodemus, the Epicurean, 32. 
 
 Philolaos, the Pythagorean, 46^, 77, 78, 79°, 80, 81, 127, 137, 138. 
 
 Philon of Byzantium, a correction as to his date,<826. A pupil of Ctesibius, 
 from whom he learnt, among other scientific subjects, the elasticity of 
 air, 328. His BelopoMka, 328. 
 
 Philostbatus, xxvii». 
 
 Ph(enicians, i. Lyres with horns of antelopes, 29, 256. Pipes, 268. 
 With double reeds, 261. Many-stringed lyres of pahnwood, 298. 
 Ndbla, 301. Phoinix sometimes meaning only palmwood, 255*'- 
 
 PlionaaMkcA, teachers of singing and declamation, 123^ 
 
 Phoneenia, vocal sounds, as well as vowels, 53''. 
 
 Phorbeion, a bandage over the cheeks of a piper, and its use, 279, 280. 
 
 Phormmx, a lyre, 27, 29, 30, 295. 
 
 Plwtimx, a Lybian flute made of lotus, adopted by the Greeks, 67, 273. 
 The invention attributed to Osiris, 275. Also common to Syrians 
 (Apameans), 275. It is simply the modem flute without any tuning- 
 slide above the mouth-hole, and was included under the general name 
 of Plagkados, 311'*. 
 
 Phrasing in Greek Compositions, 172. 
 
 Pheygian Mode. Originally characterized by the words, but afterwards 
 only the key of E minor with a minor Seventh, 99, 112. A great 
 strain upon ordinary lungs at its true pitch, 109. Therefore trans- 
 posed by Claudius Ptolemy, 113. 
 
 Phkygian Pipes. Of a feminine character, for wailing, or lamentation, 
 
 277. Therefore, probably on the hautboy, or double reed principle, 
 
 278. Sometimes double pipes, 277- The Elymos, 278. 
 Pheynichds, quoted by Athenseus, 13. 
 
 Pianofortes. The long white keys ascending from A, copied from the 
 organ, form the Greek Diatonic scale, xvi. 
 
 PiGOT (Thomas), of Wadham College, Oxford, discovered the most necessary 
 element of all true musical science, how to produce harmonics from a 
 string at will, and to measure the proportions of the string which 
 produced them, 235. 
 
 Pinax, the register table of an organ, into which the ends of the pipes 
 were fitted, 354. 
 
 Pindar, 13, 101, 158. 
 
 Pinna, an organ key, 342. 
 
 Pipes and Flutes. The four principles upon which all, except the Pan's 
 pipe or Syrinx, are made, 260, 263, 270, 273. All derived from shep- 
 herds' reed or oaten pipes, 260. The various materials employed, 267- 
 Curious plugs and stops to some pipes, 269, 280. 
 
 Pipes (Organ), lowered in pitch by extra width, 214, 277. Stopped pipes 
 an Octave lower than open, bec£(use the length of the column of air is 
 doubled by its return, 241. Difference of shape causes difference of 
 tone, xxxiii. 
 
 Pipes (Double), 55, 56», 63, 64, 277, 306, 320. Double pipes called 
 " married piping " when one was an Octave lower than the other, 
 277. 
 
 Pitch Pipe, used by Roman orators, 395. 
 
Ixxvi GLOSSARIAL AND EXPLANATORY INDEX. 
 
 Pitch (The only scientific), is one of Nature's Octaves, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 
 128, 256, or 512, pp. 214, 215. As the Sixth is now a false note in 
 every scale, as A in the key of 0, it ought never to be selected for 
 pitch, 215. High pitch destructive to quality of tone, 216. Pitch of 
 late years raised by steel replacing iron for pianoforte strings, 18. No 
 standard pitch for Europe, until the French wiU follow their men of 
 science, 19, 216. The defect of present French pitch, 215. Greek 
 pitch often varied to suit the voice, 19. But cannot have differed very 
 materially from that of fifty years ago, 109. 
 
 PlagioMhs. Any flute blown at the side, like the Sebi of Egypt, the 
 Photinx of Syria and of Greece, and the Tibia vasea, or Tibia 
 obliqua of the Romans, 67, 273. Reason for the greater power and 
 briUiaijcy of this flute, 270. See lytotinx, above. 
 
 Plain Chant, or Plain Song, hpw derived, 162. 
 
 Planets. Tljte seven of the Pythagoreai^, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, 
 Venus, Mercury, and the Moon, 36''. The seveij notes of the scale 
 to coiijcide with the sevei) plai^etSf and with their supposed ratios of 
 distance, 36, 37. 
 
 Plato, 11^, 12, 41. Iij Egsrpt, 48. The twenty-eigljt sounds, 5,0. On identity 
 of Neth and Athene, 58. Egyptian laws for njusic, 70. Why Greeks 
 had no ancient records, 75. Music of the universe, 77. Diatonic 
 systen), 80. On holding the Kithara, 82. On Melos, 88. Antiquity 
 of Egyptian hymns, 94. Modes established, 101. Evil of adding a 
 note aft the lower end of the scale, lOl", 105, 106. Good advice to 
 singers, 110. Does not limit music to one genus, 126, 148. Two 
 kinds of Diatonic, 128, A passage in his RepuhUc explained, 131. 
 Defective translations, 143, 144». A new attempt, 144. Music 
 recommended in education, 146. Also tQ praise the immortals, 189. 
 On the license of poets, 189. The Pektis, 300. 
 
 Plectbum (The). Any exciting cause of sound so called, as the little 
 stick to twitch the strings pf the lyre, the slider .pf an .organ, 365, or 
 the notch in =•• pipe or flageolet, 271. Exemplified on the lyre, 43, 
 55, 56. 
 
 PUnthis, the sjider of an organ, 355. 
 
 Pliny, 268, 269% 251, 365. 
 
 Plutabch. AntUfi,eos, godlike, xxvii. Musical emblems of Godhead, xlviii. 
 Antiphon, 12. On Olympus and Terpander, 34. Corrupt text, 34<=. 
 Archilochus ^fter Terpander, 35. On the divisions of the Egyptian 
 year, 40. Musical proportions of the seasons, 41. Chromatic scale, 51. 
 Enharmonic scale attributed to Olympus, 51, 123, 239. Shrine at 
 Memphis, 68. Doctrine of Pythagoreans, 75, 79. The universe con- 
 stituted on the principles of music, 77. On Greek Melos, 88. On the 
 people of Argos, 94'=. On Plato, 1040. On Greek names, 108, 146. 
 Quarter-tones, 126. Definition of Harmonia, 137*. Recommends music 
 in education, 146. Spondaean mode, 147. Music suitable for con- 
 viviality, 147. Allays excitement caused by wine, 147. Thirds of 
 tones and quarter-tones unsuitable for harmony, 147. Lyrists flattened 
 the fore-finger strings (sensible men ! they obtained the harmonic 
 Seventh), 148. The noblest application of music, 188, 189. Music of 
 the theatre unknown in early times, 189. But now the only listened 
 
GLOSSARIAL AND EXPLANATORY INDEX. Ixxvji 
 
 to, 190. Derives theatre from theorem, "to look at,'' and Theos, "the 
 Deity," 189. On the Egyptian mstrum, 287, 288. On the Psalmos as 
 an Octave-playing instrument, 310, 403*. Pitch pipe for the Roman 
 orator, Caius Gracchus, 395. 
 
 Pnevmiata (breathings), marks for rhapsodizing or recitation, 185, 382. 
 Musical notation by pnewmata, or newmes, 382. 
 
 Pnigeus, the air-oompresser of an hydraulic organ, shaped like an inverted 
 metal basin, or the convex fire-extinguisher of a round altar, 344, 348, 
 353, 354. 
 
 Pole (W., F.R.S., Mua. Doc.) Thanks to, xxxix. Tables of natural 
 harmonic notes, xxix., 243. 
 
 PoUaplasioi, multiple ratios, as 2, 4, 8 ; or 3, 9, 27, p. 206. 
 
 Pollux (Julius). Onomastihon, xxvi., 74, 137s 254, 268^ 268^ 269", 278, 
 282» 305, 310, 311^ 312^1. 
 
 PoVychordos, or many-stringed lyre, 296. See examples 118, 306. 
 
 Polychordotatos, many sounding, 146'', 254. 
 
 PoLYDEUCBS. See Pollux (Julius). 
 
 PolypMhongos, or many-sounding lyre, 295. Same as Polyclwrdon, or 
 Asiatic lyre, 296. Examples of, 118, 306. 
 
 PoPB John the 22nd, 17. 
 
 Popvdar Music of the Olden Time (History of), xiv., xlii. 
 
 PoBPHYKY, 30", 47", 77a, 77°, 123% 207, 266", 276', 382, in Note. 
 
 PosBiDoNius quoted l?y Athenseus, 275. 
 
 Pbioeity among musical instruments, 257. 
 
 Peoclus the Pythagorean, 105. 
 
 Pronomus the Theban flute player, 58. 
 
 Proachorda, unison strings, 12, 13, 143, 144. 
 
 Proslambanomenos, the lowest note in a scale, the Octave below the key- 
 note, not included in any tetraohord, 97, 104, 105. 
 
 Prosodiai. See Accents, and see Pneumata. 
 
 Peotaooeides of CyziouSj 74, 272. 
 
 Peynne (W.), xlv. 
 
 PscUterion, a psaltery, 279. A general name for stringed instruments 
 twanged by the fingers, like the harp, 307. Triangular or quadrila- 
 teral, 307. The upright psaltery of ten strings, 308. AU kinds 
 attributed to Egypt by Clemens Alexandrinus, 309. The (fete-shaped 
 psaltery, A, 393, 394. 
 
 Psakitos, a psaltery for accompanying the voice, as in a psalm, or other 
 words sung with such an accompaniment, 310. 
 
 PsAMMBTiCHUS I. Opened Egypt to the Greeks, 33, 47. 
 
 PSAMMETICHUS II. Sarcophagus of his daughter in the British Museum, 64. 
 
 Psellus, 12. 
 
 Ptolemy (Claudius), 6, 7, 8, 24, 40^ 68, 72, 73, 75, 79% 80, 92, 93. His 
 astronomical system and false theory making the earth a plane, 106. 
 Lowers the Greek scales a Fourth, 110. Intervals of scales, 115, 201. 
 How to tune them, 119. Lim/mas, or semitones, 120. Seven scales 
 enough for all purposes, 120. Preserves scales by Archytas, Didymus, 
 and Eratosthenes, 126, 128. Divides a tetrachord into sixty parts, 129. 
 On syntonon, 131. His " even Diatonic " scale almost a true one, 201. 
 Twits the Pythagoreans, 206. Inventor of the modern scale (his dia- 
 
 ./2 
 
Ixxviii GLOSSARIAL AND EXPLANATORY INDEX. 
 
 tonon syntonon, or tightly strung Diatonic), which is compared with 
 that of DidymuB, 209. Its defects, 210, 211. On pyknotes, 402. 
 
 Puritans (The), enemies to music because it induced cheerfuhiess, xlv. 
 Hence the greater cultivation of the eye in England than of the more 
 delicate organ the ear, xlvi. 
 
 Pyknotes (closeness of intervals), when the lowest three strings of a tetra- 
 ohord were closer together than the highest two, therefore only apply- 
 ing to the Chromatic and Enharmonic scales, and not to the Diatonic, 
 144'>, 402. 
 
 Pykamids (The), tombs of the kings of Egypt, 68. 
 
 Pythagobas, 3, 7, 24, 256. Octave system, 32, 193. Batios, 46. In 
 Egypt, 48, 71. Twenty-eight notes, 50. The hammer story, and 
 other fables, 72 to 74, 75. His date and supposed discoveries, 76. 
 Musical signs for iiotes attributed to him, 118. Intervals, 120. Limited 
 the doctrine of the science to within an Octave, 138. A fabulous tripod 
 lyre, 299. Tuning the lyre, 306^ 
 
 Pythagoreans in music, so called because they trusted in mathematical 
 calculations to correct the ear, 30% 106. Did not carry out all their 
 principles, 206. 
 
 Pythagorean Doctrines, 6, 193. Diesis, or limma, 194. Tetrachord, 199. 
 Superparticular ratios, 202, 206. Apotome, 202. Comma, 203. Schisma, 
 204. Diaschisma, 204. Ditone, 205. Minor Third, 205. Sounds too 
 high and too low for our ears, 77, 244, 251. 
 
 Pythian Games, 34. Fight of Apollo and the Python described, 264. 
 Pythian name, 264. The pipe PytJtaulos like the clarionet, 265, 277- 
 
 Pyxos, boxwood. See Bikims. 
 
 Quarterly Journal of Science, 188, in Note. 
 
 QuAKTEB-ToNBS mere grace-notes, insusceptible of harmony, xx., 125, 126, 
 
 147. 
 Quartet Concert (Egyptian), Caricature of, in which the king, Kameses 
 
 III., plays the first part, xx., 399, 400. 
 QuiNTlLiAN (M. Eabius) copies from Cicero, 4, 390. Editorial remissness 
 
 with QuintiUan's works, 390. Pitch pipe for orators, 395, 398*. On 
 
 anti, XXV". 
 QuxNTiLiANUs (Aristides). See Aristides. 
 
 Rameau, on the minor scale, 240. 
 
 Ramesbs III. (Caricature of), xx., 399, 400. 
 
 Beading Music, a subject for which prizes were anciently given, 37'. 
 
 Reasons for a new history, i. 
 
 Reeds for Pipes, 262, 264, 266. Made of Bombyx, 268. Boxes to hold 
 them, 266, had sliding Ms, like modern boxes for dominos, 267. 
 
 Reonault's Experiments v/pon Sotmd, xxxii. 
 
 Pegula, the slider of an organ, 355. 
 
 Besonators (Helmholtz's) produce their own sound, like a shell, xxxi. 
 See Sound in Index. 
 
 BB.SULTANT ToNES, xxxiv, 224, 225, 244. Examples of, 246. Explanation, 
 247. Much experimented upon in England, 249. Sir C. Wheat- 
 stone's experiment, 249. Objection to the name of "Difference Tones," 
 xxxiv., 247-8. 
 
GLOSSARIAL AND EXPLANATORY INDEX. Ixxix 
 
 Rhapsodizing (Greek), chanting epic poetry with or without mnsica 
 intervals, 34, 37, 385, 385*. Prizes given for it in musical contests, 
 37*. A written notation called prosodiai, accents, and pnewmata, 
 breathings, 185, 383, 384. 
 
 Rhythm (The mdos of), 89. Rhythm the parent of melody, 160. Musical 
 rhythm, 163, 172. Consonance caused by rhythm, 224. Also Re- 
 sultant Tones, 224, 225. 
 
 RiccATi, 236. 
 
 RiMBAULT (Dr.), xliii., 1. 
 
 Romans. Corruptions of Greek technical words, vii., xxv., xliii., 379, 380. 
 Adopted only a part of the Greek system, and did not understand 
 the rest, 5. No Roman improved music, 9. Romans no lovers 
 of science or of unprofitable art, 379. Great admirers of the hydraulic 
 organ, 367. Ammianus MarceUinus upon the costly instruments, 368. 
 Medals struck for successful competitors in organ playing, some of 
 those of Nero, Trajan, Caracalla and Valentinian extant, 362. 
 
 RoSELLiNi's works on Egypt, 370. . 
 
 Rousseau (J. J.), on music, xiv. ^A just remark about the minor scale, 
 201, and of the major Seventh, " la note sensible," 239. 
 
 Royal Academy of Music, xlix. 
 
 Royal Societv (The), 215. 
 
 Rules (Three), necessary for every real musician, 198. How to add 
 intervals, how to deduct, and how to compare, 198. The threii 
 explained, 198, 199, 200 or 242. Logarithms a very simple way of 
 calculating measurements (but useful only in music where they arc 
 subject to the harmonic scale), 243. 
 
 Sabatiee (J. ), Description des Midaillons contomiates, 362. 
 
 Salpinx, a trumpet. See Trumpet. 
 
 Sambma (Sambuhe), a Trigon, or triangular harp ; also a Barbitos, or many- 
 stringed lyre ; a LyropJuxnix, or Phoenician lyre ; a Greek lyre ; a 
 Magadis ; a ladder for scaling walls; anything made of elder- wood. 
 Sometimes a pipe or a dulcimer, 255. The highest-sounding lyre, 297, 
 298. One of four strings, 255, 298. 
 
 SambiuMS, an elder tree, 256. 
 
 Sand strewed upon vibrating surfaces, 187, 188. 
 
 Saturn's Position in the music of the spheres, 105. 
 
 Scale (The) now in use is Claudius Ptolemy's " tightly strung Diatonic '' 
 {diatonon sytUonon), 24, 209. Its defects, 210,, 211. Comparison with 
 the natural scale, 219, 220. Dominants and Sub-dcuninants formerly 
 called Hypos and Hypers, 24, 103. Greeks had a scale upon every 
 semitone of the Octave, 24, 103. No complete major scales among the 
 ancients, 115. Our majors arose out of old minors, 25. Seven notes 
 in an Octave because only seven planets known, 52, 196, 208. How 
 ancient scales were tuned, 118, Our modem scale from two different 
 roots, 191, 210. The Greek Octave scale on the lyre, 193. Two-ootave 
 scale, 194. The reputed proportiona of our present scale (I demur to 
 the present 4 and |), 200, 21 2», 242. It wants E sharp and the true 
 Seventh, 211, 212, in Note. 
 
Ixxx GLOSS AEIAL AND EXPLANATORY INDEX. 
 
 Scale (The minor), the most ancient scale, but not true to Nature, 201". 
 
 Nature proves it to be merely a major scale with a wrong key-note; 
 
 the true key-note of a minor scale being a major Third lower than the 
 
 supposed one, 212. See the intervals of the harmonic scale, 217. 
 SCAIIGEE (J. C), 278. 
 
 Schiama, the approximate half of a Pythagorean comma, 203. 
 Science of Mwsic, its vast unrecorded antiquity, xx. Chapter upon, 186 
 
 to 251. Misconceptions of, xxviii. Greek science. See Pythagoras, 
 
 Philolaos, Archytas, Eratosthenes, Plato, Aristotle, Didymus, and 
 
 Claudius Ptolemy. 
 Schneider (Gottlob), editor of Vitruvius, 332. 
 Scotch Scale (The so-called), used by Egyptians and Greeks, xxii. 
 Seriptores de Mvsica veterwm, nova aeries, xlii. 
 Scytalice, smaU pipes, 278. 
 
 Scythian Pipes, or flutes, made of eagles' or vultures' leg-bones, 268. 
 Seba, or Sebi, the Egyptian name for a flute blown at the side, 67. 
 Seldbn. Assistance given by him to Jtfeibom's work, 157, 185. 
 Semasia, written music, SS*. 
 Semeia, or gra/mmata, musical notes, 118, 185. 
 Semitone, major or Diatonic, the sixteenth part of a string, 196. It is 
 
 really one of Nature's tones, 196. Minor or Chromatic, the twenty- 
 
 flfth part of a string, 197. Semitones, major and minor, added together 
 
 are equal to one minor tone, 197. For the ancient semitone, see Limma. 
 Septuagint (The), xl. 
 Servius. Story of Hermes making a lyre from the shell of a dead tortoise 
 
 on the banks of the Nile, 39^. 
 Sescuplex, sixfold ; an error for sesquiplex in printed copies of Quintilian, 
 
 390. 
 Sesqui explained, 388, 389. 
 Sesquialtera (Greek Jiemiolios), ratio of 3 to 2, iv. 389. The musical interval 
 
 of a Fifth, 389. 
 Sesquidecimaseptima ratio is 18 to 17, v. 
 Sesquitertius, or supertertius (Greek epitritos), the proportion of four to 
 
 three ; the musical interval of a Fourth, 389. 
 Seventh (The minor), or whole tone below the Octave, rejected by 
 
 Egyptians and Greeks in their Enharmonic and Chromatic scales, xx. 
 
 A good reason, xxi. A minor Seventh in the Greek Diatonic scale, 25. 
 
 Shunned by susceptible ears in all ages, 125. A disagreeable sound 
 
 without harmony, xxi. 
 Seventh (The major) substituted in modern times for the minor because 
 
 so disagreeable and false a note in a scale, xxi., 25. Major Seventh a 
 
 true note, " la note sensible," 239. 
 Shakespeare's love of music, xlvii. 
 Shawm, Schalm, Schalmusb, and Chalumbau now represented by the 
 
 clarionet, 264. 
 Shepherds' Pipes, made of reed or straw, supplied the idea for all others, 
 
 260. Explanation of the four principles' derived from them, 260. 
 SmiMon, a harp with thirty-five strings, 68, 312. 
 Singers (Egyptian), exhibited, 65. 
 Siren (The) not a trustworthy instrument for all experiments, xxxiv., 248. 
 
GLOSSARIAti AND EXPLANATORY INDEX. Ixxxi 
 
 SiSTEUM, an Egyptian sacred rattle, made of metal cross-bars within a 
 
 frame of bronze, to be shaken in the Temples, by a jerk from the hand, 
 
 in order to drive away the evil spirit Typhon, 286. Used by Abyssinian 
 
 Christians to drive away evU spirits, 290. And at childbirth in Italy 
 
 down to the sixteenth century, 290". 
 SUndapsos, a barbarian instrument of four strings, 302. 
 Smith (Dr. W.). Oreeh and Eomom Biography, SS"", 326. Dictionary of 
 
 Oreek wnd Roman Antiquities, 364. Latin Dictionary, 362. 
 Society op Aets (The), 215. 
 Solon in Egypt, 48. 
 SoNO and Dance to Vulcan (Ptah), 63. 
 Sopatee, 300, 301, 305^ 
 Sophocles, xxvi., 13, 272», 278, 301. 
 Sound not in the atmosphere, but an effect upon the brain produced by a 
 
 succession of air-waves, 188. Which are heard in seeming stillness 
 
 of the air when concentrated and intermixed in the hard and polished 
 
 windings of a shell, 233. 
 Sounds too acute and too grave for our ears, 77, 244. 
 SoKOE (G. A. ), a writer on the Science of Music who discovered Resultant 
 
 Tones in 1745, but seemingly after Tartini, 244. 
 Spadix, a barbarian stringed instrument having high notes, 302. 
 Speaking Tbumpbts, Egyptian, 282. 
 Spond^an Mode, 147. 
 
 Spondauloi, pipes for supplications to the gods, 267. 
 Stajtobd (W. G.). History of Mum, i. 
 Stephani Thesaurus, xxiv*. 
 Stbabo. Quotation from Terpander, 30^ On the ChaldsSanS, 41. On 
 
 Pythagoras, 48. Division of the year by the sun, 48*. On the lyre, 
 
 296»'. On the Sambuca, 298. 
 S*RAT0Nicus, the Athenian, introduced fuU chords into his harp playing, 
 
 took pupils, and wrote down his compdgitions, 148, 149. 
 Sub-dominant of a scale the Greek Hyper, 24. It is really a Fifth below, 
 
 and not a Fourth above, 210, 217. 
 Suetonius, 361s Sei^. 
 SuiDAS, xxiv*., 93. 
 Summvs and imus, doubts of the learned caused by the blunder of Boethius 
 
 as to nete and hypate, 322, 323. 
 Sun (The), centre of the planets and centre of celestial harmony, 36, 37. 
 SuPEBPAETiouLAR Katios, the Pythagorean doctrine and a true law, 202, 
 
 205, 218. Probably Egyptian, 206. The first Greek who carried it 
 
 out, 207. 
 SyllabS, the old Greek name for a Fourth, 46, 78. 
 Symphmia, meaning concord, 11'. Concord of notes of different pitch, 16. 
 
 Euclid's definition, 136». 
 SympJionium (Wheatstone's), 245, 246. 
 Synaphe, the conjunct system of tetrachords, 31, 95. 
 Syncbllus, 61". 
 
 Synemmenon, the tetrachord above the key-note in the Conjunct System, 95. 
 Syntagmata, modes or scales, 102. 
 SyntoHon, with tightly stretched strings. 130, 131, 131». 
 
Ixxxii GLOSSARIAL AND EXPLANATORY INDEX. 
 
 Syrinx, 258, 259. Late writers give it the name of Pamdm-a, from Pan, 258.' 
 
 Syeus (Publiua). Sententke, 293. 
 
 Systems, 92, 190. See Octave System, and Conjunct or Lesser System. 
 
 Talmud (The) notices the hydraulic organ, xx. 
 
 Tabtini, the violinist, said to have discovered Resultant Tones, 244, 245. 
 
 TaaAs, a mode or scale, 102. 
 
 Taylok (Dr. Brook), analytical researches into the vibrations of strings, 
 
 236. 
 Te Dewm, laudamm, printed by Meibom, the Greek notes supposed by 
 
 Hawkins to be ancient are of Meibom's making, 158. 
 Tebhen (Tomb of), 65, 66. 
 
 Teleion, perfect, referring to the two-octave system, 97. 
 Temperament (Equal) means equally out of tune, 24, 239^ Tempered 
 
 scales give false harmonics as well as false notes, and richness of tone 
 
 depends upon harmonics, 239", 241. 
 Temple of Denderah, a hieroglyphic lute over the door, 62. 
 Tbrpandbb, 3, 26. For the seven- stringed lyre, 30. Planetary theory, 
 
 31. Not Octave system, 32. His date, 32. Myth of taking his lyre to 
 
 Egypt, 33, 48, 49. Cameian or Pythian victories, 33. Sang Homer's 
 
 epics and his own, 34. Gave up varied recitations to please the 
 
 Greeks, 34. Modulation, 101. His Mese or key-note, 161. His 
 
 scale, 162. 
 Teetullian compares the soul to the hydraulic organ; 364. The organ a 
 
 grand pile, 367. 
 Tetartemorion, the quarter of a tone, an enharmonic diesis, 203. 
 Tetrachoeds four strings and four notes, 28". Joined by one note, common 
 
 to two tetraohords, 28, 31. The interval of a semitone between the 
 
 lowest two notes, 31. 
 Thales in Egypt, 48, 
 Theban pipes or flutes, made of the thigh bone of a fawn, and covered 
 
 with metal, 268. 
 Theinred of Dover, Treatise on Music, xii., xiii. 
 Theocritus. Poem, The Syrinx, 259. The lyre, 296. 
 Theodoret, comparison of an organ, 376, 351*. 
 Theodosius of Alexandria, '384. 
 Thbon of Smyrna, 12, 105. 
 Thirds (Ancient major), why out of tune, ii. Made concordant by 
 
 Didymus and by Olaiudius Ptolemy, 191, 204, 245. The nearest 
 
 to equal division of a Third, 207. A major Third is the fifth part of a 
 
 string, XXX. See Ditone. 
 Thirds (Ancient minor), why out of tune, 205. How remedied, 205. The 
 
 true minor Third a major tone and a major semitone, 206. Or the 
 
 sixth part of a string, xxx. 
 Third (Diminished minor, or seventh part of a string), xxxi. 
 Third (Minimum minor, or eighth part of a string), xxxi. 
 Thoth, the Egyptian Hermes, 27, 39, 42. 
 Threni, funeral dirges, 189. 
 
 TMa obligua, any flute blown at the side, 67, 273. 
 Tibia utrieularis, a bagpipe, 280. 
 
GLOSSARIAL AND EXPLANATOEY INDEX. Ixxxii! 
 
 Tibia vasca, the same as Tibia obliqua, 273. 
 
 TIBULL0S, 258. 
 
 Time in rhythm and in music not to be regulated by syllables, but syllables 
 
 by time, 172. 
 Tityrinm, a shepherd's pipe, the Monaulos, 272. 
 Tona/rion, a pitch pipe for orators, 395. 
 Tone, Major. How to tune to hear one, 119. It is the difference by 
 
 which a Fifth overlaps a Fourth, 119. Or the sound of eight-ninths 
 
 of a string above that of the whole length, 191. 
 Tone, Minob. The sound of nine tenths of a string above that of the 
 
 whole length, 191. Every major Third, Fourth, and Fifth, requires one 
 
 minor tone to be perfect, 208. 
 Tonempjmdwngen (Helmholtz's), too hastily written, xxxv. See Helmholtz. 
 Translators of Greek musical terms into Latin only change the termina- 
 tions to make Latin, so they explain nothing, v. 
 Transposition (Greek) to any semitone within the Octave, 179. See 
 
 Metabole. 
 Transtillmn (Latin), the yoke of a lyre, to which the upper ends of the 
 
 strings were attached, 306. 
 Trigon, any instrument of the harp class, if of triangular form, 307. See 
 
 Harp. Four stringed Trigons used for pitch by Roman singers, 321 . 
 Tripod lyre of Pythagoras (fabulous), 299. 
 Trite, third string from the top in the two treble tetraohords of the lyre, 
 
 81, 97. 
 Tritemorion, the third part of a tone, a chromatic diesis, 203. 
 Tritone, a discord of three tones, classed by Gaudentius as a paraphoni; 
 
 148. 
 Troqlodytai, borderers on the Red Sea, who made instruments of laurel 
 
 wood, 74. 
 Tromba Marina, a silly ilame given to a mere monochord, 283. Dr. Barney 
 
 deceived by it, 283. 
 Tropoi, Greek modes and our keys, 99, 102. See Modes. 
 Tuba. See Trumpet. 
 Trumpet. All power depends upon the bell end, if with a bell to slide off, 
 
 may be practised in a drawing-room, 277. The lip of the player is the 
 
 vibrating principle, 282. The tone produced by tight pressure on 
 
 the lip, leaving a small part free to vibrate, 282. Practically, long 
 
 tubes produce more notes than short, 282. Some Egyptian, only 18 
 
 inches, can have had but key-note. Octave, and Fifth, so rather horns, 
 
 282. But the Egyptians had others four feet, and still longer speaking 
 
 trumipets, 282. Assyrian, 259. 
 Tuning Forks (Experiment with), xxxiv., 249. To diminish power hold 
 
 one at the angle 45 to the ear, xxxv. 
 Tuning of Ancient Scales by Fourths down, and Fifths up, just as now, 
 
 118, 119. How to tune so as to prove the discord of ancient Thirds 
 •or Ditones, 119. 
 Tuscan on Tyrrhenian. See Etruscan. 
 Twining (Rev. Thomas), Translator of Aristotle's Poetics, xi. 
 Tyndall (John, LL.D., F.R.S.), Lectures on Sound, xxix., xxxi., xxxii., 
 
 xxxiii., xxxiv., 226, 230, 232, 233, 248, 250, 263. 
 
Ixxxiv GLOSSAEIAL AND EXPLANATORY INDEX. 
 
 Usher (Archbishop). Chronology, 61^ Manuscript of Greek hymns, 156. 
 Utriculanus, a bagpiper, 351*. 
 
 Vakeo De He rustica, 56^ 
 
 Vertiada, a centre pin, 352, 353. 
 
 ViBBATiONS. The French count to and fro as two vibrations, but there is 
 no vibration of air until the return of the string, 216*. 
 
 Vincent (A. J.) on a Greek vase, 54. His answer to FitiSj 141». 
 
 Virgil, 258"=, 290=. Septem disan/mina vocmn, seven notes of the scale, SS"". 
 A Eoman dance accompanied with song named after him, 361''. 
 
 ViTBTJVius's description of the double-acting hydraulic organ, about twenty 
 years B.C., xviii., 328. AtUibasis an accompanying base, ixv". Reports 
 Greek music as obscure and difficult, 4. Did not quite understand it, 
 5. On the difference between organum and machina, 327*. Transla- 
 tions of his hydraulic organ by Newton and by Gwilt, 349. A diagram 
 of his organ, 350, Why a new and amplified translation seems neces- 
 sary, 349, 350. The translation, 351. Manuscripts of the ninth and 
 tenth centuries, in the British Museum, here caUated (as well as dthers 
 of later dates), 353*. On metal vessels to be excited by the sound- 
 waves front the voice or froni instruments in theatres, and thus to 
 utilize wasted power of sound, 359. Ascribes the hydraulic organ to 
 Ctesibiiis, 365. Shows the Roman corruptions of Greek Words, 379, 
 380. 
 
 VoLCKMANN (R. ) twice alters Plutarch's text unadvisedly, 34°, 123". Mis- 
 understands the hydraulic organ, 329, 330*. 
 
 Vossixjs (Isaac); De Poematum Gamtu, 154a, 331, 350. A correction of, by 
 Sir Johd Hawkins, 351*. 
 
 VowBLS distinguished from Vocals only in English, not in Greek or in 
 Latin, 53''. Scale of vowels, 27. How produced, 381*. The English 
 way of pronounbing Latin ridiculed by Milton, and the feason for its 
 long sufferance in England, 391. The way in which we have twisted 
 the sound of one vowel into another, 39lj 392. 
 
 Vulcan (The Egyptian), Ptah, 63. 
 
 Wallis (Dr. John), completed Meibom's collection of Greek authors On 
 music, 157. His edition of Claudius Ptolemy, 201. First communi- 
 cated to the world the discovery, which is the foundation of all true 
 science in music, made at Oxford, of how to produce harmonics at will 
 and to measure the proportions on a string, 235, 236. 
 
 Wbrnsdort', Poetoe Latini minores, 368. 
 
 Westbrn Ohuboh (Recitations of the), 382. 
 
 Whately (Archbishop), quotation from, 143; 
 
 Whbatstqnb (Sir Charles), xxxix., 249, 242. 
 
 Wilkinson (Sir Gardner), xxxviii., 33^ 42, 49*, 58, 59i>, 61*, 62, 67, 282, 
 286, 287, 306, 313, 316, 317, 321, 370. 
 
 William of Malmesbuby, on the hydraulic organ, 337. 
 
 Willis (Professor), on vowels, 27. 
 
 WiND-CHBST of an ancient pneumatic organ, the pressure equal to the weight 
 of the man who stood upon the bellows, xviii. 
 
GLOSSARIAL AND EXPLANATORY INDEX. IxXXV 
 
 Wire stringa unused by the ancients, 309. But wire rods, fixed at one, 
 or at both ends, were used by Egyptians for harmonic sounds by pull- 
 ing them, 291, and by Assyrians to be struck in dulcimer fashion, 290, 
 291. 
 
 Weight (W. Aldis). Thanks to, xxxviii. 
 
 Xbnophom-, 261. 
 
 Ybab (The) divided into 365 days by the Egyptians, 48. 
 YouNU (Dr. Matthew), researches into the vibrations of strings, 236. 
 Young (Patrick), great assistance rendered by him to Meibom's work, 157. 
 Young (Dr. Thomas), his true theory of Eesultaut Tones, 247. 
 
 Zbnodotus, accents to Homeric poems, 384". 
 Zeugitce, double pipes, 269. 
 
 Zugon (in Latin TranstUlwm), the yoke, or upper cross-bar of a lyre, to 
 which the upper ends of the strings were attached, 306. 
 
EXPLANATION OF THE WOODCUTS AND OTHER 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 1. Egyptian ladies engaged in music at the date of those Pharaohs 
 who conquered the Shepherd Kings and drove them out of 
 Egypt — the same Pharaohs who are supposed to have put the 
 Israelites into bondage. The first and third ladies play nefers, 
 or lutes, which have frets to mark divisions of the strings; the 
 second lady sings, and beats time with her hands ; the fourth 
 has double pipes with ivory mouthpieces, and the fifth plays 
 a kind of tambourine. —From the original painting, upon 
 plaster, taken from u, tomb at Thebes, and now in the British 
 Mtisewn. lith dynasty of Egypt. To f axe Frontispiece. 
 
 2. Egyptian lady playing a nefer, or lute, supported by a strap 
 
 round her neck. The holes in front of the lute are for the 
 escape of the sound. — From Wilkinson's "Egypt" ... 43 
 
 3. Egyptian dancer playing the lute, and using a plectrum, attached 
 
 to the instrument, instead of the fingers. — From Wilkinson's 
 
 43 
 
 4. Greek worship of Athene (Minerva) after the Egyptian manner. 
 Two priests play on magadides, or cross-barred lyres, using the 
 fingers at one end of the strings, and the plectrum at the other. 
 Two other priests play on double pipes.— i'Vom a Oreek vase. 
 No. 626, in the Museum at Berlin 55 
 
 6. An Egyptian player on the m,agadis. This example of the double- 
 acting bridge, from which the instrument derives the name of 
 magadis, is preferable to the preceding one, because the former 
 does not exhibit true proportions. The bar or bridge of the 
 instrument must be one third up the length of the string, 
 in order to divide it in the proportion of 2 to 1, if it is to 
 produce Octaves. — From Wilkinson's " Egypt " ... 56 
 
 6. Two of the earliest examples of the hieroglyphic for the word 
 "good"— a nefer, or lute.— ^roro Lepsius's "Denkmaler." One 
 of the two shows the bridge for support of the strings, and the 
 tail-piece to which they were attached, as well as the pegs upon 
 which the strings were turned .... .62 
 
Ixxxviii LIST OF ILLUSTEATIONS. 
 
 NO. PAGE 
 
 7. Song and dance to the God Ptah ("Vulcan). One Egyptian lady- 
 
 plays on double pipes, with ivory mouthpieces, -while two are 
 singing, and beating time with their hands — slaves dancing. — 
 Frmn tlie original paimting, upon plaster, taken from u, tomb 
 at Thebes, now im the British Musevm. \Wi dynasty . . 63 
 
 8. The musical establishment of an Egyptian gentleman, named 
 
 Tebhen, copied from a painting in his tomb, 4th dynasty, 
 date of the Second Great Pyramid. Two harpers who play 
 upon the original bow-shaped harps, -with their conductor : 
 two pipers and a flute player, -with their conductor : four 
 male singers, three female singers, and a child to beat time. 
 The pipers and flute-player are unequivocally playing in 
 harmony, o-wing to the varied lengths of the pipes. — From 
 Lepsius's " Denlcmdler" 65 
 
 9. An ancient bas-relief, showing a girl playing on the ^o%pAi^i<)»fl'OJi, 
 
 or many-stiinged Asiatic lyre, whUe reading from a scroll — 
 which scroll the wood-engraver has improved into a book. — 
 Copied from Bwney's "History of Music''' . , , .118 
 
 10. The music and words of a Greek hymn to Calliope, in Greek 
 
 musical notes, vrith a clue to the Greek notation ; and the 
 same in modem notes, with two dififerent accompamn(e^ts . 168-170 
 
 11. Music of a Greek hymn to Apollo ...... 174 
 
 12. Music of a Greek hymn to Nemesis, with an accompaniment . 179 
 
 13. Continuation of the hymn to Nemesis, as found only in one 
 
 manuscript 182 
 
 14. Wood-cut of the figures described by sand upon a vibrating 
 
 surface, when the Octave, the Eifth, or the Fourth, are 
 sounded 188 
 
 15. The musical scale of Nature the one and only sound basis for all 
 
 musical science • 217 
 
 16. Ancient Koman hautboys, showing their conical tubes and their 
 
 double reeds for the mouth. — From a painting in the British 
 Museum, 263 
 
 17. A large musical pipe, probably the bornbyx, from, a sarcophagus. 
 
 —Bump's "History of Music" 269 
 
 18. A piper playing upon double pipes, and wearing the phorbeion, or 
 
 capistrv/m, to support the ends of the pipes, and to prevent 
 distention of the cheeks 280 
 
 19. Double pipes -with peculiar plugs inserted in them. Inexplicable 
 
 now, and probably an emblematic fancy-picture. Plutarch 
 includes pipes as emblematic instruments, as well as lyres . 280 
 
 20. A shell-like horn, the Icenm, or early form of the hucdna . . 284 
 
 21. The Roman lUuMS, or horn, curved at the end like the augural 
 
 stafi' 285 
 
 22. An Egyptian sist/ru/m, or rattle, to drive away the evil spirit, 
 
 and bearing the emblem of the cat 288 
 
 23. An Assyrian player on a sort of dulcimer. — From a sculptwre in 
 
 the British Musevm 291 
 
 24. Terpsichore, with an emblematic lyre. — Copied from "Antichitd 
 
 di Ercolano ... 207 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Ixxxix 
 
 NO. PASE 
 
 25. A peculiar Etruscan lyre, having sound-holes, bridge, and tail- 
 
 piece, like the violin. — From Sir William, Hamilton's" Etruscan 
 Antiquities ".......... 298 
 
 26. Erato with her harp, as represented on an Etruscan vase ; 
 
 doubtless an emblematic and not a practicable instrument . 300 
 
 27. A true lute, with receding head and ribbed back, in a represen- 
 
 tation of Apollo upon an ancient gem. — Copied from "Oemme 
 Antiche" 302 
 
 28. Egyptian singers accompanied by players on their many- 
 
 stringed lyre, double pipe, and many-stringed harp. — From 
 Wilkinson's "Egypt" 306 
 
 29. Erato with an upright ten-stringed psaltery. —^rom "Antichita 
 
 diErcolano" .308 
 
 30. Exemplifications of the transitions pf the Egyptian harp from 
 
 its original bow shape to that of the trigon qi triangular form, 
 for the sake pf having short strings in the angle. — From the 
 Harper's Tomb, Wilkinson's "Egypt" .... 314, 315 
 
 31. Egyptian triaijgular harp with twenty-one strings. — From 
 
 Wilkinson's "Egypt" 319 
 
 32. Blind Egyptian musicians playing in concert, one with a 
 
 splendid harp, a second with double pipes, and a third with 
 a nefer, pr lute, which has a carved human head at the 
 extrenjity. — From Lepsius's DenkmMer 320 
 
 33. Representation of the Greek hydraulic organ From one of the 
 
 Harleian Manuscripts 340 
 
 34. The key-aotipn of the hydraulic organ 341 
 
 35. Diagram of the hydrauUc organ — From Isaac Vossius's "De 
 
 Poematum Oaniu et Viribus Shythmi 350 
 
 36. Hydraulic orgaji. — From an ancient Soman gem, now in the 
 
 British Museum, oho bearing the initials of the victor in a 
 contest of organists 363 
 
 37. An Egyptian smithy, showing the earliest kind of beUows used 
 
 for organs. — Wilkinson's "Egypt" 370 
 
 38. Roman pneumatic organ of the 4th century, as represented on 
 
 the Obelisk of Theodosius, showing the Eg3rptian bellpws still 
 in use. — Copied from the "History of the Organ " by Dr. 
 Simbault and Mr. E. J. Hopkins 373 
 
 39. Assyrian harp, 7th century B.C. — From a sculpture in the British 
 
 Musemn, 392 
 
 40. Flute of a peculiar kind, with a projecting mouthpiece. — Frmn 
 
 an ancient marble statue in the British Museum, found in the 
 Civitd, Lavinia, the ancievi Lanuvium 394 
 
 41. Egyptian caricature of a Quartet Concert, in which the King 
 
 plays the first part, as a lion. This was intended for Rameses 
 III. — From the Turin Satiric Papyrus, through the Rev. J. P. 
 Mahaffy's "ProlegoTnena to Ancient History" . . . 399 
 
 42. Ancient cymbals. — From a marble statue of a Satyr in the British 
 
 Museum, known as the Bondini Faun .... 404 
 
THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 CHAPTEE I. 
 
 The first firm footing for history. — The new field opened by 
 recent discoveries. — Why Greek music has been found a difficult 
 subject. — The Romans adopted but one portion of it in its oldest 
 form. — The latest Roman writers. — The Mediaeval system. — 
 Examples of misapplied Greek terms. — Greek love of Octave 
 harmony. — Church Tones not Greek music. — ^New difficulties 
 prepared for German readers. — No evidence of any ancient 
 Standard Pitch.' — The Greek system of music both intelligible 
 and explicable. 
 
 The most convenient basis for a history of ancient 
 music seems to be the early Greek system, for we 
 are here removed from the land of myths, and have 
 the foundation upon which the superstructure of 
 modern art has been raised. The discoveries that 
 have been made in Egypt and in Babylon, withia 
 the century that has now passed, since Sir John 
 Hawkins and Dr. Bumey wrote their Histories of 
 Music, have revealed an advanced state of the art 
 in most ancient times, which was before unknown 
 and unsuspected. There is no longer room to doubt 
 that the entire Greek system was mainly derived 
 from Egypt, Phoenicia, Babylon, or other countries of 
 more ancient civilization than Greece. The musical 
 
 B 
 
2 THE HISTORY OP MUSIC. 
 
 instruments of the Greeks may be traced in Egypt, 
 even to the hitherto unobserved Magadis, or Octave 
 playing instrument, of Anacreon, and to the little 
 wailing " span-long" pipe used for lamentations 
 on the death of Adonis. From that pipe must 
 the modern hautboy claim its descent. The total 
 number of notes ia the combined Greek scales agrees 
 precisely with the enumeration of the Egyptian 
 system, as revealed to us by Greek writers. The 
 worship of Athena, or Minerva, who' corresponds to 
 the Egyptian goddess Neth, was attended by the 
 peculiar custom of having musical instruments to 
 play in Octaves in the temples of both countries. 
 The same system of music must have prevailed in 
 the two, because they had, at least in one case, the 
 sa.me song, and it was a. song that, according to 
 Herodotus, was in general use. 
 
 Moreover, a further discovery may be noted 
 through Egyptian monuments, that, at the time of 
 the building of the Pyramids, and before the in- 
 vasion of the HyksoB, or Shepherd Kings, had made 
 " every shepherd an abomination to the Egyptians," 
 those Egyptians had bands that played with harps 
 and pipes in concert — ^not in unison, as might have 
 been supposed, but in harmony. This is made 
 manifest by at least one of the representations on 
 the tombs of the fourth dynasty of Egypt. Three 
 pipers have a conductor beating time for them, and 
 their pipes are of such different lengths, that it is 
 mathematically impossible they could have been 
 playing in unison. Further, it may be proved to 
 demonstration, that the ordinary Egyptian lute had 
 then a compass of two Octaves. The hieroglyphic 
 for "good" makes this evident. It is a lute with 
 
RECENT DISCOVERIES. 3 
 
 a neck, which is from two to three times the length 
 of the body. Again, this lute being provided with 
 not less than two strings, shows a provision for 
 playing double notes (to make harmony), because 
 one string having a compass of two Octaves, would 
 have been aU-sufficient for melody. A single string, 
 with a neck against which it may be pressed, makes 
 a scale for itself 
 
 Another point worthy of observation is the 
 practical agreement and general identity between the 
 musical instruments of Egypt and those of Nineveh 
 and of Babylon. This is largely exhibited in ancient 
 sculptures, and may be observed by any visitor to 
 the British Museum. If we couple with this re- 
 semblance the incidental notice of the Chaldeean 
 division of the Octave, by Plutarch, and that of the 
 reputed Diatessaron, or musical interval of a Fourth, 
 in the Babylonian planetary system, by Dion Cassius, 
 they should suffice to estabUsh the identity of the 
 musical systems of Assyria and Egypt. 
 
 When examined by this new light, the musical 
 acquirements of the Greeks will appear but as one 
 branch of the transfer of learning from Asia to Europe ; 
 for the Egyptians were admittedly of Asiatic origin. 
 It will also raise doubts as to many of the inventions 
 that were posthumously attributed to Terpander, to 
 Pythagoras, and to other Greeks. 
 
 Lastly, perhaps the most interesting feature of all 
 will be to establish, that the notes of the scale in 
 "this dark backward and abysm of time," differed 
 in no other way from modern notes of the minor 
 scale (as on the long keys of a pianoforte, beginning 
 on A), than in the manner of tuning the intervals 
 called Thirds, (as from A to C and C to E,) so that, 
 
 b2 
 
4 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 although falling short of being consonant, as ours 
 are, they would pass for Thirds in. melody, and not 
 every ear would perhaps then detect the difference, 
 since it was but the eighty-first part of a string. If, 
 after this, the ancient technicalities can but be 
 successfully cleared away, the reader may have the 
 whole subject of this most ancient music before his 
 mind's eye. This will be here attempted. 
 
 Boeckh has remarked, in his Metres of Pindar, 
 that "the music of the ancients is not merely 
 neglected by the students of antiquity, but is buried 
 in oblivion."* It is now quite time that it should 
 be disinterred. It has indeed been allowed to 
 remain an unrav^lled puzzle for many ages, and its 
 complexities have seemed rather to increase than to 
 decrease with the onward progress of time. The 
 reasons for this have been various. 
 
 First, it presented a difficulty to the Romans 
 because they had adopted but one portion of the 
 Greek system, and did not trouble themselves over- 
 much about the remainder. Cicero thought that 
 Aristoxenus had devoted his energies too exclusively 
 to music;* and, when touching upon the art in his 
 own writings, Cicero translated from Aristotle, and 
 then Quintilian copied from Cicero. Vitruvius had 
 to travel beyond the boundary of the Roman musical 
 system when he wrote about the metal vases that 
 were constructed within theatres to echo sound, and 
 so to give resonance to the voices of the actors. He 
 then described Greek musical literature as "an 
 obscure and difficult subject," and one that could not 
 
 « li 
 
 'Veterum musica non modo ' " Quantum Aristoxeniingenium 
 
 Jiegligitur ab antiquitatis studiosis, cousumptumvidemusinmusiois." — 
 
 Bed oblivione sepulta est." — (De (De Fmi}ms,Vih.Y. \^.) 
 Metria PindaH, lib. iii., c. 7, p. 204.) 
 
ROMAN WKITEBS ON MUSIC. 5 
 
 be explained without resorting to Greek words, for 
 which there were no Latin equivalents. Although 
 he endeavoured to understand and to explain the 
 writings of Aristoxenus, he did not always succeed 
 in giving correct interpretations of his author.^ 
 
 Many such imperfect renderings might be cited 
 from Roman authors, but it will now suffice to pass 
 on to two of the latest writers under the old empire. 
 Their works exercised the greatest influence upon 
 the music of the middle ages. These were Cassio- 
 dorus and Boethius, who were cotemporaries in the 
 sixth century, in the reign of Theodoric, the Ostro- - 
 Goth. 
 
 Cassiodorus was a Christian who wrote upon the 
 liberal arts generally, and devoted but a part of his 
 treatise to mixsic. He included only the branch of 
 Greek music that had been adopted by the Romans, 
 viz., the ordinary Diatonic scale of tones and semi- 
 tones, like our own, but in its early Pythagorean, or 
 unimproved, state. His treatise is, so far, a good 
 and brief summary, and it includes the ratios of the 
 simple consonances, such as the Fourth, the Fifth, 
 and the Octave. But when he touches upon com- 
 pound intervals, it is not good. For instance, he 
 says, or has been made to say, that an Eleventh, 
 {i.e., a Fourth added to an Octave,) is a consonance, 
 
 * For example, in describing the autem est musioa litteratura abscura 
 
 fixed sounds of the Grreek system, et difficilis ; majdme qnidem qnibus 
 
 he forgot that the lowest note of grascse litterae non sunt notse : quam 
 
 every scale (the proslamhanomenoa) si volumus exphcaie, necesse eat 
 
 did not form part of any one of etiam grsecis verbis nti, quod non- 
 
 their tetrachords, or Fourths, and nuUa eorum latinas non habent 
 
 he omitted two of the variable notes appeUationes. Itaque, ut potero, 
 
 in his enumeration, viz.,thej3ora?ieies quam apertissime ex Aristoxeni 
 
 of the synemmenon and hyperboUxon scriptoris interpretabor. " — (Lib v., 
 
 tetrachords. Of the difficulties of cap. 4, Leipzig, 8vo. 1807, p. 121.) 
 Greek music, he says : — ' ' Harmonica 
 
6 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 and that it is in the ratio of 24 to 8* (which -would 
 be as 3 to 1), whereas it is not a consonance, and is 
 not in the ratio of 24 to 8, but of 8 to 3. To treat 
 an Eleventh as a consonance was a common error, 
 for which he had respectable authority, but not for 
 mistaking its ratio. 
 
 The work of Boethius {De Institutione Musica) is 
 the most elaborate of the Roman treatises, and one 
 devoted exclusively to music. It is divided into 
 five books, each subdivided into some twenty or 
 thirty heads, or chapters. The last book exists only 
 in an imperfect state. Boethius seems to have 
 intended it to consist of thirty chapters, of which 
 but eighteen are extant. The index of contents 
 shows that the last twelve were to have been devoted 
 to a summary of the suggestions and improvements 
 of the later Greek writers, and especially to those of 
 Claudius Ptolemy. But the summary was to have 
 been historical only, because he had already formed 
 his calculations of musical intervals upon the anti- 
 quated system of the Pythagorean scale. That was 
 the adopted scale of the Romans, and his calculations 
 upon it had been embodied in the preceding books of 
 his treatise. 
 
 Boethius, in contrast to Cassiodorus, seems to 
 have paid more attention to the science than to the 
 art of music. He was an able arithmetician, but felt 
 short of the attainments necessary for a great writer 
 upon the theory of music. Yet he exalted theory 
 greatly above practice.!" His acquaintance with the 
 
 * "Quarta, Diapason simul et Dia- InstUvt. MvMcce, apud GerbertiaSmp- 
 
 tessarou, symphonia est, quiB constat tores Eccles. de Mus. i. 17.) 
 exratione quamhabet xxivnumerus ^ "Quanto igitur prseolarior est 
 
 ad octo numerum : fit autem ex scientia musicse in cognitione rationis 
 
 aonitibua undeoim.'' — (Cassiodori quaminopereefficiendi, atqueaotu!" 
 
BOETHIUS. 7 
 
 practical branch of Hs subject was evidently slight; 
 indeed, so slight that he seems not to have known 
 the correct names for the strings of the lyre. He 
 applied the title of lichanos, or fore-finger strLag, 
 to two that have not that name in the work of any 
 extant Greek author, and they were strings which 
 the Greeks intended for the plectrum. The Romans 
 had Latin designations for the strings long before the 
 time of Boethius, which may account for his imperfect 
 acquaintance with the Greek nomenclature."' 
 
 Boethius should be ranked rather as a man of 
 general learning than as a remarkable musician- 
 He adopted Claudius Ptolemy's theory, that the 
 combination of an Octave with a Fourth above it, 
 is a consonance,'' against which the Pythagoreans 
 had systematically, and (as wiU be hereafter clearly 
 proved) had rightly contended. But stiU he had 
 only read Claudius Ptolemy's works superficially, or 
 else he would not have given currency to the popular 
 story of Pythagoras and the hammers — that Pytha- 
 goras discovered the law of musical consonances 
 through passing a blacksmith's shop, and weighing 
 the hammers that were striking Fom-ths, Fifths, and 
 Octaves upon an anvil. Ptolemy denies the possi- 
 bility of such consonances from one anvil (in his third 
 chapter of Book I.), and even a httle reflection might 
 have taught Boethius that the tone of a beU cannot 
 
 And again: — "Multo enim est lichanos sifnemmendn, and oi lichanos 
 
 majus atque auctius scire quod diezeugmenon, which are both in the 
 
 quisque faciat quam ipsum efficere treble of the lyre, above the key 
 
 quod sciat ; etenim artificium cor- note, and were to be played by the 
 
 porale quasi serviens famulatur, plectrum. Therefore the Greeks 
 
 ratio vero, quasi domina, imperat." called them paranetes, instead of 
 
 — (Inst. Mus. i. .34, under "Quid sit lichanoses. Lichanos is the "Uck- 
 
 Musicus.") ing " finger, or fore-finger. 
 
 ° In Inst. Mm. i. 22, he writes of ' Inst. Mus. i. 12. 
 
a THE HISTORY OF MUSIC, 
 
 be altered in pitcli by changing the weiglit of its 
 clapper. 
 
 Boethius did not adopt the improvements either 
 of Didymus or of Ptolemy in the musical scale, but 
 retained the old Pythagorean system of major tones 
 only, instead of alternating major and minor tones. 
 Hence all his intervals of Thirds (whether major 
 or minor Thirds) were discords instead of concords. 
 Yet Didymus had shown the way to produce true 
 consonant major and minor Thirds, five hundred 
 years before the date at which Boethius was writing. 
 Claudius Ptolemy had again demonstrated it, by 
 inverting the succession of tones, about a century, 
 after Didymus, so that if Boethius had been a sound 
 theorist or a practical musician, he could not have 
 failed to discover, in the one case by the Pythagorean 
 law of consonances, and, in the other, by his ears, 
 how great was the improvement of turning those 
 discords into concords, and, at the same time, im- 
 proving the proportions of the so-called semitone. 
 
 Again, if Boethius had been well versed in the 
 history of Greek music, he would not have handed 
 dovni a series of stories that this man, and that 
 man, added a new string to the lyre- — as if it were 
 to be understood in a literal sense. He would 
 have discovered the chronological (as well as other) 
 contradictions which such claims involved, and that 
 " adding a new string to the lyre" could but be an 
 ancient idiom for having introduced some approved 
 novelty into the arts of poetry and musia 
 
 For these various reasons Boethius does not merit 
 so high a rank among ancient writers on music as 
 has been conceded to him in England, by making his 
 treatise the text-book in our Universities. 
 
ROMAN SYSTEM INFEEIOE, TO GREEK. 9 
 
 No E,oman of antiquity is known to have made, 
 or even to have attempted, any improvement in the 
 science of music. The Romans received the Diatonic 
 Scale, of tones and semitones, from the Greeks at 
 a time when it existed only in its primitive and 
 imperfect form. Nevertheless they were content to 
 retain it so, and did not foUow the Greeks in any 
 subsequent improvement. It is for that reason 
 Greek music cannot be effectually learnt from Roman 
 writers. 
 
 The treatise of Boethius having been the most 
 complete that had been written in the Latin 
 language, and being supposed to teach the best 
 system, was unfortunately adopted as the text-book 
 in the middle ages. It had a very retrograde effect 
 upon music, one of the evils being, that it kept up 
 the use of an antiquated and iU-divided scale to the 
 time of Guido d'Arezzo, who taught and revived it 
 in the eleventh century. 
 
 In after ages Boethius, in some way, gained the 
 repute of having been a Christian philosopher. This 
 may have been, because his system of music had 
 been adopted in the Church. It is possible, also, 
 that he may have been mistaken for another person 
 of that not uncommon name, for no one could have 
 written upon music less in the manner of a Christian 
 than the author of the Institutio Mudca. 
 
 In a treatise on music of early date, a man could 
 but with difficulty avoid giving an indication of his 
 religious creed, and a Christian especially would 
 almost surely make some sign of his belief, unless he 
 had a direct interest in avoiding it. There was no 
 motive like that of a general persecution to induce 
 concealment at the time Boethius wrote, so that, if 
 
10 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 any one should now be curious as to the religion of 
 that able writer, he may perhaps satisfy himself that 
 there is not a symptom of Christianity about his 
 writings on music. The contrast of style will be 
 apparent on comparing a few of the corresponding 
 pages in the treatises of the two cotemporaries, Cas- 
 siodorus the Christian, and Boethius the philosopher 
 of questionable creed. 
 
 A second element of confusion to the student of 
 Greek music arose from the employment of Greek 
 words in ecclesiastical music, where they were 
 applied in senses sometimes opposite, and at other 
 times differing materially from classical Greek." As 
 one instance, the alternate singing of verses of psalms 
 by a choir divided into two parts, was introduced 
 from Antioch in the fourth centiiry. One half of 
 the choir sang one verse, or part of a verse, and the 
 other half responded, either with the next verse, or 
 with a burden, such as, " For His mercy endiu-eth 
 for ever," in Psalm No. 136 ; much like the present 
 practice in our cathedrals. It was a Syrian and a 
 Jewish manner of responsive singing. The Song of 
 Triumph of Deborah and Barak (Judges, chap, v.), 
 and Psalms, such as Nos. 103 and 104, were evidently 
 designed for it ;*" but it was not before practised by 
 the Greeks, or else it would not have been a novelty. 
 Yet a Greek term was soon appropriated for it, but 
 in quite a new sense. It was called " antiphonal" 
 
 * "Quippe medio sevo qui artem immutaretur vis vocabuli cujusque, 
 
 exooluerunt, quum et instrumenta sed etiam prorsus inverteretur." — 
 
 plurima extincta essent, et ars ipsa {De Musicis Greeds Commentafio, 
 
 pridem conticuisset, nominibua ex Joannes Franzius, Ph. D. Berlin. 
 
 arte relictis ita sunt abuai, ut novia 4to. 1840.) 
 
 inventis accoihniodarent nulla ra- ' Philo Jndseus, who was bom 
 
 tione prions significationis habitu ; about twenty years before Christ, 
 
 ex quo factum est ut non solum refers to the double chorus, and the 
 
CHANGED MEANINGS OF GREEK WORDS. 11 
 
 singing; but the meaning of the Greek anti, as 
 usually applied to music, is in the sense of " accom- 
 panying," and, therefore, in that of the Latin cum, 
 " with," and not ofpro, or contra.^ Instead of being 
 responsive, like the chants in our cathedrals (which 
 in Greek would be called ameibomenai^), Greek 
 antiphons were simultaneous sounds an Octave apart; 
 and therefore like our congregational singing, wherein 
 the voices of men intermingle with those of women 
 and children. The voices of the men, being naturally 
 an Octave lower than the others, inake the antiphons. 
 Thus, Greek antiphona were fellow or companion 
 sounds, harmonious and concordant. The graver of 
 the two notes of the Octave, says Aristotle," " is the 
 antiphon and concordance to the upper ; they result 
 jfrom young boys and men singing together." (Some 
 of the latest writers include double Octaves as anti- 
 phons.) Aristotle says that, although Fourths and 
 Fifths are also consonances, yet they are never sung in 
 sequences to make antiphona,^ as are Octaves." In 
 this respect Greek ears agreed with our own. Ample 
 definitions are found in the works of Plato,' of Aristotle 
 
 burden of hymns among the Jews, music, in countertenor and counts- 
 
 in his treatise on the tilling of the point, seems better to express the 
 
 earth by Noah, i. 313, cap. 18. Greek a«W than the Latin coniro, or 
 
 "But the same hymn is sung by oxa against. Counterpoint is simul- 
 
 both the choruses, having a most taneous harmony, or note with note, 
 
 wonderful epode, which, to be sung * See Iliad, book i. lines 603-4. 
 
 after the hymn, is beautiful." He ' Prob. vii., xiii., and xlvii. of 
 
 then gives the words of this epode, Section 19. 
 
 Exodus XV. 1, "Let ua sing unto '' See Prob. xvii. of Section 19. 
 
 the Lord, for he hath triumphed ° Prob. xviii. of Section 19. 
 
 gloriously ; the horse and his rider ' It may be desirable here to note, 
 
 hath he thrown into the sea. " Moses in anticipation, that avfi^iovia means 
 
 led the men, and Miriam the women, "concordant sound" (not "sym- 
 
 for " they were the leaders of the phony ") and is opposed to Siafuivia, 
 
 choruses," as he tells agaiu in his " unmixing sound, or discord:" cot 
 
 "Life of Moses." 6?«TJ)ra PapiniTi av/Kpiovov Kai avri- 
 
 • The English word counter, as ipiavov irafixoiiivovQ. — Plato's Laws, 
 
 compounded in counterpart, and, in 812. 
 
12 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 (many),* of Plutarch,'' and his cotemporary Theon of 
 Smyrna," of Gaudentius,* of Psellus, in the eleventh 
 century,' and of Bryennius, in the fourteenth,' thus 
 carrying down the classical meaning of the word 
 antiphon to the Byzantirie-Greek, in the time of the 
 Emperor Palseologus the elder, about 1320, 
 
 As the translations of so many passages in 
 classical authors are affected by this anti, a few 
 more cases should be cited before passing from the 
 subject. The oldest of our extant lexicons are not 
 here to be much defended upon. In that of Hesychius, 
 antichorda are first explained as " companion strings" 
 (" o"u'7x<'/'"^«")> which is right; but, secondly, as " equal 
 strings" (" ta-6-)(opSa"), which is not right, according 
 to classical authors. The second definition was 
 probably interpolated to agree with the meaning 
 adopted in the Western "Church, for strings an 
 Octave apart could not be "equal." The Greek 
 antichorda were always Octave strings, and pros- 
 chorda were the " equal strings," or xmisons. They 
 are so explained by Plato, by Aristotle, and by 
 Plutarch. When Plutarch states that Archilochus 
 was supposed to be the first person who played 
 an accompaniment on the lyre imder the voice 
 part, and that the ancients had always before played 
 
 '" To uiv dvri'^iDvov owfj^wi/oj' Iffrt * "koI /ikativ ripi trpog Ttmrov 
 
 Sia iraaSiv; ix iraiSuv yip vioiv Kal (irpoffXa/t/Saj/o/jEKov) cLvHijiiiivov." — 
 
 avdpdv yiviTai t6 avri^uvov." — Gaudentius, p. 21, 1. 8, edit.Meibom. 
 
 Arist. Prob. xxxix. of Section 19. The two strings here named were 
 
 See also Nos. 7, 13, 16, and 17 of invariably an Octave apart, 
 
 the same section. ° "i} ti Std -raa&v. Km. i\ Sig Sia 
 
 * " 'H aiv mpi i//o\/toiff /cai vaaSiv kut dvTi(litJvov."—Vse]laa,-p6T 
 
 ^dpfuyyag op/iow'a Si avrujituvtov Meibom. Note on Gaudentius, p. 36. 
 
 ix^i TO avfi^uvov." — ^Plutarch J)e ' " rbv ani r^e vrjTtjg wp^e tov diro 
 
 Amicit, multit. 96 F. rqj ijrdn/f avri^uivov Kara rf/v Sid 
 
 ' " avfi^tiivoi KUT dvriipojvov." — waaiiv." Bryennius, edit. Wallis, 
 
 Theon, 77, edit.Bullialdus, Paris, 1644. p. 365, line 32. 
 
MORE GREEK WORDS. 13 
 
 " in unison" with it, he expresses the " unison strings" 
 by proschorda."" Antiphthongus and antipsalmus 
 are two other words that equally express simul- 
 taneous (Octave) sounds. The first is used as a 
 synonyme for antiphon, by Pindar, as quoted by 
 Athenaeus.*" Again, antispasta mele, and antispasta 
 sunchordia, quoted by him from Phrynichus, and 
 from Sophocles,'' (both meaning " Octave accompani- 
 ment,") and antitheton for antiphonon, by Aristotle.'* 
 
 Again, the antipsalmus must necessarily have had 
 the accompaniment of the hands upon a stringed 
 instrument to constitute a "psalm," but Hesychius 
 omits that part of the definition — possibly because 
 stringed instruments were not in his time used in 
 the Church. 
 
 The antistrophes of Greek plays are beyond the 
 scope of the present enquiry, but the musical part 
 of the evidence seems to run in the same direction. 
 When Aristotle asks, " Why are neither Hypo- 
 Dorian nor Hypo - Phrygian choruses sung in 
 tragedies 1 Is it because they have no Antistrophe 1"^ 
 One sufficient musical reason for not having any 
 would be, that they were the two lowest base scales, 
 and it was impossible for men to sing Octaves below 
 
 * "oiovrai Si Kat r^v Kpovaiv rfiv Prob. ix., Section 19, TcpoaxopSa 
 
 virb Tr)v i^St^v tovtov irpStTOv svpiiv, q^ttv. 
 
 roilf Sk apxaioVQ iravroQ trpoaxopSa '' "Triviidyadiv ovofiaaavra^aXfibv 
 
 KpovHV." — ^Plutarch De Mm., cap. avripBoyyov, Std ri Svo yevuv lifia 
 
 28. See also Plato's Laws, 7, 812. koI lid iraaGiv tx^iv rriv avvifSlav, 
 
 He did not see the necessity of dvlp&v ri Kai TvaiSojv. " — (Athenaeus, 
 
 teaching boys =■. varied aocompam- lib. xiv., Sec. 36, and again in a 
 
 ment upon the lyre, or the art of second quotation from Pindar, Sect, 
 
 showing off upon the instrument, 37.) 
 
 but wished that they should be " Idem, Sect. 36. 
 
 taught to sing and play in unison * Aristotle's Prob. xvii. of Sect. 19. 
 
 ( ' 'diroSiS6vTae irpoaxopSa rd fOsyiiora " Aristotle's Prob. , Sect. 19, Prob. 
 
 roig jiBiy/iaai.") Again in Aristotle's xxx. and Prob. xlviii. 
 
14 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 theaa. Whether that was or was not the reason, 
 and whether antistrophes were ordinarily sung in 
 Octaves, or an Octave lower than strophes, must be 
 submitted to those who have studied the subject. 
 Aristotle is good authority for the lack of antistrophe 
 to the two lowest base scales. 
 
 Octaves are the simplest form of, consonance, and 
 the first step towards the power of appreciating other 
 double sounds. Abundant evidence may be found 
 of the estimation hi which this simplest and most 
 perfect of all harmony was held by the Greeks from 
 very early date, and also by the Egyptians before 
 them. Anacreon, who is said to have flourished 
 about 540 B.C., used to accompany his voice upon 
 a ten-stringed instrument, in which each of the 
 strings was divided into two parts, so as virtually to 
 make twenty, but ten were tuned in Octaves to the 
 others. That instrument was derived from Egypt ; 
 but its ordinary compass, Egyptian or Greek, was 
 of seven, instead often strings. The name, Magadis, 
 may, have been compounded of magas, a bridge for 
 a musical instrument, and dis twice. The double 
 bridge which divided each string into two parts was 
 at about a third of the sounding distance up the 
 string, so as to make one end double the length 
 of the other; because half the length of any equal 
 sized string must sound an Octave above its whole 
 length. This instniment, which has hitherto been 
 waiting for identification, wiU hereafter be shown, 
 both in its Egyptian and in its Greek form. 
 
 Long after the form of instrument used by 
 Anacreon had fallen into disuse (or was perhaps 
 employed only in the worship of Athena), the verb 
 magadizein, "to magadize," was retained in the 
 
MEANING OF HABMONIA AND MELODIA. 15 
 
 language to express " playing in Octaves" upon any 
 instrument whatever. Thus, even double pipes, 
 that could have no " bridges" to entitle them to such 
 a name, were called Magades, if one of the pipes was 
 tuned an Octave below the other. 
 
 The words that relate to music, in modem lan- 
 guages, are mostly derived from the Greek, and yet 
 there is scarcely one among them (even one of 
 commonest use) that retains its original meaning. 
 The prime cause of these deviations is our indirect 
 inheritance of such words. We owe them mainly to 
 their having been appropriated for early Church 
 music, and there was a mediaeval taste for giving 
 Greek names to everything musical, even though 
 as misapplied as in the case of antiphon. If the 
 words were then received in their new sense, it would 
 matter httle what ancient Greeks might have said 
 to them. 
 
 In order to exemplify the deviations that thus arose, 
 and the trouble they have given to after-enquirers, a 
 few of the most ordinary words will be now cited. 
 
 The Greek Harmonia is quite a different thing 
 from modern "harmony," whether in its French, 
 Italian, Spanish, or English sense ; neither is it a 
 synonyme for our "melody," as many learned men 
 have supposed — including Dr. Franz, of Berlin,* and 
 Dr. Bumey, who followed Masons definition. It 
 will be here proved to mean " The System of Music," 
 or briefly " Music," of which melody and harmony 
 are each but parts. For a short time the Enharmonic 
 scale was so much in favour (owing to the popu- 
 
 * Dr. Franz, in his De Musids consecutio sonorum secundum grave 
 Ormds Commentatio, says — "Har- et acutum; itaque id quod nos fere 
 monia veteribus est certa qusedam melodiam vooare solemus." 
 
16 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 larity of the omission of Foiirth and Seventh in a 
 scale), that scarcely any other than enharmonic was 
 used, and so, for awhile, the teachers of that system 
 assumed the general name, applicable alike to all. 
 Aristoxenus comments upon this usurpation. But 
 their system soon dropped out of favour, and not 
 long after, out of use. Again, Melodia is not at aU 
 the equivalent to our " melody," nor had Greek music 
 given birth to what we should consider " melody," 
 at the time the word was first used. Greek Melos 
 had not necessarily any tune in it. It apphed to the , 
 rising and fsilling sounds of the voice when linked 
 together in speech, or in rhythm, as well as in music ; 
 so that recitation, without any musical intervals in 
 it, would still be Melodia. Thirdly, Harmonihe 
 does not mean " harmonic," or " harmonics," but is 
 a synonyme for Harmonia. Again, Sumphonia 
 does not mean "symphony." The last expresses 
 our "harmony," viz., "concord of notes of different 
 pitch." Even music {Mousike) in Greek had so 
 extended a sense as to render necessary more precise 
 words, such as Harmonia, or Harmonihe, to express 
 the more strictly musical parts of it The mental 
 training of a young Greek was included in the word 
 Mousihe, and it comprehended all that related to the 
 sciences of sounds and numbers, as well as to their 
 application in practice. 
 
 A fourth element of difficulty for the student of 
 Greek music was in the ecclesiastical scales. They are 
 not of the early date that has been supposed ; and, 
 although they differed essentially from Greek scales, 
 they were called Greek, and had Greek names given 
 to them. The origin of Church music will require a 
 chapter, which it is unnecessary to anticipate, but it 
 
CHURCH SCALES NOT GEJEEK. 17 
 
 may be observed Kere th^t Cburcli writers con- 
 demD^d all music which was not constructed upon 
 the ,ecclesi^stical system as false. They asserted 
 their own to be the only true ancient music. 
 For this they had the authority of Popes, such as 
 John XXII., who declared aU systems that differed 
 from the ecclesiastical to be fidvolous novelties. It 
 was safer ia those days to be orthodox, than to 
 exercise private judgment against the traditions of 
 the Church. Ecclesiastical courts had wide juris- 
 diction, and very sharp claws. 
 
 ,Such a series of misleading elements will suffi- 
 ciently account for the ^ill-success of many learned 
 men who tried to discover what Greek music really 
 was. It would hardly be suspected that the mean- 
 ing of ordinary words, which everyone is supposed 
 to know, must first be rejected. Therein lay the 
 difficulty of translating many passages relating to 
 music in the works of classical authors. Latin 
 translations are of no use, because the Greek 
 words are varied only as to their terminations. 
 Such translations were easy enough to make, because 
 they did not demand that the translator should 
 understand his subject. There remains, also, sufficient 
 evidence that advantage was taken of that license. 
 
 As if there were not already a sufficient number 
 of intricacies in the pathway to Greek music, a 
 glance at the works of some of the late German 
 historians shows that they have imported into it a 
 new element of compUcation. Beginning the study, 
 as some may think, at the wrong end, they would 
 first settle which of the modem notes will most 
 faithfully represent the supposed ancient Greek 
 pitch. That in itself is but a speculation, for there 
 
18 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 are no certain grounds to go upon; but when 
 historians follow it up by altering the names of the 
 Greek scales to correspond with modem ideas of 
 pitch, they dissever those scales from all their 
 historical associations. If we look into the work of 
 a modern German author for the Hypo-Dorian or 
 " Common" Greek scale, it is no longer to be identi- 
 fied with the " Natural" scale, the scala dura, (as on 
 the long keys of the organ or pianoforte, beginning 
 on A,) as it used to be, and still is with us. The 
 Germans have changed it to one beginning on 
 A flat, or on some other note. Thus the important 
 historical link between the ancient " Common" scale, 
 and the modem " Natural " scale has been set aside. 
 Secondly, the basis of Plain Song, or "Gregorian" 
 music, rests upon the combination of the Greek 
 Dorian and Hypo-Dorian scales, (D minor and A 
 minor,) but that is also rendered unintelligible, and 
 seems even to be contradicted by the alteration, from 
 A and D, to A flat and D flat. Thirdly, the long 
 keys of the pianoforte were inherited from, and still 
 identify, the Common Greek scale, but that link is 
 dissevered, as well as between the keyboard of the 
 modem, and that of the ancient organ, by the 
 change of scale. The ancient organ was a Greek 
 instrument, and one of such early date, that it 
 had advanced to the stage of being fitted with a 
 keyboard, and beiag played by the fingers (not 
 requiring the entire hand,) more than a century 
 before the Christian era, as wiU be shown hereafter. 
 
 It is undoubtedly trae that the pitch of musical 
 instruments has been raised since about 1750. The 
 increase of tension in the present century has been 
 mainly owing to the improved manufacture of strings, 
 
ANCIENT AND MODERN PITCH. 19 
 
 both, in catgut and in wire, but especially to the 
 introduction of the steel wire of Sheffield, which 
 enables strings to bear greater tension than the 
 Berlin iron of former days. So it is probable 
 that the A flat *of to-day may very nearly repre- 
 sent tbe A of a hundred or more years ago. But 
 although a pianoforte may sink half a note below 
 the pitch, of the tuning-fork, and will therefore 
 require to be raised half a note, we do not on that 
 account think it necessary to alter the names of the 
 keys, or of the notes. No musician would think of 
 changing the name of Beethoven's Symphony in C 
 minor, to C flat minor, or to B minor, because 
 oin- B might more nearly represent the pitch in 
 Beethoven's time. Considering, too, that we have 
 even yet no standard pitch for Europe, and are not 
 likely to have one until the French will be guided 
 by their men of science, and slightly . modify their 
 present law; also that the only directions hitherto 
 found among Greek authors are, that every man 
 should tune his lyre by the lowest audible note of 
 the voice,* it will be time to discuss the question of 
 ancient pitch, when it can be shown that the Greeks 
 had a universal standard. 
 
 Dr. Burney, indeed, ofiers a speculation about 
 ancient standard pitch, when he says that a sepul- 
 chral urn found in the first pyramid of Egypt 
 sounded like a bell, adding, " if it be true that the 
 Greeks had their first musical knowledge from Egypt, 
 we may suppose this to be the standard pitch" of the 
 Greeks. *" To receive such a doctrine will require 
 more imagination than many possess. For we have 
 first to suppose that a sepulchral urn was intended 
 
 » See Gaudentius, p. 22. ^ History i. 278, note x. 
 
 c2 
 
20 THE HISTOEY OF MUSIC. 
 
 to be a musical instrument, and next, to assume 
 that, after five thousand years, the original weiglit 
 and density of the metal remain to assure us of 
 that " original pitch." In the meantime, we may 
 be content to beUeve in the great probability of 
 variations in pitch in different cities of Greece, and 
 even in the same city at different times, yet that the 
 modern A still sufficiently represents "the lowest 
 distinctly audible note" of an ancient Greek's voice, 
 as it does of many voices at the present time. AU 
 that can be known with certainty is, that ancient 
 instruments must have been tuned alike, when they 
 were to be played together. 
 
 The principal difficulties in the path of all students 
 of Greek music have now been enumerated, but there 
 has always remained one direct course to leam the 
 Greek system, viz., to go to the fountain head, and 
 to endeavour to work throughj and find the meaning 
 of, the technicalities, without seeking help from the 
 labours of others in the same field. If they failed, 
 even partially, it would not be safe to copy from them. 
 
 This has been found too time-consuming a course 
 for able men who desired to know only enough of 
 Greek music to enable them to write about it. 
 They prudently judged that, when the value of time 
 must be taken into account, any entirely new history 
 upon so intricate a subject would offer but the 
 slenderest prospects of a compensating return. That 
 is indeed the main reason why the world has been 
 allowed to remain uninformed to this day, and it has 
 been my inducement to take up the subject. 
 
 If the present attempt shall be judged to havet 
 succeeded, it will, perhaps, be attributable to the fact, 
 that the study was undertaken solely for the sake 
 
REQUIREMENTS IN HISTORY. 21 
 
 of obtaining better information tban histories of 
 music have hitherto afforded. After having read the 
 published works of mediaeval authors upon music, 
 and the impublished contained in the British Museum, 
 the Bodleian Library, and the Lambeth Library, I 
 next took up Greek music, as of old a book of chess 
 problems, for the employment of my leisure time. 
 Only after the Greek problem had been unexpectedly 
 solved, and the solution had been tested agaiast the 
 difficulties which Boeckh had pointed out in his 
 Metres of Pindar, as well as against many indi- 
 cated by others, did the first thought of writing 
 down the results of reading occur to me. The 
 amusement of investigation was at an end, and no 
 other terra Jirma for a new problem seemed to 
 offer. ^ Desiring a new occupation, it then appeared 
 that my leisure might be usefuUy employed in 
 dispelling the mystery that had hung about Greek 
 music. Moreover, there was a wide field in other 
 branches of history, such as the debt of the Greeks 
 to Egypt — a different version of the origin of ecclesi- 
 astical tones or scales, and of the kind of notation in 
 which the Chanting marks for ancient Church services 
 were written — a new account of the revival period, 
 and to show music in England on four or five lines 
 and spaces before the time of Guide, to whom much 
 has been attributed, but who was rather behind than 
 before his age — then to explain the only true prin- 
 ciples for all music, and to prove them, so that any 
 one, who only knew the notes, might foUow and 
 understand them. There were also many scraps of 
 
 " This proved to be a mistake when wit, with Josephus, Philo, the Sep- 
 
 history was commenced. There tuagint, Trommius's Concordance, 
 
 were then problems in plenty re- the Hezapla, &c., to be searched, for, 
 
 maining — Hebrew instruments to perhaps, a page in print. 
 
22 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 information that had not been included in any 
 history, and which, in the words of Mr. Timbs, 
 would be " Things not generally known." 
 
 The field was indeed ample, but (writing history 
 not having been contemplated,) no sufficient provi- 
 sion had been made in the shape of notes upon 
 former readings, and there was the irksome task of 
 going over the same ground a second time, under 
 the disadvantages of worn sight, and other warnings 
 of the advance of time. Hard work was in prospect, 
 for only they who have tried the experiment can tell 
 the time it may take to find even one missing link. 
 StiU, the main points of history have hitherto been 
 so inadequately developed, and there has been such 
 copying from imtrustworthy writers," as well as firom 
 one historian by another, that any one branch re- 
 written promised to be of some use. 
 
 • To give one instance, liow many work upon hieroglypliics. It is 
 
 have quoted from Athanasius Kir- equaUyimaginatiTe,butmoredanger- 
 
 cher! This writer's place has been ons, because, as in historical novels, 
 
 mistaken. He deserves a very high there is a smattering of truth, but 
 
 rank in the history of fiction, for even that is commonly perverted 
 
 he was a most imaginative man. He for the sake of making a good story, 
 
 gave explanations of hieroglyphics, Meibomius said, in his introduction 
 
 more suo, although no clue to the to the Greek authors, that there 
 
 interpretation had been discovered were at least two hundred errors in 
 
 intheseventeenth century, whenKir- Kircher's table, at p. 541 of his 
 
 cher flourished. He published those Muswrgia. There are too many 
 
 interpretations, in three volumes, mis-statements as well as errors to 
 
 under the title of (Edipus ^gyptia- make it worth while to count the 
 
 cus. His Musargia Universalis (a number in one table; but, as a 
 
 misnamed book upon all branches of work of imagination, it does great 
 
 music,) is of the same class as his credit to his memory. 
 
23 
 
 CHAPTEK IL 
 
 Preamble of tow modern music is indebted to the Greeks. — 
 Great similarity of systems. — The Greek maiden's song like 
 modern minor music. — The ancient minor scale parent of the 
 major. — -Deductions about Egypt and Babylon. — Music in the 
 time of Homer. — Lyre of the Greek Hermes. — Terpander's 
 seven strings. — Use of but three strings in Homeric recitations. 
 — Early Greek scale of seven notes. — Its association with the 
 seven planets. — What such a scale was fit for. 
 
 Greek music cannot be considered as one of those 
 subjects of ancient history with which modern 
 science and art have but little concern, for not only 
 has it been the progenitor of the musical system of 
 Europe, but even now it is largely adopted, without 
 improvement or change. 
 
 It will on that account be convenient to explain 
 it by the terms of modem art, so soon as identity of 
 meaning shall have been established, and thus reheve 
 the reader from a mass of ancient technicaUty. Such 
 terms, also, as relate to modern practice wUl be 
 explained pari passu, for, although familiar to 
 musical readers, it is an object to be even more 
 widely intelligible. Dr. Bumey described Greek 
 music as "a dark and difficult subject" and one 
 that had "foUed the most learned men of the two 
 or three last centuries " [History i. 7.) ; but no other 
 difficulties really existed either for him or for them, 
 than in certain words, and in the ancient technicalities. 
 The music itself is simple in the extreme. The same 
 
24 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 comment will apply to Sir John Hawkins's remark, 
 that " Even at this day the ablest writers on the 
 subject do not hesitate at saying that the doctrine 
 of the [Greek] modes is absolutely inscrutable." 
 {History i. 236, 4to.) 
 
 One branch both of the science and of the art, in 
 which music is still governed by Greek laws, is in 
 the mathematical, and practical, divisions of notes 
 in the scale. They are precisely the same now as 
 in the days of the Ptolemies, save in the new-found 
 " equal temperament " which (introduced for the 
 sake of imperfect instruments) means "putting all 
 keys equally out of tune." Whether the strict 
 adherence of the modems to models of antiquity, as 
 to the formation of the scale, has been for the best, 
 is one of the questionable cases that will be submitted 
 to the judgment of the' reader hereaftei'. 
 
 The present musical scale is a re-adjustinent of the 
 Fythagorean, by the Greek mathematician, Claudius 
 Ptolemy. The notes are, therefol^e, the same sit this 
 day (when played in tuiie) as in the fifst half of the 
 second century of the Christian era. 
 
 The Greeks had scales beguming upon evStj 
 semitone of the Octave, and, therefore, every sharp 
 and flat that we now have. 
 
 Every principal Gi'eek scale had what, in modern 
 technical language', we call its "Dottiinant" and 
 " Sub-doiainant," i.e., the Fifth and Fourth above 
 the key-note, upoii which new scales, connected 
 with the key, begin. The Greeks expressed those 
 connected scales by the words "Hypo" or "Hypef" 
 prefixed to the original name^-^as, Dorian, Hypo- 
 Dorian, or Hyper-D6rian. The Hypo scale began 
 a Fourth below the key-note of the principal scale. 
 
GREEK LIKE MODERN MINOR MUSIC. 25 
 
 (which is the same as a Fifth above 'it,) and so 
 answered to our " D'ominant ; " and the Hyper 
 began a Fourth above the key-note, and so exactly 
 like our " Sub-dominant." 
 
 Here, then, is a complete system resembling our 
 own as to its keys, as to its familiar modiilations, 
 and as to the tuning of its notes. The music of a 
 Grfeek maiden accompanying her voice upon the 
 lyre, ot other instrument of the harp kind, nearly 
 two thousand years ago, could hardly be distinguish- 
 able from the minor airs of modem Europe ; and the 
 resemblance would be further strengthened by the 
 Greek maiden's strict observance of her key-note, 
 which was quite as strongly enforced by Greek 
 musical laws as by our own. 
 
 There could be but one difference between the 
 two, ■ and that would hardly be brought into play. 
 The Greeks played and sang in minor keys only, 
 and their Seventh of the key was the old minor 
 Seventh, or whole tone below the Octave, in ascending 
 as well as in descending. (In Dr. Bumey's time, 
 this minor Seventh was called "flat" Seventh, and 
 the major Seventh, which is only half a tone below 
 the Octave, was called a "sharp" Seventh ; but, as 
 they do not necessarily faU upon flats or sharps, 
 those names have been discarded.) The minor 
 Seventh was an integral part of the old minor scale, 
 as the major Seventh is now of the major. An 
 important piece of history is attached to the old 
 minor, that out of it grew the comparatively modem 
 major scale, by beginning upon the third note instead 
 of the first. Thus, beginning on the pianoforte upon 
 C instead of upon A, we change the ancient key of 
 A minor into the modern C major. A, B, C, D, E, 
 
26 THE HISTORY 01" MUSIC. 
 
 F, G, is the' ancient scale. There could be no such 
 thing as a complete major scale under Greek laws, 
 because the Seventh was always to be a tone 
 below the key-note. 
 
 Many interesting deductions may be made 
 about ancient music, and these will tend to 
 raise the subject above the technicalities and the 
 mere history of the art, if the reader will but 
 employ his thoughts to bring, them out. For 
 instance, the character of the music of ancient 
 Egypt and Babylon may be ascertained by a train 
 of evidence that will leave very httle doubt on the 
 subject ; and, by looking at the drawing of an 
 ancient Egyptian instrument with a long neck, 
 (only supposing the drawing to be an accurate 
 representation,) he may know, with mathematical 
 certainty, how many notes were, or could be, played 
 upon every string. The manner of ascertaining it 
 will be further explained. The present preamble 
 is to prepare the reader to believe that ancient 
 music has some certainties about it, and is, by no 
 means, the uninteresting or doubtful study that 
 many might suppose. And now to history. 
 
 From the time of the Homeric poems to that of 
 Terpander, (which is supposed to have been about 
 the middle of the seventh century before Christ,) the 
 lyre of the Greeks had but four strings. They were 
 made of sheepgut, which is now technically called 
 "catgut."'' While the number of strings was limited 
 to four, the lyre must have been used rather as the 
 substitute for a pitch-pipe to guide in the recitation 
 
 " The word seems to require ders that the ancient Egyptians 
 
 explanation ; for M. F^tis, quoting should have used catgut, consider- 
 
 from Sir J. Gardner Wilkinson, and ing their respect for "cats." — 
 
 not looking into a dictionary, won- [Hist, de la Mitsique i. 268-9.) 
 
HOMERIC MTJSIC. 27 
 
 of epic poetry, than as a musical instrument. Nothing 
 like tune could be played upon it, but still there 
 would have been music in the Greek sense of the 
 ■word, since there was a combination of recitation, 
 metre, and rhythm. In the Odyssey we read of a 
 skilled singer and player on the lyre, (PhorminxJ as 
 having changed his chant "to a new string upon a 
 new peg."°' That was the entire musical change, 
 and it was evidently to raise or lower the pitch of 
 his voice in recitation, to suit a new sentiment in 
 the poem. We may imagine his chant to have been 
 something like what is now called " intoning " or 
 " monotone. " Monotone practically means only 
 taking a pitch for the voice, for the articulation of 
 the vowels in speech would alone forbid monotone 
 in a literal sense, since they of themselves form an 
 ascending or descending scale of sounds.'' The 
 custom, that an orator should have a lyre or a pipe 
 by him to regulate the rise and fall of his voice, 
 endured for many centuries after the time of Homer. 
 Greek writers give two different accounts of the 
 origin of their music ; on the one side attributing 
 the discovery of their lyre to the Greek Hermes, 
 son of Zeus and Maia, daughter of Atlas, and on 
 the other to the Egyptian Hermes, or Thoth. 
 He was the god of learning, and was commonly 
 represented by a human figure with the head of an 
 ibis, holding a tablet and a pen, or a pahn branch in 
 
 * " 'Qj 07"' avflp 0dpptyyoe iTnaraiievoe Kai aoiSrjg, 
 *Pi]iSi(og krdwuffE vsqt &iri koXXotti \opS^v, 
 
 "A^a£ dii^oripuiBEV ivarpeipis ivrcpov oioj." — Odyssey lib. xxi. li. 406-408. 
 ' This fact has been largely illus- suffice for the experiment. Every 
 trated by Willis (in the Cambridge one ynR find a difficulty in adhering 
 PhilosophioaJ Society's Transactions to one uniform pitch of voice while 
 V. 3, p. 231,) and by Hehnholtz, but pronouncing it. 
 the Greek cry for woe, "ouai," wiU 
 
28 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 hid hands. At other times he has a man's faee, with 
 the crescent of the moon upon his head, sn-pporting 
 a disc. Attention has not been sufficientlj directed, 
 to the difference between these two accounts. The 
 first refers to the primitive Greek system, before the 
 Greeks had learnt anything of music proper; and 
 the second to theif later system, which was real 
 music, and obviously borrowed from countries of 
 more ancient civilization, especially from Egypt and 
 Babylon. The first relates to the kind of scale that 
 is made up by joining one series of four notes, called 
 a tetrachord,* to another series of the same, and 
 making the highest note of the one serve in the 
 double capacity of lowest note to the other, as 
 B, C, D, E — E, F, G, A. The second account refers 
 to the embodiment of the tetrachords into the 
 Octave system, as if beginning and ending on our A; 
 
 The story of the former god is told with more 
 detail in the Hymn to Hermes, (at one time attri- 
 buted to Homer,) than by Apollodorus," or other 
 writer. This hymn is obviously of later date than 
 the Iliad or the Odyss^.° It includes the story of 
 Hermes stealing the oxen of ApoUo, one of the fables 
 said to have been invented by Alcseus of Mitylene. 
 
 According to the hyma, Hermes, soon after his 
 birth, found a mountain tortoise grazing near his 
 
 ' Tetra, in composition, meana "" Bnnsen has inferred the date of 
 
 "four," and clwrde means both a Homer to have been between 900 
 
 string and a note, so a tetraohord and 850 B.C., from the mention of 
 
 may be four strings or four' notes. the hundred gates of Thebes by 
 
 This second sense of the word chords AohiUes in Hiad ix. 379-385. (Egypt's 
 
 is of most common applicffition in Place in Univefrsal Hietary, by C. 0. 
 
 tetrachords, but it seema to fiave J. Bunsen, D. Ph., and D.C.L.) 
 
 escaped the notice of some transla- The last edition of Liddell and 
 
 tors from the Greek, including those Scott's admirable Lexicon gives 
 
 of Julius Pollux's Onpmaaticon. Homer's date as " 900?" 
 
 ' Lib. iii. cap. 10. 
 
LYEE OF THE GREEK HERMES. 29 
 
 grotto, on Mount Kyllene. He disembowelled it, 
 took its shell, and, out of the hack of the shell, he 
 formed the lyre. He cut two stalks of reed of equal 
 length, and, boring the shell, he employed them as 
 arms or sides* to the lyre. He stretched the skin 
 of an ox over the shell. It was, perhaps, the inner 
 skin, to cover the open part, and thus to give it 
 a sort of leather or parchment front. Then he tied 
 cross-bars of reed to the arms, and attached seven 
 strings of sheepgut to the cross-bars. After thatj he 
 tried the strings with a plectrum. 
 
 This lyre of the Greek Hermes is like some that 
 we see in ancient sculptures ; but the two reeds are 
 generally replaced by two horns, the curvature of 
 which gives grace to the forrcu 
 
 The idea of these horns seems to have been 
 borrowed from the Phoenicians, who, according to 
 Herodotus (lib. iv. cap. 192,) used those of the large 
 antelope of Libya, and of Egypt (the oryx) for their 
 lyres. The Egyptians did the same, but sometimes 
 used wood, and had ornamental heads of animals 
 carved on the arms of their instruments. 
 
 The author of the IHad and of the Odyssey speaks 
 of the lyre only under its two most ancient names, 
 Phorminx, or Kitharis, but never of its having 
 seven strings. The Kithara seems to have differed 
 mainly from the Phorminx in being of more portable 
 size. 
 
 The writer of the hymn gives four names to the 
 instrument, viz., Phorminx, Kitharis, Lyra, and 
 Chelys,'' (from chelus, the shell.) 
 
 * TTTixae, line 50. The lyre de- was not. Be might have guarded 
 
 scribed in Unes 47 to 51. himself from that error hy reading 
 
 *> M. P^tis asserts that, although the Hymn to Mercury. — (Histmre de 
 
 the Chelys was a lyie, the Kithara la Musiqae, i. 272 to 280.) 
 
30 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 One of the late Greek writers, Manuel Bryennius, 
 bridges over the difficulty of the seven strings 
 mentioned in the hymn, by asserting that, before 
 Hermes invented the seven-stringed lyre, men had 
 used one having but four strings. According to 
 Bryennius, the four strings represented the four 
 elements, earth, water, air, and fire ; and Hermes 
 increased the number to seven, to represent the 
 seven planets. 
 
 Mythology apart, we know with tolerable certainty 
 the date at which the Greeks increased the number 
 of strings on their lyres from four to seven, because 
 the author of one of the earhest extant treatises on 
 music, the Introduction to Music, ascribed to Euclid," 
 has preserved for us two Hnes from a poem by 
 Terpander, which is as foUows : — ' 
 
 " But we, loving no more the tetrachordal chant, 
 Will sing aloud new hymns to a seven-toned phorminx." '' 
 
 Terpander here plainly states that the four-stringed 
 lyre (stiU called Phorminx) had continued in use up 
 to his own time. 
 
 * It can hardly be that the same the judgment of the ear, and the 
 author can have written the Intro- Pythagoreans upon mathematical 
 duetio Harmonica and the Sectio calculations. (See Ariatoxenus, p. 
 Canoms, although both are ascribed 33. edit. Meibom. ) The second is 
 to Euclid by Meibomius. The first quoted as Euclid's by Porphyry, 
 is an excellent treatise upon Aris- in hia Commentary upam, the Har- 
 toxeuian principles, (which Bryen- monica of Olaudms Ptolemy. (See 
 nius follows largely, often adopting Dr. WaUis's Opera MathemMica, 3. 
 the identical words, but without 267.) With this reservation as to 
 naming the author, ) and the second the authorship, we henceforth quote 
 is an admirable Pythagorean treatise. both aa Euclid's, to abbreviate refe- 
 The two aystems were opposed — ^the rences. 
 Aristoxenians relying chiefly upon 
 
 ^ " 'H^Tff rot rerpdyrjfwv airoaTep^avTeg ccoidi^Vj 
 
 "EirraTovif tpofiiuyyivsovQiaXaSriijoiisviiivovs." — (p. 19, Meibom's ed.) 
 This is quoted by Strabo," p. 169, with a different reading in the first 
 line (w. A. -w.). — 
 
 "Soi d'lj/ttels rcrpayjjpw airoorpli/zavKC aoil^v,'' 
 
ANCIENT SEVEN-STEINGED SCALE. 31 
 
 Boethius, while ascribiBg the invention of the 
 seventh string to Terpander, supposes the planetary- 
 theory to ha,ve suggested it to him,* but it is far 
 more probable that the increase was first made, and 
 then the nimierieal coincidence with that of the 
 planets, (of the ancients,) suggested the lyre as a 
 subject for a Greek hymn. This hymn was most 
 likely composed long after the time of Terpander, 
 when his claim had been forgotten, and afber the 
 Greeks had learnt something of astronomy from 
 Babylon and Egypt. '' It was then they began to 
 connect the revolutions of the heavenly bodies with 
 musical soimds, and astronomy became one of their 
 branches of music. 
 
 The arrangement of the seven strings, (the 
 introduction of which into Greece may be attributed 
 to Terpander,) was to tune them at the same relative 
 distances of tone and semitone as are B, C, D, E, and 
 E, F, G, A, or as E, F, G, A, and A, B flat, C, D, 
 in the modern scale. Seven strings sufficed, because 
 the highest string of the lower tetrachord served 
 also as the lowest string of the upper series. This 
 arrangement of the strings was called Synaphe, or 
 Conjimction." 
 
 Although the Greeks had every kind of Fourth, 
 or Diatessaron, that we have, yet, in arranging their 
 tetrachords for the lyre, or for a scale, they chose 
 the one form only, in which the interval of the semi- 
 tone is between the lowest note and the next above 
 it. (It may be necessary to explain to some readers 
 
 * "Sed Septimus nervusaTeipandro first observations on the order and 
 
 Lesbio adjunctus est, secundnm sep- system of tie stars to the Egyptian 
 
 tern scilicet planetarum similitudi- Hermes. — (Hist. lib. i. 16.) 
 nem." (Boethius i)e ilftMJca i. 20. ) c "(,„j/a05, wv Hq ytvircu Koivbg 
 
 ' Diodorus Sicnlus attributes the 09dyyoe."^Arist. Quint, p. 16.) 
 
32 THE HISTORY OF MHSIO. 
 
 tjiat a musical Fourtli consists of two tones and a 
 half, and a Fifth, of three tones and a Jiglf ) The 
 Greek JDictpente had the compass of oiir Fifth, as the 
 Diatessaron of our Fourth. 
 
 Late Greek writers attiributed a second and im- 
 proved arrangement of the seven strings of the lyre 
 to Terpander, hut that iniprovement must have been 
 subsequent to the discovery of the Octave system. 
 It has been attributed, with greater" probability, to 
 Pythagoras, who flourished more than a century 
 after Terpander. The radical change involved in 
 turning tetrachords into Octaves, shows that the 
 ■Greeks had at that time begun to lesirn ;fi:om othesr 
 nations, either by colonization, by trade, or by the 
 visits of mnpician^.. Even then, such chang-es are of 
 the .slowest growth. In no art or science have 
 changes been hitherto so slow as in systems of music. 
 
 As to the possibUity of Terpander's having also 
 introduced the second arrangement of the strings, it 
 is very small, considering ,his date. Jle is said to 
 have gained the prize at the first " musical" contest, 
 at the feast of ApoUo Garneius, in Sparta, B.C. 676. 
 If so, that victory was gained before Egypt was 
 thrown open to the Greeks, and at a tinae when 
 guards weje set to prevent the landing of foreigners 
 by the sea. So, while "poetical" contest would be 
 an equally correct itranslation, it would more 
 accurately describe the nature of his victory. Philo- 
 demus, the Epicurean, who was cotemporary with 
 Cicero, has distinguisheij beitween the music and 
 poetry of the early Greeks, =■ and based the reputa- 
 tions of Orpheus, Amphion, and the rest, upon th^ir 
 
 " Her<yul(memmm VolvmirmmqwB Muska. — Naples, ex regia tjpp- 
 supersmt, Tom,, i- PhUodemi de ^laphia, fol. 1793, col. 6. 
 
TBRPANDBE AND . ARCHILOCHtrS. 33 
 
 powers of recitation, and upon their poetry, far more 
 than upon what we should call their music. If 
 Terpander gained a prize B.C. 676, it must have been 
 at least twelve years later before he would have been 
 admitted iato Egypt to learn anything. Egypt was 
 first throvm open to the Greeks by Psammetichus I. 
 Calculated by the Apis Tablets of the Serapeiiun as 
 the surest guide to Egyptian dates,* the reign of 
 Psammetichus, of fifty-four years, began ia 664, 
 and lasted to 610 B.C., and could hardly have 
 commenced more than a year or two earlier.' The 
 probable dates of Terpander and of his supposed 
 cotemporary, Archilochus, are materially affected by 
 that of Psammetichus, if either of them did all that 
 has been attributed to them. One of the later 
 myths about Terpander is, that he carried the lyre of 
 Hermes to Egypt, and taught the Egyptian priests 
 instead of learning from them. That stoiy was 
 dictated by Greek vanity. Plutarch says nothing 
 of Terpander's Cameian victory, but that it is " on 
 record" that he gained the prize four times in 
 
 " The Apis Tablets date back from asked the aasiatance of Samuel 
 
 the conquest of Egypt by OamTiyses, Birch, LL.D., F.S.A., Keeper of 
 
 B.C. 525. They record the deaths Antiquities in the British Museum, 
 
 and burials of the sacred bulls. which he moat kindly gave me, in 
 
 ' In Dr. W. Smith's Dictiona/ry the following words : — "The highest 
 
 of Oreeh and Roman Biography, the monumental date known of Psam- 
 
 reign of Psammetichus is given as metichus I. is fifty -four years, 
 
 from 671 to 617 b.o., but with the according to the Apis Tablets of 
 
 addition of a note that Boeokh dates Serapeium, which agrees with the 
 
 the commencement of his reign in statement of Herodotus" [as to the 
 
 654 B.C. Here is a. discrepancy of length of his reign.] " The date of 
 
 seventeen years. As there is no 664 B.C. ia the lowest probable date 
 
 date of greater importance in the of the accession of Psammetichus, 
 
 history of Greek science and ait which might be a year or two 
 
 than that of the reign of Psammeti- higher, and Boeckh's date is in- 
 
 chus I., king of Egypt, and as admissible." Dr. Birch, therefore, 
 
 Egyptian dates are now better agreeswithSir J. Gardner Wilkinson, 
 
 understood than in Boeckh's time, I who dates it 664 to 611. 
 
 D 
 
34 THE HISTORY OP MUSIC. 
 
 succession at the PytHan games for singing to the 
 Kithara,'' and that he sang his own epic verses 
 as well as those of Homer.'' Plutarch further 
 adds that both Olympus and Terpander had tried 
 a varied style of recitation, but had found it 
 distasteful to, and strongly opposed by, the Greek 
 pubHc, and had therefore reUnquished it. Also, 
 that Olympus and Terpander limited themselves 
 to one musical mode, or key, and to three strings," 
 although they well knew how to use a larger 
 number. He commends them on that account, 
 and says that their chanting far surpassed that 
 of all others who employed a larger number of 
 strings, and frequent changes of key, or mode.'^ So 
 the singing by which Terpander gained public prizes 
 was not his seven-stringed system, but a thoroughly 
 Homeric kind of chanting, like that commended, in 
 the Odyssey. Some readers may have heard Italian 
 improvvisatores, who recite their poems at a singing 
 pitch of voice, without any tune, not even a chant, 
 in the musical sense. Their manner of recitation is 
 perhaps something of the Homeric kind. The 
 Greeks gave the name of "rhapsodizing" to this 
 manner of reciting epic poetry. Some, only, of the 
 rhapsodists chanted in musical intervals. 
 
 Although ArchUochus is often ranked as the cotem- 
 porary of Terpander, there was a wide musical step 
 
 ' Plutarch De Mm. cap. 4. most likely suggested to him by a 
 
 " Plutarch De Mus. cap. 3. guess of Burette's ; but Burette 
 
 " Plutarch De Mus. cap. 18. admitted having but an imperfect 
 
 Herr VoUanann, who edited Teub- knowledge of Greek music, and his 
 
 ner's edition of Plutarch, has altered guesses should not have been allowed 
 
 the Homeric rpixopSa of the text into to disturb the text of a classical 
 
 6\iy6xopSa, He admits, in a note at author. 
 
 the end of his book, that he has no "■ Plutarch De Mm. cap. 18. 
 
 authority for the change. It was 
 
THE FIRST SEVEN -STRINaED LYRE. 
 
 35 
 
 between them, if Arcliiloclius played his accompani- 
 ments on the lyre under the voice-part instead of in 
 unison with it. According to Glaucus's Account of 
 Ancient Poets and Musicians, quoted and approved 
 by Plutarch, Terpander preceded Archilochus, and 
 upon that theory only is the account of his having 
 played luider the voice probable. 
 
 FIRST GREEK TUNING OF THE SEVEN-STRINGED LYRE; 
 
 I" 
 
 d. Nete (shortest string.) 
 
 c. Pakanete (beside the shortest.) 
 bl?. Paeamese (next to middle,) or Teite (third.) 
 
 U. Mese (middle.) 
 
 Gr. LicHANOs (forefinger string.) 
 
 P. Paehypate (beside the longest.) 
 
 E. Hypate (longest string.) 
 
 The Greeks had no names of any kind to distinguish 
 musical notes.'' They were expressed only by the 
 titles given to the strings of the lyre, so that the 
 note to be represented by any string would depend 
 upon the pitch and tuning of the key-note of the lyre- 
 For us it is more convenient to mark the intervals 
 by the names of modern notes, as above, than to 
 employ the constant repetition of " This was a tone 
 distant," " That a semitone." But that the Greek 
 are names of strings and not of notes, wiU remove a 
 
 " In this and in all the following 
 scales, capital letters are and wUl be 
 used to denote the base Octave, 
 from A in the first, or lowest space, 
 to G in the fourth space of that 
 Octave ; then small letters for the 
 tenor "a" and all within its Octave; 
 and lastly, itaJios for the treble a up 
 to its g above. Thus", the capital 
 letters A to 6 mean within the base 
 staff. The small letter, or tenor 
 
 "a," begins upon the fifth Hue of the 
 bass clef, and ends with "g" on the 
 second line of the treble clef. The 
 italic, or treble, a begins on the 
 second space of the treble clef and 
 runs up to gr in the space above the 
 treble clef. 
 
 *" When committed to paper the 
 notation was arjimaia — (Gaudeutius, 
 p. 20) — and the notes ajj/iEia. 
 
 D 2 
 
36 THE HISTORY OF MTJSIC. 
 
 long-felt difficulty in the laoiguage as to the words 
 Nete and Hypate, which have seemed to vary from 
 their original senses when applied to music. Although 
 Hypate is the lowest string in point of pitch and sound, 
 it is the " highest" in the Greek sense, which is as 
 to length. Nete, on the contrary, is highest as to 
 sound, but is " lowest" when compared in length 
 with any other. It is upon this ground that Nico- 
 machus teUs us that the gravest, or lowest, sound 
 was ascribed to Saturn from his slow movement, and 
 being furthest from us ; " for," says he, " Hypate is 
 the highest" f also, that Nete, the string of quickest 
 movement and shortest length, producing the highest 
 sound, was ascribed to the Moon, "which is the 
 lowest of the planets and nearest to the earth."" 
 Again, the longest string on the lyre was called the 
 first, and the shortest was last." As modern associa- 
 tions are connected with the pitch of sounds rather 
 than with the length of the strings that produce 
 them, we shall henceforth speak of Hypate as the 
 lowest string, meaning that it gives the lowest sound, 
 and of Nete as the highest, meaning that it gives the 
 highest note. 
 
 The middle string, or Mese, was the key-note, and 
 therefore the principal. Nicomachus compares it to 
 the sun, as being the centre of the musical system, 
 just as the other is of the planetary.** The two were 
 
 ' ""0 PapvraTOQ iv rg Sid ttwh&v were Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the 
 
 <p96yyog vwan) IxMiQi), vTrarov y&p rb Sun, Venus, Mercury, and the Moon. 
 
 avwrarov, . . vkarov rb KaTif)TaTov." " "t6 ytip npwTOV ^ttutov kKoXovv 
 
 — (Nicomachus p. 6.) Boethius ol TraXmoi," and again, "vearov yAp 
 
 also says of fii/pofe, "eaque Satumo iicaXovv rb 'iaxarov oi irdXaml." — 
 
 est adtributa propter tarditatem (Arist. Quint, pp. 10, 11.) 
 
 motus, et gravitatemi soni." — [Inst. " "KaBoKip Kai b TJXioe tv roXg tTrrd 
 
 Mils. i. 20.) irXeivriaiv licaTepwQev lort rsraproe, 
 
 ' The seyen planets of the ancients fitaairaTOQ &v." — (Nicoinaohus p. 7.) 
 
GREEK RHAPSODIZING. 37 
 
 considered to make the consonance of a Fourtli with 
 their extremes on either side ; for while the one passed 
 over two planets, the other passed over two notes, 
 as from "a" down to E, or up to "d." Nico- 
 machus was a Pythagorean, and the Pythagorean 
 doctrine, derived from Babylon and Egypt, was that 
 the sun was the centre of the planets. 
 
 If we try this ancient seven-stringed system by a 
 strictly musical standard, it will indeed be a poor 
 one ; but we must take it for what it was — a series of 
 notes arranged for rhapsodizing,' before melody, of the 
 modern kind, was born in Greece. The scale formed 
 by two tetrachords joined together may have 
 answered for the recitation of an epic poem, and for 
 the expression of thoughts of an elevated character, 
 but it was unequal to express the stronger emotions 
 of the mind, such as are called into action by lyric 
 poetry. The effect of such recitation upon us would 
 be, musically speaking, one of continued sing-song, 
 because the chant would sound to us as unfinished, 
 and stopping, rather than ending, upon the third 
 of the key, instead of upon the key-note. The reason 
 for this is, that we can only associate such a series 
 of sounds as E, F, G, A, B flat, C, D, with our 
 major scale of F, which includes the B flat. Near as, 
 the Greeks seem to have been to finding out the 
 
 " Greek rhapsodizing was gene- notes; second, rhapsodizing; tliird, 
 
 rally of epic poetry, and might be accompanying the voice on a stringed 
 
 with or without accompaniment. In instrument of the harp kind, with 
 
 Boeckh's Corpus Inscriptionwm Grm- the fingers of hoth hands ; and, 
 
 carwm, vol. ii. p. 202, is a copy fourth, accompanying it on the 
 
 of an inscribed atone found at Kithara, with hand and plectrum. 
 
 Chios, which commemorates, among The lower strings of the Kithara 
 
 others, the victors in the musi- were played by the fingers of the 
 
 cal contests. The subjects were left hand, and the higher strings by 
 
 four, q^myv^avoQ, pcaj/ifiSlac, ^aXuoS, the plectrum held in the right hand. 
 KiOapujjiov, or first, reading musical 
 
38 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 major scale when they chose this succession of notes, 
 yet their law that the Seventh of the scale must be 
 a whole tone (at least) below the Octave, prevented 
 their having, or at least acknowledgitig, the major 
 key ever in a perfect form. Many pleasing melodies 
 have been constructed by the moderns within the 
 same compass, by taking the notes as in a major key, 
 and making F the key-note ; but with A for Mese, 
 and with Greek musical laws, it was impossible to do 
 much. The two extremes, E and D, were dissonant 
 when sounded together, and the singer, or reciter, 
 could neither rise a Fifth nor fall a Fifth from the 
 key-note. The best that could be accomplished with 
 such a scale will be judged by the Greek hymns iu 
 the following pages. In the meantime, we turn to 
 Thoth, the Egyptian Hermes, and to his lyre. 
 
89 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The Egyptian Hermes and his three-stringed "lyre." — The 
 ChaldaBan Octave-system same as the Egyptian — The instru- 
 ment of Hermes of the lute kind. — How long-necked instruments 
 taught the mathematical proportions of the Octave. — Greek 
 technical terms sometimes better than ours. — Egypt opened to 
 the Greeks, and the advantages gained. — Fable of Terpander 
 taking his lyre to Egypt. — Greek scales the same in number as 
 Egyptian, and equally associated with the heavenly bodies. — 
 Egyptian priests, and their Octave accompaniments. — Egyptian 
 Magadis and tetrachord flute. — One Greek song same as an 
 Egyptian. — The Egyptian nefer or lute is the hieroglyphic for 
 " good." — The certainty as to the practice of harmony in ancient 
 Egypt. — Egyptian ladies' amusements. — A private band. — 
 More of Egypt. 
 
 The following is the popular mytli* of the invention 
 of the Ijrre by the Egyptian Hermes, or Thoth : — 
 "The Nile, after having overflowed the whole country 
 of Egypt, when it returned within its natural boimds, 
 left on the shore a great number of dead animals, of 
 various kinds, and, among the rest, a tortoise, the 
 flesh of which being dried and wasted by the sun, 
 nothing was left within the shell but nerves and 
 cartilages, and these being braced and contracted 
 
 » Dr. Bumey, as ■vrell as Forkel, critic of the 5th century, -vrho, in 
 
 and others, who copy from Bumey, his commentary on Virgil's Georgics, 
 
 refer this story to Apollodoras. But lib. iv., says: — "Cum regrediens 
 
 Apollodorus tells only the Mount Nilus in suos meatus varia in terra 
 
 KyUene fable, of the Greek Hermes relinq^nisset animaUa, relicta etiam 
 
 with the land tortoise (iii. 10), and testudo est, quae, cum putrefacta 
 
 not of the Egyptian Hermes on the esset, et nervi ejus remanissent 
 
 banks of the Nile. Bumey's account extenti intra corinm, percussa a 
 
 looks much like an embelUshed Mercurio sonitum dedit; ex cujus 
 
 versionofthatof DiodorusSiculus. I imitatione cithara composita est." 
 
 have found no earlier authority for Lncian and others adopt the 'Nile 
 
 it than Servius, the giammarian and version of the story, but more briefly. 
 
40 THE HISTORY 01" MUSIC. 
 
 by desiccation, were rendered sonorous. Hermes, 
 in walking along the banks of the Nile, happening 
 to strike his foot against the shell of this tortoise, 
 was so pleased with the sound it produced, that it 
 suggested to him the first idea of a lyre, which he 
 afterwards constructed in the form of a tortoise, and 
 strung it with the dried sinews of dead animals." — 
 (Bumey's History, L 200.) 
 
 Diodorus Siculus says nothing about the Nile, but 
 that, when the Egyptian Hermes invented the lyre, 
 "he gave it three strings, in allusion to the three 
 seasons of the Egyptian year; for these three strings 
 producing three different sounds, the acute, the 
 grave, and the mean, the acute sound answered to 
 summer, the grave to the stormy, or wintry season, 
 and the mean (fiea-ov) to spring [and autumn]."* 
 The Egyptians made but three divisions of the year, 
 each of four months; "Euripides," says Plutarch, 
 "rightly made four divisions, counting spring and 
 autumn as each of two months, and summer and 
 winter as each of four months," Any string made 
 of the intestines of animals will tighten in damp 
 weather, and so give a higher sound than when quite 
 dry. Egypt had Very Uttle rain, but evaporations 
 after floods drew up moisture from the earth. This 
 
 " " Aipav re £vpav, ijv armrjaai It is there only that "and autumn" 
 
 rpixopSov, lunrtaajihiov Tcig kot is added after spring {"lapof (cai toS 
 
 h/iavrbv &pa£. rptlg y&p airbv fSivowdpov"). The two short seasons 
 
 vTrodTriaaadcu (pOoyyovs, Hi" ""i are thus coupled together. Ptolemy 
 
 fiapvv Kai /liaov ' i&iv fikv airi sa,ya: "^alv o Ai6diDpoe 6 ^iKeKuiTtis 
 
 Tov Bkpove, jSapiv Si ivb rov bra o Aiyiimos 'Bp/iiJQ irpSiroQ Kvpav 
 
 X^i-ltMVOC, fiiaov jSi awo tov lapog." — sTrairiat rpLxopSov, lu/irjad/jiaioe fcis 
 
 {Hist., i. 16.) There is a little Kor biucoTbv Tp&e Kpaaag tS>v apSiv, 
 
 difference in Claudius Ptolemy's ttjv tI Bcp/WTOiTri Kcd ^j/vxporarryv kcu 
 
 quotation from Diodorus Siculus, t^w ^Kparov, rptig oiSj' vmariiaaTO 
 
 in the Vatican manuscript, p. 176, fOoyyoruQ 6%iv icaX papip kcU lUaov, 
 
 as ^ven by Dr. Franz of Berlin. &c." (p. 10, Franz.) 
 
THE EGYPTIAN HERMES. 41 
 
 association of sounds with seasons* was, therefore, 
 a natural one, and was not confined to Egypt. 
 Plutarch tells us, in his commentary on Plato's 
 TimcBus, or, De Animce Frocreatione, that the Chal- 
 deeans, or native philosophers of the Babylonian 
 empire, (who, according to Strabo, had a residence 
 set apart for them in Babylon,*) connected soimds 
 with the seasons in the following order : — that spring 
 bore the proportion of a Diatessaron, or musical 
 Fourth, to autumn; that of a Diapente, or Fifth, 
 to winter ; and that of a Diapason, or Octave, to 
 summer." This quotation is useful in showing that 
 the Chaldaeans, or learned Babylonians, had the 
 Diapason, or Octave system, like the Egyptians. 
 The musical instruments of the people would also 
 sufficiently prove it. 
 
 Boethius, who wrote between five and six centuries 
 after Diodorus, says that the lyre of Mercury had 
 four strings, the two extremes being an Octave 
 apart, and the two interior ones sounding the 
 Fourth and Fifth to the exterior, such as E, A, B, 
 E, in ascending. But the three strings mentioned 
 •by Diodorus suffice to give those intervals, for the 
 string that is a Fifth from one extreme of the 
 Octave is at the interval of a Fourth from the other. 
 
 And now as to the Egyptian musical instrument 
 which the Greeks included under the name of lyre. 
 
 ' The rise of the Nile begins in daeans, who inhabited a far-away 
 
 Jnly, and is at its height about the district of Babylonia, at a short 
 
 end of September. It declines distance from the Persian Gulf, 
 visibly in the middle of October. o " XoX^alot JJ Xeyoi/iri, ro eap ev r^I 
 
 Sowing time is at the end of Jul Tfrrapiav ylvtuBca. irphq to /xeto- 
 
 November. Green crops last till wiapov • iv Si T(f dii mvre wpog riv 
 
 February. Harvest in March. The ^upuiva • vpbg Si to Bspog cv rif SiA 
 
 NUe at its lowest in April. v Trairuiv."— (Plutarch, vol. x., p. 261. 
 
 ' There was also a tribe of Chal- Reiske's edit.) 
 
42 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 Our learned and accurate countryman, Sir J. Gardner 
 Wilkinson, says, in his Popular Account of the 
 Ancient Egyptians, ttat "Besides harps and lyres, 
 the Egyptians had a sort of guitar," (or rather 
 lute,) "with three chords, which have been strangely 
 supposed to correspond with the seasons of the 
 Egyptian year; and here again Thoth or Mercury 
 has received the credit of the invention; for the 
 instrument having only three strings, and yet 
 equalling the power of those of great compass,* was 
 considered by the Egyptians worthy of the god, 
 whose intervention on this and similar occasions is, 
 in fact, only an allegorical mode of expressing the 
 intellectual giffcs communicated from the Divinity 
 to man." 
 
 " The guitar consisted of two parts : a long flat 
 neck or handle, and a hollow oval body, either 
 wholly of wood, or covered with parchment, having 
 the upper surface perforated with holes to allow the 
 sound to escape. Over this body, and the whole 
 length of the handle, were stretched three strings 
 of catgut, secured at the upper extremity, either by 
 the same number of pegs, or by passing through 
 an aperture in the handle. . . . The length of the 
 handle was from twice to thrice that of the body ; 
 and the whole instrument measured about four feet. 
 ... It was sometimes slung by a band round 
 the neck, Hke the modem Spanish guitar, to which 
 also it corresponded in being an accompaniment to 
 the voice, though this did not prevent its being 
 part of a band, as the other instruments, . . . The 
 Egyptian guitar may be called a lute." (i. 123, et. seq.) 
 
 * This instrument is of itself of npen every string, 
 great compass, having two Octaves 
 
EGYPTIAN NEFER, OR LUTE. 
 
 43 
 
 The second name, lute, is more appropriate, on 
 account of the form of the back and sides of the 
 instrument ; because the lute was shaped like the 
 half of a pear cut from the stalk, but the guitar has 
 waving sides, which are at right angles with the 
 front, and a flat back. The following are from Sir 
 J. Gardner Wilkinson's work : — 
 
 Supported by a strap. 
 
 Daaiuing while playing the lute. 
 
 The Greeks had no musical instruments of any 
 kind with necks until many ages after the Egyptians 
 had employed them, and, even when possessing them, 
 they continued to prefer their own, without necks, 
 although they adopted the system of the Egyptians 
 for the sub-division and measurement of strings. 
 Yet herein lay the secret, why the ancient Egyptians, 
 Assyrians, and Babylonians, had learnt the Octave 
 scale system, which is the only true one, before 
 the Greeks were even a nation. 
 
 Every instrument with an open back, like the 
 Greek lyre, and like a harp without pedals, can yield 
 
44 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 but one sound from one string ; but if the same string 
 be pressed against a finger-board fixed upon tbe neck 
 of the instrument, it mil give a complete scale of 
 sounds. The first lesson to be acquired from it is, 
 that exactly half of the string will sound the note 
 that we call the Octave above that which is pro- 
 duced by the whole length. The only condition is 
 that the string shall be of equal thickness throughout. 
 Next, that by stopping a quarter of the String, the 
 remainder will sound a Fourth above the whole ; and 
 that by stopping a third part, we obtain the interval 
 called a Fifth, above the whole. 
 
 These three sounds were the foundation of the 
 ancient Octave scales, and remain the same to this 
 day. The only difference between ancient and 
 modern science has been in the proportions of the 
 two tones and semitone, for the filling up of the 
 Fourth. Of these lesser divisions hereafter. 
 
 As the Egyptian lutes had very long finger-boards, 
 according with the length of the necks, the eye could 
 not, in a moment, determine accurately the point at 
 which the half, the third, or the fourth part of a 
 string ended ; so they measured off those distances, 
 and tied pieces of camel-gut round the neck to 
 serve as guides for the finger. Some of the instru- 
 ments discovered in the tombs had those divisions 
 remaining. They are distinctly marked in the 
 painting from which the frontispiece of this volume 
 has been copied. Technically, they are called "frets," 
 from their fretting, or rubbing, lagainst the strings, 
 when pressed down upon them. 
 
 The painting of the Egyptian ladies, who hold 
 these lutes and fthe double pipe, is of the 18th 
 dynasty of Egjrpt. It formed part of the plastered 
 
EGYPTIAN ladies' MUSIC. 45 
 
 wall of a tomb at Thebes, and botb plaster and 
 painting were safely brought to England, and sub- 
 sequently were presented to the British Museum by 
 Sir Henry Ellis. Some Egjrptologists would date 
 them as about the time of " the king who knew not 
 Joseph"; others, perhaps, at a somewhat earlier 
 period. If the ladies of Lower Egypt dressed their 
 hair and adorned themselves in the bewitching style 
 of these charmers of Thebes, we may the more admire 
 the power of resistance in Joseph. StiU, the ladies' 
 feet are not quite Chinese as to size. Their lutes 
 are adorned with ivory tail-pieces, and they are 
 pictured as touching um-epresented strings with a 
 plectrum. Its use was to save their tender fingers. 
 The plectrum was generally attached to a piece of 
 cord hung round the neck of the player, but some- 
 times it was tied to the tail-piece of the instrument. 
 
 Of the two ladies on the right, one is sounding a 
 pair of pipes, which have ivory mouthpieces, and the 
 other holds a sort of tambourine, which is neither 
 round nor rectangular. The corners are parallel, 
 but the sides and ends have an indented curve, to 
 make the form more pleasing to the eye. There are 
 several examples of this instrument in Sir J. Gardner 
 Wilkinson's work. The lady seems to be tapping 
 the tambourine with her fingers to mark time, but 
 the plaster has unfortunately been broken away at 
 that point, and the picture is not quite perfect.* 
 
 The measurements that were necessarily taken for 
 fixing the frets upon Egyptian lutes, were the 
 obvious due to the discovery of the relation between 
 
 ' This picture, which is perhaps British Museum, on the wall on the 
 now engraved for the first time, will right hand from the entrance, 
 be seen in the Egyptian Koominthe 
 
46 THE HISTORY OF MUSICi 
 
 sounds and mathematical proportions. The Theorems 
 in Euclid's Sections of a String {Sectio Canonis) are 
 for the purpose of proving the best ways of subdivid- 
 ing strings by measurement upon a rule placed under 
 them. Then, by calculating the proportions that 
 one bore to another, to forni laws for concord and 
 musical scales. AU the science of Pythagoras was 
 founded upon such proportions. 
 
 The Greek names express musical intervals better 
 than ours. What we call a Fourth they named a 
 Diatessaron ("right through four"). A Fourth has 
 but three sounds, unless we include in it the starting 
 note, instead of, according to the usual calculation, 
 by counting from it. Thus, from C to F is called a 
 Fourth, but F is only two tones and a semitone 
 distant from C ; for D and E are tones, and from E 
 to F the semitone. So with the Fifth — ^the Greek 
 name is Diapente, {" through five,") but unless the 
 starting note be included, it consists of but three 
 tones and a semitone, as from C to G. 
 
 Aristotle tells us that the Octave was called Dia- 
 pason, (" through all,") instead of di' octo, {" through 
 eight,") because, when the Octave was discovered, 
 lyres had only seven strings.* (This is another of 
 many proofs of the true date of the introduction of 
 the Octave system among the Greeks.) For the 
 same reason, the earHest name of the Fifth was 
 Dioxia {di' oxeia, or di' oxeian^) meaning " through 
 the acute" strings of the lyre, because the deficiency 
 of the one string was in the upper part of the 
 instrument. The Foui-th had its full complement 
 of strings, and" was first called Syllahe, {sullahe), 
 
 " Prob. xjcxii. of Sect. 19. and Nioomachua, p. 17, edit. 
 
 " Philolaos, p. 66, edit. Boeokh, Meibom. 
 
EGYPT OPENED TO THE GREEKS. 47 
 
 probably from " tbe lyre-like form of tbe fingers- 
 upon the four strings;"* for tbe lower four were 
 intended to be played by tbe tbumb and tbree 
 fingers, and not by tbe plectrum, as will be sbown 
 later. 
 
 Tbe fruits of the elementary knowledge tbus 
 acquired by tbe Greeks were soon after sbown in tbe 
 improvement of tbeir music. It is not too mucb to 
 say tbat tbey bad not till tben any music, in our sense 
 of tbe word. Before tbe reign of Psammeticbus I. 
 Egypt bad been a country very little known to tbe 
 Greeks. No foreigner bad been permitted to settle, 
 or to penetrate into tbe interior. All were regarded 
 witb tbe same jealousy tbat tbe Cbinese exbibit 
 in our own days. But Psammeticbus encouraged 
 Greek settlers ; gave bis own cbildren a Greek 
 education; cultivated tbe friendship of tbe Greek 
 nation, and engaged Ionian and Carian mercenaries 
 in bis army. He also committed Egyptian cbildren 
 to tbe charge of tbe mercenaries, to be taught the 
 Greek language, and so to become interpreters 
 between the two nations. It is to tbe ancient 
 civilization, tbus first fully thrown open to the Greeks, 
 that we must attribute tbe sudden and rapidly- 
 increased advances tbey made, within the two or 
 tbree following centuries, not only in music, but 
 also in other branches of science and art. The policy 
 of Psammeticbus I. was followed by his successors, 
 especially by Amasis, and thirsters after learning of 
 every kind flocked to Egypt, to become the teachers 
 
 " Porphyry says that jEIian, the Mese dowmwarda, were played by 
 
 Platouist, gave another derivation, the left hand, and not by the 
 
 but this was the one assigned by plectrum. — (Porphyry's Comment. 
 
 players on the lyre. It adds to the on Claud. Ptolemy, edit. WaUis iii. 
 
 proof that the four strings, from 271.) 
 
48 THE HISTOKY OF MUSIC. 
 
 of their countrymen on their return. Thales and 
 Solon were among the remarkable early visitors. 
 It was there Thales learnt to divide the year into 
 365 days,* and to measure the height of pyramids 
 " by the length of their shadow,'"" perhaps with the 
 help of an optical instrument for measuring heights, 
 to which the Greeks gave the name of Dioptra— 
 otherwise we must suppose that the Egyptians 
 taught our Rule of Three. There Solon copied 
 some of the best laws for his code. Pythagoras, 
 who learnt the use of the Dioptra," is said to have 
 passed twenty or more years in Egypt and Babylon, 
 That he must have been there, is sufficiently 
 proved by his doctrines. It is also asserted by 
 lamblichus, Strabo,^ and others, supported by 
 Egyptian authority; for Diodorus Siculus* says 
 .that the visit of Pythagoras to Egypt was 
 registered by the Egyptian priests in their books. 
 A tradition is recorded by Strabo" that Plato 
 spent thirteen years of study at HeHopoHs. 
 Long after the subjugation of the country, Egypt 
 remained the great seat of learning for the Greeks. 
 The Alexandrian hbrary was first formed to coUect 
 the wisdom of Egypt. 
 
 The fable of Terpander's having carried the lyre 
 of Hermes into Egypt is told by Nicomachus. 
 
 " Into twelve months of thirty Julius Csesar learnt the division 
 
 days, adding five days to each year, of the year. 
 
 and a sixth day iu every fourth ^ "'O Si 'Icpiavufios xal huerp^aat 
 
 year, our leap year, for the extra tprjaiv airbv rdg Trvpa/iiSas, eb ttjq 
 
 quarter of a day in every year. crKiag irapanipiiaavTa 8r6 t'l/iiv 
 
 The priests of Heliopolis and iaofieyWBiQ dat." (Diog. Laert. i. 6, 
 
 Thebes, says Strabo, divided the Paris, 1850, 8vo.) 
 
 year by the sun, and not by the "Nicomachus, p. 10, ed. Meibom. 
 
 moon, as the Greeks did. It was '' Diodorus Siculus i. 96. 
 
 from the Egyptian priests that " Strabo lib. xvii. 29. 
 
FABLE OF TERPAJSTDERS LYRE. 49 
 
 According to him, Hermes gave his lyre to Orpheus, 
 and instructed him in its use. After Orpheus had 
 taught Thamyris and Linus, (the latter of whom 
 taught Hercules and Amphion,) Orpheus, mortally 
 wounded by the women of Thrace, threw his famous 
 lyre into the sea. Thence it was afberwards 
 discovered by fishermen, who took it to Terpander, 
 and Terpander took this exqiiiaitely-worked instru- 
 ment to the Egyptian priests, and declared himselj 
 to have been the inventor." 
 
 We are in no need here of the caution given by 
 Herodotus, not to trust to Greeks who claimed to 
 have taught the Egyptians, because, said he, Egypt 
 had copied nothing from Greece. *" There is a 
 sufl&ciently fatal objection to the Terpander lyre- 
 story, in the fact that the Egyptians had the same 
 musical instrument, and with seventeen strings 
 instead of seven, nine hundred years before Ter- 
 pander's supposed visit ;° and that they had also a 
 musical scale of, at least, two Octaves at a still more 
 remote period of history. The long neck of the 
 Egyptian instrument proves the extent of the scale. 
 If only one Octave of notes had been required upon 
 one string, a neck, equal in length to the body of the 
 instrument, would have sufficed ; because half the 
 length of any string of uniform thickness must pro- 
 duce the Octave above the whole length. But the 
 neck is " from two to three times the length of the 
 body," and that inconvenient extension for the arm 
 
 " Nicomachus, lib. ii., p. 29, ed. at the remote period of the reign of 
 
 Meibom. Amosis, the first king of the 18th 
 
 " Herodotus ii. 49, 123. dynasty" — i.e., before the birth of 
 
 " "Harps of 14, and lyres of 17 Mosea. — ^Witkinson's Egyptians ii. 
 
 strings, are found to have been used 273. 
 
 by the ordinary Egyptian musicians, 
 
 E 
 
50 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 can only have been made for the sake of having two 
 Octaves, or more, upon a string. If the half length 
 of a string will produce one Octave, the halving of 
 the remainder must produce a second Octave above 
 the first. So the especial reason for a neck of 
 evidently inconvenient length to be reached, was 
 that there might be sufficient length of string to 
 admit of space between the notes in the higher 
 Octave, for the fingers to move there with equal 
 freedom. If three-quarters of the entire length of the 
 sounding part of the string, at that remote period, 
 were made available for the touch of the fingers upon 
 the neck of the instrument, it was certainly so made 
 for the purpose of having a scale of two Octaves upon 
 every string. Lastly, if one of those long-necked 
 instruments had two or three strings, it was for the 
 purpose of being able to sound two or three notes 
 together ; since the full compass of two Octaves of 
 notes might be had in succession upon one string. 
 
 Nicomachus, quoting Pythagoras and Plato, tells 
 us that the Egyptians ascribed twdnty-eight sounds 
 to the universe, calling it "twenty-eight sounding."* 
 So the Egyptians must have had twenty-eight 
 sounds, i.e., twenty-eight notes, in their scales. 
 That is the precise total number of Greek notes, 
 in their greater and lesser perfect systems combined, 
 and including all their scales — Diatonito, Chromatic, 
 and Enharmonic. Neither in Egypt nor in Greece 
 was there an . actual limit to twenty-eight sounds, 
 because all scales were transposable, but only 
 twenty-eight notes could be defined, starting from 
 any given pitch. Euclid, Nicomachus, Aristides 
 
 " ' ' (ncTiDKotetKoao^BoyyoQ Xeyo/dvti Nicomachus, lib. ii. , p. 38. (See 
 .card T<iv AiywTrriwv irpoatiyopiav." — also p. .36, ed. Meibom.) 
 
GREEK SCALES SAME AS EGYPTIAN. 51 
 
 Quintilianus," and others, enumerate the Greek scales 
 and their notes, and all authors are agreed as to the 
 number being precisely twenty-eight. This most 
 remarkable coincidence between Egypt and Greece 
 seems nevertheless to have escaped the observation 
 of historians of- music. If it stood alone, it would 
 almost suffice to prove the origin of Greek music. 
 The number is too pecuhar to have been arrived at 
 by accident, within a compass of only two Octaves. 
 
 The names of the twenty-eight notes will be given 
 hereafter in the scales. It may suffice now to say, 
 that in the two-octave scales there were, as we have, 
 fifteen notes for the Diatonic scale, and that there 
 were four variable notes for the Chromatic scale, (one 
 in each tetrachord,) and again four for Enharmonic. 
 Then there was a fifth tetrachord for the Conjunct 
 or Leaser Perfect System, which added only three 
 notes to the Diatonic scale, because the lowest note 
 was Mese, belonging to the old series. Add one 
 variable note for Chromatic and one for Enharmonic 
 in this tetrachord, and we have twenty-eight in aU. 
 
 The Greeks were by no means prone to give too 
 much credit to other nations, yet they did not assert 
 any claim to the Chroijiatic scale, which, according 
 to Plutarch, was well known to be of greater 
 antiquity than the Enharmonic ; but Plutarch says 
 that Olympus was the inventor of an ancient kind 
 of" Enharmonic;" An analysis of Plutarch's descrip- 
 tion proves that the " invention" of Olympus 
 consisted in the omission of one string out of the four 
 in every tetrachord of the already existing Diatonic 
 scale. No use was made by him of the quarter-tone 
 
 ' Euclid, Int. Harm., pp. 5, 6; Quint., pp. 9, 10. 
 Nicomachus, pp. 39, 40; Arist. 
 
 E 2 
 
52 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 "wrhich distinguished the true Enharmonic. The 
 scale of Olympus was called by Euclid, and by other 
 writers before Plutarch, the Common Genus, because 
 those notes were included in all the genera. Olympus 
 omitted the Fourth and Seventh of the Greek minor 
 scale, and did nothing more. 
 
 The Greeks copied the Egyptians in associating 
 musical sounds with the heavenly bodies; but, as 
 they made their computations of time by the lunar 
 month, they connected the twenty-eight notes of the 
 scales with the twenty-eight days of the moon; and 
 the fifteen notes of the Diatonic scale were the 
 fifteen days of the moon's increase.* The Egyptians 
 subdivided the lunar month into weeks through 
 dedicating the first hour'' of each of the seven days 
 to the seven planets, as the seven deities, who were 
 supposed to watch over them. This association 
 seems to have originated in Babylon." The seven 
 planets and the seven days coincided with the seven 
 notes of their Octave. If the scale of nature had 
 been followed there would have been eight sounds 
 in the Octave instead of seven. That is a note- 
 worthy pecuUarity, even in our present system. 
 
 One more link between the music of Egypt and of 
 ancient Greece has been hitherto unobserved, through 
 the misunderstanding of the musical technicalities 
 
 " Aiistides Quintiliamia, lib. iii., Diodorus Sioulus, {ante p. 40,) qipai 
 
 p. 136. are applied to tlie seasons of the 
 
 * "Qpa is explained by LiddeU year. See also the note here below, 
 
 and Scott as "any limited time where the twelve hours are /iipEa. 
 
 or period fixed by natural laws and « Herodotus says that the Greeks 
 
 revolutions, whether of the year, learnt the use of the gnomon, of the 
 
 mouth, or day." The meaning of sun-dial, and the division of the 
 
 "hour" is of comparatively late day into twelve parte, (jUEpea), from 
 
 Greek date. In the note from the Babylonians. (Euterpe, 109.) 
 Claudius Ptolemy, quoting from 
 
EGYPTIAN MUSIC TO THE GODS. 53 
 
 in a passage from an early Greek author, and especi- 
 ally the word anti, which, when taken in the sense 
 of contra or loco, made the parallel in the context 
 unintelligible. It is in the treatise on elocution, {Peri 
 Hermeneias,) which has been published under the 
 name of Demetrius Phalereus, but which Ducange* 
 unhesitatingly ascribes to Dionysius of Halicamassus. 
 This Dionysius is recorded as a writer on music by 
 Porphyry. 
 
 " In Egypt," says the author, " the priests hymn 
 the gods through the seven notes of the scale, 
 sounding them in regular succession ; and, being 
 accompanied by the pipe and by the Kithara, 
 [playing in Octaves] the resounding of these notes 
 is heard with a very euphonious effect; whereas, he 
 who omits the accompaniment of a musical instru- 
 ment with his voice, takes away nothing less than 
 the due modulation and the fitting tone from the 
 passage.'"" 
 
 " "Testatur Dionysius Halicar- instrument with the voice, and this 
 
 nassus, lib. PEpi "Ep/jiji/fiac, qui would make it to be without one. 
 
 Tulgo Demetrio Phalereo ascribi- It ought, therefore, to have proved 
 
 tur." Ducange Gloas. Med. Latin. such a translation to be wrong, 
 
 iv. 1219, sub voce "Nota." Once more, dvri must be taken in 
 
 " "'Ev KiyvvTif di Kal roig Oeoig thesenseof "cum," or "aocompany- 
 
 vfivovai didi Tuiv iTrrd, (putvqivTOJV ot ing." Again, GvyKpovaiv has been 
 
 Upue, i^tl^e ■/ixovvTES caiTO. " KoX dvri translated "concursmn." The true 
 
 aitXov, Kai dvH KiBdpaQf T&v ypa^fidriov meaning is "the accompaniment 
 
 TOVTojv 6 ^x**C ojcouerat utt' tvtlnovias ' of an mstrument." Thirdly, iirrd 
 
 diffre 6 l^aipojv rrjv tjdyKpovatv, oiSkv ^lavqkvTtjiv is translated "the seven 
 
 aM<o 71 jiiXog dTixvSii; Haipa TOvXoyov vowels." Having understood that 
 
 Koi fiovaav." (71. De MlocuHone, there were not seven vpwels in the 
 
 8vo. 1743, Glasgow.) There have Egyptian language, I referred to 
 
 been several puzzles to translators Dr. Birch, upon whose authority 
 
 in the above. First, "xal dvri avXov the number may be stated as " four 
 
 Kai dvTL KiOdpae," has been rendered with inflections." In that case, the 
 
 by "loco tibise aut citharse." The fjrrd fuvrievTa must be the septem 
 
 whole purport of the passage that discrimina vocum, (seven notes of 
 
 follows is on the expediency of the scale,) which the sense of the 
 
 the accompaniment of an passage suggested. Nevertheless, 
 
54 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 This practice of carolling or singing without 
 words, like birds, to the gods, was copied by the 
 Greeks, who seem to have caroUed on four vowels, 
 the Egyptians having but four.* .The vowels had 
 probably, in both cases, some recognised meaning 
 attached to them, as substitutes for certain words 
 of praise — as was the case when the custom was 
 transferred to the Western Church. The b T7 o tt A E, 
 retained in the Roman Catholic service, is taken in 
 the sense of " Seculorum, Amen," being the vowels 
 of those words without the consonants. The Eastern 
 Church also had its noeane, nonanobane, anoais, 
 &c. It has been supposed, by some, that the name 
 of Jehovah, which in Hebrew consists of four letters, 
 I H V H, originated in this manner of praise. 
 
 One of the Greek vases in the Museum at Berlin, 
 No. 626, suppHes suqji an exact Greek copy of this 
 Egyptian custom, and so fully illustrates the preced- 
 ing quotation, that it is here submitted to the reader. 
 On the, one side is a sacrifice to Athena, or Minerva, 
 and on the other are four priests, playing on musical 
 instruments, with the inscriptions before them. It is 
 almost impossible to say with any certainty what aU 
 the letters are intended to be, on account of the care- 
 lessness of the execution ; but, in the opinion of the 
 late A. J. Yincent, of the Institut de France, they 
 are intended for A, E, I, 0. The first of the four is 
 very like an X, and the whole supplies an excellent 
 field for conjecture. It might have been expected that 
 the Greeks would have sol-faed with their to, te, ta, te, 
 if there had been no special reason for another selection. 
 
 the notes were most probably sung four .vowels wiU appear irom the in- 
 
 upon the open sounds of Towels. soription on the Greek vase which 
 
 » The probability of the use of but here iUustrates the Greek custom. 
 
GREEK COPY OE AN EGYPTIAN CUSTOM. 
 
 55 
 
 Greek Woeship or Athena, oh Minebva. 
 
 It should be noted that the lyres in the above have 
 each seven strings, according to the number of notes 
 employed in this worship, as described by Dionysius 
 Next, that the lyres have the double bridge, or 
 " Magadis," across the strings, to divide each into 
 two parts, so as to produce Octaves from the two 
 ends. In ordinary lyres the thumb would be on the 
 middle string, and the plectrum playing the four 
 nearest to the body, but that is here reversed. 
 Thirdly, that the priests are playing the higher 
 and longer ends of the strings with the fingers of the 
 left hand, and the under and shorter parts with the 
 plectrum (plektron) which each holds in his right 
 hand. ' The double pipes are in all probability 
 sounding Octaves, as with the Egyptians, for 
 the object of double pipes would necessarily be to 
 produce two simultaneous sounds. The external 
 appearance does not make one pipe look larger than 
 the other, but the distance of the holes from the 
 mouth, and the size of the bore of thei tube, would 
 
56 
 
 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 determine the pitch. The pipe on the left of a 
 player was usually to sound the under part,^ and 
 had apertures further distant from the mouth. 
 
 Gerhard, in hi^ description of the vase,*" says that 
 the whole representation is identical with one in the 
 frieze of the Parthenon at Athens, but that the 
 letters are there scarcely visible. 
 
 And now, having shown 
 the Greek copy, we pro- 
 duce the hitherto unob- 
 served Egyptian Magadis. 
 According to Athenaeus, 
 (lib. iv. Sect. 80,) the 
 Magadis was classed among 
 foreign instruments by 
 Aristoxenus, and it is 
 clear from the early date 
 of' Egyptian representa- 
 tions, that it was not 
 originally Greek. 
 
 In the Egyptian instru- 
 ment the proportionate 
 length of string to make 
 the Octave is better preserved than in the Greek. 
 
 The next point is as to an Egyptian tetrachord 
 or "four-stringed" arrangement of the notes of a 
 scale. There is in the museum at Florence, said 
 the late Fr. Jos. F^tis, the lower part of an 
 Egyptian flute. No. 2688. This is part of a long 
 
 An Egyptian Player on the 
 
 " "Et ut dextera tibia aJia quam 
 sinistra ita ut tamen sit quodammodo 
 conjuncta, quod est altera ejus car- 
 minia modorum incentiva, altera 
 siiccentiva. Succinit tibia sinistra 
 quod est inferior a dexterse fora- 
 
 mmi 
 2, 15.) 
 1) 
 
 bus." (Varro De Re rustka, 1, 
 
 VasetibUder des KSnigUchen Musemns 
 m Berlim, by Edouard Gerhard, 
 Berlin, 1843, fol. 
 
EGYPTIAN MAGADIS, AND TETRACHORDS. 57 
 
 one, and about three-quarters of a yard (69 
 centimetres) long. A Florentine gentleman took 
 the measurement of all the parts for Fdtis, who 
 engaged a flute-maker of Brussels to reproduce 
 the ancient part in facsimile, and to add a head- 
 piece from designs upon Egyptian monuments. All 
 the minor details of this experiment may be passed 
 over" — the one noticeable part is that between the 
 liighest and the lowest note, the interval was a 
 Fourth ; and that, as there were five holes, the 
 pipe must have produced six sounds within this 
 Fourth, or tetrachord, including the open note of 
 the instrument. That is the precise number in a 
 Greek tetrachord, when it includes the Enharmonic 
 quarter-tone and the Chromatic semitone for change 
 into those genera. So that this Egyptian model 
 appears to have been the one upon which the Greek 
 was formed.. 
 
 " Either the dimensions between musical sounds, and telling of this 
 
 the holes had not been taken with flute, as a "ph^nomtoe unique en 
 
 sufficientprecision, or what is equally son genre;'' that after the first 
 
 probable, the flute maker had been harmonic of Octaves, that might be 
 
 improving upon his model. He played above the natural scale on 
 
 would know nothing of quarter- any flute, it produced Fifths ! and 
 
 tones, limmas, and discordant thirds, he expected the double Octaves to 
 
 called Ditones, unless informed foUow, without the interposition 
 
 before hand, and would suppose the of Fifths. The gradual increase of 
 
 dimensions given to him to be in- rapidity in breathing must neces- 
 
 exact. The new flute turned out sarUy produce Fifths after and above 
 
 on the modem Chromatic scale ; and the first Octave in every flute — the 
 
 P^tis,not beingweU-versedin ancient Fifth being the second harmonic, 
 
 music, although he had written so This subject will be more fuUy 
 
 much about it, did not perceive (to explained further on. The worst 
 
 use the mildest phrase) the utter part is to tell — M. F^tis, having 
 
 improbability of such a scale, but made his experiments upon the 
 
 announced it as a discovery that he restoration of the flute the basis of 
 
 had made in his new Histoire his theories upon ancient Egyptian 
 
 G^nirale de la Musique, 1869, 8vo, music, has throughout treated Egyp- 
 
 vi. p. 22.3, 224. Another equally tian music as if it had been upon 
 
 curious deficiency in F^tis was his the modem Chromatic scale. See his 
 
 lack of knowing the first laws of History i. 324, et seq. 
 
58 THE HISTORY OP MUSIC. 
 
 It does not follow that all Egyptian pipes, or all 
 Greek, were made to include those two peculiar 
 scales, whicli were comparatively but little used. 
 Athenseus says that Pronomus, the Theban, was the 
 first who played the three kinds of music upon 
 one flute,, (hb. xiv, cap. 31); and that before him 
 players had separate instruments for each. We 
 may suppose the same to have been the case with 
 the Egyptians, for we find their pipes or flutes to 
 have had three, and sometimes four holes, which 
 could only have been for one or two kinds of scale, 
 where the extreme sounds were but at the interval 
 of a Fourth. 
 
 In addition to many intermediate links with 
 foreign countries, such as the visits of. Asiatics, and 
 of men from the Isles, to Greece,, there were several 
 direct connexions between Egypt and Greece in more 
 ancient times. In 1556, B.C., Cecrops is said to 
 have led a colony from Sais, in Egypt, and to 
 have founded the kingdom of Athens. Neith, 
 or Net, was the deity of Sais ; and her name 
 seems to have led both to the name of the city 
 and of the Greek goddess, Athena, or Minerva, 
 Plato remarks upon the asserted identity of the 
 goddess under the Greek and Egyptian names in 
 his TimcBus.^ "In Egyptian," says Sir J. Gardner 
 Wilkinson, " the name was written from right to 
 left (0HN,) and by adding an "A" at each end, 
 the Greeks would make it Athena, reading from! 
 left to right.'"" It is weU known that the Greeks 
 adopted the gods of other nations, and their 
 manner of worship, especially those of Egypt. 
 
 " Timcms, 21, e. ^ Wilkinson's AncieM Egyptians, i. 47. 
 
EGYPTIAN SONG IN GREECE. 59 
 
 The Greek vase has already exemplified this in the 
 case of Athena.* 
 
 Again, Danaus, who seems to have been a brother 
 of Amunoph III.,^ is also said to have left Egypt 
 and to have founded Argos, of which he became 
 king, and died, B.C., 1425. It is probable that the 
 colonies were formed chiefly by the military class of 
 Egypt, and, therefore, brought no large amount of 
 learning with them. The higher order of priests 
 seem to have been too well provided for, to have 
 been easily tempted to migrate. 
 
 There are other links to cormect Egypt with 
 Dorians," Colchians, and others, and much in the 
 mythology, to which space will not permit me to 
 refer ; but one of the strongest proofs to a musical 
 reader is the identity of a Greek and of an Egyptian 
 song. When Herodotus visited Egypt, he was struck 
 by nothing more than by hearing what he had 
 thought to be a famous song of Greek origin, but 
 which he then learnt was a most ancient Egyptian 
 one — a moiu'ning dirge for the premature death of 
 the only son of Menes, the first king of Upper and 
 Lower Egypt, and that it had been sung universally 
 in Egypt firom time immemorial. The Greek song 
 was a lament for Linus ; and the name of the 
 Egyptian song was a lament for Maneros.* Identity 
 of song argues identity of system of music. There 
 could be no such identity between a boat-song of the 
 
 " Herodotus says: " And, indeed, Egyptians, (cap. 50.) Also that the 
 
 the names of almost all the Gods Grecians received the above-named 
 
 came from Egypt into Greece. . . . deities from the Pelasgians." 
 
 For, vrith the exception of Neptune * Wilkinson's Ancient Sgyptians, 
 
 and the Dioscuri, Juno, Vesta, i. 57. 
 
 Themis, the Graces, and the Ner- " See Herodotus Erato, 53 to 60. 
 
 eids, the names of aU the others '' Herodotus, ii. 79. 
 have always existed among the 
 
60 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 Nile and any European air now. The tonal 
 systems differ, so that no European can sing or 
 write down the Arab's boat-song correctly in our 
 music. There are numerous allusions to ancient 
 Egyptian music in Greek writers, and a few to 
 Babylonian, but not one among them has yet 
 been found in which any comment upon difference 
 of systems between Egypt, Babylon, and Greece, 
 is to be traced. As Herodotus adds that the song 
 of Linus was sung in Phoenicia, in Cyprus, and 
 elsewhere, though with different words, we may 
 assume that the identity of musical system extended 
 there also. 
 
 Diodorus Siculus says that the musicians and 
 poets of Greece visited Egypt for the purpose of 
 improvement, and that the Egyptian priests had 
 records of their visits in their books. The first two 
 names so recorded were those of Orpheus and 
 Musaeus, and Homer followed. So, at least, the 
 Egyptians claimed to have taught music and poetry 
 to the Greeks at a very early period. The later 
 names in Diodorus's list, such as those of Solon, 
 Plato, and others, are admittedly authentic. 
 
 And lastly, as to the antiquity of the Egyptian 
 Octave system. Not only have we drawings of the 
 long-necked Egyptian lute in the eighteenth dynasty 
 of Egypt, but we find it depicted even in the fourth 
 dynasty, in the reign of Chephren, or Suphis II., 
 second king, sometimes misnamed Sensuphis," who 
 erected the second great pyramid.'' Egyptologists 
 differ in estimating these remote dates, so I 
 
 " Bunsen has explained the error * See, for instance, Richard Lep- 
 
 of the Greek scribe, as to S'eMuphis, sius's Denkmahr, Byn. 4. Abt. 2. 
 
 is his Aegyptens Stelle, iii. Append, Blatt 2. 
 p. 64. 
 
GREAT ANTIQUITY OF THE LUTE. 61 
 
 leave the reader to select the authority he prefers 
 from the note.* It is sufficient to say that, at the 
 time of the building of the Pyramids, this musical 
 instrument, which is one -of a very advanced kind, 
 was employed as the hieroglyphic for "good," and 
 that the Egyptians were then in such a stage of 
 civilization as to have other hieroglyphics of the 
 papyrus book, the Egyptian writing materials, and 
 inkstand, together with sculptures on the largest 
 scale. Th^ paintings of this long-necked Egyptian 
 lute are sometimes accompanied by the name of the 
 instrument, but giving only the consonants " n f r," 
 and leaving the vowels to be supplied. Some inter- 
 preters have chosen " Nofre," one of the three Coptic 
 dialectal names. Bunsen has a plural termination, 
 "Nefru"; others "Nefr"; but, according to Dr. 
 Birch, "Nefer" is now the name more generally 
 adopted. The consonants "r" and "1" are inter- 
 changeable in Coptic, as in Hebrew, and hence, 
 perhaps, the Hebrew Nehel, and the Greek Nahla. 
 
 » Lepsius dates the reign of the between them. The reign of the 
 
 first king of the 4th dynasty of first king of the 18th dynasty, 
 
 Egypt at 3124, B.C., and the reign (supposed to be the "king who 
 
 of this second king as beginning in knew not Joseph,") is dated by 
 
 3095 (of the Julian Era,) B.C. Sir Lepsius, 1591, of the Julian era, 
 
 J. G. Wilkinson says, "according B.C., and by Wilkinson, 1575, B.C. 
 
 to Manetho, the Pyramids were According to Archbishop Usher,, 
 
 erected about 2120, B.C." The Abraham went to Egypt 1920, B.C., 
 
 chronology which he himself adopts ajid according to the Key. Dr. 
 
 (that of Josephus) is that the reign Hales's chronology, in 2077, B.C. 
 
 of the builder of the first pyramid Manetho, the Egyptian historian, 
 
 began 2123 B.C., of the second described the 113 generations of the 
 
 pyramid, 2083, B.C., and of the 30 dynasties of Egypt, i.e., from 
 
 third pyramid, 2043, B.C. Accord- Menes, first king of Upper and 
 
 ing to Bunsen, Wilkinson has quoted Lower Egypt, to the conquest by 
 
 the pseudo-Manetho, and not the true Alexander the Great — as comprised 
 
 one. When Egyptologists arrive at in a period of 3555 years. That is 
 
 the 18th dynasty of Egypt there are quoted from him by SynceUus, in 
 
 no longer such grand discrepancies his chronology. See Bunsen i. 98. 
 
6 & 
 
 62 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 The following is the hieroglyphic. The 
 two or four pegs across the head indicate 
 that the instrument had then, either two 
 or four strings. As a hieroglyphic, it is 
 more frequently found with one cross-bar. 
 The second example here given shows the 
 taU-piece to which the strings were attached, and 
 the bridge over which they jp^^ssed. The bridge is 
 represented flat, but must have stood upon its two 
 points. These are copied from Lepsius's great work, 
 and are of the fourth dynasty of Egypt.* 
 
 When the French savants visited Egypt in the 
 time of Napoleon I., the clue to. hieroglyphics had 
 not been .discovered, and, according to them, a lyre 
 of three strings, "to represent the constellation 
 Lyra," was found in a httle Egyptian temple, above 
 the great temple of Denderah." " It is of the same 
 kind," says the writer, " as Diddorus Siculus speaks 
 of in his History, Hb. i., of which each string 
 responded to one of the seasons of the year." 
 
 The Babylonian and Assyrian sculptures show the 
 Nefer, as well as the Egyptian, but more sparingly ; 
 also the double pipe. In Wilkinson's Manners and 
 Customs of the Ancient Egyptians (ii., 123), and in 
 his Popular Account of them (i., 7,) the hieroglyphic 
 will be found, with one bar across the neck of the 
 instrument, over the doorway of a house, and the 
 interpretation, "The Good Abode," or "The Good 
 House." Any visitor to the antiquities of the British 
 Museum will find numerous examples around him, 
 and few will escape having their attention arrested 
 
 " The first liieroglyphic is from ■> Description de I'Egypte, 8vo, 
 
 Lepsius's Denhmakr, Dyn. 4, Abt. vi.,424. 
 2, Blatt 40, and the second Blatt 29. 
 
EGYPTIAN LADIES PLAYING TO DANCERS. 
 
 63 
 
 ^ 
 
 JZ 
 
 
 •a 
 
 ^ 
 
 .S 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 eS 
 
 rt 
 
 P 
 
 -a 
 
 -O 
 
 g 
 
 M 
 
 > 
 
 2 
 
 .2 
 
 
 O 
 
 7 
 
 4-1 
 
 
 
 ■1 
 
 i^T 
 
 > 
 
 .■S C 
 
 s 
 
 si 
 
 ^ 
 
 i> 
 
 '^ 
 
 2s 
 
 
 ll 
 
 O 
 
 g-g 
 
 o 
 
 :co 
 
 ^ 
 
 4) 
 
 -p 
 
 ^ 
 
 o 
 ■fa 
 
 B 
 
 o 
 
 S 
 
 o 
 
 b 
 
 1 
 
 
 fi 
 
 E 
 
 13 
 
 S 
 
 i 
 
 in 
 
 a 
 
 ■5 
 
64 THE HISTOBY OF MUSIC. 
 
 by the magnificent sarcophagus of the daughter of 
 Psammetichus II., and of Queen Nitocris, among the 
 inscriptions upon which the hieroglyphic mil be 
 frequently seen. 
 
 The preceding painting of four ladies seated, and 
 two female dancers, is also from Thebes, and of the 
 eighteenth dynasty. Three hieroglyphic lutes will be 
 found over the head of the third lady, who is singing 
 and marking time with her hands. The fourth 
 damsel, who is nearest to the dancers, is playing the 
 tune for them upon two pipes, of the flageolet kind, 
 and those pipes have ivoiy mouth-pieces. The paint- 
 ing is upon plaster that has been safely removed from 
 the wall of a tomb, and is now in the British Museum. 
 
 But a stUl more curious scene is that of the 
 private band and the singers of an Egyptian 
 gentleman in the exceedingly early fourth dynasty. 
 The lute, the papyrus book, and the writing 
 materials are not the only marvels of that country, 
 so wonderfully civOized, even at the period of the 
 earhest cotemporary monuments in the world. An 
 engraving, of the same kind as the following, was 
 taken from the Pyramids of Memphis, and wiU be 
 found in the Description de I'Egypte, pubhshed by 
 the French Government, (vol. v., plate 17.) The 
 Memphis band consists of but one harp, one side- 
 blown flute, together with two pipes, or flutes, blown 
 at the end, and two conductors beating time. The 
 following is of Upper Egypt, from the Pyramids of 
 Gizeh-.* It is copied from Lepsius's splendid work, 
 where it is included among other remarkable speci- 
 mens of the fourth dynasty. 
 
 " Lepsius's Ifenhrmhr, Abt. 2, Gizeh, Grab 9.3. 
 Blatt 36. From the Pyramida of 
 
THE EAJILIEST EXAMPLE OF HARMONY. 
 
 65 
 
 r 
 
 I 
 
 TO 
 
 I 
 i 
 
 Bf 
 J^ 
 
66 THE HISTORY OF MXTSIC. 
 
 We have here the private musical establishment, 
 instrumental' and vocal, of an Egyptian gentleman, 
 named Tebhen, who was master of the tomb. In the 
 large plate of Lepsius he is seated, with the flagelltim 
 in his hand, which is the sign of lordship and dominion. 
 The upper two rows in the picture exhibit the wealth 
 of the deceased ; but the octavo size of this page 
 admits only the lower two rows, which comprise 
 his domestic musicians and singers. The hiero- 
 glyphics state his distinctions and his name. For 
 the interpretation of the inscription I am indebted 
 to Dr. Birch, for no letterpress has yet been 
 published with Lepsius's Denkmaler. The painting 
 exhibits two harpers with a conductor; one flute 
 and two pipe players with another cmductor ; four 
 male singers, with the right arm extended towards 
 their patron, as if invoking him ; and, behind them, 
 three female singers, who also mark time with their 
 hands. Lastly, a child, who taps upon some hollow 
 bronze instrument that has an animal's head, and 
 which could only be useful for beating time. 
 
 This re-duplication of time-keeping, together with 
 the certain harmony which is being produced from 
 the pipes, prove the advanced and the rhjrthmical 
 character of this very early Egyptian music. It is 
 not Homeric recitation, with hcense to ramble, but 
 strictly metrical tune. There must have been a great 
 falling off in the music when it first descended from 
 the Egyptians to the Greeks, just as a similar decline 
 took place when Greek music, in its advanced stage, 
 first descended to the Western Church. 
 
 The greayt point to be established by Tebhen's 
 band is the exceedingly early practice of instrumental 
 harmony. The flute and pipes cannot be playing in 
 
EGYPTIAN CONCERTS. 67 
 
 unison, on account of their varied lengths. Moreover 
 the longest is being sounded in its lowest notes ; but 
 they may be playing the simplest form o^ harmony 
 in Octaves, just as the men and women, if singing 
 the same tune together, will make Octaves. We 
 may indeed conjecture that more advanced harmony 
 must have been produced from the three pipes, 
 but we have no sufficient proof 
 
 Sir J. Gardner Wilkinson enumerates thirteen 
 different combinations of instruments that he has 
 noted among the paintings of Egyptian bands, and 
 he adds that there are many more. {Pop. Ace, i. 
 86.) Besides these, are singers accompanied by harp, 
 lyre, lute, by double pipes or flutes, and combinations 
 of voice, lyre and lute, as well as of solo and chorus 
 without any accompaniment. Some of the instru- 
 mental combinations are of four or five different 
 kinds of instruments playing together. 
 
 The Egyptian flute, which was blown at the side, 
 and very close to the end, was called the Seba or 
 Sehi. It is the Photinx and the Plagiaulos of the 
 Greeks, and the Tibia obliqua of the Romans. The 
 Egyptian pipe blown at the end is the Mam. The 
 precise Greek and Latin names of the last would 
 depend upon whether that pipe was blown through 
 a reed mouth-piece, or without one. If it had no 
 reed mouth-piece, being a single pipe, it would be 
 the Monaulos. But I shaU. describe pipes and flutes 
 more particularly hereafter. 
 
 The harps varied much as to the number of stiings. 
 The upper part of one, in the British Museiun, is 
 made for seventeen strings ; one in the Paris collec- 
 tion for twenty-one ; and Wilkinson mentions one 
 with twenty-five pegs — ^therefore for twenty-five 
 
 F 2 
 
68 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 strings. We read of otiier harps wMcli had thirty- 
 five, and forty strings ; the first, called by the 
 Greeks the Simihion, and the second, the Epigoneion. 
 
 The Egyptian harps that had no poles or pillars 
 to support the tension of the strings, could only have 
 been tuned for low notes. Any such tension as 
 that of modern harps would have pulled the fi^ames 
 to pieces. They had one kind of harp that would 
 have supported much tension, and to that the Greeks 
 gave the name of Trigon. 
 
 We may trace the prototype of every Greek 
 instrument in Egypt. No kind of advance upon 
 that ancient country seems to have -been made till 
 the three Alexandrian mathematicians, Eratosthenes, 
 Didymus, and Claudius Ptolemy, appeared succes- 
 sively upon the scene, and improved the scale. 
 Eratosthenes, the first of them, was bom about 
 276 B.C. He was Director of the Alexandrian 
 Library. 
 
 The terra firma of Egyptian history seems to 
 begin with Menes, the founder of the Empire of 
 Upper and Lower Egypt. We have a cotemporary 
 monument of the second dynasty in the Ashmolean 
 Museum at Oxford. It is from the tomb of King 
 Sent, and we there find a fine specimen of architec- 
 ture, and the papyrus roU, or book, is among the 
 hieroglyphics. "The Pyramids are the tombs of 
 kings of the Old Empire," says Bunsen." " The 
 royal names discovered in them are all those of 
 Eratosthenes. The number even of the great 
 Pyramids accords with that of the kings in 
 Eratosthenes." 
 
 " According to Diodoms and Plutarch, the shrine 
 
 fs Place in History, introduction to vol. ii. 
 
THE EGYPTIAN DYNASTIES. 69 
 
 at Memphis contained an inscription commemorating 
 the imprecation of the father of the nnfortnnate 
 Bocchoris against the aforesaid Menes, for having 
 introduced luxurious habits into Egypt, the incon- 
 venience of which he had felt severely in his Arabian 
 campaign."" We know nothing of the infancy of 
 Egypt. We find it only, from our first point of 
 view, as a country of high civilization, with writing, 
 with musical instrmnents of an advanced kind, and 
 with wonderful architecture. The Lake of Mceris 
 and the Labyrinth are to be numbered among the 
 works of the Old Empire, as weU as the Pyramids. 
 " By the Hst of Eratosthenes," says Bunsen, " we 
 obtain a connected chronology of the Old Empire 
 of 1076 years." "The third king of the 13th 
 dynasty lost Memphis and his throne by the 
 irruption of the Shepherds. The holy city of the 
 Empire [Memphis] was not re-conquered and restored 
 tin the 18th dynasty. One of its later kings 
 entirely freed the frontiers from the occupation of 
 the Hyksos."— (i. 80.) 
 
 " Egyptian history subdivides itself into three 
 comprehensive periods — ^the Old Empire of Menes, 
 (12 dynasties) — ^the Middle Empire, during which 
 Egypt was tributary to the Hyksos, who reigned in 
 Memphis (13th to 18th dynasty) — and the New 
 Empire, from the 18th dynasty, which expelled the 
 Hyksos, downwards. This threefold division is 
 estabhshed by the monuments, even by those of 
 the 18th dynasty alone; also by the authority of 
 Manetho." The Hyksos, according to Manetho, were 
 united North Arabian and South Palestinian races. 
 
 "Bunsen, ii. 52, quoting "Diodor., de Is. et Os., cap. 8, and Athenaus, 
 i. 45," and adding, "Confer Plut. x. 4." 
 
70 THE HISTORY OP MUSIC. 
 
 " The Egyptian laws and religion forbade change 
 and improvement, while everything around them 
 was changing as the centuries roUed on." Plato 
 refers to their zealous adherence to antiquity in the 
 following words : — " The plan we have been laying 
 down for the education of youth was known long 
 ago to the Egyptians — ^that nothing but beautiful 
 forms and fine music should be permitted to enter 
 into the assemblies of young people. Having settled 
 what those forms, and what that music should be, 
 they exhibited them in their temples ; nor, was it 
 allowable for painters, or other imitative artists, to 
 innovate, or invent any forms different from those 
 which were estabhshed, nor was it lawful, either in 
 painting, statuary, or any branches of music," (ev 
 fxova-iK^ ^vfiTrdar)],) " to make any alteration. Upon 
 examination, therefore, you wUl find the pictures and 
 statues made ten thousand years ago are in no one 
 particular better- or worse than what they now 
 make." (Laws, Hb. ii. 64.) 
 
 The unchangeableness of hieroglyphics has been 
 of the greatest assistance to modern inquirers ; but, 
 as to the ten thousand years, spoken of by Plato-, 
 we must take them cum grano salis, unless we should 
 wish to chronologize the Egyptian gods. 
 
71 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The improved or Octave system of the Greeks. — Stories about 
 Pythagoras. — The Monochord and the Pandura.— Egyptian ideas 
 of Greek musical knowledge. — Three of the supposed dis- 
 coveries of Pythagoras. — Earliest writings of the Pythago- 
 reans. — The seven and the eight-stringed lyres. — How the 
 lyre was held and played. — Eight strings sufficient for usual 
 purposes. — The difference between a Greek one-octave and a 
 two-octave scale, and the misunderstandings it has occasioned. 
 — The Greek key note, and the importance attached to it.'^ 
 How the literal translation of its name has led to misapprehen- 
 sion.' — Difficulties in classical Greek writers explained. 
 
 And now, as to the ancient Octave system, whicli 
 has been implicitly followed by the moderns, even 
 in the present mathematical divisions of the scale. 
 
 Greek music did not attain so high a level for many 
 centuries after the death of Pythagoras. The Greek 
 scale adopted by the modems was devised in the 
 second century of the Christian era, and no further 
 improvement has been effected since that date. 
 
 It is certain, that Pythagoras did but import the 
 Octave system from Egypt or Babylon, where it 
 had existed for ages before his time, yet the vanity 
 of certain Greeks, who were of a different stamp to 
 Herodotus, led them to attribute .the discovery to 
 Pythagoras, because he was their countryman. To 
 give circumstance and conJGbrmation to this first fable, 
 they concocted others as to the way in which he 
 had been led to the discovery. These stories are 
 such clumsy inventions, that they carry their own 
 refutation. 
 
72 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 The first is, that lie was passing a blacksmith's 
 shop, and, hearing the musical consonances of the 
 Fourth, Fifth, and Octave, sounded by the various 
 hammers on the anvils, he was induced to enter and 
 to weigh the hammers. He is then said to have 
 found the cause of the consonances in their respective 
 weights, which were in the proportions of six, eight, 
 nitie, and twel-^e pounds. That of six pounds 
 sounded the Octave to twelve ; that of eight, com- 
 pared with twelve, gave the interval of a Fifth ; and 
 those nine and twelve, sounded together^ were at the 
 interval of a Fourth. It is surprising how often this 
 childish story has been repeated. Demolish it a 
 thousand times and yet it appears again. In the 
 middle ages- such a discovery was thought too good 
 for a heathen, and so Pythagoras was declared to be 
 a misUomer for Jubal, and the real blacksmith to 
 har^e been his brother. Tubal Cain. The first person 
 who seems to have dared to express dissent from a 
 story so generally adopted by the later Greeks was 
 Claudius Ptolemy. He avoided the mention of 
 Pythagoras by name, but cautiously hinted to them 
 that the power of a blow increases loudness, yet does 
 not alter the pitch of any sound, so as to make it 
 higher or lower. (Lib. i. cap. 3.) Pythagoras should 
 have looked to the anvils^ for pitch, instead of to the 
 hammetB ; as we should look to the beU instead of 
 to its clapper. 
 
 The next story is that, pursuing his discovery, 
 Pythagoras took four strings of equal size and length, 
 and fixing them at one end, he passed them over such 
 bridges as were used in musical instruments, (Ma- 
 gftdes,) and then hung weights to the other ends. 
 He employed weights in the same proportions as the 
 
FABULOUS EXPEEIMENTS OF PYTHAGORAS. 73 
 
 hammers in the previous experiment, viz., of six, 
 eight, nine, and twelve pounds ; and it is said that 
 he obtained the same r,esults by those weights as 
 with the hammers. Claudius Ptolemy, acting with 
 his usual care not to give offence, only threw doubts 
 upon this story, dissuading his countrymen from 
 placing any reliance upon such an experiment. He 
 did not emphatically deny its truth, but advised 
 that they should trust only to measurement. For 
 that purpose he recommended the kanon harmonihos, 
 consisting of a rule and movable bridges, to be placed 
 under the strings. (Lib. i. cap. 8.) 
 
 So this fable went on uncontradicted, perhaps tiU 
 •the time of that great enquirer after truth, the 
 astronomer Galileo. He seems to have been the 
 first to point out that, to produce such results as 
 Pythagoras was said to have obtained by tension 
 upon equal-sized strings, the weights should have 
 been the squares of those he is said to have 
 employed ; i.e., instead of six pounds, he should 
 have used six times six ; and instead of eight, eight 
 times eight, and so on. 
 
 The above stories are detailed by Nicomachus, 
 (pp. 10, 11,) by Gaudentius, (p. 13,) by Boethius, 
 and by a host of later writers. 
 
 If the third, and only possible account, had been 
 left alone, it would have pointed too clearly to Egypt, 
 or Babylon, as the source from which the knowledge 
 of Pythagoras was derived. He is said, and 
 probably with truth, to have next taken the measure- 
 ment of the strings upon a stringed instrument with 
 a rule and a movable bridge under them. Some said 
 it was a Monochord, or one-stringed instrument, but 
 if so, he could only have divided a string into two 
 
74 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 parts, as in the Magadis. Nicomaclius says that 
 many called the supposed Monochord a Phandura — 
 perhaps because they imagined the measurements 
 to have been taken upon such an instrument — ^but 
 that Pythagoreans entitled it a Kanon.* 
 
 If Pythagoras experimented upon consonances, he 
 should have had more than one string to work upon. 
 
 It may be noted, that the Greeks had a three- 
 stringed instrument called the Pandoura, or Pandura, 
 which Julius Pollux enumeraites after the Monochord, 
 and says, " so called by the Assyrians, who invented 
 it.'"" The name may have been derived from Assyria, 
 and stUl the instrument, perhaps sUghtly varying in 
 form, may have been comm.on to Egypt under another 
 title. Maitianus CapeUa attributes the Pandoura- to 
 the latter country. His Nymph, while recounting the 
 good she has done to mortals, says, " I have allowed 
 the Egyptians to try their hands at the Pandura."" 
 Among the Assyrian sculptures we find such an 
 instrument, and it differs but little from" the Egyptian 
 Nefer, which may have been the Nabla of the Greeks. 
 The Nabla and Pandoura are not strictly identical. 
 
 Athenaeus, after quoting Protagorides of Cyzicus 
 "On the Festivals of Daphne," as to "the bright 
 sounding Pandoura,"'* states that Pythagoras, who 
 wrote a book about the Red Sea, says that the 
 Troglodytai, (who bordered upon it,) make the 
 Pandoura out of the daphne, i.e., laurel, that grows 
 on the sea shore. ° Thus the instrument is brought 
 
 « " Ta Ti ifOVoxopSa ^aiveaBai, d tare permisi." — {De Nuptiis Philo- 
 
 IBrl ipavSovpovg KoKovaiv ol voSXoi, logics, lib. ix.) 
 
 Kavovag S" ol HvOayopiKol." — (Kico- ^ " 'Tvi (pavov vavSovpov." — (Lib. 
 
 maohus, p. 8.) iv. 176 B.) 
 
 * Onomasticon, lib. iv. cap. 9. " Lib. iv. Sect. 82, pp. 183, 184. 
 
 " "Panduram .(Egyptios attemp- 
 
THE ADVICE OF PYTHAGORAS. 75 
 
 within tlie knowledge of Pythagoras, and to the 
 southern part of Egypt, or of Ethiopia. It may be 
 added that, in and before the time of Claudius 
 Ptolemy, three strings had been foimd insufficient 
 for trying and measuring consonances, and that the 
 Greeks then used an instrument to make many 
 sections, called the Helikon.^ Movable bridges had 
 the effect of fixing the sounds, as the hand pressing 
 strings upon frets. 
 
 Aristides Quintilianus states that, when Pythagoras 
 ' was upon his death-bed, he exhorted his friends to 
 use the Monochord, "by which," says he, "Pythagoras 
 shewed that the intervals in music are rather 
 to be judged inteUectuaUy, through nvimbers, than 
 sensibly, through the ear." — (p. 116.) Plutarch also 
 attributes this doctrine to Pythagoras, [De Musica, 
 cap. 37,) and it became the distinguishing principle 
 of the Pythagorean musicians — " Sense is but an 
 uncertain guide ; numbers cannot fail." 
 
 We know the opinion of the Egyptians as to the 
 smaU amoimt of the Greek knowledge of music 
 before the visit of Pythagoras, from what one of 
 the Egyptian priests said to Solon, in order to 
 stiggest an apology for it. Plato, too, seems to 
 have accepted the Egyptian estimate of his coimtry- 
 men's acquirements, by repeating the story. The 
 priest accounted for the Greeks having no remote 
 history, because they had but recently begun to 
 commit their records to writing ; and, as their 
 country had been swept by a current from heaven, 
 rushing on them like a pestilence, the survivors 
 had been left destitute of Kterary, attainments, and 
 unacquainted with music. "And thus," said he, "you 
 
 » Ptolemy, lib. ii. cap. 2, and Arist. Quint., lib. iii. p. 117. 
 
76 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 became young again, as at first, knowing nothing 
 of the events of ancient times, either in our country 
 or in your own." [TimcBUS, 23 B.) The Egyptians 
 had no record of the great Deluge in their own land. 
 
 Pythagoras is supposed, according to the weight 
 of authorities, to have been bom about the year 
 570 B.C., and to have visited Egypt in the reign 
 of Amasis, which was one of forty-four years, 
 commencing from about the date of the supposed 
 birth of Pythagoras. The discoveries attributed 
 to Pythagoras are too various and too vast for 
 any one mind to have originated, but they 
 are not beyond what might have been learnt by 
 one person, and carried away from a country of 
 ancient civilisation. Among his reputed discoveries 
 are the doctrines of the Immortality of the Soul, and 
 the musical harmony in the revolutions of the heavenly 
 bodies. The first is clearly referred to the Egyptians 
 by Herodotus, who adds, that "some of the Greeks 
 have adopted this opinion, (some earlier, others 
 later,) as if it were their own; but, although I know 
 their names, I do not mention them." — (iL 123.) 
 
 The doctrine of the Harmony of the Spheres is 
 referred to the Chaldeans by Philon Judaeus." It 
 was associated with astronomical reckonings, and 
 with the Octave system of music.'' It must, there- 
 fore, have followed the Octave system. The theory 
 was based upon calculations of distances, and of 
 the rapidity of motion, of the stars and planets, 
 from observations which must have been made by 
 a long line of astronomers. This doctrine was 
 
 "In his treatise" On tkemigrationof ^ "Ibv '6\ov oiipavhv apfuni'mv paaiv 
 
 Abraham," vi. cap. 32, p. 464j again, Avm xai Sipi9fit)v." — Aristot. i>e 
 
 in cap. 33 ; and tUrdly, in his treatise Ccelo, iii. 1. 
 "On seeking Instruction," cap. 10. 
 
THE SUPPOSED HABMONY OP THE SPHERES. *J1 
 
 adopted by Archytas, by Plato, and by all tbe 
 pbilosophers, says Plutarch; "for the universe," say 
 tbey, "was framed and constituted by its author 
 on the principles of music." — {De Musica, cap. 44.) 
 
 The ancients accounted for those sounds not 
 reaching mortal ears, as, sometimes owing to the 
 magnitude of the concussions of the air, {to fieyedos 
 tSsv y\r6(f)oi)v,) and, at others, as exceeding our powers 
 of hearing, both in acumen on the one hand, and in 
 gravity on the other.^ Plerein they anticipated 
 philosophical discoveries of the last and of the present 
 centuries, which prove, by resultant sounds, that some 
 concussions of air could only produce soiuids too high, 
 and other experiments prove that sounds may also 
 be too low, for our hearing.'' Again, they argued that 
 there are many sounds in nature of which we know 
 nothing — some, on account of the feebleness of the 
 concussion ; others, on account of their great distance ; 
 and, again, others, on account of their excess being 
 too great for our organs to endure. " Our ears," said 
 Archytas, "are like narrow-necked phials, out of which, 
 if it be attempted to poxu- rapidly, nothing wiU come."° 
 
 As to the Octave system of music, the earhest 
 extant notice of it among the Greeks is included in 
 some fragments of the writings of Philolaos, "the 
 successor of Pythagoras," who is reputed to have 
 been the first to publish the Pythagorean doctrines. 
 The part concerning the Octave system of music, 
 or jffarmoma, suppHes the old Pythagorean musical 
 terms, which, not being generally known, are here 
 
 » Porphyrii Gommentarius , p. will be hereafter referred to under 
 257, edit. Wallis. the Science of Music. 
 
 ° Porphyrii Comment, in Har- 
 
 ii The experiments by which mmaca Claud. Ptolamm,, apud 
 these facts have been established WaUia, iii. 257. 
 
78 
 
 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 printed, witli their proportions as musical intervals. 
 Some of the terms were afterwards rejected and 
 others retained. A few have already been explained 
 (pp. 35, 36, 46). Proportions will be more fully 
 explained hereafter. The following is the passage : — 
 
 'Aofiovlas Se fieyeOos evri 
 tri/XXa/Sa koi Si o^eiav • 
 
 TO Se Si o^eiav fiel^ov ra? 
 (TuXXa/Say eiroySoui r 
 
 ecTTi yap airo VTrara? ej fiecj-av 
 o-yXXa^Sa, 
 
 ctTTO ^e fiecrai iron vearav 
 
 Si" o^eiav, 
 airo Se i/eara? e? rpirav 
 
 crvWa^a, 
 
 OTTO 06 TOITUS 6? VTraTUV 01 
 
 o^eidv • 
 TO S' iv fieaw fiecrai Kai 
 
 To/ra? eiroySoov • 
 a Se crvWa^a imTpirov 
 
 TO ^6 Si o^eiav fifuoKiov • 
 
 TO Sia Traaav Se SiirXoov • 
 OVTWS apfiovia irevre eiroySoa 
 Koi Svo Sieaiei, 
 
 Si oZeiav Se rpi' eiroySoa 
 
 Koi Siecrti, 
 avWaj3a Se Sii' evoySoa Kai 
 
 Siecri^-'' 
 
 The extent of the Octave sys- 
 tem is a Fourth and a Fifth ; 
 
 but the Fifth is greater than the 
 Fourth by a Tone ; [propor- 
 tion of 9 to 8.] 
 
 for, from the lowest string to the 
 middle string is a Fourth; 
 [E to A] 
 
 but from middle to highest string 
 a Fifth; [A to E] 
 
 from the highest to third string 
 [from the top] a Fourth; [E 
 toB] 
 
 from the third to the lowest a 
 Fifth; [BtoE] 
 
 between the middle string and 
 third is a Tone. [A to B] . 
 
 The Fourth is in the proportion 
 
 of 4to3; 
 the Fifth is in the proportion of 
 
 3 to 2; 
 the Octave in that of 2 to 1. 
 
 Thus the Octave system is of five 
 Tones and two Semitones ; 
 
 the Fifth is of three Tones and 
 a Semitone ; 
 
 the Fourth of two Tones and a 
 Semitone. 
 
 " Philolaos, edit. Boeckh, p. 66. 
 This passage is also quoted in more 
 
 modem Greek by Nioomaelius. — 
 (p. 17, edit. M^eibom.) 
 
SYSTEM OF PHILOLAOS. 79 
 
 These intervals will b& found verified in the 
 following scale for the seven-stringed lyre. 
 
 The fiiBst observation to be made upon the above 
 is, that we have diesis here used for a semitone, like 
 the; modem French didse ; but diesis was afterwards 
 transferred to th© smaller interval of either a third 
 part, or of a quarter, of a tone, in the Chromatic 
 and Enharmonic scales; and this Diatonic semitone, 
 or hemitone-, was then called a limma or remnant 
 (Xeififia) by the Pythagoreans, and hemitone only 
 by the Aristoxenians. Next, the distinction is to 
 be here observed between Harmonia, the Octave 
 system of music,* and Diapason, the Octave itself. 
 Plutarch tells us that Pythagoras limited the 
 doctrines, of Harmonia to the sounds that are 
 included in the Diapason, or Octave.'' That was 
 the; origirial definition, and one Octave suffices to 
 exemplify every other. Philolaos defines Harmonia 
 as "altogether composed of opposites, for it is 
 the. union of many ingredients, and the connection, 
 in two ways, of varying, or different-meaning, 
 parts."" The "two ways" (^'X" olicts Sixn) may be 
 assumed to mean by Fourth and Fifth, and by 
 Fifth and Fourth, whether up or down in the 
 Octave, as defined in the preceding quotation firom 
 the same author. 
 
 The Octave system, new to the Greeks, was called 
 
 » "T6 Stci vaa&v ((ruffn/jaa) •> "IbiBayopae S" 6 oc/ivif .. ryS" 
 
 ceplun>la(iKdKilTo)irapd.TdlQiraKmdlQ." &vdKoyixg apfiovia • airapias t 
 
 — ^Ariat; Quint., p. 17, and at p. 91. i.vofuX,i ^■jipi. rm Sii miauiv arrjaai 
 
 See also Plutarch De Mvsica, Ttpi rije /louaoc^f iirlyvaaiv." — (Plu- 
 
 cap. 23. Claudius Ptolemy only tarchJJe J/wsiea, cap. 37.) 
 
 accords tlie name of perfect system, * " 'Ap/tovia Sk wavnig 1% havruott 
 
 (rlAtiov) to that of two Octaves, yivcrca • Ian yip ap/iovia jroKv/uyBiup 
 
 because compound intervals could evunrtg KaiSix^^oveovrtiyuxrvfi^paffi^" 
 
 not be calculated within one Octave. — (Philolaos, edit. Boeckh, p. 61.) 
 
80 THE HISTORY OP MUSIC. 
 
 " Harmonia," and tliis name seems not to tave been 
 derived from Harmonia, the wife of the Phcenician, 
 or Egyptian, Cadmus, the reputed fouMer of Thebes, 
 and teacher of the alphabet, for there is no apparent 
 connection between her and music : it was more 
 probably taken from the verb harmozein, "to fit 
 together," because it " fitted ini," and " dove-taUed " 
 the only two lesser consonances of the Greeks, viz., the 
 Fourth and the Fifth, within the greater consonance, 
 the Octave. (The older system had no such fitting 
 ia.) The perfect participle of this verb was also 
 used in music as an adjective, hermosmenos, mean- 
 ing " fitting according to the laws of music " or 
 " musical." Pythagorean musicians took the name of 
 Harmonici,'^ (although others called them Canonici, 
 from their measurements by a rule,) and Aristox- 
 enus charges some of them with haAring continued to 
 teach the following seven-stringed system exclusively, 
 and calling that Harmonia, long after lyres had been 
 made to carry eight and even fifbeeai strings.'' The 
 charge of Aristoxenus against his predecessors, of 
 having taught only the Enharmonic system, must be 
 received with some qualification, for, against it, we 
 have the above Diatonic system from Philolaos ; we 
 have it also in the TimoBus of Plato ; and Ptolemy 
 has preserved the scales of Archytas in the three 
 genera, in his lib. i. cap. 13. 
 
 The seven strings of the lyre were soon increased to 
 eight. The manner in which that addition was made, 
 will be best seen by placing the two systems side by 
 side, as in the following : — 
 
 " "Oi KoKovjievoi apjiovueoi," says kirraxopSiov, & iKoKovv ApjuovtaQ, Tijv 
 
 Aristoxenus, with some contempt. Imaics^iv iiroiovvro." — (jr. 36, edit. 
 
 — (p. 40, edit. Meibom.) Meibom.) 
 
 •" "'AX\<i TTtpi ahrSiv fiMiov tSiv 
 
!etJ? 
 
 sr 
 
 ■s 
 
 e. 
 
 Nete. 
 
 ll 
 
 d. 
 
 Pawanete, 
 
 ^1 
 
 c. 
 
 Teite. 
 
 H 
 
 b. 
 
 Fasamese. 
 
 13 
 
 a. 
 
 Mbse. (Key Note.) 
 
 «l 
 
 G. 
 
 LiCEANOS. 
 
 l| 
 
 F. 
 
 Pabhypate. 
 
 B 
 
 Fi. 
 
 Hypate. 
 
 PYTHAGOREAN, OK IMPROVED SCALES. 81 
 
 THE DISJUNCT, OR OCTAVE SYSTEM. 
 SEVEN-STRINGED LYRE. EIGHT-STRINGED LYRE, 
 
 e. Nete. 
 d. Paeanete. 
 
 b. Fabamebe, or Tbite. 
 'a. Mese. (Key Note.) 
 G-. Liohanos. 
 F. Pabhypate. 
 ^^E. Hypate. 
 
 The intermediate tone, or tone of disjunction, is, 
 in both cases, immediately above the key note, i.e., 
 -from "a" to "b t|," instead of to "bb." 
 
 The notes which are here ascribed to the strings 
 are taken from the Hypo-Dorian, which was the 
 "Common" Greek scale, and is our "Natural" scale, or 
 A minor, with a minor Seventh. Aristotle describes 
 it as most suited to the Kithara, being " the most 
 stately and stable."* It was no doubt the general 
 scale, because it is within the natiural compass of 
 a man's voice. 
 
 Boeckh found a difficulty about the name of the 
 third string from the top in the seven-stringed 
 system, "b," from its being called Paramese by some, 
 while Plulolaos seems to call it Trite. But while 
 Philblaos speaks of it as the "Third" (Trite) in 
 numbering it from the highest string of the tetra- 
 chord, he also explains that it is at the interval of a 
 Fourth from the highest, and of a Fifth from the lowest 
 string; therefore, even if differing in name, there is 
 no di^erence in meaning. Aristotle says that the 
 Trite of the eight-stringed lyre was the omitted string." 
 It is very clear why this string ("c," in the above scale,) 
 
 » Prob. xlviii. of Sect. 19. i" See his Problems viL, xxxii., 
 
 and xlvii. of Sect. 19. 
 
82 THE HISTOKY 01" MUSIC. 
 
 was omitted in preference to -any other. It made a 
 minor Third from the key-note upwards, ("a" to "q,") 
 and a major Third from the highest string down- 
 wards, ("e" to "c;") and Thirds, as they tuned them, 
 were discords. The ancients wanted Fourths and 
 Fifths in preference, because they were consonances. 
 By the above arrangement there was, from the key 
 note, "a," upwards, a Fourth, ("a" to "d;") afld a 
 Fifth, ("a" to "e;") and in coming down from "e," 
 there was the choice of a Fourth to " b," or of a Fifth 
 to " a." Again, " b " made a Fifth to the lower " e." 
 
 The improvement in this system over the preced- 
 ing one was very great. The tone interposed 
 between the two Fourths or tetrachords, made the 
 compass an Octave, instead of a discordant minor 
 Seventh. This tone was called "diazeutic," (tonos 
 diazeuhtihos,) or the "tone of disjunction," because 
 it separated the two tetrachords. The scale then 
 became like ours, in what is called " one" key, 
 instead of turning out of the scale of A minor at th$ 
 fifth ascending note, as it would if " b" flat had been 
 retained, instead of "b" natural. So the upper 
 tetrachord began one note higher in the Octave 
 systems, viz., on "b" natural instead of "a." 
 
 Some lyres of large size were upon stands ; but 
 those of a portable character, like the Kithara, were 
 held on the left side of the body, with the left arm 
 behind the instrument, for the purpose of reaching 
 the base strings, which were furthest from the . 
 player.^ The left hand took the lower tetrachord, 
 the thumb being on Mese, the key-note. The little 
 finger was not used. The forefinger of the left hand 
 
 " •' kipa jikv iv apumpf ■xp^jiivov, Plato De, Legibus, vii. 794, 
 TrXiJKrp^ Ss hSi^tf,wpayfi,aoiSev." — 
 
THE OCTAVE LYKE. 83 
 
 gave the name of Lichanos to the string next below 
 the key-note." The right hand held the plectrum, 
 and touched only the treble strings, which were 
 nearest to the body of the player. The plectrum 
 was of horn, ivory, bone, or of any hard wood. 
 
 The left arm had to contribute to the support of 
 the lyre, but the right was more disengaged, and 
 was sometimes flourished about, to assist in declama- 
 tion, or held out as if addressing the audience. The 
 principal duty fell upon the thumb of the left hand, 
 because it was upon the key-note. 
 
 When the lyre had eight strings, the five from the 
 key-note upwards completed the notes of the Fifth, 
 and then its older name, Dioxia, gave way to that of 
 Diapente, " through five," No change was made in 
 the word Dia/pason (the Octave), because " through 
 all" was as appUcable to eight strings as to seven. 
 
 The strings of the lyre were usually counted from 
 the lowest and longest, as No. 1, and the highest and 
 shortest was the last. This is, at least, the way in 
 which. Nicomachus and Aristides Quintilianus coimt 
 them.'' Trite, for the third string from the top, 
 seems to have been exceptional. It may have been 
 because it was at the interval of a "Third," both 
 from the key-note and from the highest string. 
 
 For all purposes of declamation, and for a simple 
 chant, the Octave lyre was a sufficient instrument. 
 The reciter could take his key-note at a comfortable 
 pitch, so that he could sing a Fifth up, and a Foiuth 
 down, in his natural voice, without exertion. The 
 
 * "'Air6 roii rbv txiq apmrfpcLQ Nicomachus, p. 22. See ^o Arist. 
 
 Xup&s SdicTvKov, tI>v napd rbv Quint., p. 10. 
 
 Sivrixfipa, TOP ovTiD \ixavbv eoXou- * See NicomDchus, p. 33, and 
 
 tisvoVf avTi^ del kiriTiOeadat." — Arist. Quint., p. 10. 
 
 G 2 
 
84 THE HISTORY OP MUSIC. 
 
 compass was ample for such a purpose. This use of 
 the lyre for recitation continued for ages after the 
 time of Dionysius of Halicarnassus. Aristides Quin- 
 tUianus also contended that orations, as well as 
 poetry, lost much of their effect upon the hearers 
 if unaccompanied by a musical instrument.* 
 
 It is essential to bear in mind the difference 
 between this Greek one-octave vocal scale, and the 
 Octave of modern times. By an Octave scale, we 
 mean one that begins on the key-note, and ends on 
 its Octave above or below; but a Greek single Octave 
 began on the Fourth below the key-note, and ended 
 on the Fifth above it. That was the better arrange- 
 ment for singing, because the Greek had a few notes 
 on each side of his key-note,, and we have either aU 
 above, or all below. But when the Greeks extended 
 their scale to two Octaves, their arrangement was 
 the same as ours. They added a Fourth. to the top, 
 and a Fifth to the bottom of their one-octave scale. 
 
 It is surprising what a difficulty this slight varia- 
 tion of habit has occasioned to the modems. AU 
 the supposed "inscrutability" of the Greek modes 
 rests upon the misunderstanding of this simple point 
 — the difference between a complete Greek scale of 
 two Octaves, and a single Octave of the same. It 
 is that difference only which made them an insolvable 
 riddle to Sir John Hawkins, as well as to others^ 
 both before and after his time. 
 
 And now, as to this important key-note — im- 
 portant in all music, but especially so in Greek. It 
 was always called Mese, whether it occupied the 
 place of " middle" string, which the word means, or 
 not. When the lyre had but seven strings, Mese was 
 
 « Arist. Quint., lib. 2, pp. 63, 64. 
 
THE KEY-NOTE OF THE GREEKS. 85 
 
 in the middle, but when the number was increased 
 to eight, there could no longer be any middle string ; 
 for, as Aristotle says, in referring to it, " eight has 
 no middle."' Still, it was the centre of every 
 complete two-octave scale. If the Greeks would 
 but have changed the name of their key-note to one 
 less misleading, when they made their lyres of eight 
 or ten strings, it can hardly be supposed that their 
 system could have remained for so long a time 
 a mystery to the modems ; or that the thorough 
 identity of the Greek with our old minor scale should 
 not have been perceived. The . name, Mese, was 
 retained because, although the number of strings 
 might vary, the system of tuning the lyre to Mese 
 made it ever the centre and turning point of the 
 scale. When Bacchius asks, "What is change of 
 system ■?" (metabole sustematike,) he gives the answer, 
 "When we change from one system" [i.e. scale] 
 "into another, making another string Mese."*" 
 Euclid says the same." Aristides QuintUianus says 
 that " systems without mutation are those with one 
 key-note (Mese), and that mutable systems have 
 several. "** Euclid the same." As there could not 
 be several "middle strings" to a lyre, it must be 
 evident that Mese has a second meaning. Change of 
 system is change of scale. It would, indeed, include 
 such a change as from Diatonic to Chromatic, but as 
 that would not alter Mese, these writers can only mean 
 change from one key to another — or, as the Greeks 
 would call it, from one mode to another, as Dorian to 
 
 " Problems xxv. aaid xliv. of ° Euclid, Int. Jffar., p. 2. 
 
 Sect. 19. " Arist. Quint., p. 17. 
 
 * Bacchius Senior, pp. 13, 14^ edit. " Euclid, Int. Har., p. 18. 
 Meibom. 
 
80 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 Hypo-Dorian, or to Phrygian. Mese may or may not 
 have beeii middle string, but, in Greek music, it had 
 the invariable meaning of key-note.. It was equally 
 the pitch-note for reciting; " The name, Mese," say& 
 Aristotle, " was taken into the Octave system from 
 the seven-stringed lyre."* Euchd says that aU other 
 notes are tuned tO Mese.*" Here again, it must be 
 key-note. So also, Bacchius says, "Mese is the 
 string from which, in the Octave lyre, the Fourth is 
 tuned down, and the Fifth up, and from which the 
 two-octave scale is tuned both down and up."" 
 " Mese is the leader and sole ruler of the scale," 
 says Aristotle.'* "Why, though aU the strings be 
 in tune except Mese," Says Aristotle again, "does 
 the whole scale appear Oiit of tune ; and yet, if any 
 other stritig be out of tune, that single string only is 
 affected 1" He answers that, "in aU good poetical 
 recitation or song, Mese" [the key-note] "must be 
 constantly used, and that aU good composers do so. 
 When they quit it, they return to it quickly, but to 
 no other in a similar way." He compares Mese to 
 the conjunctions in language, and says that if we 
 take away such as te and hai, it will no longet be 
 Greek speech, but that words of another kind might 
 be omitted from the language without such incon- 
 venience, for . the conjimctions are in constant 
 requisition, while others are so but httle in com- 
 parison with them. In the same way, says he, 
 "Mese" [the key-note] "is the conjunction of 
 sounds, and, especially of the sweet ones, because 
 
 " Problems xxv. and xliv. of xxxiii., and "rf iiiaov fiovov ap^xfi 
 
 Sect. 19. TiQ kanv," and "t6 jiiaov ijv apxn 
 
 t" Euclid, Int. Har., p. 19. iwvov," in Prob. xliv., both of Sect. 
 
 ^ Bacchiua Senior, p. 16. 19. See alao Problems xx. and 
 
 xxxvi. 
 
GREEK ANTIPHONES. 87 
 
 its soimd exists in them."* Mese remains at tMs 
 day the key-note of our minor scales, which were 
 inherited from the Greeks, and not from the 
 Western Church. The scales of the latter had not 
 true key-notes. 
 
 Having quoted freely from Aristotle's Problems, 
 it is perhaps here the place to refer to a supposed 
 difficulty in Problems vii., vuL, xii., and xiii. of 
 Section 19, as to the lowest somid of the Octave 
 being the antiphon to the highest, rather than 
 vice versd, and as to the low sound absorbing the 
 " Melos" of the high one. The lower sound of the 
 Octave is the generator of the upper, which is its 
 first harmonic; and as the upper vibrates as two to one 
 of the lower, it is more quickly over. The difficulty 
 has been only created by misunderstanding the 
 word Melos to mean " melody," as if the lower took 
 the tune away from the upper, but Melos means 
 only a succession of sounds that vary in pitch, up 
 and down, whether in speech or in music, and it is 
 quite as applicable to any under part as to an upper. 
 If we hear the voices of men and women singing 
 together in a room, the more rapid vibrations of a 
 woman's voice seem to give it superior power ; but 
 if a chorus of men's and women's voices be heard 
 singing the same subject at a distance, especially in 
 the open air, the women's voices will seem to give 
 brilliancy to the men's, and to die away in them,*" 
 for the slower vibrations of the men's voices continue 
 
 a Prob. XX. of Sect. 19., edit. *" My learned friend, G. A. Mac- 
 
 Bojesen. The 36th Problem in the farren, from whose conversations 
 
 same Section is to the like effect, upon music I have gained so much 
 
 though in other words : — "rd of the information here made avail- 
 
 ripiwoBai .... ixuv iriaQ Trpbg rrjv able, tells me that he has often 
 
 liscrqv." noticed this effect. 
 
88 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 after those of the women have ceased. The eifect of 
 the longer duration of sound in a low note than 
 a high one, may be tested on a pianoforte by striking > 
 low and high together. The higher the note, the 
 shorter will be its duration. 
 
 The above answer to the difficulty in Aristotle's 
 Problems apphes equally to the similar passages of 
 Plutarch in his Convivial Questions, lib. ix., Qusest. 
 8, and ia his Conjugal Precepts, cap. 11.* 
 
 Further examples may be desired, and having 
 referred to Melos in Aristotle's Problems, and in 
 Plutarch, as meaning only the undulations of succeed- 
 ing sounds, it becomes expedient to show how wide 
 were the senses in which the word was applied. Plato 
 'says that "Melos is compoimded out of three things, 
 out of speech, out of music, and out of rhythm ;'"' and 
 Aristides QuintUianus says that Melos is indeed 
 perfect when it combines speech, music, and rhythm, 
 but that the more precise meaning of the word, as in 
 music, is " the linking together of sounds that diflPer 
 as to acuteness and gravity."" Bryennius includes 
 the same words.* Aristoxenus opens his treatise by 
 describing the different kinds o^ Melos, and, after that 
 of music, he says : — " There is also some Melos, so 
 called, in speech, which is compounded out of the 
 . accents that accompany it ; for it is natural to raise 
 
 '■""Qainp av ^dor/yoiSvoaviiipiovoi o^vTtjTi xai PapvTtin." — Ariat. 
 
 XritfQSiai, tov jiapvTepov yivtrai to Quint., p. 28., edit. Meibom. 
 jisKoQ," &c. '' "MeXof roiwv ian riXeiov jiivto 
 
 ^ ' ' MkXoe IK rpuiv iart (TVyKiijjttvov, Ik rt ap/ioviae Kai pvQiiov kcu Xlltwj 
 
 \6yov ri Kal apiioviag ical pv9fwv" avvtarriKOQ • ^roi ijwrjjroj Kal 
 
 — Plato, Bepublk, iii. 398 d. PapvnjTOQ, TaxiiTrjTog Kai fipaSiiniTOj;, 
 
 " "MsXogdi ian TeKimv fiiv to itK fiaKp6rriTosKatl3paxvTtiToe''ldiaiTipov 
 
 TE apjiovidg, ical ftudfiov, Kal Xs^eiog Sc uq iv apfioviKy, ttXok^ ipBoyyoiv 
 
 mviUTtiKOQ -' iSiaiTtpov Sk, (lit; iv dvofioitijv d^vnjTt Kai fSapvTTjTL,** &c. 
 
 apjioviKg, jrXoKr) fOoyyoiv dvojioiiiiv — Bryennius, p. 502. 
 
GREEK MELODIA AJSTD MELOS. 89 
 
 and to lower the pitch of the voice in conversation."* 
 Ezekiel ii. 10, which, in the Septuagint version, is 
 "threnos Jcai melos hai ouai," is rendered in onr English 
 version " lamentations, and mourning, and woe." 
 According to the Greek, it might have been 
 translated "lamentation, and wailing, and woe," 
 for Eastern mourning is intended, and implied 
 in the word Melos. In the Electra of Euripides 
 (1. 756), the rising and falling sound of the battle cry- 
 is, Melos hoes. The Melos of rhythm; to which Plato 
 refers, is, according to Aristides Quintilianus, " the 
 rise and fall of the voice between the up and down 
 beats, the arsis and the thesis,"^ which together con- 
 stituted a pous, or foot, in verse. When applied to 
 musical instruments, Melos expresses the rise and 
 faU of their sounds, wlule Melodia applies only to 
 those of the voice. To connect Melos or Melodia 
 with modern melody, so as to exclude recitation by 
 unmusical intervals, required the addition of an 
 adjective (such as teleion, or hermosmenon), imless 
 explained by the context. Our modern melody 
 comes within the Greek definitions of Melodia and 
 Melos, but they are far from being its synonymes, 
 because, in neither of the Greek words was it indis- 
 pensable that there should have been music, in our 
 sense of the word. In fact, if we require more precise 
 definitions of Melos, we may turn to the instructions 
 for making it, under the head of Melopoeia, in the 
 treatises on music, and we shall there find it 
 
 " "KkyiTcu yap Sri xai XoyHSkg n 24, edit. Marquard; also quoted by 
 
 fieXos, rb ovyKuiiivov ix tCiv irpoaifiiiuv Bryennius. 
 
 rStv iv Tols ovofiaatv ' tjruaiKbv yap ^ " 'Bv Se /itXet, Toig \6yotQ tuv 
 
 ri sinnivtiv xal avikvai iv T({i apaimv vpoi rdf Bsaug." — Arist. 
 
 Sici\iyta9ai," (or " avuvat rrjv tpwv^v Quint., p. 32, edit. Meibom. 
 iv T<f Sia\iye(76m.") — Aristoxenns, p. 
 
90 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 explained as the rise and fall of the voice, either 
 by gradual ascent and descentj or by any intervals 
 up and down. These were to be varied by pauses, 
 or by iteration of the same Sound It was Melopceia 
 that brought out the force of elocution in tragedy." 
 Aristotle says that there are six necessities for 
 tragedy ^the most important being the language, 
 and that, " of the remainitig five, Melopaia," or due 
 inflection of the voice, " is the greatest charm," ^ It 
 is somewhat remarkable that aU this should have 
 been left unexplained by historians of music. 
 
 » "Asyiii Si Xi^iv jikv air^v rfiv ^ " Toiv Sk \onrZv ■Trsvre, ri fieKovoita 
 
 T&v pkfpiitv avvQtaiV ntKoTTodav Si, jikyusTov Twv ijSvaft&Tiav." — Idem., 
 
 8 rfiv iiva/uv ^avepav tx" iraaav." cap. 15, Tyrwhitt's edit. (1794), 
 
 —Aristotle's De Poetica, cap. 14, p. 25. ' 
 Tyrwhitt's edit. (1794), p. 19. 
 
91 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Greek figure of speech "adding a string to the lyre." — Ion's addition 
 of a tetrachord to the earlier system. — The Lesser System Com- 
 plete. — Former misconceptions about it. — The Greater System 
 Complete. — The two systems quite distinct, but have been 
 treated as one. — Greek Modes and their attributed characters. — 
 No musical diiference in them but pitch. — Principal modes for 
 the voice. — Fifteen modes. — Greek modulations like ours. — 
 Plutarch on Plato. — ^HariUony of the universe four Octaves and 
 a Sixth. — Pythagorean system of the planets revolving round 
 the sun. — The musical theory. — The doctrine of making the 
 earth a fixed plain in the centre of the universe invented six 
 centuries after the true Egyptian teaching of Pythagoras. 
 
 Whenever the Greeks wished to compliment an 
 eminent poet-musician upon his having introduced 
 some novelty in the style of his poetry and recita- 
 tion, they chose to express it by the figure of speech, 
 that "he had added a new string to the lyre." The 
 phrase was happily selected to express that he had 
 enlarged the powers of instrvimeht and voice ; but it 
 was as purely figurative, as if we were now to say 
 familiarly of a man who had made some useful dis- 
 covery, that it would be " a feather in his cap." In 
 later ages this mere idiom (Jame to be appropriated 
 by certain Greeks in a literal, instead of a figurative, 
 sense, and hence the long and conflicting list of 
 double and even triple claimants for every string to 
 the lyre, such as that copied by Boethius, into his 
 tjreatise upon music. 
 
 As to the addition of one or more strings to the 
 Octave system, even if the scale had not been 
 
92 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 borrowed entire, it would have reqtiired no genius 
 to make such a discovery as, that, if one note had 
 its Octave, another must have the same. The first 
 Octave sound discovered was the clue to the whole 
 series, as is sufficiently proved by the Magadis and 
 the double flute, which are older by many ages than 
 the Greek claimants for the added strings. 
 
 It was the same with the tetrachord system. 
 One tetrachord having been joined on to another, 
 nothing was easier than to add a third. In the tirhe 
 of Terpander the number of strings had thus been 
 increased from four to seven, by the addition of an 
 entire tetrachord ; and in the time of Ion, of Chios, 
 by another tetrachord, from seven to ten. There was 
 no such gradual progress as seven, eight, nine, and 
 ten strings. - For these additions by tetrachords we 
 have the best evidence, in the authors themselves, 
 and it is by far the more probable mode of increase. 
 
 The Conjunct system never extended beyond eleven 
 notes, and then the eleventh string was borrowed 
 from the Octave system, and added on at the base 
 of the scale, to make an Octave to the key note.* 
 
 When thus completed, the scale obtained the 
 name of the Conjunct, or the Lesser System Com- 
 plete,'' and retained it imtil Claudius Ptolemy 
 disallowed the claim of the Lesser System to be 
 considered complete, because it did not include the 
 consonances of Octave with Fifth, nor of the double 
 Octave. 
 
 A " system," says Euclid, " is compounded of one 
 or more intervals," (p. 1,) but, Aristoxenus says, " a 
 system is to be understood as something compounded 
 
 » Aristides Quintilianus, p. 10. i-sXtiov) Kara avvap^v." — Euclid, 
 
 , •> " TLai Ian rb filv iKaTTOv (avarrjua p. 17. 
 
ion's ten-stringed lyre. 93 
 
 of more than one interval," (p. 15). In either case, 
 a Fourth, (being compounded of two tones and a 
 semitone,) and a Fifth, (of- three tones and a semi- 
 tone,) were systems, and hence the necessity of 
 the addition " complete," (teleion) to signify an 
 entire scale. Claudius Ptolemy differs from earlier 
 writers in his definition of a complete system. He 
 admits of nothing less than^ two Octaves, because 
 any smaller compass cannot include the whole of 
 the consonances. 
 
 According to Suidas, Ion, the cotemporary of 
 Sophocles and of Pericles, produced his first tragedy 
 in the 82nd Olympiad, (453 B.c.,) and was dead 
 before the year 421, B.c. 
 
 The following lines, from a hymn by Ion, are 
 quoted in Euclid's Introduction to Music, (p. 19,) 
 Vhere they foUow immediately after the lines already 
 cited from a hymn by Terpander {ante p. 30). 
 
 " Having the ten-note scale, 
 
 Combining threefold consonance : 
 
 Till now with seven-string lyres the Greeks hymned thee, 
 
 Upraising stinted song."" 
 
 From the above fragment of a hymn, and from that 
 of Terpander, which is also part of a hymn, it would 
 appear that the ancient scale of conjoined tetrachords 
 was kept in use, and was perhaps, at that time, 
 chiefly reserved for purposes of religion. It is 
 difficult to find another reason for its vitahty, after 
 so very superior a system as that of the Octave had 
 been discovered. 
 
 » " triv StKapd/tova rd^iv Ixovaa 
 
 Tie avfi^iiivovaai ap/toviag TpwSovt, 
 
 Upiv fifv ff' ETrrdrovov ipdWov Sui rkaaapa Travreg 
 "HWtjVfg, airaviav jiovaav aapdufvoi." — (Euclid, p. 19, edit. Meibom. ) 
 
94 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 The three consonances to which Ion refers can 
 only be the three tetrachords conjoined. He could 
 not intend the Octave system, because, instead of 
 only three consonances from ten strings, there would 
 have been five even from seven strings, viz., two 
 Fourths, two Fifths, and an Octave, as already shown 
 in the extract from PhUolaos. 
 
 The new scale of Ion's was called Episymxphe, 
 or Conjunction upon Conjunction,^ Here, then, in 
 Athens,, two hundred years after Egypt had been 
 opened to them, the Greeks had but just added the 
 third conjunct tetrachord to their old defective 
 scale, which was stiU maintained, at least for hymns, 
 in the, most polished city of Greece, Diodorus 
 Siculus alludes to this conservative' spirit of the 
 Athenians, who, "being an Egyptian colony, had 
 derived their institutions from the parent country," '' 
 and Plutarch refers to the same as characteristic of 
 the second Egyptian colony of Argos. " It is 
 related," says he, "that the people of Argos pro- 
 hibited by law any extension, or alteration, of their 
 musical system, imposing a fine upon the first person 
 who should venture to increase the number of 
 strings of the lyre beyond seven."" That law was. 
 aimed at checking, extravagances in recitation — ^it 
 could not have been intended to limit music in the 
 modern sense. 
 
 Of the like spirit as existing among the ancient 
 Egyptians, in regard to their hymns to the gods, 
 Plato says, that " such was the reputed antiquity and 
 sanctity of some of the hymns, that they were ascribed 
 to Isis, jand were held to be ten thousand years old.'* 
 
 » " imavvaffi." — Baoohius Senior, •> Diodorus Siculus, i. 28. 
 
 p. 21, edit. Meibom. ' ° Plutarch De Mug., cap. 37. 
 
THE LESSER SYSTEM OF THE GREEKS. 
 
 95 
 
 Tte additional tetractord of Ion made a great 
 musical .improvement, because it supplied the lower 
 D to the Octave in the Dorian scale, (our D minor, 
 -with a minor Seventh,) and thus the " b " flat iu that 
 scale was properly brought into play. When the 
 -eleventh note was added, (viz., the A at the base of 
 the scale,) it equally completed an Octave of the 
 Hypo-Dorian scale, (our A minor,) from base A to 
 tenor " a," because the lower B in the scale was 
 natural, as required for the key of A minor, although 
 the upper " b" was flat, as required for D minor. 
 How completely does this foreshadow, and tell the 
 origin of the ecclesiastical scales of later days, with 
 the lower B, natural, and the upper " b" flat ! 
 
 THE CONJUNCT, OR LESSER SYSTEM COMPLETE. 
 (7V(7T>ifJi,a TeXeiov Kara ervvacprjv.^ 
 
 The Conjunct, oe Synbmmbnon 
 Tetbaohobd. 
 
 Middle, or Meson 
 Tetrachord. 
 
 The Lowest, oe Hypaton 
 
 Teteachoed, 
 
 added by Ion, b.o. 450 to 420. 
 
 The Added Tone, or Octave. 
 
 d, Nete. Synemmenon, 
 0. Paeanete. „ 
 b b, Tbite, „ 
 
 a. Mese. 
 
 G. LicHANos. Meson. 
 F. Parhypate. „ 
 E. Hypate. „ 
 
 D. LiOHANos. Hypaton. 
 C. Parhypate. „ 
 B (tt). Hypate. ,, 
 
 A. Proslambanomenos. 
 
 ■» Nioomachua (p. 21) writes of 
 the fourth and highest tetrachord as 
 having been added to the Conjunct 
 system before the Octave system 
 had caused the interposition of a 
 tone above the key note, and had 
 
 added an Octave tone at the base. 
 This would contradict Ion, and the 
 Pythagoreans too. Considering the 
 comparatively late date of Nico- 
 machus, and that he could not tell 
 where the interposed tone was 
 
96 THE HISTOJRY OP MUSIC. 
 
 This scale, witli the added tetrachord of Ion, is 
 one of two scales that Meibom misunderstood,' and 
 his account includes another error, which Dr. Bumey 
 'too hastily adopted from him.'' 
 
 The original sev^i strings had seven different 
 names, but no additional names were given to the 
 strings of the tetrachord added by Ion. It there- 
 fore became necessary to distinguish between the 
 new and the old series by adding to the name of each 
 string that of the tetrachord to which it belonged. 
 So the name, Hypate (E), became lengthened into 
 Hypate Meson, i.e., of the middle tetrachord ; ajid 
 the newly added Hypate (B) was Hypate Hypaton, 
 i.e., of the lowest tetrachord. 
 
 When A, the Octave below the key note, was added 
 under Ion's tetrachord, the above scale became 
 identical, as to this lower Octave, with the other scale 
 upon the Octave system, viz., from base A to tenor 
 
 placed," whether "between Meae might have chosen to adopt, they 
 
 and Trite, or, as some say, between represented but one string, (b flat) 
 
 TrUe and Paranete," (p. 21, 1. yii., in the Conjunct system. 
 
 ah imo,) he is not, in this case, to '' Meibom was evidently under the 
 
 be treated as anauthority. Neither disadvantage of not having read 
 
 is Nicomachus a good authority for Sect. xix. of Aristotle's Problems, 
 
 history. He tells the fables that It is clear that the seven strings 
 
 were copied by Boethius. that had names, with Mese in the 
 
 " See Meibom's notes upon Euclid, middle, must have been the ori^ual 
 
 p. 63, where he has rdade impossible seven ; but Bumey, misled by 
 
 tetrachords; Every Greek tetra- Meibom, supposes them to have 
 
 chord in a Diatonic scale trmst been from Hypate Hypaton to 
 
 have the semitone between the Mese. So, according to them, Mese 
 
 lowest two strings. He founded was not the " middle" of anything, 
 
 his • version of the scale upon but an extreme string; and Aristotle 
 
 ' Parhypate, C, which is a movable must have been wrong in his deri- 
 
 Bound ; instead of upon the lowest vation of Mese. (See Bumey's 
 
 note of the tetrachord, Hypate History, i. ^8.) Bumey had read 
 
 Hypaton, (B); and next, he included the Problems, and yet he adopted 
 both a Paramese and a Trite above. ' this error from Meibom's note upon 
 
 ■Whichever of the two names he Aristides Quintilianus, at p. 209. 
 
THE TWO-OCTAVE SCALE. 
 
 " a." The divergence of the two systems commenced 
 from tenor " a." The preceding scale of eleven notes 
 turned off to "b" flat, "c," and "d," and there stopped; 
 while the larger scale, of fifteen notes or two 
 complete Octaves, followed on its course with an 
 upper Octave in the same key as the lower, viz., 
 from tenor " a" to treble "a." 
 
 This win be seen by comparing it with the 
 following : — 
 
 THE DISJUNCT, OR GREATER SYSTEM COMPLETE. 
 (a-varrrifjia reKeiov koto. 8i.aXev^iv.\ 
 
 The Extbbme, or 
 
 Hypebbol£on Tetraohobd 
 
 (uxe^jSoXat'coi/.) 
 
 The Disjunct, ok 
 
 DiEZEUGMENON TeTRACHOBD 
 
 The Tone of Disjunction 
 (toVoj SiaCevKTiKOS.) 
 
 The Middle, or 
 
 Meson Tetrachokd 
 
 (u,eaov.\ 
 
 The Lowest, or 
 Hypaton Teteachord 
 
 The Added Octave Tone 
 
 (not belonging to any 
 
 Tetbachord.) 
 
 a. Nete. Hyperbol^on. 
 g. Paeanete (or 
 
 Diatonos). „ 
 f. Trite. ,, 
 
 e. Nete. Diezeugmenon. 
 d. Paeanete {or 
 
 Diatonos). „ 
 c. Trite. ,, 
 
 b (U), Pabamese • ,, 
 
 a. Mese. (Key Note.) 
 G. LiCHANOS {or 
 
 Diatonos). Meson. 
 F. Parhypate. „ 
 
 E. Hypate. ,, 
 
 D. LiCHANOS {or 
 
 Diatonos). Hypaton. 
 C. Parhypate. „ 
 
 B. Hypate. „ 
 
 A* Proslambanomenos. 
 
 In the above scale a second name (Diatonos) has 
 been added to the Paranete and to the Lichanos 
 
98 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 strings, whicli occupy corresponding positions in the 
 tetrachords. The first named are in tetrachords 
 above the key-note, and the second in those below it. 
 The additional name arose in this way. When the 
 lyre was tuned for the Enharmonic, or for the 
 Chromatic scale, the two inner strings of each tetra- 
 chord were altered iii pitch, and so represented 
 variable, or movable sounds, {kinolknenoi, hehlim^noi, 
 or, pherdmenoi). The outer strings of all tetra- 
 chords, and the Octave below Mese, were immovable 
 {aldnetoi, minantes, or, istotes.'). The chief alteration 
 was in the Lichanos, and its equivalent, the Paranete 
 string of a tetrachord. They were changed in pitch 
 for both Chromatic and Enharmonic scales. At first 
 Diatonos was added to the name of Lichanos, w^hen 
 for the Diatonic scale ; and afterwards, for brevity, 
 it was sometimes called " Diatonos" only. In other 
 cases it was called Lichanos Enarmonios, or Lichanos 
 Chromatike, according to which of the two the scale 
 might be. 
 
 The reader of Dr. Bumey's account of Greek music 
 will not have discovered from it that there were two 
 distinct systems of Greek music in use simultane- 
 ously, as here just exhibited. Burney regarded the 
 two only as one " General System of the Ancients," 
 and termed what are properly the third and fourth 
 ascending tetrachords of the " Greater System," the 
 "fourth and fifth." With him, the "b" flat tetra- 
 chord of the " L'esser System" was the third ; and 
 the fourth (as he termed it) was supposed to 
 commence by a descent from the top of this third 
 tetrachord, viz., from D to B i:|:, and then to reascend. 
 It is " something of the dodging kind," said he, 
 
 " Olamd. Ptol., lib. i. cap. 12. 
 
MODES, OR SCALES, FOR THE VOICE. 99 
 
 " ttat is to be found in the scale of Guido, divided 
 into Ije^iachords." {jffistory, i. p. 5, note /) The 
 ■way he fell into this error was by copying Meibom's 
 ready-made diagram in his notes upon EucHd, (p. 51), 
 and, with it, the word "system" in the singular 
 number. (Compare Bumey, i. p. 22.) 
 
 And now, as to the Greek musical keys, or 
 modes (tropoi). The principal three, for the voice, 
 were Dorian, Phrygian, and Lydian. They had, 
 for a long time, no settled pitch, even in relation 
 to one another, for the names were first used in 
 reference to the character of poetry to be recited, 
 and not as to pitch. They denoted the general 
 tenor of a composition, a certain style of poetry 
 with its appropriate metre, and the spirit of a 
 song. 
 
 The ancients were not agreed as to what were 
 the characteristics of any of the modes except the 
 Dorian, of which Plato says, that it was the only 
 true Greek style. That was severe, firm, and 
 manly. The Phrygian mode was reputed by some 
 to be enthusiastic and orgiastic, deriving its 
 character from the Phrygian style of worship. 
 Aristotle, for instance, described it as enthusiastic and 
 bacchic ; but Plato, on the contrary, as smooth and 
 fit for prayer. Again, the Lydian mode was esteemed 
 by some as modest, decorous, and fit for boys ; 
 by others, as plaintive and erotic, (or fit for love 
 songs) ; by others again as expressive of mournful 
 affections. 
 
 The reason for these conflicting descriptions is to 
 be found in the fact that "particular metres were 
 appropriated to particular modes ; "" and, imless all 
 
 » Plato's Laws, ii. 670. 
 
 h2 
 
100 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 poets could first have been induced to agree in the 
 appropriation of one style of song to each particular 
 metre, there could be no general agreement as to 
 the character of the mode. A martial song and a 
 hymn may now be written in the same metre and 
 be played in the same key^ — there will be a wide 
 difference in the character of the words of the two, 
 and in the spirit of the music, but no change in 
 the notes of the key, in which they may both 
 be played. The notes of the key constitute the 
 musical mode. 
 
 Boeckh has collected various estimates of the 
 characters of the modes among the ancients ; * but, 
 musically speaking, the only difference was one of 
 pitch, which, in itself, could confer no character, 
 because all the Greek modes were tuned in the same 
 way. Difference of character in modem keys of 
 music arises solely from imperfection in tuning 
 them, one scale being left less perfect, in order 
 to improve another. We must, therefore, look 
 exclusively to the metre of the poetry and to the 
 spirit of the words, which the style of music would 
 follow, for any attributed difference which has been 
 marked between one Greek mode and another. 
 Dorian gravity would be fitted by spondaic mette 
 and common time, while the more lively strains would 
 require more rapid feet, and some would be. better 
 fitted by triple time. 
 
 The relative pitch of the modes was long unsettled. 
 Aristoxenus has noted some of the ancient vagaries, 
 such as placing Dorian and Hypo-Dorian only a 
 tone apart, and the Mixo-Lydian between them.*" 
 
 " Metres of Pmdar, lib. iii. * Aristoxenus, lib. ii. p. 37 ; 
 
 cap. 8. Meibom's edit. 
 
CHANGES IN ORIGINAL POSITION OP SCALES. 101 
 
 Again, Atlienseus* gives several quotations which 
 show that ^olian, at an early date, held the position 
 afterwards assigned to Hypo-Dorian — just as Mixo- 
 Lydian was transferred, and became synonymous 
 with Hyper-Dorian. This wiU explain a passage 
 about a combination of -^oHan and Dorian modes, 
 quoted from Pindar by the Scholiast on Pyth., ii. 
 127, and which has been a musical crux : — 
 
 " A.io\evs e^aive Awpiov KeXev&ov vfxvujv," 
 
 So Pindar refers to the Greek Conjunct system, in 
 which the " b " flat gave the option of the Dorian 
 mode, joined on to the Hypo-Dorian, or natural 
 scale. This modulation to the Fourth above was the 
 usual hymnal one from the date of Terpander to 
 that of Jon, and even down to existing specimens of 
 Greek hymns, which will hereafter be presented to the 
 reader, and for the first time, in an intelligible form. 
 In the time of Plato, however, the modes seem to 
 have acquired an established order of succession, 
 and therewith obtained that secondary meaning of 
 relative pitch, which is their more important feature 
 in a strictly musical view of the subject. In the 
 same way, the secondary meaning of Mese, as key- 
 note, is far more important than the primary, for it 
 has afforded a far greater insight into Greek music, 
 than the mere fact that it was originally the middle 
 string of the lyre. 
 
 Aristides Quintilianus, after saying that Dorian, 
 Phrygian, and Lydian were the principal modes for 
 the voice, adds that the others were rather for 
 musical instruments.'' Bacchius Senior puts the 
 question : "If three modes only are sung, which 
 
 " Athenaeus, lib. xiv. cap. 19, p. 624. * Arist. Quint., p. 25. 
 
102 THE HISTaHY OF MUSIC. 
 
 are they T* The answer is (inverting the usual 
 order) " Lydi^n, Phrygian, and Dorian." — "And if 
 seven 1" Answer: "MLxo-Lydian, Indian, Phrygian, 
 and Dorian," and the Hypos, or Dominants, of the 
 last thtee.* He numbers the vocal scales in order of 
 descent, the Mixo-Lydian "g" being the highest. 
 The modes were not always called tropoi, which 
 carried with the name an implied character, or 
 style, but sometimes only as taxeis or syntagmata 
 (positions or arrangements of notes iamudcal scales,) 
 as in preceding quotations, and by Aristotle.* 
 
 In the time of Aristoxenus, who was a pupU of 
 Aristotle, there were thirteen Diatonic scales, viz., 
 one for each of the twelve semitones of the Octave, 
 and one for the Octave itself" In the time of 
 Alypius (said to be about 115 B.C.), the number 
 had been increased to fifteen, by giving to each of 
 the five principal scales its JSypo and its Hyper, 
 the one beginning the Fourth below and the other 
 a Fourth above.** Thus there were three scales 
 beyond the compass of an Octave, and they were 
 necessarily duplicates of others that were the same 
 notes an Octave lower. 
 
 The following is the enumeration of the modes, 
 according to Alypius, with their relative pitch. It 
 is only necessary to remark that the Mixo-Lydian 
 (not here iiicluded by name) is the same scale as 
 the Hyper-Dorian, viz., "g," it being a Fourth above 
 the Dorian. The letters prefixed refer to the lowest 
 note of the scales, or the Octave below their Mese. 
 
 » Bacchius, p. 12, edit. Meibom. " Euclid, p. 19. 
 
 i" "Td,i' oKKa mivtSffiara -rd fxiv " ""Oiruts y av hmrTOg Papirntd 
 
 Aiipia, TO. Si 9pvym KoKovaiv." — n txti, Kal fuaoniTa, icai oivTr/Ta." — 
 
 Ariatot. Politic; iv. 3, 7. Arist. Quint., p. 23. 
 
THE FIFTEEN MODES, OR SCALES. 103 
 
 DOMINANTS. PRINCIPALS. STJB-DOMINANTS. 
 
 (C #). Hypo-Lydian. (F S). Lydian. (b). Hypeb-Lydian. 
 
 (C). Hypo-^olian. (F). ^olian. (bb). Hypek-^olian. 
 
 (B). Hypo-Phrygian. (E). Phbygian. (a). Hypee-Phkygian. 
 
 (B 1?). Hypo-Iastian. (E I?). Iastian (or (ab). Hypee-Iastian. 
 
 Ionian). 
 
 (A). Hypo-Doblan. (D). Doeian. (G). Hypee-Dobian 
 
 (Called ^OUAN ia Pindar's time.) (oj. Mko-LyDIAn) . 
 
 The order begins with the Hypos, as the lowest 
 scales, viz., A to C# ; then the Principals, D to F# ; 
 and lastly the Hypers, G to "b." The highest three 
 Hypers, "a," "b b," and " b," are the same notes as the 
 three lowest Hypos, but are the Octave above them. 
 These were unnecessary except ia relation to their 
 Principals. The entire compass of the scales was 
 three Octaves and a tone from a fixed pitch. 
 
 When the Greeks modulated from one key into 
 another, they did so exactly as we do now, by some 
 sound common to both keys. They did not always 
 fly to discords to change to a connected key, as was 
 the fashion even in the present century. The greater 
 the connection between the two scales, the better 
 was the modulation esteemed by them, as by us.* 
 
 They had four kinds of modulation, called 
 " mutation," or change, {Metahole)} One kind was 
 described as " according to genus," being such as a 
 transition from the Diatonic to the Chi-omatic or 
 Enharmonic scale ; a second was a change of system, 
 as from the Conjtmct to the Disjunct scale, or vice 
 versd ; the third was a change of key or mode {katd 
 tOnon) as from Dorian to Phrygian ; and the Fourth 
 a change of Melopceia, i.e., in the style of singing 
 
 " Euclid, p. 21., edit. Meibom. . Kara yevog, Kari marrifia, Kara tovov, 
 •> "Mera/JoX^ Si Xiyerai TtTpaxioSt Kal Kari iii\(nroiiav." — Euclid, p. 20. 
 
104 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 or chanting, as from grave to gay, or from a. love 
 song to a martial one. 
 
 When a Greek system, or scale, was called 
 " ametqhole," or, without mutation, such a translation 
 as the ordinary one, " immutable," conveys a wrong 
 impression, for it means nothing more than an 
 ordinary scale, tuned to one key-note,* and usually a 
 Diatonic scale. 
 
 There is a passage referring to the added Octave 
 tone at the basis of the Greek two-octave scale, in 
 Plutarch's Commentary on the Timceus of Plato, 
 which has created a difficulty for many writers on 
 Greek music. It has led them to suppose that 
 this tone, called Proslamhanomsnos, was originally 
 at the top of the scale, and not at its base. Boeckh 
 erroneously inferred from the passage that the 
 Octave below the key note was not in use in the 
 time of Plato.'' 
 
 Plutarch's complaint is" that innovators, (neoteroi,) 
 by adding Proslambanomenos as an Octave below the 
 key-note, at the base of the "Greater System" or 
 two-octave scale, had introduced a tone below 
 Hypate, which was formerly the lowest sound. By 
 which, said he, they have made the ascending 
 sequence of the consonances to differ from the order 
 of nature, for they have-thus placed a Fifth below a 
 
 «■ "'S.aX ra jjAv afiera^oXa, tA. fiiav virarriQ im ri /3api Ta^avres, to 
 
 ixovra fiiar]V ' to. Si jasra^oWd/uEj'n, fdv '6\ov ovarrijia Sle Sict iraaSiv 
 
 rd, Trkiiove txovra fikaae." — ^Arist. iwolriaav ' twv Si ovii^uniiMV rriv 
 
 Quint., p. 17, and to the same icarii (fivaw oiiK irq^aav ra^iv ' to 
 
 effect, "aTrXS ^rpAf fdav fikariv yap Sia irkvTi irporepov yivsTOt tov 
 
 ripiwajiiva." — Enolid, p. 18. Sii TeaaapiJir, M to ^api) ry virarg 
 
 * Is tonus (Proslambanomenos) Pla- tov tovov Trpoa\jitp9evTOQ • 6 Si 
 
 tonis tempore nondum receptus usu TIXutuv SijKos isTtv eiri to 6^i 
 
 fuit." — Metres of Pindar, -p. 206. irpoaXanlidvoiv.'' — Plutarch, Oom- 
 
 ' " Ot Si veiiiTcpoi Tbv irpoaKap,- merit. DeAnimosProc., 'Sieiakii edit., 
 
 ^avofievov, T&ixf SuupkpovTa Tfji; 1029, lin. 20, p. 262. 
 
rOUE. OCTAVES AJSTD A SIXTH. 105 
 
 Fourth, whereas the Fourth ought to have been the 
 lowest inteival of all " It is clear," he adds, " that 
 Plato added on to the acute part of the scale." He 
 does not there say that Plato fixed the particular 
 string, called Proslambanomenos, at the top of the 
 scale, as some former readers have understood. 
 
 The passage about Plato's additions to the scale 
 is not to be found exactly as Plutarch expresses it 
 in the TimcBtts, but Plato there speaks of circles 
 within circles, and of musical proportions, which 
 must have been calculated by some disciple of his 
 school, who then reduced them to a scale. It is 
 quite a celestial scale, for it refers only to the music 
 of the heavens. The substance of those calculations 
 is stated by Plutarch's cotemporary, Theon of 
 Smyrna, (who quotes from Adrastus,) as well as by 
 Proclus. It does not bear out Plutarch's words as 
 to the Octave below the key-note having been 
 excluded from the computation, but only that 
 " Plato extended the greater system of the Diatonic 
 scale to four Octaves, a Fifth, and a Tone."* There- 
 fore he included this lowest note. The rest is 
 Plutarch's surmise ; but, very possibly, a correct 
 one, so far as the heavenly bodies were concerned. 
 The passages in both authors relate to the harmony 
 of the universe, which had first been adapted by the 
 Greeks to their shorter musical scale, and Hypate 
 then represented Saturn, "the slowest in motion of the 
 planets, and furthest from the earth." Saturn was 
 then placed at the distance represented by a musical 
 Fourth, from the Sun ; in other words, there were two 
 planets, Jupiter and Mars, between Saturn and the 
 
 * "'OSeJlXaTitiVKalykvogSidrovov Kai Tracwv, (cat Sid tt'evte koI tovov irpoayi)- 
 avffTTifiarog fiiy€9oQ EivaiTO rirpaKLQ 8id ox^v" — Theon, p. 97, edit. Bulliald. 
 
106 THE HISTORY OP MUSIC. 
 
 Sun, and the Snn, as the centre of the planetary system, 
 was Mese, the key-note to the whole, Saturn being 
 Hypate, represented by the lowest note as to pitch. 
 
 The systems of Copernicus, Kepler, and Newton, 
 as to the planets revolviag roimd the Sun, were 
 prefigured by Pythagoras, and there can be no doubt 
 that his knowledge of the revolutions of planets in 
 their orbits, as well as his general system, were derived 
 from the observations that had been made for many 
 preceding ages by Egyptian and Babylonian astro- 
 nomers. It was Claudius Ptolemy, some six centuries 
 after Pythagoras, who first propounded the doctrine 
 that the earth is the unmoved centre of the universe, 
 a theory which took such hold of Roman Pontifs as 
 to cause the retention of the book of Copernicus ia the 
 Index BxpurgMorius of Rome, untU the decree of Paul 
 V. was revoked by Pius VII., so recently as in 1821. 
 
 Whether the confusion of order among the 
 heavenly bodies has been so great as represented 
 by Plutarch, in consequence of the addition of a 
 note td the musical scale, is a question we must 
 leave to be determined by Pythagorean philosophers, 
 and by oiu* present learned Mousikoi, the astrono- 
 mers. As to mere mundane music, it is not so, and 
 we must even defend the supposed " innovators" 
 from their part of the charge made by Plutarch ; for, 
 .long before the date of Plato, Anacreon had used the 
 Egyptian Magadis, and still a thousand years before 
 that, the Egyptian lute, or Nefer, had its two- 
 octave scale. The double flutes, Egyptian and 
 Greek, the tmtiphons, antistrophes, and all the 
 musical antis of the Greeks, signified an Octave 
 below another note, so that any compass of one 
 Octave must have thereby created a two-octave scale. 
 
107 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Greek singing.-^Its high pitch lowered by Cl&,udius Ptolemy.— The 
 scales on the lyre.— Eeason for the names given to Greek 
 Octaves. — Scales differed only in pitch. — No names for notes. 
 — Greek-written music and plan of tuning the lyre.— Test of 
 ' imperfect Thirds. — Greek Chromatic scale had neither Fourth 
 nor Seventh. — Enharmonic scale. — The scale of Olympus, or 
 Common Genus. — The Chroai, or varied tunings of scales.— 
 Their names.— The six peculiar scales, called "very ancient" 
 by Aristides QuintUianus. — ^What they really are. — Doubts as 
 to the age of this writer. 
 
 It is clear that ancient Greek singing must often 
 have caused a severe strain to the voice. If we 
 take the lowest of the five principal middle scales, 
 the " manly and severe " Dorian, the key-note was 
 tenor " d," ia the space immediately below the 
 treble clef, and the Octave below it was D on 
 the third line of the bass. Suppose only the small 
 lyre or Kithara, if an Octave in compass. It would 
 extend a Fourth below the key note, viz., to tenor 
 "a," and a Fifth above it, to treble "a." That is 
 a high chest note for an ordinary tenor voice. 
 
 Our ancient Greek must have thrown back his 
 head, and have filled his chest to the fullest, if he 
 wished to declaim his " severe, firm, and manly " 
 addresses to Apollo from so high a key-note as D. 
 Aristotle says that few persons coiild sing the 
 Nomes, called "Nomoi orthioi," on account of their 
 high notes (Prob. xxxvii. Sect. 19). That may readily 
 be imagined. The comment, however, tentfc to 
 show that regard was paid to pitch ; and Plutarch 
 
108 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 says of Nomes, that they were not to be transposed.* 
 Yet, on the other hand, are we to assume that all 
 were debarred from chanting to Apollo who could 
 not sing so high ? Some of the ancients invited 
 the god to supper, and must then have addressed 
 him. Perhaps they only took part in a paean. 
 
 The pubhc crier is now out of fashion in large 
 towns ; but many may recollect him in former days, 
 with his old French "Oyez! oyez!" (Hear! hear.!) 
 corrupted into " O yes ! yes !" and how he assumed 
 the highest possible pitch of voice for his announce- 
 ments. With all due respect for antiquity, we can 
 but fancy the singing of an ancient Greek to the gods 
 to have been something of the same kind ; and, con- 
 sidering that the most correct Nomes were upon three 
 notes, it would be difl&cult now to decide whether 
 such singing differed widely from that of the ancient 
 Greek crier, with his Akouete Led! "Hear, ye 
 people." 
 
 Apollo seems to have been addressed as if he had 
 been troubled with deafness, or was supposed to be 
 a long way off ; and, perhaps, that was the general 
 style of heathen antiquity. It recalls Elijah's 
 mockery of the priests of Baal — telling them to 
 " cry aloud : peradventure he sleepeth, and must 
 be awakened." 
 
 It may be assumed that the Greek key-notes 
 were fixed so much higher than the conversational 
 tone of the human voice with the object of being 
 more distinctly audible to a large assemblage, 
 especially to one in the open air. Modem speakers, 
 about to address a crowd, often adopt the same 
 course, though, perhaps, in a modified form. They 
 
 * De Musica, cap. 6. 
 
HIGH PITCH or THE VOICE FOE CHANTING. 109 
 
 assunie the high pitch in order that their voices may 
 not be mixed up and lost in the conversations of 
 those who are around or beneath them. 
 
 The Phrygian mode may well have sounded 
 "enthusiastic" or "bacchic," if sung from the chest 
 voice, with tenor " e " as key note. It would cause 
 a great strain upon ordinary lungs; and, as to the 
 "mournful" and "plaintive" character attributed 
 to the Lydian, it can but have been mainly, if not 
 altogether, owing to the necessity of employing the 
 head voice to squeeze out the high notes. The 
 singer must have resembled the high tenor, who 
 sings the accepted lover's part in modem operas. 
 Few men could avoid resorting to the head voice, 
 if they were to sing with such a key note as the 
 high "£" sharp of a tenor voice. Plutarch states that 
 the reason why Plato would not tolerate the Lydian 
 mode was on account of its acuteness and fitness 
 to express and excite plaintive and mournful 
 affections.* 
 
 On the other hand, it is not to be supposed that 
 any large majority of voices could have "distinctly 
 audible notes " below our A in the base ; so that 
 the variation between ancient and modem pitch 
 cannot have been very material. In all probability 
 a tone was the extreme, unless the himian voice 
 has diminished in compass, which is a theory not 
 to be upheld. Aristoxenus and Euclid fixed the 
 limit of the most extensive voice at two Octaves 
 and a Fifth, which is much the same as now. There 
 is also this against the theory : that Hypo-Dorian 
 was included ia Dorian, and, for general voices, it 
 answered far better to the character of firmness 
 
 I" De Mmica, cap. 15. 
 
110 THE SISTORY OF MTJSIC. 
 
 and raaiJiaess ascribed to the mode, tHan its 
 principal. 
 
 The Hypo-Porian compass upon the Octave lyre 
 would have been from E to " e," with the intermediate 
 "a" for key-note, which was, and still is, quite 
 within the reach of men's ordinary voices. Suppose 
 only half a tone lower to be allowed for variation 
 between ancient and modern pitch, there would be 
 but an exceptionally low base voice that could not 
 sing to the highest of the notes. Moreover, EucHd 
 prefaces the name of the Hypo-Porian scale with 
 the title of " Common," as well as of " Locrian " (for 
 Locrian songs,) which were erotic, or Anaoreontie." 
 Aristotle says it was most suited to the Kithara, 
 as being the most stately and stable of modes ;*" and 
 Athenreus says that Hypo-Porian songs were sung 
 by nearly everybody." 
 
 For ordinary purposes, therefore, tjie Greek compassi 
 was very much the same as that of to-day, and we 
 might add that Plato's advice to the singers and 
 reciters of his time would be just as apphcable to 
 any who would wish to sing ballads well, as if given 
 by the highest modern authority. It is " to make 
 the metre and the air subserve to the sentiment of 
 the words, and not to allow the due expression of 
 the words to be subservient to the. time- beats of 
 either metre or music." * 
 
 In order to ir'eniedy the obvious defect of too high 
 key-notes in the principal Greek scales, Claudina 
 Ptolemy proposed, and carried out, the lowering of 
 
 » Introd. Harmoniea, p. 16. ° Athenseus, lib. xiv. cap. 19. 
 
 * "'H Si ivoSiiipurri /ifyoXoTTpEWj ^ "Tbv itoSa Tif rotovTOv Xoyifi 
 
 Kcu araai/wv " Sib Kai KiSapt^SmniTami avayKa^uv 'iirtoBai, Kai rb fiiXog, 
 
 Iffri tUv ap/ioviMV." — ^Prob. xlviii. AXXA foj \6yov iroSi n koI fii\u." — 
 
 Sect. 19. HepvAUc, lib. iii. p. 400 a. 
 
TKANSPOSITION OF SCALES. Ill 
 
 the seven scales particularized by BaccHus, to the 
 extent of each a Fourth ; to bring, as he said, an 
 Octave of all into the middle of the voice instead of 
 its higher extreme. The advantage thus gained will 
 be better brought before the eye of the reader, by 
 first presenting the scales in musical notes in their 
 original keys, and afterwards as transposed by 
 Ptolemy. 
 
 The eight inner strings in the following diagram, 
 the notes of which are bounded by a line at each end, 
 are for the Octave lyre. The added notes, both before 
 and after those two botmdary lines, are for the fifteen- 
 stringed, or two-octavej lyre. The instrument was 
 tuned in the usual waty, first to the Dorian scale, 
 which occupied the centre of the seven, and was 
 always esteemed to be the principal. The sharps 
 and flats at the signatures are here repeated with 
 the notes, but only in order that the eye may catch 
 the number of those that would require re-tuning, or 
 an additional string, to change from one key into 
 another. It will be found that to modulate fi-om a 
 principal key to its Fifth or Fourth, (Hypo or 
 Hyper,) required only the change of one string for 
 each of these two secondary or accompanying keys, 
 so that a ten-stringed lyre, or Kithara, would enable 
 the singer to employ those three keys at command, 
 if he chose so to arrange his lyre. 
 
 Just so a singer of to-day begins to sing a ballad, 
 say in the key of C, and wants the accompaniment 
 of chords in the keys of F and G, which are the 
 Fourth and Fifth, or Subdominant and Dominant 
 of that key. The only additional notes required 
 are a B flat for the one, and F sharp for the other. 
 All the other notes are the same in the three keys. 
 
112 
 
 THE HISTORY OP MUSIC. 
 
 It is thus in all keys. The addition of two strings 
 is all that could have been required for the two 
 usual changes or modulations. 
 
 Stars are placed over the notes of the following 
 scales, to mark where the ascent has been but a 
 semitone : — 
 
 Miio-Lydian, or 
 
 Hyper-Dorian 
 
 ((i Minor). 
 
 OCTAVE LYRE, 
 
 AT THE ORIGINAL PITCH. 
 
 .» ^-^ -g- 
 
 fe-Ci- 
 
 ^ 
 
 m 
 
 ISZ 
 
 ^ 
 
 Lydian (F J Minor). 
 
 « 
 
 .£2. 
 
 S^ 
 
 31^ 
 
 Mese. 
 
 r#z2= 
 
 W=^t^^ 
 
 -t) 
 
 Phrygian (E Minor). 
 » 
 
 11 
 
 _(2_-S'--'=-nMese. ^ 
 
 i 
 
 jj^i 
 
 22Z 
 
 y - Hfl^ 
 
 IZ2: 
 
 Dorian (D Minor). 
 
 « 
 
 i2z: 
 
 .l=^^^d?i 
 
 i 
 
 ■^&-<=^ 
 
 i: 
 
 3Z 
 
 Hypo-Lydian 
 (C# Minor). 
 
 m 
 
 l^tzs 
 
 Mese. 
 
 i 
 
 ■S-^-Cit 
 
 4=2: 
 
 *=t 
 
 l5zs#=:§Si:^ 
 
 Hypo-Phrygian 
 (B Minor). 
 
 122: 
 
 Mese. * 
 
 i 
 
 r,5rsJ^ 
 
 ^5:^*= 
 
 Hypo-Dorian 
 (A Minor). 
 
 Mese. 
 
 ^ 
 
 H: 
 
 ..£2. 
 
 -IS- 
 
 Z2r 
 
 ^=s 
 
 ICZ 
 
 In all the above' scales the Octave lyre is tuned 
 from tenor "a" to treble "a," and in the follow- 
 ing the pitch is lowered from bass E to tenor " e." 
 
THE LOWEKED pitch 01* SCALES. 
 
 113 
 
 Each of the seven scales' starts from a diffei'ent part of 
 its Octave. A, in the preceding, and E, in the following, 
 is in turn second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh 
 note of a scale, and, in the lowest, it is key-note. 
 
 The Dorian Occupies the same place in both 
 diagrams, and all the other key-notes foUow in the 
 same order as before. The semitones, too, occupy 
 the same places as before. 
 
 THE SEVEN SCALES, AS TKANSPOSED A FOUKTH 
 LOWEE, BY CLAUDIUS PTOLEMY. 
 
 Mixo-Lydian, or 
 
 Hyper-Dorian 
 
 (D Minor). 
 
 m 
 
 OCTAVE LYRE. 
 
 Mese. 
 
 r22i 
 
 I 
 
 22= 
 
 iirar^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^z: 
 
 Lydian (CJ; Minor) 
 
 Mese. 
 
 1^ 
 
 .4-^=lfel#^ 
 
 I 
 
 i=2M 
 
 IZZ 
 
 m^^^ 
 
 :^hrygiau (B Minor). 
 
 Mese. * 
 
 m. 
 
 yE 
 
 
 I 
 
 ?*== 
 
 f«= 
 
 Dorian (A. Minor). 
 * 
 
 MeBe. • 
 
 32: 
 
 Mz 
 
 :c2= 
 
 m^^"^ 
 
 Hypo-Lydian 
 (G| Minor). 
 
 S?i 
 
 «=fc 
 
 Mese. * 
 
 -£2. 
 
 ^gfflPtSg^ 
 
 fe 
 
 ;:«2=i? 
 
 :c2: 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 ijsr: 
 
 Hypo-Phrygian 
 (Fjf Minor). 
 
 ^ 
 
 , q S ^ 
 
 Mese. * ^^ a^. j^zi^ 
 
 Hypo-Dorian 
 
 11 
 
 nypu-i-'uria 
 (E Minor), 
 
 f^ ^ ^^ - — ' 
 
 Mese. I, 
 
 .r j-- 
 
 .C2_ 
 
114 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 The description of the various Greek Octaves, 
 called Lydian, Phrygian, or other, by Euclid, 
 Gaudentius, Bacchius,* and other ancient writers, 
 will be found to tally with the intervals of their 
 particular modes, as they begin upon the Octave 
 lyre, in both the preceding sets of scales. Trans- 
 position makes no change in that respect. If the 
 lyre were tuned for any one mode specially, the 
 only Greek Octave that could be included, on the 
 Octave lyre, would be from the Fourth below the 
 key note, to the Fifth above it, as here shown in 
 the Dorian. It would have no Octave up from the 
 key-note itself; but then, the Hypo-Dorian, being 
 always timed a Fourth below the Dorian, would, by 
 the same rule, commence on its key-note and include 
 the Octave above it, and no other. 
 
 A fifteen-stringed lyre could only include one of 
 the two-octave scales complete. As there are seven 
 scales of different pitches, six more strings would 
 have been required to include fifteen notes of aU. 
 So, some of the highest notes of the higher scales, 
 and of the lowest notes of the lower, are necessarily 
 omitted in the preceding diagrams, as they were 
 omitted on the lyre. 
 
 The names given to the Greek Octaves, which 
 were thus derived from the changing positions of the 
 eight notes of an Octave in the different modes on the 
 lyre when the Dorian was the central one, have been 
 one of the greatest puzzles to writers on Greek music. 
 Some inferred that each particular kind of Octave be- 
 longed exclusively to, and was identical with, its mode; 
 whereas, every kind of Octave is common to every 
 mode or key, and the transposed scales prove that 
 
 " Euclid, p. 15 ; Gaudentius, pp. 19, 20 ; Bacchius Senior, pp. 18, 19. 
 
EXPLANATION OF GBEEK OCTAVES. 115> 
 
 the intervals of all keys are alike if begun upon the 
 same part of their scale. It is a misconception about 
 Greek Octaves that underlies the Greek names given 
 to the old scales of the Church, now called Gregorian. 
 They are not scales^ but Octaves in the Dorian or 
 Hypo-Dorian mode, and yet had such names as Lydian 
 and Phrygian assigned to them. To be reaUy Lydian 
 or Phrygian they should have been taken in Lydian 
 or Phrygian keys. If their Octaves had been properly 
 selected from their respective keys, they would have 
 had the same sharps and flats as other music. 
 
 One continuous proof runs throughout all ancient 
 treatises on Greek music, that every mode or scale 
 was tuned in precisely the same way, viz., always to 
 its own Mese, or key-note. For that reason alone, if 
 there were no other,- Greek scales of the same genus 
 must have been identical as to intervals, just as are 
 modern scales. 
 
 I have already remarked that there was no 
 complete major scale among the ancients. Every 
 Greek writer insisted upon the interval of a whole 
 tone, at least, immediately below the key-note. 
 The distances of tone or semitone, for every string, 
 are given by ancient writers, and they invariably 
 make a complete old minor scale. There is no major 
 Third, no major Sixth, no major Seventh, among 
 them ; and if one Diatonic scale had differed from 
 another, the mathematical proportions of Euclid, and 
 others, could not have been given as applicable to all. 
 The diagrams of Alypius, of Claudius Ptolemy, and 
 others, down to that of Boethius, all alike prove 
 that one Greek scale differed from another in nothing 
 but pitch. " The tones," says Bryennius, " differ 
 from one another in no other respect than in their 
 
 i2 
 
116 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 positions as to acuteness and gravity, as has already 
 been shown."* 
 
 Yet this has been termed a " laughable" assertion 
 by Boeckh, in his Metres of Pindar} He fancied 
 there could be no character attached to a Greek 
 mode, but by changing the order of the intervals of 
 tone and semitone in the scale, as they are changed 
 in ecclesiastical modes, or tones. It must be 
 supposed that he derived his knowledge of what was 
 said to be Greek music, through over-zealous writers 
 on Church music, and had entirely formed his judg- 
 ment upon them. He cannot have derived it from 
 the Greek treatises on music." 
 
 It will be observed, in the preceding diagrams, that 
 as the key-note shifted to the right, another note of 
 the scale was taken in on the left, and so the Octave 
 began upon a different part of every scale. 
 
 The form of Octave that began on the second 
 ascending note of its key was called Mixo-Lydian, 
 just as here ; that which began on the third was 
 Lydian ; on the fourth, Phrygian ; on the fifth, 
 Dorian ; on the sixth, Hypo-Lydian ; on the seventh, 
 Hypo-Phrygian ; and the one beguming on the hey 
 note, or its Octave, Hypo-Dorian. 
 
 The difference between one kind of Octave and 
 
 "■ " Kai ydp oiihvi knpif ol tovoi mediseval music, and showed the in- 
 
 diKKiiKiov Sitvtivdxaatv, si jir) r<f ts ferior character of .the books he had 
 
 ii^uTspij) Kal jSapviipif) roirifi Ttjg re been reading — ' ' Jam vero Gruido 
 
 ipiitvrje Kai TQV opydvov ' i)e Iv role Aretinus, qui reoepta temporibus 
 
 i/iTrfioaBiv USeiKrai." — (Bryennius, p. nostris sonorum nomina, siglas que 
 
 481, fol., WaUis'a'edit.) musioas invenit." {Idem, p. 214.) 
 
 ''"EteTiim quum ridicula vulgo I shall hereafter show cause to differ 
 
 sententiainvaluisset,Teterum modes as widely from Boeokh's version of 
 
 non nisi ratione aeuminis et gravi- the discoveries he here attributes to 
 
 tatis differre." — {De Metris Pindari, Gtuido, as about his interpretations 
 
 cap. vii. p. 217.) of Greek music. It is clear that 
 
 ° Boeckh sometimes touched upon Boeckh had not read Guide's works. 
 
NAMES OF NOTES CHANGED WITH KEY. 117 
 
 another was .as to where the twa semitones would 
 occur. If the Octave began on the key note, the 
 scale being minor, the semitones would be found in 
 ascending from the second to third, and from the 
 fifth to the sixth strings. If on the second of the 
 key, as the Mixo-Lydian Octave, they would occur 
 in ascending from the first to the second, and from the 
 fourth to the fifth strings. That these are the true 
 distinctions between Greek Octaves may be verified 
 by comparing the above with Euclid's description of 
 them (pp. 15, 16). The names of the strings of the 
 lyre have been here dispensed with, as they would 
 only perplex the reader ; but they may be tested by 
 the curious upon the preceding " Greater System " — 
 (at p. 97). 
 
 There was an old plan of teaching singing to boys 
 in English Cathedral schoolsi and one that has been 
 revived as a novelty of late, in which Ut, (or Do,) 
 was always the key-note, like the Mese of the 
 Greeks This system was identical with that of the 
 Greeks, for every other note in the scale took its 
 name from its position in respect to Ut, as the 
 Greek did to Mese, and had no fixed sound. With 
 every change of key, Ut became a different note, and 
 every other followed suit. The chorister thus 
 acquired a little knowledge of harmony at the time 
 he was learning to read music ; and it was supposed 
 necessary to teach harmony to choristers in those 
 days, although it is sometimes dispensed with at the 
 present date. 
 
 Although the Greek names for notes were thus 
 unfixed and variable, according to the positions they 
 might occupy in any mode, or key, they had fixed 
 and distinctive marks or signs for all notes when 
 
118 
 
 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC, 
 
 written down upon paper. These " music signs" 
 {semeioi mousikol), were letters of the alphabet, 
 turned about in various directions, and sometimes 
 only parts of letters were used. The Greeks 
 practised writing down music as early, at least, as in 
 the fourth century B.C., for Aristoxenus complains 
 that too much had been thought of it, and too much 
 credit had been taken for what was purely mechanical, 
 and not part of the science of music (p. 39). 
 
 The following graceful figure of a girl reading 
 music from a book, is given by Dr. Burney, from an 
 ancient bas-relief ia the Ghigi Palace at Rome. 
 
 Reading Music 
 
 Aristides Quintilianus attributes the system of 
 musical notation for the fifteen modes, and in the 
 three genera. Diatonic, Chromatic, and Enharmonic, 
 to Pythagoras (p. 28), "Whenever we read of musical 
 improvements by Pythagoras, we may fairly suppose 
 them to have been derived fi?om Egypt. 
 
 The System of Tuning the seven scales was by 
 first taking a pitch for the key-note of the highest. 
 
WRITTEN MUSIC, AND TUNING THE LYRE. 119 
 
 the Mixo-Lydian, alias Hyper-Dorian, and then 
 tuning by intervals of Fourths down and of Fifths 
 up. Suppose that key-note to be "d," as in the 
 transposed scales, tune a Fourth below it, for Dorian 
 ("a"), then another Fourth down to Hypo-Dorian 
 (E), which is the lowest of the scales. From that, 
 tuning a Fifth up, wiQ give the Phrygian pitch (B), 
 and thence a Fourth down, the Hypo-Phrygian (F jf). 
 From this last another Fifth up gives the Lydian 
 (Ctt), and lastly, a Fourth down, the Hypo-Lydian 
 (G#). These are the directions of Claudius Ptolemy 
 divested of their Greek technicalities. (Lib. ii. 
 cap. 10.) 
 
 From the time of Aristoxenus, and, perhaps, long 
 before it, the Greeks tuned their lyres by a Fourth 
 down, and thence a Fifth up, because it measured 
 the distance of a tone between the two upper notes. 
 The Pythagorean tone was our major tone, it being 
 the difference by which a Fifth overlaps a Fourth. 
 
 This tuning will afford an easy experiment as to 
 the ancient major Thirds, called Ditones, to show 
 how they were discords, instead of concords, and 
 the value of the introduction of minor tones. 
 Supposing neither violin, guitar, nor harp to be at 
 hand, let the pianoforte-tuner be asked, on his next 
 visit, to tune four notes perfectly, viz., from C, a 
 Fourth down to G, and thence, a Fifth up to D, 
 for the first major tone, and then from D down to 
 A, and up to E, for the second major tone. Thus, 
 from C to E win be a Pythagorean Third, or Ditone. 
 The interval will be too wide for a true major Third, 
 and quite discordant. If the timer be not asked to 
 tune the intervals perfectly, he will " temper " them 
 aU, so as to bring the major Third just bearable to 
 
120 THE HICTOEY OF MUSIC. 
 
 the ear, Thirds are m longer ttm^ d perfectly upott 
 pianofortes, beoaiise tHe notes ar© wanted fpr many 
 keys, and keyed instruments are jpiperfeet. If the 
 tuner wpiild then make F ?^ perfect Foiirth above 
 C, the hearer could judge also of the Pythagorean 
 Umma pr remnant, called by the Ari^toxenjlins a 
 semitone, as between ^ and F- He wonld thus 
 know practically all that oan be written abput 
 the systems of PythagQirap, pf the Rpmana, of 
 Bpethius, and of all the mpst anojjent tone and 
 semitone scales fpr voice or instrument. The 
 Fourths, Fifths, aji3.d Qetaves were 9,t aU. tinaes the 
 same as now. 
 
 Claudius Ptolemy argues against having more 
 than seven scales, pr modes, but admits of an 
 eighth, to complet9 an Octave. He says that, in 
 a Fifth, there are three tones and a Kmnutt " which 
 they," (meaning the Aristoxenians,) " denominate a 
 seniitpne;" that, in a Fourth, there are two tones 
 a«id a Zmmo-^thus seven notes for scales in aU. 
 "If ypu add tP them," says he, "you can but 
 multiply divisions that you have aljfeady within 
 the seven SQales." (Lib. ii- cap 9.) If the moderns 
 woxild but be contented "with seven scales upon 
 imperfect instruments, they might have them better 
 in tune, 
 
 Before tpuching upon the improvement of the 
 scale by Ptolemy, it is expedient to take up the 
 thread of the Qhromatic and Fnharmpnie systems 
 of the ancients, They are of considerable interest 
 in the history pf the science, as well as . of the art. 
 
 The Crreekg seem originally to have had but one 
 kind of Qhs.qmatip Scai<e, as one Diatonic and one 
 EiJaapapnio i but they made many experiments 
 
THE GREEK. CHROMATIC SCALE. 
 
 121 
 
 upon new ones, which were modifications of the 
 first two, although without any durable success. 
 For instance, Bacchius Senior names but one of 
 each kind, so the varieties had all died away when 
 he wrote. 
 
 The principal Chromatic scale, the original and 
 the most enduring, was called, for distinction, the 
 (JhrQma4 toiwion, by Aristoxenus, Euclid places it 
 9(lone in the list of scales in the early part of hia 
 treatise, although he afterwards mentions the others, 
 as called Chroai, or colours. We should, perhaps, 
 term them "diflferent shades" (p. 10). The principal 
 Chromatic scale ascended by semitone, semitone, and 
 minor Third. On the Octave lyre, taking " a " for 
 the key note, it stood thus : — 
 
 i 
 
 =#*i 
 
 £ 
 
 --$wr- 
 
 .5 
 
 but in. our Ogtave scale it will begin thus : — 
 
 I 
 
 E 
 
 ?^ii 
 
 ^^ 
 
 The peculiarity is, that it includes a minor scale 
 without either Fourth or Seventh, and also a major 
 scale without its Fourth and Seventh —or, in other 
 words, a major scale of five tones, without semitones 
 — a pentatonic scale. How truly the ear guided 
 to the omission of the Fourth ascending fi'om the 
 key-note, and of the minor Seventh, is a subject to 
 be explained hereafter. Dividing the above scale 
 into major and minor, it st§iiids thus :— 
 
 i 
 
 Mz 
 
 KEY OF A. MAJOR. 
 
 KEY OP A MINOK. 
 
 ^^ 
 
122 
 
 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 This Chromatic scale was of very simple formation 
 on the lyre. It was only necessary to lower the 
 forefinger string, and its representative ia the higher 
 tetrachords, half a tone below their Diatonic pitch, 
 so as to make the interval between the highest 
 string of a tetrachord and the next to it, a minor 
 Third, instead of a tone. The other three strings 
 of every tetrachord remained as in the Diatonic 
 scale. This may be termed one of the skipping 
 scales. It differs widely from the modem Chromatic, 
 which includes every semitone in the Octave. The 
 Greeks could only have obtained the extra semi- 
 tones by changes of key, or mode. StiU, they 
 might have included all upon the fifteen-stringed 
 lyre. 
 
 If the portion of the Greek Chromatic scale 
 which is in a major key, be played ia the Lydian 
 mode, our FJf,' it will be identical with the short 
 keys (usually black) on a pianoforte, according 
 to the reputed, but mistaken, test of ancient' Irish 
 and Scottish times "■ — " mistaken," because the Irish 
 and the Scotch had as perfect scales as any of their 
 neighbours, and this peculiarity was but a preference 
 of many among them for the shorter scale. 
 
 As to the Enharmonic Scale, the following 
 account of its origin, is given by Plutarch, in his De 
 Musica, cap. 11: — 
 
 " "A famous man was Robin Octave higher than here written. 
 Hood." — A tune in the Greek Ohro- All notes are on the black keys of a 
 matio-Lydian mode, if played an pianoforte. 
 
 ^^^^si^iq 
 
THE ENHARMONIC, OR COMMON GENUS. 123 
 
 "To Olympus, as Aristoxenus informs us, tlie 
 invention of the Enharmonic genus is unanimously 
 ascribed by the scientific .world," (the "Mousikoi,"Y 
 " for, before his time, aU was Diatonic or Chromatic. 
 They conjecture such a discovery as this to have 
 been made in the following manner : — While 
 preluding up and down in the Diatonic genus, 
 and frequently passing from Bb,*" and from A 
 [the key-note] directly down to F [the sixth of the 
 key,] and thus passing over G, [the minor Seventh] 
 in the descent, he observed the beauty of the effect; 
 and, both astonished at, and approving it, he 
 constructed a system strictly analogous to it, in 
 the Dorian mode — for there was no sound in it 
 that was peculiar to the Diatonic scale, neither any 
 that belonged only to the Chromatic, nor to the 
 Enharmonic genua." Such was the first of the 
 Enharmonic scales — that of Olympus." 
 
 This scale of Olympus was not considered to be 
 Enharmonic either by Aristoxenus, or by EucHd. 
 They name it the Common Genus, or " Common 
 to all" scale, because it included only sounds that 
 
 " Practical musicians (if the de- name of Paramese in the Synem- 
 
 Bignation, does not imply science) men5n tetrachord of the Conjunct 
 
 were organihoi, (instrumentalists,) system was changed to Trite ages 
 
 or pMnasHhA (teachers of singing before Plutarch's time, and remained 
 
 and declamation,) not motmioi. (See only in the Disjunct system ; but he 
 
 Didymus apud Porphyry, p. 210, was quoting Aristoxenus for a story 
 
 WaUis's edit.) going back nearly to the time of 
 
 * Plutarch can only mean the Terpander. Plutarch's use of this 
 
 ancient Paramese of the Conjunct word, Paramese, has been a diffi- 
 
 system, B 1?, (before the eighth culty to immusioal readers, 
 
 string was added to the lyre,) for ° In Teubner's edition of Plu- 
 
 no ears could be struck with the tarch's De Musica, the word, TJSii, 
 
 beauty of such an interval as the has been substituted for the ovSt of 
 
 Tritone of the Disjunct or Octave the old text, in "aXX' ovSi tuv Trjg 
 
 system, from B natural down to F. apfioviag," without any note to tell 
 
 It must have been B t> to F, and so of the arbitrary change. It has been 
 
 have been the fall of a Fourth. The made unnecessarily, and injuriously, 
 
124 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 were common to the three genera.* It lacked the 
 distingxxishing feature of the Enharmonic, viz., the 
 quarter-tone between the lowest two strings. It 
 was but the old Diatonic minor scale, wanting its 
 Fourth and minor Seventh. The three permanent 
 sounds in every tetrachord, whether Diatonic, 
 Chromatic, or Enharmonic, were the two extremes, 
 and the semitone above the lowest. That semitone 
 was usually occupied by the Parhypate string ; 
 but, in the Enharmonic genus, Parhypate was 
 moved down to within a quarter-tone of the 
 lowest, and Lichanos took Parhypate's place. The 
 reason why this scale of Olympus has been such 
 a puzzle, is simply because this movement of one 
 string iuto the place of another was not thought of. 
 As to the story about Olympus, it is an indirect 
 way of fixing upon him the first discovery that the 
 Fourth and minor Seventh do not properly belong to 
 the scale of the key-note. But there was Egypt, 
 long before him, and hundreds of cases after him, in 
 which that discovery was made by the ear, without 
 any knowledge of what Olympus may have effected. 
 These discoverers by ear were strictly correct, as 
 will be proved hereafter. Those notes belong only to 
 the tetrachord, and not rightly to the Octave system. 
 
 upon an old suggestion by Burette, systems. In the Enharmonic scale, 
 who admitted, his imperfect know- one string took up the relinquished 
 ledge of the Greek system. The place of another, so there were still 
 musical sense is clear, although three notes alike in all tetrachords. 
 Burette did not see it. Plutarch That is what Burette did not 
 can only mean that there was no observe. Herr Volkmann should sea 
 sound peculiar to amy of the three that the text of Plutarch be re- 
 genera, and that what he calls the stored in the next edition, both here 
 " Eijiarmonio " of Olympus, was and in the case before pointed out. 
 simply composed of the three " Aristoxenus, p. 44^, Meibom's 
 sounds of the Diatonic scale, which edit., and BucUd, p. 9, lin. ult. 
 three were retained in aU the three 
 
THE TRUE ENHARMONIC. 125 
 
 Olympus, who, according to Plutarch, was a flute- 
 player of Phrygian extraction, " must have flourished 
 a short time after Terpander," says Miiller" — in other 
 words, after Egypt had been thrown open to the 
 Greeks. To have found out the defects of those two 
 notes, a man must have had the Octave system in 
 his ear. It is to be remarked that the Chromatic, 
 as well as the Enharmonic, omits the Fourth and 
 minor Seventh, and that the Chromatic was 
 admittedly older than Olympus. Those two notes 
 have been shunned by susceptible ears i^ simple 
 melody, in all ages. When the ancient Chromatic 
 and Enharmonic scales fell out of use, we may he 
 sure that music had advanced beyond simple unaided 
 melody into the stage of accompanying the voice with 
 vaiied harmony. 
 
 Now, as to the reason for the introduction of an 
 Enharmonic quarter-tone. While the Chromatic 
 scale made a skip downwards of a minor Third, (as 
 from key-note A to F #,) the Enharmonic made the 
 greater skip of a major Third, (as from A to F t]). 
 But there was a string already upon that note, and 
 the question would naturally arise as to what should 
 be done with the unemployed string. It was not 
 required where it stood, and there remained but the 
 interval of one semitone into which it could be 
 packed. So the otherwise useless string was 
 eventually placed at a quarter-tone between the two 
 strings, to give an occasional grace-note. That is 
 the simple origin of quarter-tones in Greek music. 
 It could not have been employed practically in any 
 other way than as a grace-note. 
 
 "As to the quarter-tones," says Aristoxenus, 
 
 " Literature of Greece, p. 202. 
 
126 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 " no voice could sing three of them ia succession," 
 (p. 53,) "neither can the singer sing less than a 
 quarter-tone correctly, nor the hearer judge of it," 
 (p. 14). There are numerous comments upon the 
 quarter-tone to this effect, and to its unfitness for 
 harmony. When, therefore, we read of the Enhar- 
 monic genus having been so much in use before the 
 time of Aristoxenus, as almost to exclude the other 
 genera, we should think of it as of an ordinary scale 
 without either Fourth or Seventh, adding only 
 thereto the possibility of an attempt at a quarter- 
 tone by the singer. 
 
 "As to the intermediate quarter-tones of the 
 modern Enharmonic," says Plutarch, " these do not 
 seem to have constituted any part of the invention 
 of Olympus, and the difference between the two 
 methods may be immediately perceived by any one, 
 on hearing a piece played in the ancient manner ; 
 as, in that case, no division is made of the semitone." 
 He adds that "the division of the semitone came 
 afterwards into use in the Lydian and Phrygian 
 modes." It might have been suspected in the 
 Lydian only, for such a refinement was best fitted 
 for tearful, or very amatory ditties. 
 
 When Aristoxenus complains that his predecessors 
 had taught only the Enharmonic division of the 
 scale, and the compass of but one Octave, it is to 
 be understood in a general sense, and of immediate 
 predecessors only. In proof, Archytas of Tarentum, 
 the cotemporary of Plato, defined the three genera, 
 and suggested a new division of the intervals, which 
 has been preserved by Claudius Ptolemy. (Lib. i. 
 cap. 13.) Plato did not limit himself to one genus ; 
 neither did Aristotle. Nor can it be understood of 
 
HABMONIA AND ENHARMONIA. 127 
 
 still earlier men, such as PMlolaos, from wliom 
 quotations have been here given. 
 
 When the Enharmonic system was greatly in 
 vogue in Greece, it took the name of Harmonia, 
 as if the only system of Music. Aristoxenus, who 
 complains of this, himself calls it "Harmonia" at 
 the beginning of his treatise (pages 2, 7, and 8), 
 and Enharmonia at pages 19, 21, 24, 25, and 26. 
 In the last-named page, he uses Harmonia once, 
 and Enharmonia thrice. Aristoxenus entitles his 
 own treatise Harmonike,'^ and that became eventually 
 the more general name for "Music proper," and 
 prevented confusion between the two meanings of 
 the earher word. Aristotle seems occasionally to 
 have used Harmonia, where it is to be understood 
 of only the one branch, viz., Enharmonia ; but, at 
 other times, he distinguishes that system by its 
 more limited name of Enharmonia, as in Problem 
 XV. of Sect. 19. It is not always possible to tell 
 which of the two may have been intended by him. 
 Euclid draws the line between the two words. '' 
 
 After the time of Aristoxenus, there was little 
 else than complaint in the opposite direction, viz., 
 that the Enharmonic and Chromatic scales were 
 neglected, and that nothing but the Diatonic was 
 used. This continued tiU Greece fell under the 
 dominion of the Romans, who may be said to have 
 employed no other than Diatonic scales. 
 
 There were certain variations from the usual 
 Diatonic and Chromatic scales, through a different 
 tuning of the intervals. These were called Chroai, 
 
 ^ 'Apiaro^ivov 'A()iwviKi!iv StoixUihv ^ As " sv jjiiv ap/wviif oi ivapfiovioi" 
 
 Trpws-ov, and in the first sentence, (p. V-). and " ivap/iiviov Sk, ro rg 
 rrjv apiutvuefiv Kd\ovfievrjv. Ivapiiovtip" — (p. 9). 
 
128 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 or shades of colour. The notice of them by 
 Aristoxenus proves that mathematicians had been 
 at work, at an early date, to obtain new sounds 
 from the scale; but, owing to the vague Aristoxenian 
 mode of describing the notes as thirds, or quarters 
 of tones, we cannot tell what mathematical proportions 
 were adopted, except through the comparatively 
 late work of Claudius Ptolemy, who preserves the 
 divisions of Archytas, of Eratosthenes, and of 
 Didymus. Neither the Octave itself, nor any 
 musical interval within it, is divisible into equal 
 parts ; therefore, thirds and quarters of tones never 
 were, and never could be ; but there was an approach 
 to those proportions in some of the scales. 
 
 The Diatonic had two Chroai, or shades, viu., 
 the Diatonon suntonon, {" strained tight,") or called 
 simply Diatonon, it being the chief characteristic of 
 the genus, as before described, and the Diatonon 
 malakon, or " Soft" Diatonic, in which the forefiiiger 
 string was relaxed about a quarter of a tone, so as to 
 leave, roughly speaking, only three-quarters of a tone 
 between it and the next lower string, instead of a 
 tone. Plato aUudes to these two kinds of Diatonic ; 
 therefore even the second of them must have had an 
 early origiti. 
 
 The Chromatic had three Chrdai, or shades. 
 First, the ordinary Chroma, or Chroma . tonalon, 
 before described. Secondly, the Chroma hemi6lion, or 
 Sesquialteral Chromatic, in which intervals of about 
 three-eighths of a tone (an eighth added to each 
 quarter-tone) were substituted for the semitones ; 
 and thirdly. Chroma mahMn, or Soft Chromatic, 
 in which intervals of about a third of a tone were 
 similarly employed. 
 
THE CHROAI, OR MODIFIED SCALES. 129 
 
 There was but one Enharmomc. 
 
 To know only thfe proportions of one Fourth, in 
 a Greek scale, is a sufficient index to the composition 
 of the entire two-octave scale ; because, at the base 
 of each Octave was a "diazeuctic," or major tone, and 
 after it, two conjunct tetrachords completed the Octave 
 iu our form, i.fi., counting it upwards from the key-note. 
 
 To show the divisions of one of these tetrachords, 
 without fractions, the plan of Claudius Ptolemy 
 (hb i. gap. 13,) is here adopted in preference to 
 that of Aristoxenus, or of Euchd. — (Introductio 
 Harmonica, pp. 11, 12.) 
 
 Aristoxenus and Euchd count six for a semitone, 
 and twelve for a tone ; so that a Fourth, being 
 made up of two tones and a semitone, counted as 
 30. Ptolemy doubled those numbers, because the 
 Sesquialteral Chromatic must otherwise have been 
 expressed by 4^. With him, therefore, a quarter- 
 tone, (or Enharmonic diesis,) is 6 ; a semitone is 
 12 ; and a tone 24 ; thus representing the complete 
 tetrachord by 60. 
 
 The six scales are here placed side by side to 
 facihtate comparison, although the three principals, 
 here in larger letters, have already been explamed. 
 
 DIATONIC (Didtononmntonon)... 12, 24, 24=60. 
 
 Soft Diatonic" ...{Diatonon malakon)... 12, 18, 30=60. 
 
 CHROMATIC ...{Ghrma tonaion) ... 12, 12, 36=60. 
 
 Soft Csrouaiic... {Chroma malakon) ... 8, 8, 44=60. 
 
 SuSQUIALTERAIi 
 
 Cheomatio ( Chroma hemidlion) ... 9, 9,42=60. 
 
 ENHAEMONIC 6, 6,48=60. 
 
 ' The word "Diatonic" has Rather, then, from dia and the 
 
 usually been derived from dia and verb, teino, to stretch ; the movable 
 
 tonos, from the scale passing strings being of higher tension than 
 
 through five tones ; but that would in other genera — "iiruBv (KpoSponpov 
 
 not apply to the soft Diatonic. ij ^invii kut airo SiaTeiviTcu." 
 
 K 
 
130 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 Aristides QuintUianus describes six other scales 
 as Entarmonic, whickj according td all earlier 
 autliorities, are rarxed modes, having Enharmonic 
 quarter-tones. He reports them as "very ancient."* 
 The internal evidence of this treatise shows that 
 Meibom ascribed too remote a date to the writer. 
 Meibom seems to have been desirous of magnifying 
 the importance of the addition he was about to 
 make to musical history, by b^g the first to 
 publish Aristides' treatise. He ranks the author as 
 preceding Claudius Ptolemy, quite overlooking the 
 fact that he borrows the above division of the scale 
 into 60 parts from Ptolemy. I can hardly suppose 
 Aristides QuintUianus to have lived earlier than in 
 the fourth century, and more probably a century 
 or two nearer to our own time. In the first place, 
 he is the only Greek writer who places G and 
 Gjf at the base of his scale. '' As to this G, (which 
 mediaeval writers distinguished as Gamma, because 
 there was already a capital letter, G, an Octave 
 above it, in the ecclesiastical scale,) Guide describes 
 it as a "note added by the moderns." Next, 
 Aristides must surely have lived when all scales 
 but the one common Diatonic were forgotten. He 
 would not otherwise have misinterpreted Plato in 
 a musical term relating to one of the forgotten 
 scales ; or suppose that he intended to apply the 
 adjective, s4ntonon, to an Enharmonic division of 
 the tetrachord, when there was but one Enharmonic. 
 
 » "Ale K«' "' traw irdkaioraTOi 25 of Meibom'a translation.) At 
 
 Trpic riiQ apfioviag KEXpijvrai." — (p. p. 27, Aristides marks this Gamma 
 
 21, 1. 4.) of Churoli scales by a double square- 
 
 ^ "Si, qui omnium est gravissi- shaped Omega; and the G- sharp 
 
 mus, Hypodorium per tonum in half a tone above it, in the next 
 
 grave remittamus, ipsum Omega line of double signs, by double Chi, 
 
 sumimus notarum principium." — (p. with a stroke through each. 
 
ARISTIDES QtriNTILIANFS. 131 
 
 The Enharmonic is tlie very opposite to siintonon, 
 viz., the malakotaton of all scales — ^the first meaning 
 tightly di'awn, and the second the softest or most 
 relaxed in the tuning." Plato refers to the two 
 kinds of Diatonic-Lydian, and, therefore, he adds 
 the otherwise unnecessary prefix of suntonon to the 
 principal one, and applies malakon to the other.'' 
 
 The Enharmonic scale, to which Aristides Quin- 
 tnianus has given the name of Suntono-Lydian, is 
 what every other Greek writer, early and late, has 
 termed Hypo-Lydian ; and the inference to be 
 drawn is, that the mistake originated with the 
 copyist of the old manuscript which he used, and 
 that he lived at too late a period to detect it. 
 He himself says that the Enharmonic scale is 
 indivisible (p. 133) ; therefore, there cannot have 
 been any second kind, and no prefix to the name 
 could be required. 
 
 A third argument for the late date of this author 
 is, that his system of musical notation has many 
 changes from the system of Alypius, so that the one 
 will not serve throughout to explain the other. The 
 
 ° " ^uvTOvioTOTq Stdrovig tariv." — of the passage is this. If you take 
 
 (Aiistox., p. 25. See also Euclid, p. your key note, and principal note, 
 
 11, and Claud. Ptolemy, p. 30, fol.) so high as tenor "g," or tenor "f " 
 
 Aristides Quintilianus' description sharp, (i.e., Mixo-Lydian, or tightly- 
 
 of scales, at p. 20 of his treatise, tuned Lydian, ) you make mournful 
 
 agrees with the preceding diagram, music {BptiviiScie ap/ioviai). Even 
 
 and there are to be found both the with the relasced tunings of "f " and 
 
 suntonon and the malakdn didtonon, of " f " sharp, (soft laatian and soft 
 
 but no other kinds of sOjntcmon. Lydian, ) your tones are still either 
 
 b " TiW f obv BprpiiiSfiQ apjxov'uu; effeminate, or as if excited by wine. 
 
 . . . Mi^oXviiori, l^ij, Koi ffuwovo- You should bring down the pitch of 
 
 XuJiori (cat TOicdiTai nvtg . . . Ttveg your music more within the natural 
 
 oiij' fiakweai « Kai (TvinroTucai tuv compass of man's voice to fit it for 
 
 apiiovidv; 'laari, f/v 5" 8f , Kai Xvdurri, the utterance of warlike men — 
 
 dlnviQ x^^P"' Kakmnirai." — (Re- Dorian and Phrygian (D and E), are 
 
 public, Ub. iii. 399 a.) The meaning alone snited for them. 
 
 k2 
 
132 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 system of Aristides Quintilianus is a universal one for 
 all modes, and he gives the notation for every semitone 
 in the entire scale." This is a great improvement, 
 but one unknown to Boethius, wlio wrote ia the sixth 
 century — yet Aristides does not give it as his own 
 system, or as any novelty, but as the recognised plan. 
 
 The date that Meibom has assigned to him has 
 been so universally adopted by the learned, that it 
 has become necessarj^to show cause for dissent. The 
 Bcal^ that Aristides %§rmed Silntono-Lydian in the 
 ancient set of scales may be seen to be Hypo- 
 Lydian, by having its key-note on the third 
 ascending string of its Octave on the lyre. 
 
 Scales were hardly Meibom's forte, or else he 
 would have discovered this to be Hypo-Lydian. In 
 his notes upon EucHd he formed a set of scales so 
 erroneously as to base the tetrachords upon the 
 inner movable strings, instead of upon the outer, 
 fixed sounds. Again, in his comments upon this 
 author, he tells the reader that the two most ancient 
 tetrachords were joined together' by one string 
 common to both, and that it was called Hypate 
 Meson^ "the lowest of the middle tetrachord." 
 Aristotle says that the string was Mese. It is 
 clear that Meibom had not read Aristotle's Problems, 
 and was guessing. . In the following scales his con- 
 jectural emendations are not infrequently in the 
 wrong places, as he might have discovered if he had 
 drawn out a diagram of them, according to their 
 key-notes on the lyre. The text of Aristides is 
 undoubtedly very faulty in the copy Meibom used," 
 
 ■ See p. 27. ■= The Harleian MS., No. 5691, of 
 
 * Notes on Aristides Qnint., p. 15th century, would supply some 
 209, col. 1-. 6. emendations. 
 
SCALES OF DOUBTFUL AUTHENTICTTY. 
 
 133 
 
 but still, all scales were formed according to 
 laws about wMcb tbere is no disagreement among 
 ancient writers. 
 
 Tbe following are the six "ancient" scales of 
 Aristides according to the inaccurate revision of 
 Meibom. The figure of 
 Enharmonic diesis or quarter-tone : — 
 
 ^ is intended for the 
 
 COEKUPTED MIXED SCALES. 
 
 Lydian 
 
 DOBIAIT 
 
 Phbygian 
 
 Iasiian 
 
 Mko-Lydian 
 
 Syntono-Lydian .. 
 
 2 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 1* 
 
 In the above, the Dorian interval to its key-note 
 is in its right place, as fourth of the series, accord- 
 ing with the text. It has an ascent of two tones 
 from the forefinger string, and its diazeuctic tone is 
 next above it. But the Phrygian is in the wrong 
 place. It should be on the string next above the 
 Dorian, and so pne degree to the right in the scale. 
 Meibom added one of the above quarter-tones to 
 fiU up its Octave, so as to make it agree with 
 another line in the text, but he ought to have 
 placed the added quarter-tone to the left, instead of 
 to the right, of the key-note. As it now stands, 
 Dorian and Phrygian key-notes are on one string, 
 which was impossible. The curious may pursue the 
 analysis further by comparing the Greek text with 
 
134 
 
 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 his translation at p. 21, and with, the diagram at 
 p. 22.* I subjoin the principal seven Enharmonic 
 scales according to their proper order. The diagonal 
 line from one figure of 2 to another shows the ascent 
 to the Mese, or key-note of each, and its diaeeuctic 
 tone is in the next division to the right of it. 
 
 The lastian has no place in the following, because 
 it could only occupy the position of one of the seven 
 scales already figured ; and it was for such reasons 
 that Claudius Ptolemy recommended the reduction 
 of the number of scales to seven : — 
 
 TKUE ENHARMONIC SCALES. 
 
 Mixo-Lydian 
 
 Lydiau 
 
 Pheygiaju 
 
 DoRIiN 
 
 Hypo-Lydian 
 
 Hypo-Phhygian . . • 
 Hypo-Doeian ...... 
 
 y. 
 
 K 
 
 7. 
 
 Vi 
 
 7 
 
 "/. 
 
 The value of the treatise of Aristides Quintihanus 
 is but little affected by a slip about ancient fanciful 
 scales, and as to a musical term which had fallen 
 
 » The text is very faulty^ and 
 Meibom found it necessary to inter- 
 pose many intervals in order to make 
 one part agree with another. Thus 
 he twice changed the word " tone" 
 into "Ditone," in the Lydian scale. 
 Again, he added a dk'e<i«, or quarter- 
 
 tone, to thePhrygian ; the same to the 
 Mixo-Lydian; and the final Ditone 
 to what is called Syntono-Lydian. 
 These alterations will be seen by 
 comparimg the Greek text at p. 21 
 with his Latin translation, and by 
 his notes upon it. 
 
DIAGRAM OP ENHARMONIC SCALES. 135 
 
 into disuse at the time when he was writing. It 
 wotild not be impossible, even now, to find. a very- 
 learned man who conld not define a musical scale 
 of Chaucer's age, and who might, perhaps, be 
 puzzled with one even of the time of Queen 
 Elizabeth. 
 
136 . 
 
 CHAPTEE VII. 
 
 Greek Harmony. — Fetis's professed solution. — A passage in Plato 
 re-considered. — Music in Greek education. — Practice of discords 
 mixed with concords — Horace. — Seneca's description of music in 
 an amphitheatre. — Cicero on harmony. — The modern controversy 
 about ancient harmony. — The distinguished men engaged in it. 
 
 No subject connected with ancient music lias been 
 discussed with more earnestness, or at greater 
 length, than as to whether the Greeks did, or did 
 not, practise simultaneous consonances, and intermix 
 them with discords; thus making harmony in the 
 modern technical sense of the word. 
 
 The great discussion arose in the seventeenth 
 century, from the discovery that the Greek word, 
 Harmonia, is not a synonyme for simultaneous 
 concordant sounds ; although the world had been 
 taught to regard it in that Hght, aijd had 
 incorporated it into modern languages in that 
 sense. So far the discoverers were right, for 
 Symphonia is the Greek word for consonance." 
 But then, instead of pursuing the inquiry by 
 comparing Greek definitions of Harmonia, some 
 of the disputants jumped to the hasty conclusion 
 that the word had, at no time, the sense of 
 simultaneous consonances, but meant only " a 
 succession of intervals, in single notes, according 
 
 * There are numberleas definitiona here cited from Euclid : — ' ' 'Ban ii 
 
 of SympJwnia aiid Diaphonia, or av/i^bivia jdv KpaauQ dio ^Boyyuyv, 
 
 concord and discord, i.e., differing iS,vTkpov saX fiapviipov ' Aia^iovia Si 
 
 sounds that mix and please the ear, Tovvavriov Svo ipBoyyiav aju^ia, firi 
 
 and' sounds that grate upon it. uVW rt KpaOfjvai, aWd Tpaxuv&rjvm 
 
 Several have already appeared t^v dmiiv" — (p. 8). 
 incidentally, but one more may be 
 
HAEMONIA, MEANING MUSIC. 137 
 
 to their scale." Next, they defined Melodia as "a 
 succession of sounds, according to time, measure, 
 and cadence ;" and, thirdly, Symphonia as "differing 
 only from Harmonia and Melodia in that its 
 sequences were limited to such intervals as would 
 make up Fourths, Fifths, and Octaves ; and that 
 it did not permit any intermixture of Seconds, 
 Thirds, Sixths, or Sevenths." So they denied 
 simultaneous consonance even to Symphonia. 
 
 Thus, from a promising opening, the investigators 
 rushed into error in the opposite extreme. If the 
 enquiry had been pursued in the only proper way, 
 by searching for, and comparing, Greek definitions of 
 Harmonia, its meaning would inevitably have been 
 traced to be the Theory and Practice of Music, 
 and identical with the later word, Harmonike. 
 Harmonia includes poetry united with music,' but 
 not poetry alone, and so it has a more restricted 
 sense than Mousike. Again, the chanting of 
 poetry, though unregulated by musical intervals, 
 is Melodia, and the metre of the poetry brings it 
 within the denomination of Mousike; but it is 
 not Harmonia. So that the primary translation 
 of the word Harmonia is our "Music." 
 
 The original question might, at any time, have 
 been settled by referring to the precise explanation 
 of Harmonia, by Philolaos. The only point to have 
 been recollected was that, in the time of Philolaos, 
 Greek science and Greek practice were limited to 
 an Octave ; and that any other Octave could be 
 but a repetition of the first. Therefore, as Plutarch 
 
 * "'Ap/iovta Sk TO IK ip96yyii>v xal Keiske's edit. See aJso Aristides 
 
 SuKSTHinaTuni . . juxOivToiv Si tovtw, Quiutiliaims, p. 91. Eupolis gave 
 
 ifSii yivtrai Kat jiiXog." — (Plutarch to Harmonia the name of 'Apfioyii, 
 
 Comment, on Timcetts, p. 252, says PoUux — (lib iv. cap. 8.) 
 
138 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 says, Pythagoras limited the science of Harmonia 
 to the sounds that are within an Octave. 
 
 The passage in Philolaos was probably passed 
 by and neglected, on account of the difficulty of 
 understanding its technicalities. To those who had 
 not learned anything of Greek music, some of the 
 words would not have been intelligible. 
 
 Although it is popularly supposed . that men 
 who undertake to write about Greek music are 
 acquainted with some of the elementary treatises, 
 the controversy about Harmonia clearly proves 
 that many of the disputants had not thought it 
 necessary. The passage from Philolaos might have 
 been found, quoted by Nicomachus ; and his treatise 
 is included in the collection of Greek authors 
 upon music, edited by Meibom, and printed in 
 1652. Therefore, the extract was perfectly accessible, 
 and every one might have read it for himself. 
 
 The controversy has been carried on intermittingly 
 for fuU two hundred years. In the last century 
 English scholars engaged warmly in it, but among 
 them, some, rather to show their powers of argument 
 and classic lore, than from any reasonable expectation 
 of throwing new light upon the meaning; for the 
 Greek authors upon music had formed no part of 
 their reading. In the present century, the discus- 
 sion has been going on chiefly in France, in Belgium, 
 and in Germany. It is not even yet concluded ; for, 
 since the harmony of the ancients must form the 
 subject of the present chapter, it becomes necessary 
 to controvert the strange hallucinations of the latest 
 writer upon ancient mu&ic — F, J. Fetis, of whose 
 History a third and posthumous volume has been 
 recently announced. 
 
F^TIS ON GREEK MUSIC. 139 
 
 The theory of F^tis was perhaps peculiar to 
 himself. It was that the Greeks had no other 
 simultaneous harmony than an uninterrupted suc- 
 cession of Fourths, a similar succession of Fifths, or 
 a succession of Octaves. 
 
 This would bring the polished Greeks down to the 
 barbarian level of Hucbald, ia the middle ages. 
 Such a theory is in absolute contradiction to Plato 
 and to Aristotle — two authors whose works seem only 
 to have entered into F^tis's reading, if at all, through 
 the medium of translations, many of which are not 
 remarkable for accuracy as to the musical parts of 
 those authors. The slender peg upon which Fdtis 
 hung his extraordinary theory was not derived from 
 any Greek author, but from two Unes of Horace. 
 Further than this, not only was the idea borrowed, 
 but even the author was misinterpreted. 
 
 As F^tis held the high position of Director of the 
 Conservatoire of Music in Brussels, he was looked up 
 to as of some authority, and his fluent writings seem 
 to have had a larger share of currency in France 
 than those of learned French and Belgian writers. 
 He says, in his Biographie Universelle des Musiciens, 
 in which he devotes twenty-five columns to his own 
 Ufe, and but three and a-half to that of Auber, that 
 he wrote the musical articles for three French 
 joTimals at the same time, and often penned three 
 criticisms in a night upon one new work, and aU 
 from different points of view. Add to the three 
 journals the Biographie des Mv^iciens, in which he 
 included living authors and composers, as well as 
 the dead, and we have a formidable man ; one not 
 to be needlessly provoked by musicians who hoped 
 for favourable report of their works, either with 
 
140 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 tlieir cotemporaries or \vith posterity. This must 
 surely have been one reason why his extraordinary 
 vagaries were allowed to have such free sway. 
 
 F^tis wrote upon the music of all styles and all 
 ages, but it is only with his theories about ancient 
 music that I have here any concern. 
 
 In Greek music, F^tis had the courage to correct 
 Aristoxenus and other Greeks, as well as Josephus 
 upon Hebrew words and upon Jewish musical 
 instruments. F^tis was quite persuaded that 
 Aristoxenus, Juba, and other great writers, did not 
 understand Greek musical instruments, but that he, 
 who seems not to have known the forms of the Greek 
 letters sufficiently to look out a word ia a Lexicon, 
 could set them all right.* He had evidently arrived 
 at the age when certain men consider them- 
 selves infaUible — an age that has hardly been 
 sufficiently recognised ; indeed, the symptoms have 
 not always been so strongly developed as in the late 
 M. Fdtis. We have a proverb that " young men 
 think old men fools, but old men Icnow that young 
 men are so." For that we must have been indebted 
 to an infallible. Fdtis asserted his claims as early 
 as 1850. He then announced in his journal that 
 " he would give the definite solution to the 
 difficulties before which the genius, and learning 
 ■of the greatest men, such as Descartes, Leibnitz, 
 Newton, d'Alembert, Euler, and Lagrange, had 
 succumbed.'"* 
 
 F^tis has a new way of making Greek tetrachords. 
 
 ' Histoire Oerierale de la Mmique, homines, tels qui Descartes, Leib- 
 
 i. 38.3 to 386. 8vo. 1869. nitz, Newton, d'Alembert, Euler, et 
 
 •>" La solution definitive de diffi- Lagrange." — (Gazette Musicak, 10 
 
 cultfe devant lesquelles ont ^chou6 Mars. 1850. No. 10, p. 79.) 
 le genie et le savoir des plus grands 
 
PiTIS CORRECTING GREEK AUTHORS. 141 
 
 It differs wholly from that of any of the Greek 
 authors. They all made tetrachords to consist of 
 two tones and a half, but his are only of two 
 tones."' He can only have attained to his own 
 system by inspiration ; for there has been nothing 
 like it, either before or since. He is equally 
 original in his teaching about the present musical 
 scale. In writing the memoir of Boethius, ("Bofece,") 
 he praises him for not having adopted "the false 
 proportions of Didymus and of Ptolemy." If we 
 grant that F^tis may be supposed to have knovra. 
 what he was writing about, he recommends the 
 world to give up consonant major and minor Thirds, 
 and to return to the discordant Thirds, or Ditones, 
 of Pythagoras. 
 
 These are slight samples of the peculiar teaching 
 of the author of the most recently pubhshed general 
 history of music. His horror of mathematicians in 
 music is sufficiently proved by the careful way in 
 which he singles out the greatest of them for his 
 supposed triumph. Didymus and Ptolemy were 
 mathematicians as well as the other great men 
 named. F^tis felt no need of mathematicians. He 
 could, and did, write books on the theory of music, 
 without having even troubled himself to learn the 
 proportions of musical intervals, or the laws of 
 natural sounds. 
 
 F^tis ascribes to the Greeks two different systems 
 of music at different periods — one for those who 
 
 " His first attempt at tetraohord quarters of a tone, one quarter, and 
 
 making was by quarter-tone, quarter-, one tone, again making only two 
 
 tone, and tone and half, making tones, instead of two and a half." — 
 
 two tones. His second by two- (Eipcmse d, M. F&is, et Refutation 
 
 thirds of a tone, two-thirds, and de son M&moire, par A. J. H. 
 
 two thirds, (six -thirds, ) also making Vincent, Membra de I'lnatitut, p. 
 
 two. His third attempt, three- 21. Lille. 8vo. 1859.) 
 
142 THE HISTORY OP MTJSIC. 
 
 lived from the time of Pythagoras to that of 
 Aristoxenus, when, accordiBg to him, all was plaia 
 song or "Gregorian music;" and, for those Greeks 
 who had the good luck to be born at later dates, 
 he allows such charms of harmony as successions 
 of Fourths, and successions of Fifths. This un- 
 complimentary theory has no support from any 
 Greek author. Fdtis derived the idea that he thus 
 harped upon from Claude Perrault, one of the 
 numerous disputants about ancient harmony in the 
 seventeenth century; and Perrault took his idea 
 from misunderstanding two lines of an epode of 
 Horace. 
 
 Sonante mixtum tibiis carmen lyra, 
 Hae Dorium, illis barbarum. 
 
 F^tis pursued the " illis barbarum " all round the 
 circle, till he had proved, to his own satisfaction, 
 that "barbarum" must mean the Mixo-Lydian mode, 
 and that it was simultaneously employed with the 
 Dorian, (or the keys of G and D together,) so as 
 to make perpetual Fourths ; or else it was Dorian 
 and Hyper-Phrygian (D and A,) so as to make a 
 constant succession of Fifths. 
 
 It is clear that Perrault had not read Aristotle's 
 19th Section of Problems, in which it is said, over 
 and over again, that the Greeks did not sing 
 sequences of Fourths, and did not sing successions 
 of Fifths.* As to the two lines of Horace, we shall 
 refer to them again, but will no farther follow M. 
 F^tis through his "positive solution of the difficulties 
 
 ' In Problems xvii.,xviii., xxxix. ^Sovmv avri^tova." In Prob. xviii., 
 
 and xl. of Sect. 19, where it is " Aid tI ■^ SiA iraauiv miujiioiia ^hmi 
 
 either " Ai Si iv Tip Sii irtvri Koi SiA fiovr); nayaSiZovvi yap TaiiTip/, aKkrjV 
 
 reaadpiav oiic t^ovinv oiirws," or, "oiic Si oiSifuav." 
 
A PASSAGE IN PLATO. 143 
 
 before which genius and learning had succumbed," 
 than to take one passage that he employed, through 
 the medium of an indifferent translation of Plato, 
 to show that it has the directly opposite meaning 
 to that for which he employed it. 
 
 The translation adopted by Fetis was one by 
 Victor Cousin ;"^ and, to strengthen pubHc belief in 
 it as an authority, he added that Cousin was 
 assisted by Nicolo Poulo, a Greek of Smyrna, who 
 was employed in the library of the Institut de 
 France. Also that Poulo was "fort instruit dans 
 la musique." Nevertheless, it does not follow that 
 he should have understood the technicaHties of 
 ancient music, and it appears so, almost at the first 
 word ; for, where Plato recommended the lyre " to 
 he played in unison with the voice," (so as to guide 
 the learner to the right notes,) Poulo missed the 
 sense of the word proschorda, which means " a string 
 in. unison." Again, to suppose that Plato could have 
 intended "to estabhsh symphony and antiphony 
 between density and rarity, and between quickness 
 and slowness," imagines some peculiar process quite 
 unknown to the moderns. Whately says : " As 
 muddy water is likely to be thought deeper than 
 it is, from your not being able to see to the bottom, 
 while water that is very clear always looks' shallower 
 than it is ; so, in language, obscurity is often mistaken 
 for depth." That seems to have formed the reliance 
 of the translator in his rendering of this passage. 
 It may have been a crux, because it goes a little 
 more deeply into ancient music than the modems 
 have usually pursued the subject. 
 
 The following is an attempt to give the sense of 
 the author rather than the most literal translation, 
 
144 
 
 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 because a trifling amplification promises to render 
 it more generally intelligible to those who have hot 
 taken up the subject of ancient music. The original 
 and Cousin's translations are subjoined in a note.* 
 Plato says : " On this account, therefore, both the 
 player on the Kithara and the learner ought to 
 avail themselves of the sounds of the lyre, for the 
 sake of the exactitude of its notes, to play in unison 
 with the voice, note for note. But, as for playing 
 different passages and flourishes upon the lyre, when 
 the notes for the instrument vary from those 
 intended for the voice — or, when close intervals of 
 the Chromatic and Enharmonic scales are opposed 
 to the wider intervals of the Diatonic'' — also, when 
 
 » "TovTiav Toivvv Set ■)(apiv toXq 
 ^floyyoie TfJQ \vpag Trpoaxprjadai, 
 oa^vdag htiKa rStv x^P^^'^t t'ov re 
 KSapurrriv Kui tov ■n'aiSivofisvov, 
 anoSiSovTOQ irpotrxopBa ra ipOkyfiara 
 Toie pOkyfiaai ' rriv Sk mpo^uiviav Kai 
 TToueiKiav r^g \vpag, aXKa jxtv jisKri 
 Twv xop^wv UiffutVf a^Xa Sk tov rrfv 
 fu\tf)Siav SKvOkfTog iroirfrov, ml Sn 
 Kai irvKVOTTiTa )mv6rrin, Kal raxog 
 jipadvTrin, Kai bi.intr"- /3apwr))ri 
 ^Vfupiavov Kai avri<puivov irapexofiivovg, 
 Kai tSjv pvQfiwv b}tTavTiag TTavTodaird 
 TTOixiXjmra wpoaapfidTTOvrag roiai 
 (j>96yyoig Trjg \ipag " iravra oiv tu 
 ToiaVTU fiii Trptapspiiv ToZg /liXhovnv 
 iv Tpvaiv hiai ri Trig pmiirue^g xpffi^ftov 
 lKXrpj/ta9ai SiA raxovg • to. yAp 
 kvavTia aXXjjXa TapaTTOVTa dvafjiaSiav 
 Trapsx"-"— (Plato De Legg., lib. vii. 
 cap. 16, or H, Stephens, 812, D.) 
 " C'est done dans la nigme vue que 
 le maltre de lyre et son ilkve doivent 
 jouer de cet instrument, i la cause 
 de la nettet^ du son des cordes, et en 
 se contentant de rendre iidyement 
 les sons marques par le compositeur. 
 Quant aux variations sur la lyre, 
 
 loTsque la lyre execute certains 
 traits que ne sont pas dans la com- 
 position, qu'on ^tablit la symphonic 
 et I'antiphonie entre la density et la 
 raret^, la vitesse et la lenteur, 
 I'aigu et le grave, et qu'on arrange 
 aiusi sur la lyre toute sorte de 
 variations rhythmiques, il n'est 
 pas besoin d'exercer k toutes ces 
 finesses des enfants qui n'ont que 
 trois ans pour apprendre," &c.— 
 (F^tia Memoire swr I'ffarmtmie 
 sm,uUa7i4e, &c., p. 12, 4to; Brussels, 
 1859, quoting (Euvres de Platon, 
 traduites par Victor Cousin, Les 
 Lois, liv. vii. p. 59.) 
 
 •> Here, in the two words, truKvo- 
 njra fuivoTtin, Plato compresses 
 much substance. Three strings out 
 of the four of every tetrachord in 
 the Chromatic and in the Enhar- 
 monic scales, being brought closely 
 together, were at compressed inter- 
 vals, therefore were puhnoi. By 
 lowering the forefinger string in 
 these scales, there remained but the 
 intervals of two semitones between 
 the lowest three strings in the 
 
Plato's directions foe, teaching boys. 145 
 
 there are qiiick to slow, or higli to low notes, thus 
 making varied harmony, or running together ia 
 Octaves. And in Uke manner, as to adapting 
 the manifold diversities of rhythm to the notes of 
 the lyre, it is unnecessary that all these things 
 should be learned by those who have to acquire a 
 serviceable knowledge of the art and science of 
 music within three years, on account of the speed 
 that is demanded — for opposite principles, confusing 
 one another, cause slowness ia learning."* 
 
 Three years would not have been reqviired only 
 to learn to accompany the voice in. unison with the 
 lyre. That was but one branch of Harmonia, and 
 Harmonia itself but one branch of that Mousike, 
 from which we have taken the word "Music," 
 through the Latin Musica. Mousike was reputed 
 by the Greeks to be the "encyclopaedia of learning.'"* 
 
 Although, in the course of general education, 
 boys were only taught so far as to play in unison 
 with the voice, the Greeks practised every variety 
 of vocal accompaniment. Aristotle's opinion was 
 
 Chromatic, and but of two quarter- highest. — (Aristoxenus, p. 50.) 
 tones in the Enharmonic. Then the Manotes, on the contrary, refers to 
 lowest strings of all, in each tetra- scantiness of notes, through the 
 chord, were called barupuhnoi, the width of the intervals, and includes 
 next above them mesopuJmoi, and the Diatonic scales, as opposed to 
 forefinger strings, oaaupuknoi. — (See Chromatic and Enharmonic. The 
 Euclid, pp. 6, 7, 14. ) 'iSiov Sk lari short sense of the two Greek words, 
 Tov ^ev ivapfioviov Kal Tov ^titfiartKOv TrvKvoTTira fiavoTTjri, is *' close 
 ri KaXovjievov twkvov. — (Ptolemy, intervtils against wide ones." 
 p. 30, fol.) So Plato includes those ° The late Dean Alford also mis- 
 two systems in one word. There took the meaning of this passage, 
 were no puimoi in Diatonic scales. See his article upon Ancient Greek 
 — (Euclid, p. 14. ) The definition of Music in the Philological Museum, 
 piiknotes was when the forefinger vol. ii. p. 437. 
 
 string was so lowered that the '>' "tS.ovaixiivTnv iyKvickiovTraiSiiav 
 
 interval between the three lowest fqai." — (Scholiast on lines 188 and 
 
 of the tetrachord was less than \9i9m. The Knighta of Aristophanes.) 
 between the forefinger and the one 
 
146 THE HISTORY OP MUSIC. 
 
 that " all consonances are more pleasing than simple 
 sounds," and he justly adds that " the sweetest of 
 consonances is the Octave."* His estimate of the 
 Octave has been fully shared by the modems ; for, 
 the sets of variations upon an air, so much ia 
 favoul- some years ago, would have been thought 
 incomplete if there had not been one among them 
 specially devoted to playing passages in Octaves. 
 Greek ears, and. those of the modems, again coin- 
 cide in forbidding the playing of Fourths or Fifths 
 in sequences, and in only allowing them to be in- 
 termixed with other intervals. 
 
 The development of harmony was ^JlJch less 
 favoured by the national instrument of me Greeks 
 than it is by those of the moderns. The lyre was 
 made to serve the triple purposes of the rhapsodist, 
 of the orator, and of the musician. Orators 
 now speak without the accompaniment of music, 
 and every house is furnished with a less portable, 
 but more complete, musical instrument than the lyre. 
 
 Plato, Plutarch, and some others of the ancients, 
 valued music more highly for educational than for 
 any other purpose, and, desiring to make the know- 
 ledge universal, they advocated a return to the 
 ancient simpHcity of style. Plato would have 
 banished from his model republic aU musical instru- 
 ments that had an extensive compass of notes. He 
 objected to flutes as having too many sounds.*" 
 
 Plutarch commended the ancient Nomes of 
 
 » " ^vji^avla Si iraaa riSiuv ajrXov sound such as a string ■would pro- 
 
 06(5yyow, xal tovtiov i) SiA iraaHv duce. It is made evident here, (as 
 
 TiSiffTti." — (Prob. xxxix. of Sect. 19.) it is elsewhere,) for flutes could 
 
 * UoKvxopSoTarov is the word have no strings. Again, a tetra- 
 
 — (Bepub., lib. iii. 399 d). x^P^ chord means four sounds quite as 
 
 means not only a string, but also a often as four strings. 
 
SIMPLE TUNE AND VARIED HARMONY. 147 
 
 Olympus, wMcli were upon three notes; and lie 
 expressed his regret that the limitation of melodies 
 to the compass of a few sounds had become obsolete 
 in his own time.* Yet the instrumental accompani- 
 ments played by the very ancients to whom he 
 refers were certaialy compounded of concords mixed 
 with occasional discords ; for he states that, in the 
 strict spondsean mode, they played such notes 
 as D, in "dissonance" with C, or B,*" and in 
 " harmony" with A or G." In these were the passing 
 discords of one tone against the next ; of the minor 
 Third (esteemed a discord on account of the 
 imperfect tuning), and the concords of the Fourth, 
 and of the Fifth. In spite, however, of his advocacy 
 of Umit to the njimber of notes, Plutarch admitted 
 music to be also "a suitable attendant on convivi- 
 ality ; and, in his judgment, the art is never more 
 beneficial than in seasons of festive relaxation and 
 indulgence." He thought, too, that music has 
 "the power of allaying the stimulating effects of 
 wine" — (cap. ult.). 
 
 Many more proofs of the employment of harmony 
 might be derived from Plutarch's Dialogue on Music 
 — as when he states that the reason assigned for the 
 exclusive use of the ordinary Diatonic and Chromatic 
 scales in his own time, and for the rejection of all such 
 refinements as Chromatic thirds, and Enharmonic 
 quarters, of tones, was the inappUcability of such 
 minute divisions for harmony (cap. 38); and again, 
 in his references to Plato and to Aristotle (caps. 22 
 and 23). 
 
 • De Mmka, cap. 12. Synemmenon tetraohord in Plu- 
 
 ■> Burette said "against B flat," tarch's time, and even for ages 
 
 instead of B natural, but he forgot before it. 
 
 that there was no Paramese in the " De MvMca, cap. 19. 
 
 L 2 
 
148 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 Aristotle speaks of playing Mese and singing 
 Paramese; i.e., striking the key-note and singing 
 tlie tone above it* — necessarily a discord. Plato, in 
 the preceding quotation, alluded to playing or 
 singing one of the small intervals of the Chromatic 
 or Enharmonic scale against the Diatonic. In both 
 cases those would be discords, made, as we commonly 
 do, in passing from one interval to another. Gau- 
 dentius describes Para/phones as holding a middle 
 place between consonances and dissonances, but as 
 sounding like consonances " when played together 
 upon an instrument."'' He classes Ditones and 
 Tritones among them. (He is the only Greek author 
 who includes Tritones.) Plutarch speaks of a 
 practice among the lyrists, in his time, of altering 
 the tuning of the lyre, and of invariably flattening 
 the forefinger strings." This is strong testimony 
 to the goodness of their ears. The object was, no 
 doubt, to get rid of the Fourth and minor Seventh, 
 and so to make better melody with other parts of 
 the scale. He adds, that they lowered the fixed 
 sounds to suit this system.* 
 
 Athenseus quotes Pheenias the Peripatetic, one of 
 the immediate disciples of Aristotle, as saying, in 
 book ii. of his Treatise on Poets, that "Stratonicus, 
 the Athenian, was the first person reputed to have ia- 
 troduced full chords in simple harp-playing, (without 
 the voice,) and that he was the first who took pupils 
 iu music, and who composed diagrams of music ;"° 
 
 " Prob. xii. of Sect. 19. ° " Aokei n)v irohixopiiav sic rqv 
 
 * " 'Ev Si ry Kpovaci ^aivofiivoi i^iX^k Kidapinv TrpSiroQ (laeveyKuv, 
 
 aiH^iiivoi." — (p. 11.) Bai irpHfog naBrjrdg t&v apjioviR&v 
 
 ° De Musica, cap. 39. IXa/8E, xal Sidypamia avvearriaaTO." — 
 
 ^ Intervals foreign to a scale were (Lib. viii. Sect. 46.) 
 
 termeA aloga, or, "without ratio." 
 
CHORDS IN HARP-PLAYING. 149 
 
 perhaps meaning that he was the first who wrote 
 down his compositions upon wood or papyrus. 
 The credit of having been the first instrumentalist 
 is, however, disputed by others.* Harmony is 
 imphed in the one fact of Stratonicus having played 
 chords upon his instrument. Again, the Epigoneion 
 was an instrument of the harp kind, witk forty 
 strings ; and even if it had but half that number, some 
 of them could only have been useful for harmony, as 
 the voice would very rarely extend beyond fifteen 
 notes. "Although the Epigoneion is now transformed 
 in the upright psaltery," says Athenseus, "it still 
 preserves the name of the man who was the first to 
 use it. Epigonus was by birth an Ambraciot, but he 
 was subsequently made a citizen of Sicyon, and he 
 was a man of great skill in music, so that he played 
 with his hands, without a plectrum ; for the Alex- 
 andrians have great skill in all the above-named 
 instruments, and in all kinds of flutes."'' This 
 quotation is another evidence that the Egyptian 
 custom of playing instruments of the harp kind with 
 both hands had extended, at an early date, firom 
 Alexandria to Greece. Again, to Epigonus is attri- 
 buted, on the authority of Philochorus, that he was 
 the first who introduced duets between harp and 
 flute, and who instituted a chorus." 
 
 Several passages from Latin authors have also 
 been brought into the discussion about ancient 
 harmony, and among them the ninth epode of 
 Horace, before referred to. Horace proposes to 
 celebrate the victory of Actium with Maecenas, at 
 his villa, " the song with the lyre being intermingled 
 
 " See AthenEBus, lib. xiv. cap. 42. " Athenseus, lib. xiv. cap. 42. 
 
 * AtheniBus, lib. iv. cap. 81. 
 
150 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 "with, flutes — a Dorian strain on tte one side, and 
 for those yonder, Phrygian — or some other."* 
 
 Sober and manly Dorian might have suited the 
 tastes of Maecenas and of Horace, but there were 
 others, Horace thought, who would prefer something 
 more lively, more enthusiastic, bacchic, or even erotic 
 —for ^ch a joyous celebration; 
 
 It seems almost needless to remark upon this 
 passage that the "intermingling" is of the voice, the. 
 lyre, and the flutes, and not of the Dorian and 
 Phrygian songs, which are sufficiently kept apart by 
 the words " hac" and "illis." Yet the F^tis theory 
 was built upon a directly opposite construction. 
 He omitted, however, to elucidate one part of his 
 system, viz., how he proposed that the words, the 
 rhythm, and the time, of two songs of opposite 
 character were to be made to harmonize together. 
 Something more than a succession of Fourths and 
 Fifths was required for that purpose. Yet it was 
 upon this passage that he built up an imaginary 
 system of music for the Greeks, and as it was his 
 only proof, he was under the necessity of coupling 
 together " les Grecs et les Eomains," in the title of 
 his book.*" 
 
 While on the subject of the Romans, there is a 
 passage in the 84th Epistle of Seneca, that was long 
 after borrowed from him by Macrobius," and which 
 refers both to the ancient chorus, and to harmony, 
 while it gives a curious picture of music at the 
 
 » " Sonante mixtum tibiis carmen lyra — 
 Hac Dorium, illis barbamm." 
 •> M&mmre mr I'llwrmonie shmd- Proem. Macrobius abbreviates 
 tariie des Sons, chez les Grecs et les Seneca in this fashion: — "/tosiugu- 
 Romains. — (pp. 16 to 36. 4to. lonim illic latent voces, omnium 
 1859.) apparent ... e« fit concentus ex 
 
 " SatwrrwMorum Conviviorum dissouis." 
 
SENECA ON ROMAN MUSIC. 151 
 
 public celebrations of Imperial Eome.* It begins 
 tlius : — 
 
 " Do you not observe of how many persons' voices 
 a cborus consists ? and yet but one sound is produced 
 from aU. One has a high, voice, another low, a third 
 a middle voice ; the tones of women are added to 
 those of men ; flutes are intermingled. No siagle 
 voice is distinguishable ; it is heard only as a portion 
 of the whole. I am speaking of the chorus with 
 which the ancient philosophers were acquainted ; for, 
 in our public celebrations, there are more singers 
 than there were formerly spectators in the theatre. 
 When our array of singers has filled up every 
 passage between the seats ia the amphitheatre — 
 when the audience part is girt round by trumpeters, 
 and all kinds of pipes and other instruments have 
 sounded in concert from the stage — out of these 
 differing sounds is harmony produced. Thus would 
 I have it with our minds." 
 
 Another allusion to harmony is found in his 88th 
 Epistle,'' which is. on the subject of consolation in 
 adversity. He there says : — 
 
 " And now to music — you teach how voices high 
 and low make harmony together — how concord may 
 
 " "Non vides, quam multorum genus orgamormnqne consonuit, 
 vooibus chonia oonstet, unns tamen fit concentus ex dissonis. Talem 
 ex omnibus sonus redditur. Aliqua animum esse nostrum volo." 
 iUic acuta est, aliqua gravis, aliqua ' " Ad musicam transeo. Doces 
 media. Accedunt Tiris feminse, in- me quomodo inter se acutse et 
 terponuntur tibise. Singulorum ibi graves voces consonent, quomodo 
 latent voces, omnium apparent. nervorum disparum reddentium 
 De chore, dico, quem veteres phi- sonum fiat concordia: fac potius 
 losophi noverant. In commissioni- quomodo animus mens secum con- 
 bus nostris plus cantorum est quam sonet, nee consUia mea discrepent, 
 in theatria olim spectatomm fuit : Monstras TtiiTii qui sunt modi fle- 
 quum omnes vias ordo canentium biles: monstra potius, quomodo 
 implevit, et cavea seneatoribus cincta inter adversa non emittam flebilem 
 est, et ex pulpito omne tibiaruni vocem." 
 
152 THE HISTOEY OF MUSIC. 
 
 arise from strings of varying sounds — ^teach, rather, 
 how my mind may be in concord with itself, and my 
 thoughts be free from discord. You point out modes 
 fittest for mournful strains, but, in my adversity, 
 show rather how I may restrain, the utterance of any 
 mournful note." 
 
 There is another equally unequivocal passage from 
 Cicero, relating to music in parts, which will be 
 found in the second book of his Republic : — 
 
 " For, as in strings or pipes, or in vocal music, a 
 certain consonance is to be maintained out of 
 different sounds, which, if changed or made dis- 
 crepant, educated ears cannot endure ; and as this 
 consonance, arising from the control of dissimilar 
 voices, is yet proved to be concordant and agreeing — 
 so, out of the highest, the lowest, the middle, and the 
 intermediate orders of men, as in sounds, the state 
 becomes of accord through the controlled relation, 
 and by the agreement of dissimilar ranks ; and that 
 which, in music, is by musicians called harmony, the 
 same is concord in a state."* 
 
 Cicero's mere definition of the word concentus, in 
 his Republic, ought to have been enough to prove the 
 whole case : — " Hie [sonus] qui . . . acuta cum gravi- 
 bus temperans varios sequabiliter concentus efficit." 
 {Rep., vi. 18.) Again, if any of the disputants had read 
 Section 19 of Aristotle's Problems, and especially 
 
 ""Uteniminfidibuaauttibiis, atque et mediis, et interjeetis ordinibus, 
 
 ut in oantu ipso ac vooibus, concentus vi somis, moderata ratione civitas, 
 
 est quidam tenendua ex distinctis consensu diasimillimoruui, concinit; 
 
 sonis, quem inunutatum aut disore- et qu» harmonia a musicia dicitur 
 
 pantem aures eruditse ferre non in cantu, ea est in civitate concor- 
 
 poasunt; iaque concentus, ex dia- dia." — (Cicero i)ei?ep«6., lib. ii. cap. 
 
 simiUimarum vocum moderatione, 42, vol. v., p. 28.3, edit. BoniUet. 
 
 concora tamen efficitur, et con- 1831. 8to.) 
 gruens. Sic ex aummia, et inflmis, 
 
CICERO ON HABMONY. 153 
 
 No. 39, in which he says that " all concordant sounds 
 are more agreeable than single notes, and that of 
 concords the Octave is the most agreeable," that 
 ought to have sufficed to prove the Greek case. 
 But, in truth, floating upon the surface of music has 
 been for ages more popular than diving. 
 
 It is now curious to look back upon the ardent 
 discussions about the harmony, or the no-harmony, 
 of the ancients, and to read the number of dis- 
 tinguished names among those who took part in them. 
 
 Dr. Burney devotes nearly forty pages of his 
 History of Music to a dissertation upon this subject, 
 and concludes with his own smnming up, which is 
 not the least curious part. 
 
 The following is the catalogue of names from his 
 eighth Section of vol. i. It does not include those 
 who enlisted, or were drawn into the discussion after 
 1776, neither does it affect to be complete as to 
 those who preceded that date : — 
 
 French. — Charles Perrault, Claude Perrault, 
 Boileau, Racine, La Bruyere, FonteneUe, Abb^ 
 Fraguier, Abb^ Roussier, Mersenne, Burette, 
 Chateauneuf, de Chabanon, Father Boujeant, Father 
 Cerceau, and Jean Jacques Rousseau. 
 
 Italians. — Franchinus Gaffurius, Glareanus, 
 Marsilius Ficinus, Zarlino, Vincenzo Galilei, G. B. 
 Doni, Zaccharia Tevo, Bottrigari, Artusi, Tartini, 
 Bontempi, and Padre Martini 
 
 Spaniards. — Sabnas and Cerone. 
 
 Germans and Hollanders. — ^Kepler, Athanasius 
 Kircher, Isaac Yossius, Meibomius, and Marpurg. 
 
 English. — Dr. John Wallis, the mathematician ; 
 Sir Isaac Newton, Sir WiUiam Temple, Wooton, 
 Boyle", Dr. Bentley, Swift (in The Battle of the 
 
154 THE HISTORY OP MUSIC. 
 
 Boohs), Stillingfleet, Mason, Dr. Jortin, and, lastly, 
 Dr. Bumey. 
 
 There would be no difficulty in adding largely to 
 Dr. Bumey s list, but it suffices to show tbe great 
 interest formerly taken ia this subject. In his 
 summing up, Dr. Burney adopted an erroneous 
 definition of " The Harmony of the Ancients," from 
 Mason,* and in translating Aristotle, he missed the 
 distinction between the Greek Sumphona and 
 Antiphonay 
 
 In the history of literature there is perhaps no 
 one thing more singular than that, with the number 
 of learned men of all ages, and of all nations, who 
 have enquired into the history of ancient music, no 
 one of them should ever have thought of making an 
 adequate investigation as to the meaning of the 
 every-day words, which have been incorporated into 
 modern languages through the Latin. In some, the 
 cause may have been implicit faith in all Church 
 usages and traditions; but that alone is an insuffi- 
 cient excuse ; and yet, to what other cause are 
 we to attribute it? One thing is certain — it is 
 mainly owing to that lack of enquiry that Greek 
 
 "Mason's definition is "The irTutne icai icpdms." — (p. 82. Oxford. 
 
 succession of simple sounds, accord- 8vo. 1673. ) 
 
 ing to their scale, with respect to * He translates Aristotle thus : — 
 acuteness and grayity." — (Burney's "Neither the Fifth nor Fourth, 
 History, i. 125. ) How was it that though concords, were sung together 
 Dr. Bumey did not encounter some- in concert' — ^(i. 137)., Instead of "in 
 thing nearer to the truth than the concert" — he should have written 
 above? Even without troubling "in successions," or, "not as a»ii- 
 himself to look to primary sources phons." By translating "in con- 
 fer information, in Vossius's De cert," he has made Aristotle contra- 
 Poematum Oantu, he might have diet himself and every other Greek 
 found the following quotation ;ready writer. It must have been Dr. 
 to hand : — " 'Sv/npuvia Si hn SvoXy Burney's misunderstanding of the 
 ^ nXewvuiv fQoyyuni b%vr>)Ti (cat word antiphon that .led Viim to 
 ISapdmin Sm^tpovriav KarA. rb aiirb accept Mason's definition. 
 
THE MODERN DISCUSSION. 155 
 
 music has so long remained a mystery, and that 
 passages relating to music in classical authors have 
 been so long misunderstood. 
 
 There are no extant specimens of ancient Greek 
 or Rqman harmony, but there remain three of 
 Greek hymnal melody, which will form the subject 
 of the next chapter. 
 
156 
 
 CHAPTEE VIII. 
 
 Three Greek hymns with music. — Assistance to learning rendered 
 by illustrious Oxonians. — The three hymns the only trustworthy 
 remains of Greek music. — ^Not duly represented hitherto. — 
 Eeasons given. — Now published in modern notation. 
 
 ViNCENZO Galilei, father of the great astronomer 
 and mathematician, Galileo Galilei, was the first to 
 pubUsh three ancient Greek hymns with their music, 
 in his Dialogo delta Musica Antica e Moderna, at 
 Florence, in 1581. They were copied from a Greek 
 manuscript that was then in the library of Cardinal 
 St. Angelo, at Rome. 
 
 A second Greek manuscript, which included the 
 same hymns, was found among the papers of Arch- 
 bishop Usher, in Ireland, after his decease, and was 
 bought by Bernard, a Fellow of St. John's College, 
 who took it to Oxford. The hymns were printed 
 from that manuscript, under the editorship of the 
 Rev. Edward Chilmead of Christ Church, at the end 
 of the Greek edition of the astronomical poems of 
 Aratus, published by the University in 1672. 
 
 During the seventeenth century there was great 
 earnestness among the learned at Oxford in reviving 
 ancient Greek literature, including that of music. 
 When Mark Meibom, or Meybaum, (in Latin, 
 Meibomius,) undertook to edit a collection of the 
 works of Greek authors upon music, and to publish 
 them at Antwerp, he received most hearty encourage- 
 ment and assistance from eminent members of the 
 University, and particularly from Selden, from 
 
SELDEN, LANGBAINE, CHILMEAD, WALLIS. 157 
 
 Patrick Young (who had been librarian to James I. 
 and Charies I.,) and from Gerard Langbaine, Provost 
 of Queen's College, and keeper of the Archives of 
 the University. They lent, or procured for him, the 
 loan of valuable Greek manuscripts from private 
 libraries, and both Selden and Gerard Langbaine 
 copied and compared transcripts ; the latter collating 
 with the best of the numerous Greek manuscripts in 
 the libraries of the University. ChUmead gave up 
 his prepared edition of Gaudentius in Meibom's 
 favour, and all concurred in promoting and in giving 
 publicity to his work. Many copies must have been 
 bought in England, for no books upon ancient music 
 have been more commonly found in private libraries, 
 when sold by auction, than the Antiquce Musicce 
 Auctm-es Septem. Nevertheless, for want of 
 suflSciently general encouragement, and, as Dr. 
 WaUis adds, (" propter rem angustam domi,") scarcity 
 of means, Meibom found himself unable to carry the 
 series further. Then Dr. John WaUis, who was 
 SavUian Professor of Geometry in the University, 
 included the remaining unpubhshed treatises of 
 Claudius Ptolemy, of Porphyry, and of Bryennius, 
 with his own works, (giving the Greek texts with 
 Latin translations, and with large and useful com- 
 ments upon them,) and these were pubhshed by the 
 University in 1693-99. It may therefore be said 
 that, within that half century, Oxford did more 
 towards advancing the knowledge of this most 
 ancient music than has been accomplished by any 
 University in Europe, whether before or after. 
 
 In 1720, M. Burette found a third manuscript 
 containing these hymns, in the King of France's 
 library at Paris, No. 3221, and he reprinted them in 
 
158 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 the fifth, volume of Mimoires de I'AcadSmie des In- 
 scriptions, 1720. 
 
 The Florentine edition agrees with that of Oxford, 
 but the French edition adds six introductory lines, 
 -without music, to the Hymn to Apollo, and supplies 
 three or four missing notes. 
 
 These hymns are the only trustworthy remaias of 
 ancient Greek music; for although the first eight 
 verses of the first Pythian of Pindar were printed by 
 Athanasius Kircher in his Musurgia, in 1650, and 
 were asserted to have been discovered by him in the 
 famous Sicilian library of the Monastery of St. 
 Saviour, near the port of Messina, he was by far too 
 imaginative ever to be followed with safety, and 
 especially in this case. Although every possible 
 search was made for the aforesaid manuscript soon 
 after his announcement, and all the manuscripts in the 
 Monastery were catalogued, this could never be found. 
 
 The Te Deum Laudamus that Meibomius printed 
 at the commencement of his Antiques' Musicce 
 Auctores, and which Sir John Hawkins mistook for 
 an ancient copy,* was but an exercise of Meibom's 
 ingenuity in turning Church Plain Song into Greek 
 musical notation, just to show how it would look; and 
 as it was then the custom in Germany to sing the B 
 flat in the Te Deum, although the flat was not marked 
 in the Plain Song, he adopted the Greek sign for B 
 flat, but left that note natural in the ecclesiastical 
 notation. For the understanding of English readers 
 there should be one flat at the signature, so as to 
 make it correspond with his Greek music.'' 
 
 » Hawkins's flistoJT/, i. p. 49. 4to. syllable "Sal" in "Salvum fac 
 ^ Meibom has given -wrong Greek populum tuum." He there turned 
 characters for the note C on the to the wrong scale. 
 
GKBEK HYMNS WITH MUSIC. 159 
 
 The first of the three ancient Greek hymns is to 
 the Muse Calliope, and it includes an address to 
 Apollo, as leader of the Muses. The second is a 
 hymn of greater length, addressed to Apollo, and 
 the third, which is imperfect as to music, is dedi- 
 cated to Nemesis. No fair estimate of the former 
 state of music in any country can be adequately 
 formed from the remains of its hymns. Sacred 
 music has always been in arrear of the secular, and 
 no one would suppose that a piece of ordinary 
 hymnal music of the present century would fairly 
 represent the present state of music in Europe, 
 although such a specimen might, by some similar 
 chance, survive for many centuries to come. Yet 
 even these hymns throw some Ught upon the ancient 
 state of the art. 
 
 Before Burette's time they were printed as Plain 
 Chant, without any attempt at timing the notes. 
 He was the first who reduced them according to 
 length of syllables, and barred them so ; and after 
 him. Dr. Burney, and others. The plan they 
 adopted was to mark every long vowel, or syllable, 
 by a minim, and every short one by a crotchet. As 
 the metre was often irregular, this aiTangement 
 threw them out of rhythm, and it may be objected 
 that it was not the system that should have been 
 adopted to represent ancient music fairly in modem 
 notation. In the time of the Ptolemies, the Alex- 
 andrian grammarians discovered that the poems of 
 Homer included a large number of irregular Hnes,' 
 which they then set themselves to rectify ; but 
 those irregularities were held to be sufficiently 
 accounted for and excused, because the poems were 
 
 » Atlienseus, lib. xiv. cap. 32. 
 
160 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 written for chanting, and were intended always to 
 be rhapsodised, or chanted. In music, it is not 
 necessary that the exact syllabic reading-length of 
 words should be adhered to. It would thereby be 
 deprived of all variety, and become monotonous in 
 the extreme. Music has the power both of prolong- 
 ing and of shortening the duration of words, and 
 thereby of covering irregularities' in metre. For 
 instance, we chant the Te Deum, the Jubilate, and 
 the Psalms rhythmically as to music, although 
 written as prose. Rhythm is the parent of melody, 
 and even savages beat regular time to their songs. 
 How much more then must rhythm have been an 
 essential part of Greek music, when it was from the 
 Greeks that the laws of rhythm were derived ! 
 
 Burette's copy is now but little in the hands of 
 English readers, therefore further remarks, although 
 of general appHcation, may be limited to Dr. 
 Burney's later version, which is in the same style as 
 that of Burette.- — -{History, i. 86, et seq.) 
 
 First, as to the imaginary difficulties in adding a 
 base to the music of these hymns. Dr. Burney 
 says : — " Upon the whole, these melodies are so 
 little susceptible of harmony, or the accompaniment 
 of many parts, that it would be even difi&cult to 
 make a tolerable base to any one of them, especially 
 the first."— (i. 97.) 
 
 Seeing no sufficient reason for this comment, I 
 selected this first of the hymns to have a base 
 added to it. My learned and kind friend. Professor 
 G. A. Macfarren, of the Royal Academy of Music, 
 has obligingly contributed two kinds of harmony 
 — one in the Greek view of the key, and one in the 
 modem. So the reader will now judge for himself 
 
SCALES DECIDED BY THE KEY-NOTE. 161 
 
 liow far Dr. Burney was from the mark when lie 
 spoke of the insusceptibility of these Greek hymns 
 for harmony. 
 
 Dr. Burney printed all three in the key of F 
 sharp minor, because, says he, " It was discovered 
 that these hymns were sung in the Lydian mode of 
 the Diatonic genus, by comparing the notes with 
 those given by Alypius." — (i. 95.) That all the 
 notes are to be found in the Lydian mode is 
 undoubtedly correct, but a little further comparison 
 would have shown that they are equally to be found 
 in the Hypo-Lydian mode, with C # as Mese. The 
 one note that a modem musician might not expect 
 to find in the key is " d" natural in the upper 
 Octave, but it is essential to the Conjunct, or 
 Sjmemmenon, tetrachord of that mode. Therefore 
 the question between the modes has to be determined 
 by Aristotle's law — which of the two notes, F 
 sharp or C sharp, more nearly comphes with the 
 required conditions, as the Mese in question ? In 
 that view there can hardly be a doubt but that C 
 sharp, and not F sharp, is the nominal Mese. So 
 the hymn is to be taken in the usual hymnal scale 
 of the Lesser Perfect System, with a semitone, 
 instead of a tone, above that string. 
 
 The paxticular use of the semitone above the key- 
 note, (as of this " d" natural in a mode having C sharp 
 as Mese,) was that it enabled the player to modulate 
 from the Hypo to its parent key, as here from 
 Hypo-Lydian to Lydian, the latter being a Fourth 
 higher. If we look back to the tuning of Terpan- 
 der's seven-stringed lyre, and of Ion's ten strings, 
 we may find the same semitone above Mese, and so 
 the tluree scales,. Terpander's, Ion's, and this, may 
 
 M 
 
162 
 
 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 fairly be said to establisli the long continuance of 
 this ancient and favourite hymnal modulation. 
 Herein, too, we trace the origin of the " b flat" 
 above "a" in the Plain Ghant of the Western 
 Church ; and how, in its most ancient form, it 
 allowed of the modulation from Hypo-Dorian to 
 Dorian. If it were but for this one hitherto im- 
 noticed link between the two, these hymns would be 
 of considerable historical interest. 
 
 Another point to be observed is that, even in the 
 seventh century B.C., Terpander had exactly the 
 same number, and the same series, of notes down 
 jfrom his key-note as in these hynms, although he 
 had but a Fourth above it, whereas the hymns 
 extend to the Sixth, and one to the minor Seventh. 
 
 The lyre for the hymns was perhaps one of ten 
 strings, since the compass of the voice-part does not 
 exceed ten notes. The Mese of the Hypo-Lydian 
 mode is the tenor " c " sharp, that is, one ledger 
 line above the base staff and one ledger line 
 below the treble. The vocal compass extends to a 
 Fourth below it, viz., to G sharp, and rises upwards 
 to " a," the minor Sixth, and, in the Hymn to 
 Nemesis, to " b," the minor Seventh. 
 
 In writing out the Hymn to Calliope according to 
 the strict quantity of syllables, the metre being 
 irregular, Dr. Bumey adopted the system of making 
 four changes of time, from triple to common, and 
 vice versd, within the first Kne of the music* He 
 included two lines of poetry within these seven bars, 
 and began the eighth bar with a rest. 
 
 a - Si, Movaa, /loi ^i - Xij, Mo\ - Trijc 
 
 flAje KUT - ap - xo^' 
 —(vol. i. p. 86.) 
 
lEREaULAR METRES. 163 
 
 It would have puzzled any chorodiddskalos, or Dr. 
 Bumey himself, to have kept singers ia time with 
 such interruptions of rhythm. It is strange that he 
 should have printed it so, after having remarked 
 but a few pages before that Greek music was "all 
 rhythm."* " The time of notes," says Gaudentius,*" 
 "is to be ruled by the rhythm of the poetry." There 
 is not a shade of probability that the hymn can 
 have been intended to be simg in the hobbling, 
 unrhythmical style adopted by Bumey. Even if 
 it had been desired to throw ridicule upon ancient 
 music, as one way of disposing of a troublesome sub- 
 ject, no more effectual means could have been adopted. 
 
 The hjam. is described in the text as " irregular 
 iambic" {Jambos Bdkcheios), and the irregularity 
 begins with the second line. The first is what was 
 called Dimeter, or " Two Measure" iambic, consisting 
 of four poetic " feet." This was formerly called 
 " Minstrel Measure" in England." 
 
 A I eldg, Mousa, | moi philg. 
 
 The iambus is a poetic foot having the first 
 syllable short and the second long. The spondee 
 has two long syllables. 
 
 In irregular metres, the law which overrules the 
 
 • In vol. i., p. 66, of his History mark the rhythm, but do not con- 
 of Music, Bumey says : — "What a stitute the music, 
 noisy and barbarous music ! all * Gaudentius, p. 3, edit. Meibom. 
 rhythm and no sound." This is a "It might, perhaps, with equal 
 strange comment upon the employ- justice have been named "Stem- 
 ment of the foot, the hand, of hold and Hopkins' measure;" stiU 
 oyster shells, or of bones, only four iambics are by no means un- 
 employed to beat time. Have not common metre for lyric poets. In 
 castanets, tambourines, drums, and music, they would be barred from 
 cymbals been used in modem times the down beat, or strong accent, 
 for the same purpose? They all thus: — 
 
 " DSs I cend, y6 nine, dSs | cend Sad sing, 
 Th6 I breathing Instrtl | ments Inspire." 
 
 M 2 
 
164 THE HISTORY 0¥ MUSIC. 
 
 strict timing of syllables is the Measure of the verse, 
 A Measure consists of two poetic feet, which are 
 not necessarily of the same kind, and is the equiva- 
 lent to the bar in music. The one difference between 
 the two is that the bar of music begins on the thesis, 
 or down beat, which is the stronger accent. That 
 order was once reversed for dancing, as the arsis, or 
 up-spring, was the strong one that began the move- 
 ment ; whereas, in beating time with the hand, as 
 for music, the strong beat is downwards, and the 
 arsis is weak. In the case of iambic verse, or other 
 beginning with a weak syllable, i.e., with the arsis, 
 or up-beat, that syllable is placed before the bar. So 
 the music has the appearance of the reverse of iambic, 
 viz., of trochaic, or the first syllable long and the second 
 short. The length of irregular syllabic quantities has 
 to subserve and to be fitted into the arsis and thesis, 
 or up and down beats of the foot of verse, in the 
 measure that has been adopted. Instead, then, of 
 such constant changes of time as those adopted by 
 Dr. Burney, which make equally constant changes of 
 the rhythm, one rhythm should have been preserved. 
 The syllables should have been brought into the beats 
 of the bar, in the best way the sense would permit, and 
 with aU the regard that could be paid to relative 
 quantities. Proportion may be preserved when exact 
 length cannot — ^it is but as quicker or slower speaking. 
 Thus verse and music will go together. When 
 the same number of beats can be brought into each 
 line of a poem, or into corresponding lines of stanzas, 
 there should be no difficulty in writing out the 
 music. A musician will be further guided in this 
 by the notes themselves, which often indicate to him 
 the author's design. Therefore in a musical system 
 
RHYTHMICAL BARBING. 165 
 
 SO identical with our own as is the Greek, Dr. 
 Bumey could have been one of the best interpreters 
 if he would have thought more of musical rhythm 
 and less of the equal diu-ation %f syllables.* In 
 the state in which the hymns have hitherto been 
 presented to readers, it is doubtful whether any one 
 can have noticed a single phrase of tune in any one 
 of them. Those phrases of tune are now brought out. 
 
 There are ,so many cases in which music is to be 
 found in old timeless notes, but written over poetry, 
 which gives the measure, that many a fine old 
 melody may yet be rescued from obhvion by a 
 musician who wUl adopt this course." In the hymns 
 as now printed, there has been little change from 
 Burney's copy as to notes, but much in their time, 
 in order to preserve rhythm. 
 
 Anciently, the Long and the Breve in music wei'e 
 equivalent in duration to the long and the short 
 syllable in recitation, and they took their names from 
 the long and short syllables. But the system of musical 
 notation has been changing century after century in 
 
 " Dr. Burney haa measured the mitted. As with iambic, so with 
 
 syUablea in the opening of the trochaic metre, except that the 
 
 Hecuba of Euripides, and has given first, third, and fifth were to be 
 
 them a comical appearance by timing trochees, instead of second, fourth, 
 
 them in the same fashion as the and sixth, and the rest might be 
 
 hymns. — (i. 72.) They are in tri- varied. Perpetual trochees, or per- 
 
 meter, or six feet, iambic, which petual iambics, without even stops, 
 
 was employed in the dialogue of would have been too monotonous 
 
 Greek tragedies, and required that for ears to bear for any long time, 
 the second, fourth, and sixth feet * This was the course I pursued 
 
 should be iambics, leaving the others in copying out ancient English 
 
 to be filled up so as to give variety. songs from manuscripts, and it was 
 
 Greek plays are not to be rated often proved to be right by the fact 
 
 like modem operas, in which every that the airs were in many cases 
 
 syllable is set to varied music and country-dance, as well, as baJlad, 
 
 timed. They were to be chanted, times. To be dance tunes they 
 
 and in chanting, greater license than must have been strictly rhythmical, 
 this might have been well per- 
 
166 THE giSTORY OP MUSIC. 
 
 favour of notes that will occupy less space, that can 
 be more rapidly written, and that can be tied 
 together so as to form a gmde for the eye at one 
 glance as to the dtiration of several notes ; until at 
 last, the crotchet and quaver, or even the quaver 
 and semiquaver, now , represent the long and short 
 syllable of ancient times. I therefore recommend 
 that the notes be first copied over the words as 
 crotchets, and that the precise time of the former be 
 determined afterwards. Then that the line of poetry- 
 be divided into two, by scanning, or by the ictus,* 
 or accents in reading,*" and a bar drawn to the music 
 before the down-beat of the second half This one 
 bar is a sufficient division for short metres, as in the 
 first Greek hymn, but in the case of longer lines, or 
 of triple time, the lines may require to be further 
 divided. Then let the notes be timed within those 
 bars according to the reading of the words, and as 
 the phrases of music appear to require. If some of 
 the accents should fall badly, there are stiU parallel 
 cases in modern music. With such care there seems 
 but Httle probability of material variation from the 
 original design, and it is perhaps the only way of 
 arriving at it. To bar music by accents is a com- 
 paratively modern practice. When bars were first 
 introduced, they were mere measures of time, there- 
 fore old barring is not to be followed implicitly. 
 
 " " The structure of verse is such but what their names indicate, viz., 
 
 a division of each line by the words marks for the rise and fall of the 
 
 comprising it as form a movement voice, or pronunciation marks. The 
 
 most agreeable to the ear." — Greeks had other accents for 
 
 (Theatre of the Qreeks, by J. W. quantity, also called irpoaifdiai, of 
 
 Donaldson, D.D. p. 37.) which hereafter. The practice of 
 
 * Not by the three Greek accents giving quantity to the grave and 
 
 of printed books, for the grave and acute accents in modem Europe 
 
 acute accents in ancient Greek were differs from ancient Greek use. 
 
CHARACTER OF THE HYMNS. 167 
 
 In the Hymn to Calliope, the first word of the 
 second line is marked " spon," for "spondee," or for 
 two spondees, in the line. The two long syllables 
 of a spondee cannot be brought into iambic metre, 
 but iambics can be brought into spondaic or common 
 time, by addiag on to the long syllable, or by a 
 pause between each foot. There are several other 
 lines in the hjonn which equally require to be in 
 common time. Thus the iambics must become 
 " irregular," as they are said to be. The long, or 
 accented syllable, using the word " accented" in the 
 modern sense of giving quantity, may be further 
 lengthened by a dot or rest, as required in Greek 
 verse for a katalexis to make up the time, or both 
 syllables may be proportionably shortened, according 
 to the necessities of metre. 
 
 The music of the hymns is included in five more 
 manuscripts than were known to Burney. Fac-simUes 
 of them were printed in Berlin in 1840, by Dr. F. 
 Bellermann, who added a collated text. From this, 
 BeUermann corrected several wrong notes in earHer 
 printed versions. A few notes are deficient in aU 
 manuscripts, and they are here suppHed in smaller 
 type. 
 
 Greek hymns were a tranquil kind of music, 
 " emblematic of a mind at ease." There was no 
 gehenna in the creed of the heathen to disturb their 
 equanimity. ' ' Every banqueting party was subj ected 
 to a god ; and, accordingly, men wore garlands 
 appropriated to the gods, and greeted them with 
 hymns and odes.* Thus, Greeks and Eomans 
 emulated the Egyptian ladies, seen at p. 63, in 
 making religion a subject of cheerfulness and festivity. 
 
 • Athensena, lib. v. cap. 19, p. 192. 
 
168 
 
 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 The following Hymn to Calliope is printed in the 
 Hypo-Lydian modej as transposed a Fourth lower 
 by Claudius Ptolemy, in order to bring it within the 
 reach of ordinary voices. So G sharp is the Mese, 
 distinguished by the A natural above it. At 'the 
 old pitch, C sharp would have taken the place of G 
 sharp, and the voice part would have ranged up to 
 a, which requires a high tenor voice : — 
 
 EI2 M0Y2AN. "la/i^oi BoKxeios. 
 
 erZZ (p (}> 4* '^ "' 
 ' AeiSe, M.ov(ra, fioi (j>iX>i, 
 
 enrov t cj> M M 
 
 MoXttw ^' e/x^s Korapyov, 
 Z Z Z E Z Z i' t 
 Ajjpi] Se (Twv air oKireow 
 M Z (f) cr p M(p a- 
 'E/ia? (ppevas SoveiTCO' 
 
 <r p Mp <T (p (T 
 KaXXtOTreta a^ocpa, 
 
 d> <r (T cr (T a- n. 'R ^ 
 Mouffft))/ irpoKaQayeTi Tepirvuiv' 
 
 R (jf) <r p M I' M. 
 Kat crod>e fivarroSoTa, 
 
 M r E Z EM |0 o-M 
 A.aTOvs yove, Ai^Xte TLaiav, 
 
 M i' Z M ^ o- or 
 Ev/xevelg irape(TTe fioi. 
 
 Sing, Muse, dear to me ; 
 My song lead thou : 
 Let the air of thy groves- , 
 Excite my mind ; 
 
 Calliope, skilled in art, 
 
 Who leadest the gladsome 
 
 Muses 
 
 And thon, wise initiator into 
 mysteries, 
 
 Son of Latona, Delian Apollo, 
 Be at hand, propitious to me. 
 
 A SCALE TO EXPLAIN THE INTEKPEETATION OP THE HYMN. 
 
 1 R0C or o-jo M I Z E 
 
 P 
 
 ill 
 
 m 
 
 wm 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 Since Dr. Bumey's time other manuscripts of the 
 hymns have been discovered. They supply the 
 deficient <p in the first line, and vary the letter E 
 over the fourth and sixth lines. 
 
HYMN TO CALLIOPE. 
 
 169 
 
 No. 1— HYMN TO CALLIOPE, 
 With an Accompamment in the Hypo-Lydianmode, by G. A. Macfabben. 
 'A - a - Bi, Mov - ad, jioi ^i - Xij, MoX-tt^j S'l - /iijg 
 
 ^ 
 
 3E 
 
 m 
 
 rt 
 
 A -ei-de,Mou - sa, moi phi-le, Mol pes d'e- mes 
 
 
 Kar - dp-xov, AB - pij li adv av Sk - ai-iav "E - 
 
 fi^^- 
 
 p • 0- 
 
 w-^ •— ; — P- 
 
 4: 
 
 ^3^ = 
 
 ^ 
 
 =62=; 
 
 kat - ar-chou, Au - re de son ap' al - se - on B 
 
 -fTrt i . SI ..> , ..J . ^J ■ i^ J > I hr 
 
 fidg fpi - vas So - vei • n> • KaX- Xt - o-ira - a 
 
 ^ 
 
 -» ■ s - 
 
 ±1 
 
 mas phre- nas do - nei - t5 ; Kal - li -o-pei - a 
 
 f^' -ii-jn-.ii ^ m 
 
 ± 
 
 ^is 
 
 ^f5^ 
 
 ?f=y 
 
 ^ 
 
 i^ 
 
 =lil 
 
 (TO - 0^, Mow - cuiv irpo-Ka -da • yk-Tt rep-irvuip ' Kai 
 
 ^ 
 
 iF^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 T 
 
 so-pha, Mou-s5n pro-ka-tha - ge-ti ter-pnon; Kai 
 
 ^#-^^-JH^ 
 
 ^s 
 
 ^-^-^ 
 
 
 Si 
 
170 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 (TO - ^k fiv OTQ - So - Ta, Aa - tovq yo - vs, 
 
 fJL 00 - OE UV BTO 
 
 so phe ma sto - do - ta, 
 
 La - tous go - ne, 
 
 ^^^^^^^m 
 
 aa 
 
 T r 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 # < J . 
 
 *l 
 
 A^ - Xj - £ Ilai - dv, Eu ps - vets jrap - e ffre /iot. 
 
 m' H-^^^ 
 
 w 
 
 ^ ^=r4^^-J^ 
 
 De li - e Pai - an, Eu - me-neis par - e 
 
 J Si_ 
 
 P^m 
 
 s 
 
 ^ 
 
 # 
 
 THE SAME HYMN TO CALLIOPE. 
 
 The melody is again harmonized by my friend G. A. Macfaeeen, in 
 the key of E, which has G sharp as its major Third, and to which E, 
 as key-note, aU the progressions point. 
 
 t'A - El - ^E Mow - (Ta, fwi ^ir^Vi MoX-7rqf fl-p^c 
 . i 
 
 SfeH^^^b^ 
 
 ^ H=F 
 
 M 
 
 ^m 
 
 A - ei - de, Mou - sa, moi phi- le, Mol -pes d'e-mes 
 
 ! I 
 
 ^^ 
 
 :fc=5 
 
 ^i 
 
 4 d 4 
 
 rt=sR=* 
 
 Tim 
 
 ^SP 
 
 % 
 
 ^^ 
 
 F=P=F 
 
 
 ap'XoVy Au - pij ^f G&v ate a\ ffl - wv 'E 
 
 ^? 
 
 . ^ p • 
 
 :^^^ 
 
 =1^ 
 
 kat - ar-ohon, Au - re de son ap' al se - on 
 
 ^^^^^^^m 
 
 ^^m 
 
 pa^^^= 
 
ii*i 
 
 HYMN TO CALLIOPE. 1/1 
 
 jUiJs 0p| -vag So - vd n> ' KaX - Xt - 6-7rei - a 
 
 f«r- j'. i . Ji.i. j^j ri i j J-JJ J 
 
 mas phre-nas do - nei to ; Kal - li -o-pei - a 
 
 m^-nf#Tt >±i4i4 
 
 sfi 
 
 a 
 
 m 
 
 ^ 
 
 I 
 
 Is* 
 
 Mo«- o-uK irpo-Ka-Ba ye - n rtp-TnimV Kai 
 
 g7~J ^^4^-^-^ ^=^ 
 
 ^§= 
 
 li* 
 
 BO - pha, Mou - Bon pro-ka-tha ge - ti ter-pnon j Kai 
 
 m 
 
 ^^^^^^m 
 
 Mi* 
 
 W^ 
 
 S?^?^=^ 
 
 CO (pi fiv <TTo - do - ra. 
 
 p'*j. >J. J' l 
 
 Aa - rows' yo - v«, 
 
 >g F- 
 
 phe mu sto - do - ta, 
 
 La - tou3 go - ne, 
 
 g^Jj: Jl^f' ^^ ^ 
 
 ^%7^- M • ;S 
 
 :^==t 
 
 Aq - Xi - g Hat - av, Eir ^e- V£if irdp e ark fwi. 
 
 p^tr ^Tj J 
 
 J. J^j r 
 
 *4 
 
 De - li - e Pai - an, Eu - me-neis par e ste moi. 
 
 ffiip}^\i-M:t^ m 
 
 ^ 
 
 1 r- 
 
 ^^m 
 
172 THE HISTORY OF MITSIC. 
 
 The preceding hymn proves two points. First, 
 that it was not indispensable that there should be but 
 a single note to a syllable in Greek music, for here are 
 several cases of two notes to one vowel. Secondly, 
 that a long note might be given to a short vowel as 
 weU as to a long one, for " spondee" is marked over 
 a short vowel. These are strong arguments in favour 
 of the system of bringing them into rhythm, for 
 which I contend. In b oth cases, we find the same 
 freedom exercised as in music of the present day. 
 There is a Greek passage On the Phrasing of a 
 Composition, by Dionysius of HaJicarnassus, that 
 would have been of advantage to Burette and to 
 Burney, if they had known or remembered it. , It 
 is — " But rhythm and music diminish and augment 
 the quantities of syllables, so as often to change 
 them to their opposites. Time is not to he regulated 
 hy syllables, but syllables by time."* 
 
 That there may be mistakes in the music cannot 
 be wondered at, after the repeated transcripts that 
 have been required in so long an interval of time. 
 No one of the manuscripts from which the above 
 is derived is older than the fourteenth century, and 
 they are mostly of the fifteenth. 
 
 The musical notation of Aristides Quintihanus, 
 like that of Alypius, is altogether in capital 
 letters. In the hymns, the capital E. represents 
 a broken Beta; the small Sigma (o-) represents 
 the capital C, the older form of Sigma ; and the 
 small Eau {p) is a substitute for the Greek 
 capital letter. The Greeks noted music by letters 
 
 " "ij Sk pvO/uKrl Kai fwvaiieij fu- avtvOvvovai Tovg xp^^ovg, oKKd rotf 
 
 ra^aXKovaiv airdc fitiovaai Kal ■xpovoiQ rag mJWajiae." — (Ilfpi avv- 
 
 av^ouffm, Saari iroWaKie Eif rdvavria Biaiwe ovonarov, Keiske's edit., vol- 
 
 \HsrU')(ii>piiv • oil ydp rais ajjXKapalg v. p. 64.) 
 
PROBABILITY OF ERROR IN MUSIC. 173 
 
 upriglit, inverted, jacent both on the back and on 
 the face, turned right or left, and even by parts of 
 letters. Such notation would be very subject to 
 misconstruction by a copyist who did not under- 
 stand the musical system ; especially the broken 
 letters, as he would most likely attempt to set 
 them right. In some of the manuscripts there are 
 ■letters that do not even belong to the scale. The 
 Hymn to Apollo seems to begin correctly, but to be 
 wrong in the after part. The authorship of the first 
 two hymns, if not of all three, is attributed to 
 Dionysius, in the Oxford manuscript, by the words 
 Dionysiou Hymnoi at the commencement ; but in 
 other manuscripts the third hymn is attributed to 
 Mesodmes, or Mesomedes. The rhythm of the 
 second and third is of twelve syllables, or their 
 eqtiivalents in point of time, for each line of the 
 poetry. 
 
 The Hymn to Apollo, saving the six hues of intro- 
 duction, is set to music throughout; and it rambles 
 about in a less tunable style than the other two. In 
 the Hymn to Nemesis, there are only six lines with 
 music, which is written over the first part of the 
 hymn, except in one manuscript, and yet the poetry 
 consists of twenty lines. 
 
 The Greek verses, which are not set to music, are 
 so accessible to the curious, in Dr. Burney's History 
 of Music and in other sources, that, not being 
 directly within my subject, it seems imnecessary to 
 reprint them. With the same motive of avoiding 
 needless extension, the reprinting of the separate 
 Greek text of the second and third hymns with the 
 Greek music-letters over them, in addition to the 
 modernized version, may be excused. The one 
 
174 
 
 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 example of Greek musical notation over the Hymn 
 to Calliope will probably be tbougbt sufficient. 
 There is, again, but little difference of notes be- 
 tween Dr. Burney's copy and the following, but 
 much in the time allotted to them, as well as 
 difiference of key. The hymn is printed like the 
 last, in the treble clef, and therefore an Octave 
 higher than the real pitch, as if for a man reading 
 music from the treble, or G, clef. In this case, how- 
 ever, it is left in the original scale of Alypius, CJf 
 minor, to show how high Greek hymns were, and 
 the necessity for Claudius Ptolemy's system of 
 transposition. 
 
 M 
 
 No. 2.— GEEEK HYMN TO APOLLO. 
 
 Xt - vo - (Ski - ^d - pov wd - rep 'A ovg. 
 
 ^m 
 
 pi 
 
 ?2Z 
 
 t2=t: 
 
 l#l 
 
 Chi o - no - ble - pha - rou pa - ter A ous, 
 'Po So - ta sav oq dv - tv ya irii - \ii>v, 
 
 m 
 
 ?2Z 
 
 ?2I 
 
 Ko do - es san hos an tu - ga po Ion, 
 
 M. 
 
 TLra - voiQ vie i;)^ vt(s ~ oi 
 
 pte 
 
 
 Pta-nois hup' ich - nes - si di 6 
 
 keis, 
 
 i 
 
 li^ 
 
 Xpw oeat - oiv a- yd\ - Xo-fie -vog k6 - jiaig, 
 
 m 
 
 H^^^l-l 
 
 $ 
 
 tt 
 
 ii 
 
 Chru seai - sin a - gaj - lo- me-nos ko - mais, 
 
 He pi vS - Tov d Tret pi - rov ov - pa - vav 
 
 
 
 m 
 
 ^ 
 
 Pe ri no ton 
 
 pel 
 
 ri - ton on ra - nou 
 
M 
 
 ^m 
 
 HYMN TO APOLLO. 175 
 
 'Ak - tT va TTO - Xv arpo - (pov afi - ttXI ■ KtaVf 
 
 ^ 
 
 ±z 
 
 i 
 
 Isl 
 
 Ak - ti na po - lu stro - phon am - pie kon, . 
 At y\ac "JTO Xv - Sep - kI a irii yav 
 
 s^ 
 
 '>^^=^\^m 
 
 ^il 
 
 Ai glas po - lu - der - ke a pa gan 
 IIe pi yai - av a - ira - aav t \ia - mav. 
 
 gf * r ■ kJ-il^ 
 
 rw rl l 
 
 m 
 
 *t 
 
 Pe 
 TIo- ra- 
 
 ri gai - an ha - pa - aan he lis son. 
 fioi Ce (f€ - tfsv TTv - pbg dfi - (3p6 - row 
 
 fm^ 
 
 Se <fe - Bev 
 
 ^Erf 
 
 -f2- 
 
 ±Z 
 
 Mi 
 
 gag 
 
 Po- ta-moi de se - then pu - ros am - bro - tou 
 
 TtK Tov^aiv I iTTt pa- tov a fu ' pav. 
 
 — P-= — P 
 
 m 
 
 ^ 
 
 zE: 
 
 ls*i 
 
 Tik - tou - sin e pB - ra - ton ha - me - ran. 
 
 2ot fi^P %o - pbg Ev St ~ og a ark - pfjiv 
 
 SE 
 
 PZZK 
 
 ^^ 
 
 T2Z 
 
 ^ 
 
 it 
 
 Soi 
 Kar 
 
 men cho - ros 
 
 eu di - 03 a 
 
 ste - r5n 
 
 iteg 
 
 'O - Xwjn - vov a - voK - ra x" " P™ " ^^ 
 
 m 
 
 m 
 
 Kat' - Imn - pon a - nak - ta cho- reu - ei, 
 
 *A VI - TOV fii - Xof cd iv 6. ei Si>iv, 
 
 . • .■ . "f" f2- 
 
 £: 
 
 ^ 
 
 1 
 
 A 
 
 ue - ton me - los 
 
 IS 
 
 St 
 
 ai en a - ei don, 
 
 np - iro - ue - vog \i p<f, 
 
 ^^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 ra, 
 
 Phoi - be 
 
 di 
 
 ter - po - me - nos lu 
 
176 THE HISTORY OP MUSIC. 
 
 rXow Ka Si ira pot - 6e Se \a - va 
 
 1^1 
 
 frj^-f 
 
 
 
 i 
 i 
 
 1*^ 
 
 Glau - ka de pa roi - the 
 Xpo vov io pt ~ ov ct 
 
 la - na 
 
 as 
 
 m 
 
 :?C3 
 
 i 
 
 
 tt 
 
 Chro non lio - ri - on ha ge - mo - neu ei, 
 
 Aew - Kwv V wo (rip - jia ffi i io axiav' 
 
 •^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 P^^?^ 
 
 m 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 il 
 
 Leu - kon hu po sur - ma - si mo - schon; 
 
 Bav - w - rax Ss n oi v6 of ei fie vf/Q 
 
 -Y-rrfr ^=^ 
 
 i ^^f-f-i^ 
 
 Isl 
 
 Ban - nu - tai de te hoi no - os eu^ me - nes 
 rto \v d fio ■ va k6<s - \U)v i Xiff (Si>>v. 
 
 m 
 
 '• ^ ^ \^ \ {^ ^ ^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 Po 
 
 lu ei mo - na kos - mon he lis - son. 
 
 The Third Hymn is, in one respect, very remark- 
 able; for, although noted, like the others, in the 
 Hypo-Lydian mode, which, at the original pitch, is 
 C sharp minor, it is rather in what we term its 
 relative major, viz., in E. It is so, according to 
 Aristotle's laws as to Mese, and, except for D natural, 
 would be so by modem laws. By modern laws, D 
 must be sharp to make a major Seventh in the key of 
 E ; and as D is natural in the Greek scale, because it 
 is only a semitone, instead of a tone, above, the ancient 
 minor key-note, or Mese, therefore the modem key 
 of E would lose one of its four sharps, and that one 
 its major Seventh. If, then, D is to be natural, the 
 modem key is A major, with three sharps, instead 
 of E major, with four. The hymn is essentially in a 
 major key, and is another of the many instances in 
 
HYMN TO NEMESIS. 177 
 
 which the ear has guided to what is right against the 
 musical laws of ancient times. There could not be a 
 complete major key under Greek musical laws, even 
 down to the close of the thirteenth century, after 
 which Biyennius wrote, but every old minor scale 
 had a major scale within it, by beginning on the third 
 ascending note instead of upon the first, as in A minor 
 to begin on C. So this is irregular music that would 
 have been condemned by the critics of the age, but 
 such as would, nevertheless, please the ear, and 
 which has been sanctioned by the laws of later times. 
 And now as to the date of this Hynm to Nemesis, 
 and therewith of how far back the practice of a 
 major scale may be traced. The earliest evidence 
 about the hymUj according to Burette, is that it " is 
 more ancient than Synethius, a father of the Church, 
 who flourished four hundred and twelve years 
 after Christ ; and who, in his ninety-fifth letter, 
 quotes three verses from it as firom a hymn that 
 was sung in his time to the sound of the lyre." 
 , . . "It has been attributed by some to a poet, 
 named Mesodmes, who flourished under the emperor 
 Justinian, but Burette thinks the name corrupted 
 from Mesomedes; and Capitolinus, in his life of 
 Antoninus Pius, mentions a lyric poet of that 
 name, from whom that emperor withdrew a part 
 of the pension granted to him by Adrian, for verses 
 which he had written in praise of his favourite, 
 Antinous. Eusebius, in his chronicle, speaks of 
 Mesomedes as a poet originally of Crete, whom 
 he calls a composer of Nomes for the Kithara, 
 (KiOapwSiKwv vofMwv fiovcriKos TToii/Ti/y) which agrees very 
 well with the author of the hymn in question."* So 
 
 • Bumey, i. 92. 
 
 N 
 
178 THE HISTORY OP MUSIC. 
 
 says Dr, Bumey, quoting Burette, but still the autlior- 
 ship is by no means certain, for these hymns are free 
 compositions, in a very different style from Nomes. 
 An4 now, to judge upon strictly musical gi"ounds, 
 which seem not hitherto to have been taken into 
 account. The scale in which the hymns are noted 
 extends here to a Seventh above the key-note; yet 
 they are upon the Lesser Perfect System, because 
 they have the semitone, iiistea.d of a tone, above the 
 key-note. No such extension of the Lesser Perfect 
 System is mentipned by Claudius Ptolemy, writing 
 in the first half of the second century of _ our 
 era. If the compass had extended yet one note 
 higher, so as to make an Octave above the key- 
 note, it would not have been a Lesser System, 
 but one of equal extent with the Greater; and 
 Ptolemy's objection to it, as not being two Octaves 
 in extent, and, therefore, not being "Perfect," would 
 have been removed.* It resembles more the scale 
 adopted by the Christian Church, which combined the 
 Greater and Lesser Systems, but which they only 
 employed in the Dorian and Hypo-Dorian modes. 
 A second inference against any very considerable 
 Greek antiquity is the mode in which the music 
 of the hynms is written. We should hardly have 
 expected Apollo or Nemesis to be addressed in 
 the Lydian or Hypo-Lydian mode at any early 
 period of Greek history, but these modes were very 
 much used in comparatively later times.. Boethius 
 gives' only the musical notation of the Lydian and 
 Hypo-Lydian, and so does the author of a late 
 Greek treatise of an anonymous writer, published 
 by BeUermann. The hymns appear, then, to have 
 
 • Claud. Ptolemy, lib. ii. cap. 4. 
 
INTERNAL EVIDENCE OF DATE. 
 
 179 
 
 been written after the once-attributed characteristics 
 of modes had been forgotten, and they were found 
 to be mere differences of pitch. 
 
 These remarks are not offered as sure guides, but 
 they lead to inferences that the date of the hymns 
 is not earlier than from the second to the fourth 
 century of our era. The poetry has been considered 
 to " bear strong marks of having been written at a 
 time when Greek poetry was stiU flourishing;" and it 
 would appear, from the subjects, that Paganism must 
 have been at least surviving, if not flourishing, also. 
 
 The translation of the music of the second hymn 
 is printed at the old high pitch of the scales of 
 Alypius, but Claudius Ptolemy's transposition to a 
 Fourth lower is here adopted for this third, as 
 for the first hymn, because they are sufficiently 
 melodious to be sung as curiosities at this day. 
 Both Euclid and Gaudentius say that the scale may 
 be transposed to any semitone within an Octave.* 
 
 The harmony has been kindly contributed by my 
 friend, G. A. Macfarren, who is the first person who 
 publicly taught a system of harmony founded upon 
 the laws of Nature, in this country, or in any other. 
 
 m 
 
 pSi 
 
 No. 3.— HYMN TO NEMESIS. 
 
 Nl fie - at TTTc - p6 - ta <sa, /3i - ov po - wA, 
 
 m^ 
 
 F rir r cr i r 
 
 Ne - me - si pte - ro - es sa, bi - ou ro - pa. 
 
 flH>l i: l il^i^li^ ^ ^ 
 
 1^ 
 
 m I * 
 
 p # 
 
 " Vivovrai Si al fitra/loKai d7ro ttjs vaaSv. 
 ^lUTOviae apidiuvai, fiixpi rov Sia 
 
 N 2 
 
180 THE HISTOEY OP MUSIC. 
 
 Kv n-i/fi - jri 9e d, 8v - ya-rep At - sag • "A 
 
 41 
 
 p%-^?=f=ff^ ^ ^f-f+r-^ 
 
 Ku - a -no - pi The - it, thu-ga-ter Di - kas ; Ha 
 
 fag-H^H^ dd 
 
 m 
 
 r 
 
 T 
 
 $ 
 
 lit 
 
 (coS - 0a j>pv -ay /ui - ra Bva - tSiv 'E 
 
 S 
 
 ?^ 
 
 *l 
 
 kou - pha phru - ag 
 
 ma - ta thna -t5n E 
 
 pm^ . 
 
 ^m 
 
 :g= 
 
 ¥ 
 
 r^ 
 
 f=f=F= 
 
 ^^^ 
 
 k^ 
 
 i 
 
 « 
 
 "■« ■ X''? " ^''" A"*" " " X" ^' " "V * 
 
 '% 
 
 ag 
 
 ^^ 
 
 P^ 
 
 pe - cheis a - da-man - ti cha - li no ; 
 
 Ech 
 
 ^'. ;i j^i 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 f— rr 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 fe 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 flou - (7a f 6 ;3piv 6 Xo - av /Spo 
 
 ?^^ 
 
 thou - sa d'hu brin 
 
 lo - an bro t8n 
 
 W-4^ J I J J=^=f^ 
 
 
 J J J ,J J J ,J J _ 
 
 gi 
 
SECOND PAUT OF THE HYMN. 
 
 181 
 
 M^. 
 
 Me \a - va <p96 - vov Ik - rbg e - \av - vuq. 
 
 W J j-^^i i^ 
 
 m 
 
 Me - la - na phtho-non Ek - tos e lau - neis. 
 
 m 
 
 ^l i ' jr^^ ^-^j--^^ 
 
 ^au^TJ-i-U-^^^fJ-^ 
 
 W 
 
 The music to the second part of the Hymn to 
 Nemesis has hitherto been found only in one 
 manuscript of the fifteenth century, which is in- 
 cluded in the Royal Library at Naples.' Like all 
 the other manuscripts, it is in an imperfect state 
 as to the music for some few words, but this is 
 not to be wondered at, considering that the date 
 of the author cannot be later than the fourth 
 century, and is, perhaps, of the second or third. 
 Several intermediate transcriptions had, in aU 
 probability, been made. Again, there are some 
 notes so evidently wrong that, in three cases, I 
 have changed one, giving a memorandum of the 
 
 » The reference given by Beller- 
 mann is No. 262, iii., c. 4, fol. 83. 
 This MS. includes the treatises on 
 music of Bryennius, Bacchius, and 
 Aristides Quintilianus. Another 
 manuscript, aJso of the fifteenth 
 century, in the same collection, 
 includes the hymns. It is 259, iii., 
 c. i., fol., 218 verso. In this are 
 Claudius Ptolemy with Porphyry's 
 Commentary, Plutarch on Music, 
 Aristides Quintilianus, and Bacohiua. 
 The other manuscripts quoted by 
 Bellermann are No. 3, in the Royal 
 Bavarian Library at Munich, codex 
 215, fifteenth or sixteenth century, 
 containing Porphyry, Plotinus, 
 
 Ptolemy, an anonymous Peri Mou- 
 sikes, Aristides Quintilianus, and 
 Bacchius — the hymns at fol. 457. 
 No. 4, in Paris, No. 2458, written 
 by Petrus in 1544. No. 5, in the 
 University Library at Leyden, is No. 
 47 of Scaliger's collection, and of 
 sixteenth century. No. 6 is in the 
 Library of St. Mark, Venice, codex 
 318, of fourteenth or fifteenth cen- 
 tury — 241 folios, including the 
 arithmetic of Nioomachus andDom- 
 nius, Ptolemy, Porphyry, Manuel 
 Bryennius, Nicomachus, Bacchius, 
 &c. This manuscript is deficient as 
 to music for the hymns. 
 
182 
 
 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 change at the foot of the page. Having learnt 
 a little of the Greek system, aiid especially its 
 strong resemblance to our own, I cannot conceiire 
 them to have been so writtea by the author. There 
 are other cases of a doubtful nature, but the in- 
 tention of the composer cannot so easily be discerned. 
 These must await the finding of another manuscript. 
 In the meantime, the continuation of the hymn 
 is not equal to the first part. 
 
 THE CONTINUATION OF THE HYMN TO NEMESIS. 
 
 'Y - iri abv rpo - x6v a ara-rov, & - an - jSrj Xa-po ■ 
 
 f^m 
 
 ^ 
 
 7=^ 
 
 $ 
 $ 
 $ 
 
 i 
 
 ill 
 
 Hu-po sou tro-chon a - ' sta-ton, a sti - bS Cha-ro • 
 Trd /a p6 - TTbiv orpl- 06 - rai tv %« " Afi ■ 
 
 m 
 
 -&- 
 
 f^ 
 
 ^i^=^ 
 
 fei 
 
 pa me ro - pon stre-phe - tai tu - cha ; L5 
 
 SE 
 
 r • g r I r^ 
 
 ~rj 
 
 (■3 — r- 
 
 tit 
 
 thou sa de par 
 Fav - poi /ic vov 
 
 po da 
 
 bai - neis, 
 va kKI veig ' 
 
 m 
 
 ^^ 
 
 22 
 
 lei 
 
 Gau - rou me - non au cie - na kli - neis ; 
 
 "T - iro Trq - xvv d - si /3« - o - tov /le - rpcif , New - 
 
 ry 
 
 ± 
 
 i 
 
 iS 
 
 Hu - po pB - chiin a - ei 
 «e ffv - irb KoK - irov i 
 
 bi - o- ton me - treis, Neu ■ 
 El Bar 6 ^piv 
 
 eg 
 
 s 
 
 eia d'hu ■ po kol - pon a - ei kat' o phrun 
 
i 
 
 i«l 
 
 CONTINUATION OF THE HYMN TO NEMESIS. 183 
 Zw ybv /it ri XH pa Kpa - tov aa. 
 
 ^ 
 
 iP5S 
 
 Z2r 
 
 i 
 
 lil 
 
 Zu - gou me - ta chei - ra kra - tou 
 
 "I - \a 01 fia - xai - pa Si xa ffiro Xe " 
 
 i i r r f 
 
 f^? 
 
 i 
 
 *A 
 
 Hi - la thi ma - kai - ra di ka - spo - le ; 
 Nl jKE - (71 Trre - po eir oa, /3i - o« fJo - ffd, 
 
 ss 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 Ne - me - si pte - ro - es sa, bi ou ro - pa, 
 Nl fic- ttiv 6e - uv ai - lo - fti va 00i - riv, Ni 
 
 Mr- , .-T ^-^^-t 
 
 jg 
 
 r"r- g r-p i r ^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 i 
 
 is 
 
 Ne me - sin the - on ai - do - me na phthi - tan, Ni - 
 Ktjv ra - vv fft 7rr€- pov 6fi ^pl juav, Nq 
 
 m 
 
 ^ 
 
 i 
 
 i* 
 
 k5n ta - nu - si - pte -ron cm - bri - man, N5 - 
 flip rk - a, Kat wd - pg - Spov Ai Kav, A 
 
 m 
 
 ^ 
 
 i 
 
 ite 
 
 mer te - a, kai pa - re - dron Di kan, Ha 
 tAv fiB - ya Xa vo pi av |8po - t&v N£ - fii 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 ¥=^ 
 
 ik% 
 
 tan me - ga - la - no - ri - an bro - ton Ne-me ■ 
 
 ow aa ipk peif ica-ri rap ra pov. 
 
 m 
 
 i 
 
 w=^ 
 
 so - sa phe - reia ka - ta tar 
 
 ta - ron. 
 
 * This B would be A, according to the manuscript, but here the manu- 
 script is undoubtedly wrong. 
 
 f G in the manuscript, which cannot be right. 
 
 j This should be B, according to the manttscript. After the next notri, 
 D, the remainder of the music is deficient. 
 
184 THE HISTOBY OF MUSIC. 
 
 It seems now so hopeless to anticipate a discovery 
 of any more genuine remains of ancient Greek music, 
 that it may be sufficient to point out the scales at 
 p. 27 of Aristides Quintihanus, m Meibom's Antiques 
 MusicoB Auctores, as the more probable of the two 
 clues in such a case. In the lower part of that page 
 the enquirer will find, in Greek notation by letters, 
 a complete scale, iucluding every semitone exactly 
 as in our modem Chromatic scale, fi:om Gamma, 
 or the G on the lowest line of the base clef, up to 
 the " b," which is three Octaves and a major Third 
 above it. The upper line is for the voice and the 
 under letters are for the lyre. If this clue be 
 copied out over the notes which the letters represent, 
 the process will be found far less tedious than by 
 turning from one mode to another, in the pages of 
 Alypius in the same collection ; but his work can 
 also be referred to in case of need. There is no 
 great difference between the two systems, but it is 
 more probable that the clue given by Aristides 
 should serve, than the seemingly earlier one by 
 Alypius, of whose date nothing certain is known, 
 but which has been variously conjectured as of the 
 second, and as of the fourth century of our era. 
 
 The difficulties of Greek musical notation have 
 been often exaggerated. Burette is one who 
 indulges in this hyperbole, and Bumey quotes the 
 passage : — 
 
 "It is astonishing," says M. Burette, "that the 
 ancient Greeks, with all their genius, and in the 
 course of so many ages as music was cultivated by 
 them, never invented a shorter and more commodi- 
 ous way of expressing sounds in writing than by 
 'sixteen hundred and twenty notes." — (Burney, i. 19.) 
 
EXAGGERATION OF DIFFICULTIES. 185 
 
 Bumey argues gravely against tliis assertion ; but 
 neither he, Burette, nor any later historian with 
 whose works I am acquainted, seems to have observed 
 the table of Aidstides Quintilianus, which was under 
 their eyes, at p. 27 of his treatise. Besides this, 
 there are other copies of those scales which were 
 sent to Meibom by Selden, and by Gerard Langbaiae, 
 at pages 243 and 244 of Meibom's notes. Learned 
 men of the last century did not turn to original 
 sources overmuch. 
 
 The entire notation of all the modes is compre- 
 hended by Aristides in thirty-eight double letters 
 (gramimata). Quarter-tones are not included, but 
 as there was but one such sound added in each 
 tetrachord, and so, two in each Octave, eight more 
 double letters would have sufficed. In any case the 
 total must fall far short of sixteen hundred and 
 twenty. 
 
 There is a Greek notation by another set of signs, 
 which was employed for rhapsodizing. This system 
 is still employed in the services of the Greek Church 
 in some parts of the world. A similar kind of 
 notation by neumes, or signs for raising and lower- 
 ing the voice, (pneumata,) was once in use in the 
 Western Church. The conversion of the latter to 
 the purposes of music seems to date only from the 
 middle ages, and will form the subject of a later 
 chapter. 
 
186 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Basis of the science. — Its fundamental laws. — Earliest uses 
 of music. — Mathematical divisions of strings not alone 
 sufficient. — Minor tones introduced hy Didymus, and followed 
 by Claudius Ptolemy. — Neither the Greek scale nor the modem 
 is properly in one key. — Hence the question whether Elevenths 
 were concords. — How to test intervals. — The true proportions 
 for scales. — Eules for adding and deducting intervals. — Scales 
 of Bidymus and of Ptolemy. — Defects of the modern scale. — 
 The law of Nature the only true guide. — Objections to the 
 Fourth and minor Seventh of the present scale. — Causes of 
 Concord and Discord. — ^Pythagorean ideas realized by modern 
 science. — Sounds too high and too low for our hearing. 
 
 The discussion of ancient and modern science must, 
 in a measure, go hand in hand ; for, as our present 
 scale is Greek, so whatever applies to ancient times 
 is equally applicable to the present. No science 
 has more fixed and clearly estabhshed fundamental 
 laws than music. The wind will teach them as it 
 plays upon the strings of an ^olian harp ; for, 
 although tuned to one pitch, it will cause them 
 to emit sounds of every variety. The same law 
 exists in the nsiturai sounds of a trumpet, horn, 
 or open tube of any kind, and all the notes wiU 
 follow in the same succession.. By blowing into 
 the tube so slowly as just to make the soimd 
 continuous, the lowest, or fundamental note, 
 produced by the entire length of the pipe is first 
 heard ; then, by gradually iticreasing the rapidity 
 of the breath, an ascending series of notes will 
 foUow ; every one of which may be predicted as 
 
THE SOUNDS OF NATURE. 187 
 
 they rise gradually, higher and higher, up to the 
 extreme pitch that can be obtauied from the breath 
 of the mouth. The same rising succession of notes 
 is heard in the harmonic sounds that follow upon 
 one of the long strings of a pianoforte, after the 
 fundamental note, produced by the whole length 
 of string, has been struck, and when the string 
 gradually subdivides itself into smaller and smaller 
 nodes before finally coming to rest. They then 
 follow so rapidly as to seem to run one into the 
 other. From these laws, we may deduce both a 
 perfect Diatonic, and a perfect Chromatic scale from 
 any given note. The proportions of musical intervals 
 may be measured either by the divisions of a string, 
 or by the gradual cutting down of a pipe. Results 
 in harmony may be foretold with certainty as either 
 good or bad, by calculating the proportions of the 
 intervals together with the roots of the sounds, 
 and without any appeal to the ear. Again, the 
 ears may be stopped, and the eye will tell, from 
 the motions of sand scattered upon the sounding 
 board of a pianoforte, or any other vibrating surface, 
 whether the chord that has been struck upon the 
 instrument has been a concord or a dispord. In 
 the former case, the movements of the sand will 
 be symmetrical and regular ; and, in the latter, they 
 will show that discord reigns by their disturbed 
 state, and by their seeming to battle together." 
 The Octave is the first ascending sound, after the 
 primary one, in the harmonic scale of nature, and 
 all subsequent sounds are but subdivisions of it 
 at higher pitches. The Octave system, with its 
 
 » The following optical represeu- Fourth, Fifth, and Octave,, as shown 
 tation of the musical intervals of the by sand upon a vibrating surface, is 
 
188 
 
 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 included and harmonic-foUowing Fifth, and Fourfcli, 
 and major and minor Thirds, is the foundation of 
 all music. Sound, as is well known, does not exist 
 in the atmosphere, but is an affection of the brain 
 produced by succeeding elastic waves of air that 
 strike upon the drum of the ear, and which, for 
 that reason only, are called "sound-waves." 
 
 From all this, and from much more that might be 
 said, there can be no more evident fact than that it 
 was the design of the Creator that music should 
 be the companion and the solace of man; and from 
 this we may deduce that, in the mouth of man, 
 there can be no more fitting medium for the praise 
 of his Maker. 
 
 The ancient heathen attributed a divine origin to 
 their music, and, accordingly, the earliest uses to 
 which we find it to have been applied by them 
 are those of religious worship. At a later period, 
 music was also cultivated for educational purposes, 
 especially among the Greeks, and chiefly with the 
 view of elevating the mind above its too frequently 
 grovelling tendencies. "The first and noblest 
 application of music," says Plutarch, " is in offering 
 the tribute of praise to the immortals : the next 
 is the purifying, regulating, and harmonizing the 
 souL" 
 
 Speaking of times past, Plato says : " Our music 
 
 copied from the Quwrterly Journal 
 of Science for January, 187Q. (No. 
 25.) The lower note of each interval 
 
 Octave. Fifth. 
 
 is middle C, or the below the 
 lines ia the treble : — 
 
 Fourth. 
 
THE EARLIEST USES OP MUSIC. 189 
 
 was then divided according to certain species and 
 figures. Prayers to the gods were one kind of 
 song, to which they gave the name of hymns. 
 Opposed to this was another species which might 
 be called Threni" (Funeral Dirges), "another, Pceans" 
 (Choral Songs to Apollo or Artemis), " and another, 
 The Buth of Dionysus " (the Greek Bacchus), "which 
 I hold to be the dithyrambic verse. There were 
 also Nomes" (or simple and severe chants upon a 
 few high notes), "accompanied by the Kithara, which 
 were equally distinct. These and some others being 
 prescribed, it was not allowable to use one kiad of 
 chant for another. But, in process of time, the 
 poets introduced unlearned license ; they, being 
 poetic by nature but unskilled in the rules of the 
 science, trampled down its laws. Over-attentive to 
 please, they mixed threni with the hymns, and 
 pseans with dithyrambs, imitated music intended 
 for the flute upon the Kithara, and confounded each 
 kind with every other." — {Laws, lib. iii.) Add to 
 this Plutarch's account. He says : "In the yet more 
 early times, the music of the theatre was unknown 
 to the Greeks ; the whole art being then made 
 subservient to the honour of the gods, and to 
 purposes of education. Theatres themselves were 
 then unknown ; and their only music consisted of 
 those sacred strains which were employed in the 
 temples as a means of paying adoration to the 
 Supreme Being," (te tou theiou,) " and of celebratiug 
 the praises of the great and good of our species. 
 It is probable that the modem word ' Theatre,' 
 and the very ancient one ' theorem ' (to look at), 
 have their derivation from Theos, the Deity. In 
 the present day, so great is our degeneracy, that 
 
190 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC, 
 
 we have absolutely lost botli the knowledge and 
 the notion of that system by which youth were 
 formerly trained up to honour and virtue. The 
 only music now studied and hstened to is that of 
 the theatre." — [De Musica, cap. 27.) 
 
 Notwithstanding the divine origin attributed to 
 music, it is very doubtful whether any of the 
 civilized nations of antiquity knew the laws of 
 Nature as to the prescribed succession of musical 
 sounds, or, perhaps, much beyond the general 
 observation, such as that of Aristotle," that high 
 notes are of more rapid vibration than \av( ones. 
 So far as we are acquainted with ancient systems 
 of music, they seem to have been founded upon 
 the divisions of a string upon some instrument of 
 the monochord kind, with a movable bridge 
 (hupagogeus) under it, for the purpose of measuring ; 
 or else to divide by pressing the string against 
 a finger-board. Since, then, the science of music 
 was thus learnt from .a string, it must surely 
 offer the most simple and intelligible means of 
 explaining it. It will give the least amount of 
 trouble to the reader; and, although there must 
 be figures in all cases, yet, if explained by a 
 string, nothing more than the elementary rules of 
 arithmetic can be required. 
 
 The Greek system is defective in one 
 essential point — ^that, although the divisions of a 
 string will show the ratios that its parts or 
 intervals bear to the whole length, they will not 
 point out the positions in which those intervals 
 must be placed in a musical scale, so as to make 
 consonances of them by keeping them within one 
 
 " Aristot. De Audib; p. 801 and p. 80.3, edit. Bekker. 
 
DEFECTS OP THE GREEK SYSTEM. 191 
 
 key, or from one root. So, a scale may look well 
 proportioned upon paper and yet be practically 
 bad. The same length of a string may be divided 
 off iu one part, so as to be concordant witli the 
 rest ; and, in another part, to be discordant. 
 
 The defects of this origin, are shown in many of 
 the Greek scales, and, among others, in. our own, it 
 being wholly Greek. 
 
 The Octave, the Fifth, the Fourth, and the 
 major tone, {ie., sounding eight-ninths of a string 
 compared to the whole length,) were included in 
 the Pythagorean system of music ; and the seemingly 
 slight change which created true consonant major 
 and minor Thii-ds, and the minor tone, (of nine- 
 tenths of a string compared to the whole,) were 
 improvements introduced by Didymus about the 
 commencement of the Christian era, and followed by 
 Claudius Ptolemy, about the year 130 or 140. 
 StUl, the Greek Diatonic scale remained a compound 
 of soimds derived from different roots, and was, 
 and is, therefore, strictly speaking, in different 
 keys. 
 
 For instance, in our adopted scale of C major, 
 one-half of the Diatonic Octave, or the notes on the 
 long keys of the pianoforte, is in the scale of C, and 
 the other half is derived from the scale of F. This 
 is consequent upon its having been composed out 
 of two Greek conjoined tetrachords, B, C, D, E, 
 and E, F, G, A, which, when taken as parts of a 
 major scale, and not of a minor, as of old, have 
 their roots or key-notes the one in C and the other 
 in F. If a minor scale were to be tested in the 
 same way, it would show greater variety of roots, 
 therefore greater deviation from the right path. 
 
192 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 A comparison with, the scale of Nature -will 
 presently prove this ; but, in the mean time, in 
 order that the purport of these remarks may be 
 understood, suppose that, in the key of C major, 
 we sound C in the base, and with it and F in 
 the treble, the last two being at the interval of a 
 Fourth. The treble F makes a discord with the 
 base C. But if we again sound the upper C with 
 the G immediately below it, instead of the F above, 
 and retain C as the base, it is a concord. And yet 
 from G to C, and from C to F, are both Fom?ths 
 taken from the key-note, the one 'above and the 
 other below it, in our key of C. The difiference is, 
 that from C to F is an artificial interval, disavowed 
 by Nature in her scale of C, but from G to C is 
 Nature's interval. The former is from the root of 
 F, and requires F for its base. Then it wUl be 
 concordant. These cases wUl be further exemplified 
 in the sequel. 
 
 As my present subject is the Science of Music, 
 I speak freely of the defects of our adopted scale. 
 Its deficiencies may at least be made known, how- 
 ever improbable any change of system may be. 
 Let us face the difficulties, and see what a dwarfed 
 scale for melody we have to work upon, tkrough 
 having copied from the Greeks. 
 
 The intervals from G to C and from C to F, were 
 two of the puzzles to writers upon Harmony, not 
 only for several ages past, but even far into the present 
 century. They had no rule by which they could 
 duly account for Fourths being both discords and 
 concords iti what was considered to be one key, so 
 they divided themselves into opposite camps ; the 
 one conteijding that Fourths, and what have been 
 
MATHEMATICAL SCALES INSUFFICIENT. 193 
 
 called "Elevenths," or combined Octaves and 
 Fourths, were concords, and the other as stoutly 
 maintaining that they were discords. Neither of 
 the two parties thought of appealing to the Harmonic 
 scale for the solution of the difficulty. Harmonics 
 were, until lately, more looked upon as a trouble to 
 pianoforte makers that ought to be got rid of, than 
 as containing the essence of music, and as being 
 therefore a necessary study for a musician. There is 
 indeed little that can be more instructive than a 
 comparison of our scale, calculated by Greek mathe- 
 maticians, with that most ancient of aU scales — ^the 
 scale of Nature. Every musical interval within the 
 Octave may be so misplaced as to leave the key and 
 become a discord, and it is from the scale of Nature 
 only that a fitting position for each has to be 
 determined. Mathematical scales are insufficient 
 without it, and yet this material deficiency in 
 them, and especially in our own scale, has been 
 but little thought of A choice of good intervals 
 may suffice for varied harmony, but to be consonant 
 in one key, they must be derived from the same 
 root. 
 
 The Greek scale which preceded the time of Didy- 
 mus, although usually coupled with the name of 
 Pythagoras, might equally be called the scale of 
 ancient Asia, and of ancient Egypt. It has already 
 been shown that the Greek one-octave scale began a 
 Fourth below the key-note, thus taking the interval 
 of the Fourth downward in its consonant form to the 
 key-note or Mese, and that it ended a Fifth above 
 the key-note. Also that the Fifth above the key-note 
 was compounded of a major tone, called diazeuctic, 
 or disjunctive, and of another Fourth. So the 
 
194 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 skeleton of the Octave was thus complete, and there 
 remained but to fill up the two Fourths by smaller 
 intervals. So far the Greek scale and the scale of 
 Nature agree, and from that point they part 
 company. These Fourths were originally subdivided, 
 each into two major tones and a remnant. The 
 choice of major tones was directed by one of them 
 being the exact interval between a Fourth and a 
 Fifth. When two of them were included in a 
 Fourth, the remnant became one of that kind of 
 semitone which was in the ratio of 243 to 256, to 
 which the name of a diesis was given by the earhest 
 Pythagoreans, such as PhUolaos, but which later 
 Pythagoreans named limmas, meaning "remnants" 
 of the interval of the Fourth, after the two tones 
 were taken out of it. Aristoxenians and Greek 
 practical musicians called these remnants semitones, 
 but such semitones are diiferent from the semitone 
 of later Greek, and of modem music. 
 
 When the Greek scale was extended to two 
 Octaves, by adding on a Fifth at the lower extreme 
 of the original Octave scale, and a Fourth at its 
 upper end, the two-octave scale began and finished 
 at the key-note, like our own, and equally agreed 
 with Nature's law as to the skeleton of the Octave. 
 Therefore, for the comparison of ancient with modern 
 music, which is here proposed, we will take one 
 Octave in this latter form. Suppose the key to be 
 Hypo-Dorian, or A minor, then from A to B will 
 be the disjunctive tone, and there will remain the 
 two conjoined Fourths, B, C, D, E, and E, F, G, A, 
 just as on the long keys of a pianoforte. 
 
 The way to test such intervals as the Octave, 
 the Fifth, the Fourth, the major Third, and the 
 
CONSTITUTION OF A TKUE SCALE. 195 
 
 minor Third, upon a string, is to stop* successively 
 the half, the third part, the fourth, fifth, and sixth 
 parts, and to sound the remainders of the string, 
 comparing each of these intervals with the sound 
 of the whole length. We have no equivalent in 
 modem music to the note produced by stopping 
 the seventh part of a string, which is the Harmonic 
 Seventh, but it is a natural note upon the horn. 
 It was employed in the last century with 
 untempered instruments, such as fiddles and basses, 
 in small bands, as well as for ages before, when 
 horns and trumpets had no keys or shdes. It affords 
 additional passages in melody without change of 
 key. It is called the Harmonic Seventh in 
 reference to its key-note, so, in C, would be called 
 Harmonic B flat, and we might employ it where 
 we cannot use our B flat, because the latter does 
 effect a change of key. Swiss singers, says Spohr, 
 in his Autobiography, employ the Harmonic Seventh 
 in their music, as weU as the Harmonic Fourth, 
 which is the interval produced by stopping the 
 eleventh part of a string. They are quite right to 
 do so, because they enlarge their sphere of melody, 
 and have Nature on their side in both cases. The 
 Harmonic B flat divides the upper Fourth, from 
 G to C in the key of C, into two aU-but-equal 
 parts, and these might be called Thirds, but they 
 are of diminishing compass, and next to the minor 
 Thirds that we employ. Nature's Octave is divided 
 into eight tones, beginning with the eighth part 
 
 * Whenever " stopping'' any part The string must not be touched 
 
 of a string is here mentioned, the lightly at a point, for that would 
 
 meaning is absolute stopping or make it subdivide itself by nodes, 
 
 shortening the length by so much, and produce quite a different effect, 
 and sounding the whole remainder. 
 
 o 2 
 
196 THE HISTOKY OF MUSIC. 
 
 of a string up to the sixteentli part ; but we, 
 following the Greeks, Chaldseans, and Egyptians, 
 with their seven planets and seven notes, have 
 still but seven. Natiire divides the interval, from 
 G to C into the same number of parts as that from 
 C to G. 
 
 As the seventh part of a string gives the 
 Harmonic B flat, so the eighth part stopped gives 
 the key-note, C, above it. I have already said 
 that the stoppings of the ninth and of the tenth 
 parts of a string raise its pitch by the intervals 
 of our major and of our minor tone. From those, 
 the moderns pass on to the sixteenth part, and by 
 stopping it, they raise the note by what is now 
 termed indifferently a major semitone, or a Diatonic 
 semitone. When we pass down from C to B, or 
 from F to E, it is by the semitone in question. 
 Its name is from the Latin, and that of hemitone 
 from the Greek, but they are equally improper ; 
 because, instead of being a semitone, the interval 
 of a sixteenth part of a string is really the smallest 
 of the eight tones of Nature. It is too wide to be 
 the half of even our major tone. Its name should 
 have been changed when Didymus and Ptolemy 
 enlarged its proportions. The Pythagorean limma, 
 or Aristoxenian semitone, was as 243 to 256, and Didy- 
 mus changed it to 240 to 256, which is as 15 to 16. 
 
 A true tonal scale is from the eighth to the six- 
 teenth part of a string, whatever the length of that 
 string may be. Length only changes the fundamental 
 note. The two intervals to which we give the name 
 of tone are the largest of the eight of Nature's. 
 Those eight decrease progressively in the ascending 
 Octave ; and we employ but three of them, viz., the 
 
THREE NECESSARY RULES. 197 
 
 largest two, and the least. We name the first two 
 " Tones," and tMs least we misname " a major or 
 Diatonic semitone." 
 
 There is another, and a truer semitone, in modem 
 music. It is produced by stopping the twenty- 
 fifth part of a string, and therefore is miich less 
 than the Diatonic semitone. It is the true interval 
 between G and G sharp in Nature's scale, when C 
 is the fundamental sound, or key-note. This 
 semitone, like the other, has two names. It is 
 called " minor," and " Chromatic," and it is 
 employed when the name of the note remains 
 unchanged, as from F to F sharp, or from G to 
 G sharp. 
 
 All the before-named intervals were used by the 
 Greeks in some one or other of their scales. Even 
 the Harmonic Fourth and the Harmonic Seventh 
 were thus included. 
 
 Our major and minor semitones were coupled 
 together in the Chromatic scale of Didymus, and 
 the two combined are equal to one minor tone. 
 Hence, when he added the usual interval of a minor 
 Third between the highest two strings of the 
 Fourth or tetrachord, he made the best possible 
 arrangement for a Greek Chromatic scale. With 
 two such tetrachords, and the diazeuctic ma^or 
 tone, he completed the Octave. 
 
 His Enharmonic scale was equally good, for he 
 divided his major semitone, ^, into its two best 
 quarter-tones, |^ and f^. Then a major Third, |, 
 completed that tetrachord. 
 
 But, before referring further to figures, there 
 are three simple rules that every incipient musician 
 should know. It is not, however, to be assumed 
 
198 THE HISTORY OP MUSIC, 
 
 that all do know them ; for although it must be 
 supposed that there are books on music which contaiu 
 these rules, yet it has not been my fortune to have 
 met with any one of them. Musicians appear too 
 generally to have thrown such information aside, 
 and mathematicians, when writing upon music, 
 assume that their readers know every kind of 
 rule beforehand. 
 
 ■It is indispensable for a real musician, that he 
 shall be able to tell with certainty what will be 
 the effect of any combination of intervals, and he 
 may often wish to ascertain it for himself when 
 he cannot have the opportunity of testing them 
 practically. It is well, therefore, to know how he 
 can judge of them on paper, with even greater 
 certainty than by ear, however good that ear may 
 be. Indeed, it is by far the more convenient way 
 of testing unfamiliar intervals. 
 
 The three rules are — How to add intervals ; How 
 to deduct one from another ; and How to compare 
 one with another. The answer to all may be 
 comprehended in a hue. To add, multiply; To 
 deduct, cross-multiply ; To compare, bring them to 
 a common denominator. Still, these directions will 
 not be, in all cases, sufficient ; and, in order to be 
 understood by all, I hope to be excused for further 
 explaining and exemplifying them. 
 
 To add one interval to another, multiply the 
 numerator by th6 numerator, and the denominator 
 by the denominator. If we say three-eighths, three ia 
 the numerator, and we denominate eighths. Then 
 reduce the multipKed totals to theii- smallest 
 figures, by finding out what is their " Greatest 
 Common Measure." 
 
EXAMPLES OE THE THREE RULES. 199 
 
 To do this, we must follow the ordinary rule of 
 arithmetic, which is thus expressed : — " Divide the 
 greater by the less, and the preceding divisor by the 
 remainder, and so on continually until there is no 
 remainder. The last divisor will be the Greatest 
 Common Measure." 
 
 This will perhaps be more quickly understood by 
 an example. The ancient Pythagorean tetrachord, 
 or Fourth, consisted of two major tones and a 
 limma, or remnant ; in other words, of the three 
 intervals, f, f , and ||f .^ 
 
 Then for the two major tones and lirrvma = 
 f X f X HI = Mfll = f to be explained thus :— 
 
 For the numerator, 8 times 8 are 64, and 64 times 
 243 are 15552. For the denominator, 9 times 9 are 
 81, and 81 times 256 are 20736. Divide the greater 
 by the less, 20736 by 15552; it leaves 5184. Then 
 15552 by 5184, and it leaves no remainder. There- 
 fore, 5184 is the last divisor, and the Greatest 
 Common Measure. Divide the two original sums 
 by 5184 ; it shows ^§f || to be equal to f. 
 
 For the second rule — To subtract one interval 
 from another, by cross-multiphcation, the readiest way 
 is to invert the figures of one of the two ratios, 
 and to place them under the others. Then to 
 multiply the upper by the under. This position of 
 the figures is the more convenient for a simi. To 
 prove the rule in the simplest way, we know that 
 4 to 2 is the same ratio as 2 to 1. Cross-multiply, 
 and it will show them to be equal. Again, we 
 
 " In stating these sums it will equals, — for deduction, and : : for 
 
 save space to adopt the usual signs, proportion. As 4 is to 8, so is 
 
 viz., X for multipUoation, + for 9 to 18, stated thus :^ : 8 :: 9 : 18. 
 addition, -h- for division, = for 
 
200 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC, 
 
 know that a Fiftt and a Fourth together make an 
 Octave, as from C up to G, and from G to Octave 
 "c." Therefore, if we deduct a Fifth from an Octave, 
 the remainder ought to be a Fotirth. The ratio of 
 the Octave is as 1 to 2 in length, or as 2 to 1 in 
 vibrations. The interval is the same either way, so 
 the case may be stated either way. Here, adopting 
 the former, the Fifth is as 2 to 3, and the Fourth as 
 3 to 4. . 
 
 Therefore, taking the Octave as 1:2 
 
 Multiply by the inverted figures of the Fifth, 3 : 2 
 The remainder shows the Fourth, viz., . . 3:4 
 For the third rule — How to compare intervals. 
 The most useful example will be to take our present 
 scale, and to compare every interval with its key- 
 note in C To D is a major tone, f, or as 9 vibra^ 
 tions to. 8 of the key-note. To E, a major Third, f, 
 or 5 vibrations to 4 of the key-note. To F a Fourth, 
 in figures ^ To G a Fifth, f . To A a Sixth, 
 in figures f. To B a major Seventh, '^. Lastly, 
 the Octave is as 2 to 1 of the key-note. So the 
 scale stands thus : 1, f, f, f, f, f, V, y. As the 
 
 C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C. 
 
 Octave here includes odd mimbers, as four to three, 
 and five to three, which are two of the imperfections 
 of our scale, we cannot have a lower common 
 denominator than 24, where it ought to be 8. So we 
 must multiply every ratio by such figures as will 
 bring its under-figures to 24. For instance, f is equal 
 to f^, multiplying by 3. Next, we must multiply 
 I by 6, and so on— 24, |^, ff, ff, ff, ^, f|, ff. 
 Then dropping the lower figures, we compare the 
 proportions of our Octave scale as 24, 27, 30, 32, 36, 
 40, 45, 48. 
 
A GREEK COINCIDENCE WITH NATURE. 201 
 
 This rule, or multiplying the ratios by 24, is 
 necessary for understanding Dr. Wallis's edition of 
 Claudius Ptolemy, and many more books. 
 
 When the principal intervals are stated in figures, 
 according to their proportionate vibrations, the 
 Octave is written f, or 2 to 1. The Fifth as f, 
 or 3 to 2. The Fourth as |. The major Third as 
 f, and the minor Third as |. The major, or Dia- 
 tonic semitone, as ^. 
 
 And now, having given the three necessary rules, 
 I wlU. in future state only the results, and leave 
 them to be tested by the curious. 
 
 One of the Greek scales in which the Harmonic 
 Seventh, or seventh part of a string, was employed, 
 is exceedingly worthy of note, and quite an excep- 
 tional scale in Greek music. It is the Even Diatonic 
 (Diatonon homalon) of Claudius Ptolemy, given in 
 the 16th chapter of his first book. The remarkable 
 part is, that he follows out the natural division of 
 the scale in all the intervals that are included in 
 the Fifth, from the key-note upwards. Therefore 
 he has so far a true major scale, with its major Third, 
 instead of the perpetually recurring minor Third — 
 that minor Third being always consequent upon the 
 disjunctive major tone immediately above the key- 
 note, and to the semitone of the tetrachord being 
 next above it, as A to B, and B to C. They caused 
 Greek scales to be always minor. Jean Jacques 
 Rousseau's remark, that the minor scale is not given 
 by Nature, is a very just one." After the major 
 Third, which is in the place of the old minor, Ptolemy 
 
 » "La mode mineur n'est pas Tartini, ainsi que dans celui de 
 
 donn^ par la Nature ; il ne se trouve M. Rameau." — (Dictionnaire de 
 
 que par analogie et renversement. Mimque, under "Mode.") 
 Cela est vrai dans le systAme de M. 
 
202 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 employs the Harmonic Fourth, or the eleventh part 
 of a string, being a nearly equal division between E 
 and G. So, in the scale of C, Ptolemy has 0, D, 
 E, Harmonic F (instead of our F), and G. Next, as 
 to the tetrachord, or Fourth, below the key-note, 
 he first divided it into its two legitimate parts 
 by Harmonic B flat. So far he had proceeded 
 thoroughly according- to natural laws, but as that 
 one division of the Fourth gave hiTin only three 
 notes — G, Harmonic B flat, and C — and four were 
 required for a Greek tetrachord, he altered that 
 excellent arrangement, and repeated the intervals 
 that he had just employed in the Fourth above the 
 key-note, viz., for the D, E, Harmonic F, and G. 
 
 Before that change, he had adopted Nature's 
 scale so far as taking successively the sixth, seventh, 
 eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth parts of 
 a string. Yet he was not led to it by any insight 
 into Nature's laws, but by one of the Pythagorean 
 doctrines which neither Pythagoras nor his school 
 had ever carried out. The doctrine was to employ 
 only super-particular ratios, such as 10 to 9, 9 to 8, 
 8 to 7, 7 to 6, 6 to 5, 5 to 4, 4 to 3, and 3 to 2. As 
 Ptolemy here employed them in gradually decreas- 
 ing intervals, he fell into the law of Nature. 
 
 When the Pythagoreans gave the name of limma 
 to the proportions of 243 to 256, which are less than 
 the half of a major tone, they called the remaining 
 greater part an apotome, or segment. It had the 
 awkward proportions of 2048 to 2187. The com- 
 parative sizes of the two will be made clearer if we 
 multiply the figures of the limma by 8, thus making 
 it 1944 to 2048. The difierence between these two 
 was called a Pythagorean comma (komma), viz.. 
 
MINUTE GREEK INTERVALS. 203 
 
 524,288 to 531,441. Therefore, if a Pythagorean 
 comma be added to two lirmnas, it makes one major 
 tone. But there is another point to be noticed 
 about this comma. If twelve perfect Fifths be taken 
 from any note — say from C upwards — they will end 
 upon B sharp, and it will be a Pythagorean comma 
 sharper than the seven-octave C. The reason of 
 this reversal of order is, that we make Fifths where 
 Nature has not designed them, because the notea 
 have to serve other purposes. Octaves are the only 
 continuously perfect intervals. 
 
 A few other intervals with peculiar names will 
 sometimes be met with; and, being bound to explain 
 them, it is better at once to clear the board. A 
 minor semitone deducted from a major semitone, 
 leaves what is now termed an Enharmonic diesis, 
 125 to 128. This diesis is less than one of the 
 Enharmonic-quarter tones of Didymus, |-^ = ]^. 
 The modern Enharmonic diesis is a nominal difference 
 between C# and Db.* The interval between our 
 Diatonic, or major semitone, and a major tone is 
 
 128 
 TWS' 
 
 A Greek Enharmonic diesis, or quarter-tone, is 
 sometimes called a Tetartemorion, meaning " quarter- 
 piece" of a tone, and a Chromatic diesis, or third 
 part of a tone, is called a Tritemorion. These two 
 intervals have not infrequently been mistaken by 
 lexicographers for the much larger ones of a Fourth, 
 which is two tones and a half, and of a Third, which 
 is two tones. 
 
 A Schisma is an iuterval to be read of in mathe- 
 
 " This modem law seems to have one of the two notes changes its 
 been made to maintain the interval name. 
 .'of a Diatonic semitone, whenever 
 
204 THE HISTOKY OF MUSIC. 
 
 matical music, but one not often brought into 
 practice. It is tbe approximate half of a Pythar 
 gorean comma. A Diachisma is a similar division 
 of the before named limma. As the interval of a 
 Diachisma approaches to a quarter-tone, it may 
 have been practically employed in the ancient 
 Enharmonic scale. 
 
 Lastly, the comma of Didymus is sometimes 
 referred to as a syntonic comma. This is an 
 important interval in modern as well as in ancient 
 music. It is far more so than the comma of Pytha- 
 goras. The comma of Didymus is the interval 
 between a major and a minor tone, or between the 
 eightieth and the eighty-first parts of a string. 
 
 So delicately organised is the human ear, that 
 it was but this eighty-first part that worked 
 the great revolution between the ancient scale of 
 Pythagoras and the very present scale. First, 
 Didymus, and, after him, Claudius Ptolemy, deducted 
 this comma from one of the two major tones that 
 formed the ancient Ditone, or over-sized major Third, 
 and so changed it into our consonant major Third. 
 Moreover, the comma thus taken away from the tone 
 was added to the limma, and brought that interval 
 into its present proportions as a major semitone. By 
 these changes the Greek Diatonic scale attained its 
 present improved proportions. So, the difference 
 between a major and a minor tone, as well as that 
 between a limma and a major semitone, is a syntonic 
 comma, or comma of Didymus, or the eighty-first 
 part of a string. 
 
 To prove the effect of this apparently small, but 
 really very important, change, we have but to add 
 together the two major tones of which the ancient 
 
THE EAE COMPARED WITH THE EYE. 205 
 
 Ditone, or Pytliagorean Third, consisted, by multiply- 
 ing the mimbers f x f = f^. If it had been a true 
 major Third, the ratio woiild have been f^, which is 
 the same as ^, as wiU be found by dividing the two 
 numbers by 16. Although the old Ditone did pass 
 for a Third in melody, it would not bear the test 
 m harmony. Every ear found it to be a harsh 
 discord. The ear is so much more delicately 
 organised than the eye, that even a hundred and 
 sixtieth part of difference in vibrations, in one second 
 of time, has a rough and unsatisfactory effect, which 
 every ear can distinguish ; whereas the quickest eye 
 cannot distinguish, or count, more than twenty-four 
 vibrations in the same brief period. The deUcacy of 
 the one organ is quite as eight to one of the other. 
 
 The improved major Third of Didymus and of 
 Ptolemy consisted, like our own, of two tones, the 
 one major and the other minor: fx^ — 1-§ = |. 
 Then the limma being changed into a major semi- 
 tone, H-, made a true Fourth : ^ x ^ = f§ = f . 
 
 And now as to the discordance of the minor 
 Pythagorean Third, which must also be proved ; for 
 there is nothing like proof to fix anything as a fact 
 upon the memory. It consists of a limma and a 
 major tone : |-|f x f = ^^ = fj. Twenty-seven 
 to thirty-two are indifferent proportions that carry 
 discord with them. They are neither midtiple, as 
 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, nor super-particular, i.e., one number 
 is not the unit, or one " particle " above the other. 
 They want the comma to make them super-particular 
 and consonant. The ratio is identical with our 
 . imperfect minor Third of to-day, as between D and 
 F, when the scale has been tuned for the key of 
 C ; because it has then a minor, instead of a major 
 
206 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 tone in it : if x 3^ = i|f = f|-. TMs defect was 
 inherited from Claudius Ptolemy's scale. The true 
 minor Third consists of a major tone and a major 
 seniitone : H x f = -^ff = f . 
 
 One of the musical laws of Pythagoras was, that, 
 to be concordant, all ratios must be either multiple 
 {jpoUaphbsioi), like the Octave, 2, 4, 8, or like the 
 Twelfth, 3, 9, 27, 81, or else they must be super- 
 particular (epimorioi), as 3 to 2, 4 to 3, or 5 to 4. 
 This doctrine is referred to, among others, by 
 Aristotle, in his 41st Problem of Section 19. We 
 bave every reason to suppose it to have been derived 
 among other laws, from Egypt, because, although it 
 was held as a maxim by the school of Pythagoras, 
 it- was very imperfectly acted upon either by him, 
 or by his disciples, for a full 500 years after his 
 death. Therefore, his followers could not have 
 regarded it as a really essential principle in music, 
 and as a law of Nature in the division of a string, 
 or of a column of air enclosed in a pipe. If other- 
 wise, they acted too inconsistently in having 
 admitted only the Octave, the Fifth, and the Fourth, 
 as simple consonances. They should have included 
 intervals in the ratio of 5 to 4, and 6 to 5, which 
 would have added the major and minor Thirds to 
 their scales in a consonant form. When Claudius 
 Ptolemy followed out their doctrine, and so brought 
 true major and minor Thirds into his scales, he 
 twitted the followers of Pythagoras with then- 
 inconsistency in that respect. — (Ptolemy, lib. i 
 cap. 6.) 
 
 Neither the Octave, nor any interval within the 
 Octave, can be divided into equal parts. The most 
 consonant and the nearest to equal division of the 
 
DIDYMtrS AND PTOLEMY. 207 
 
 Octave is into a Fiftli and a Fourth, and the 
 ratios of both are super-partictilar, f and f = t^ = i- 
 The Fifth must, in Hke manner, be divided into 
 major and minor Thirds, |^ x f = f§ = f. The best 
 division of the Fourth would be by the Harmonic 
 Seventh, making from G to C f x |- = If = f . 
 The major Third would be into major and minor 
 tones, -f X T^ = ^ = |. We lack the divisions of 
 minor Third, and of major tone, in our adopted 
 Greek scale, but we divide the minor tone into 
 our two semitones, xf ^ M = i%% = t^- 
 
 The first Greek who is known to have carried 
 out the doctrine of super-particular ratios into all 
 his scales is Didymus. He had been preceded by 
 Archytas, and by Eratosthenes, but they did so 
 only in part. Claudius Ptolemy followed after 
 Didymus, but made the same one exception to this 
 true principle as did Eratosthenes, by retaining the 
 old Pythagorean Diatonic scale, am"ong others, either 
 out of respect for the name of Pythagoras, or 
 because it was in general use. Nevertheless, each 
 offered improvements upon it. Didymus* wrote a 
 treatise upon the differences between Aristoxenians 
 and Pythagoreans, of which we now know only 
 some extracts, quoted by Porphyry in his Commen- 
 tary upon Claudius Ptolemy. — (See, for instance, 
 p. 210, edit. WaUis.) 
 
 As a scale designed for the Diatonic system of the 
 Greeks, that of Didymus had some advantages over 
 
 " In the article written by W. Such a Didymus is to me unknown; 
 
 A. Greenhill, M.D., for Dr. W. but the Didymus is largely quoted, 
 
 Smith's Dictionary of Greek and among others, by Claudius Ptolemy, 
 
 Soman Biography, the only Didy- who took astronomical observations 
 
 mus, mathematician and musician, at Alexandria, A.r. 139. 
 is dated as of the fourth century. 
 
208 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 Ptolemy's arrangement, because both were intended 
 for the minor scale. The difiference between the two 
 is but slight, the intervals being the same, and the 
 scale of Ptolemy seemingly copied from that of 
 Didymus, of which it is a mere transposition. In 
 every Octave, two minor tones are necessary, one 
 being required for each of the two Fourths, to make 
 them consonant. Didymus placed one of his minor 
 tones between C and D, and the other between F 
 and G, while Ptolemy changed their places to 
 between D and E, and between G and A, as we do 
 now. In this last interval Ptolemy broke through 
 the Greek law of having a full tone below Mese, or 
 the key-note, but he could not make a novelty by 
 any "other means. Didymus obtained a perfect 
 Fourth from A to D, a perfect minor Third from D 
 to F, and a perfect Fifth from D to A. The imper- 
 fections of these intervals in our adopted scale have 
 been a great perplexity to modern musicians. 
 
 But although Didymus had these advantages in 
 a minor scale, they were outweighed by disadvan- 
 tages when the key-note was changed iu later ages 
 from minor to major. To obtain due proportions for 
 a miaor scale, Didymus had made the Fifth from C 
 upwards, and the Fourth from C downwards, both 
 imperfect. 
 
 The advantages and the disadvantages of these 
 two systems, which have been ranked as No. 1 and 
 No. 2, by mathematicians for our present imperfect 
 seven planet scale, will be best seen by placing them 
 side by side, reminding the reader that every major 
 Third, Fourth, and Fifth must have one minor tone, 
 and but one, to be perfect. 
 
 In both scales, the disjunctive tone, A to B, was 
 
IMPERFECTIONS OF THE TWO SCALES. 209 
 
 necessarily major, according to Greek laws, but in 
 the major scale of C, according to Nature's law, it 
 ought to be a minor tone : — 
 
 
 
 SCAT.E OP DiDYMUS. 
 
 
 9 to 8 
 
 16 to 15 
 
 10 to 9 9 to 8 16 to 15 
 
 10 to 9 9 to 8 
 
 AtoB 
 
 B toC 
 
 C to D D to E E to F 
 Scale of Ptolemy. 
 
 F to G G to A 
 
 9 to 8 
 
 16 to 15 
 
 9 to 8 10 to 9 16 to 15 
 
 9 to 8 10 to 9 
 
 AtoB 
 
 B to C 
 
 C to D D to E E to F 
 
 F to G G to A 
 
 The imperfections of the scale of Didymus are, 
 that by having placed two major tones together, (G 
 to A, and A to B,) he made a false major Third from 
 G to B ; also a false Fourth from G to C, because 
 there was no minor tone in it; also a false Fifth 
 from C to G, because he had two minor tones in 
 it. Again, from B to D, and from E to G, are false 
 minor Thirds, because they are made up with minor 
 tones instead of major. 
 
 The imperfections of the scale of Claudius Ptolemy 
 are, that from A to D is a false Fourth, from D to F 
 a false minor Third, and from D to A a false Fifth. 
 Also, that he has two dijSerent kinds of major Sixth, 
 one from C to A, with two minor tones in it, and 
 another from F to D, with one minor tone. 
 
 If Nattire were called in to judge between the two 
 mathematicians as to the true positions of major and 
 minor tones, she would say that the one was right 
 in the one place, and the other in another. Her law 
 agrees with Ptolemy as to the intervals between 
 C and D, and between D and E, but she wiUs a 
 major tone between G and A, and a minor tone 
 between A and B. 
 
210 THE HISTORY OP MUSIC. 
 
 The above scale, by Claudius Ptolemy, to whicb 
 he gave the name of " the tightly-strung Diatonic" 
 {Diatonon syntonon), is the one adopted by the 
 modems. It is, perhaps, the best that has been 
 devised for keyed instruments upon the inherently 
 defective system of making a true Fourth from the 
 key-note upwards. Even by Greek laws, the tetra- 
 chords began on the second note. A singer, or a 
 fiddle player, may avoid the defects of a scale, but a 
 pianoforte-player cannot alter the tuning" of a note 
 for any change of key. We are so thoroughly Greek 
 in our system of music that it seems hopeless now 
 to get rid of the prime defect of having the half of 
 every Diatonic scale in one key, and the other half 
 in what is misiiamed its subdomina'nt, or just a 
 Fourth above it. It is that Fourth which makes 
 our scale to be iu two keys instead of one. Such is, 
 therefore, the scale in which we are immediately 
 concerned; and, with all deference to the Greeks, 
 we may, perhaps, venture to look into its defects, 
 as well as its advantages. We have one infallible 
 guide to test it by, though it has been but little 
 subjected to thiat kind ' of analysis; A thorough 
 knowledge of oilr scale is a first requisite for a 
 composer to make good harmony. 
 
 The preeediiig figures will have shown that the 
 two tetrachords, B, G, D, E, and E, F, G, A, are 
 jsqual — that their proportions are identical, (16 to 
 15, 9 to 8, and 10 to 9,) and that the one follows 
 immediately upon the other — ^in fact, that they are 
 equal conjunct tetrEichords. The following scale of 
 Nature will show that equal intervals, within two 
 consecutive tetrachords, cannot arise fi:om one root 
 in a Diatonic scale, because Nature's Octave scale 
 
ANALYSIS OF THE MODERN SCALE. 211 
 
 diminishes proportions at each step, viz., a ninth, 
 a tenth, an eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth, fourteenth, 
 fifteenth, and sixteenth parts of a string. 
 
 That interval, from'E to F, to which we give the 
 name of major semitone, is the interval between a 
 major Seventh and its Octave, and it therefore leads 
 to its Octave, and makes F become the Octave and 
 a new key-note. Then G becomes Second to F as its 
 major tone, and A, which should be major, is lowered 
 into' a minor tone, to make it a Third to F. Thus 
 the scale is changed from C to that of F. 
 
 Instead of all this, the minor Third from E to G 
 being as 5 to 6, or 10 to 12, ought to have been 
 divided by the true Harmonic F, an Eleventh, making 
 the intervals 10 to 11, and 11 to 12. It is the 
 change of the ratio of an Eleventh to a Sixteenth 
 that brings F too near to E, and makes it touch so 
 closely upon E sharp, that we actually omit E sharp 
 in our scale. But E sharp is wanted in Nature's 
 scale to make a Fifth and a Fourth to the Harmonic 
 Seventh. °' The two very wrong notes in this scale 
 of Claudius Ptolemy's that we have adopted, are 
 F and B flat. The ear has always told that they 
 are defective, as wiU be farther shown. 
 
 G, the Fifth, retains its place either way, but A 
 ought to be a major tone above G. Then it would 
 be a proper Second for the key of G, and a Fifth 
 above D. It has been altered for the sake of 
 making it a major Third above F, a Fourth above 
 E, and a minor Third below C ; but the alteration 
 
 » Our nomenclature for these Harmonic Seventli is generally 
 
 notes is imperfect. E sharp ■vrill kno-wn must be changed. As there 
 
 have to be called F flat to make a are eight Diatonic notes in Nature's 
 
 Fourth up-warda to Harmonic B flat, scale, we require H after G, or else 
 
 or else the name by which the to number them from 8 to 16, which 
 
 p2 
 
212 I THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 takes it: out of the key of C' Nature does not 
 provide a minor Third under her key-note, neither 
 does she acknowledge such a " relative miudr " as 
 A. For Nature's relative minor to C, (if any scale 
 can be so called,) we must look a Third above it, to 
 E. According to Nature, every minor scale has its 
 real key-note a major Third below it, so the key- 
 note of A minor is F. In other words, a minor 
 scale is merely one that is made to begin on the 
 Third of the key. This will be seen further. ■ 
 
 The law of Nature as to sounds is well known to 
 practical men, and very simple. When a string is 
 moved by a gentle breeze, its whole length is sounded, 
 and, inmiediately afterwards, it divides itself into its 
 ahquot parts, with quicker and quicker vibrations. 
 These more rapid, but comparatively feeble vibra- 
 tions overtake and mix with the slowly spreading 
 waves of soimd produced by the vibrations of the 
 whole length of the string. When the velocity of 
 the air is greatly increased, or, as we term it, "when, 
 the wind blows hard," the string is fluttered into 
 many sections, and these shorter lengths move 
 with multiplied rapidity of vibration to the whole 
 length. This sensation of fluttering in parts wiU 
 be sufficiently famOiar to any one who has carried 
 
 would be the right names, and the reference to the foUowing Harmonic 
 aemitones the odd numbers between scale, or scale of Nature. If C be the 
 16 and 32. The following scale fundamental sound, the Octave C's 
 will exhibit this. If we had E wiU be 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, aU which 
 sharp in our scale instead of F, we are indivisible by 3, and our minor- 
 could then have the true B fiat toned A is not in the scale of C. But 
 instead of the out-of-the-key inter- take F as the fundamental note, and 
 val to which our ears have been then Nos. 3 and 5 wiU be our C and 
 reduced, under that. name. A, (like Gr and E in the key of C, ) 
 * Our present A has the ratio of and give the required proportions ; 
 5 to 3, but it is only to F, as a root, but in a different part of the scale, 
 and not to C, as will be seen by No. 3 will never be a key-note. 
 
THE MUSIC OF THE WINDS. 213 
 
 an umbrella in a Mgh. wind. The sections into 
 wMcli the string is then divided are caused by 
 self-made nodes, or divisions, and-thfse n(|des are 
 nearly quiescent poiats, and all equidistani;. The^ 
 number of sections increases as each;- divi|ion be- 
 comes shorter, while the pitch rises j^ropoAionably 
 to their diminution in length. This dimirliition is 
 caused by the increasing intensity of the wnd. It 
 is like the overblowing of a pipe, by wh|eh it is 
 made to produce very high notes. As the .sections 
 become less, the united sounds become louder as well 
 as more acute, because the higher the pitch the 
 greater the number of sections emitting it. .Suppos- 
 ing a string to be thus divided by nodes into sixteen 
 parts, their pitch will be four Octaves above the 
 fundamental note produced by its whole' length.- 
 An extraordinary part of this arrangement of 
 Nature is, that in every progression the ,^hole of 
 the nodes are changed. Thus, from sii:teen, it 
 divides into seventeen equal parts, from slfeventeen 
 to eighteen, and so on. | 
 
 So, too, when we blow into a horn, or pipe of 
 any kind, with gradually increasing intensity and 
 rapidity, we subdivide the column of air within the 
 pipe, and raise higher and higher notes, just as the 
 wind acts upon the string. In a flute, ; which is 
 blown almost at a right angle to the column of air, 
 and so the action of the breath becomes less direct 
 than if it were blown at the end, the player may 
 stiU draw eight different sounds from one funda- 
 mental note, or generator, without removing a finger 
 to shorten the column of air. The lower the note 
 upon which he may commence, the larger will be the 
 number of Harmonics he can produce before reaching 
 
214 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 tlie limit to possible iacrease of rapidity in Breathing. 
 The sounds so produced have three names. They 
 are called " Natural Notes" upon a horn, and 
 " Harmonics" upon a string ; also, according to 
 Helmholtz's nomenclature, "Overtones," because 
 they are above the tone prodiiced.by the whole 
 length of a string. 
 
 These Natural Notes, Harmonics, or* Overtones, 
 rise in the same order of succession as to musical 
 intervals, from whatever fundamental note they 
 may be derived. They do not vary in their order 
 because the pitch of the fundamental note has been 
 chosen high or low ; and this may be proved, even 
 when some of the low sounds may be too low to 
 reach the ear. The one proviso for Nature's scale 
 ■is that the string shall be uniform in size, and 
 quality, and the pipe be an open one. 
 
 Fqr exemphfication of these rising soimds ' the 
 following table is subjoined. The fundamental note 
 selected is C, two Octaves below C in the base staff, 
 and the lowest C on a pianoforte. It is the C C C 
 pipe of the open diapason of an organ. It is stiU 
 popularly reputed to be "16 feet C ;" but neither 
 4, 8, 16, nor 32 feet C are now so long as their 
 names represent them to be. Owing to difference 
 of scale and to elevation of pitch; also, perhaps, to 
 insufficient pressure of wind for pipes of enlarged 
 diameter, a nominal "32 feet C" is now about 28 
 feet 6 inches in length, with 15 inches in diameter, 
 and " 4 foot C" about 3 feet 7 inches long. 
 
 I have taken the pitch at 512 vibrations for treble 
 clef C, as the only proper standard for musical pitch; 
 because Octaves are the only continuously perfect 
 intervals. Nature's Octaves are always multiplied 
 
THE TRUEST STANDARD FOR PITCH. 215 
 
 by 2 ; as 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512. It is to be 
 hoped that at some future time 512 vibrations will be 
 made the standard pitch of Europe, by whatever name, 
 the note may be called. If the question of pitch in 
 England had been left to the decision of the Royal 
 Society, instead of the Society of Arts, 512 would 
 undoubtedly have been the standard English pitch. 
 In the Society of Arts, 512 was admitted to be the 
 right pitch ; but, for the accommodation of manu- 
 facturers, who feared that their stock of instruments 
 might have been rendered unsaleable, the pitch of 
 528, exactly a quarter of a tone too high, was carried 
 by a majority, and thus a temporary divorce between 
 the science and the art of music was pronoimced. 
 
 The French standard of 870 for A, and so of 522 for 
 C, is a curious specimen of legislation. Neither of the 
 two notes can be carried down two Octaves without 
 fractions. Truly, we read of vibrations divided into 
 fractions, but the art of accomplishing it has not yet 
 been divulged. Where fractions are resorted to, 
 the root is changed. The law excited strong 
 renionstrance among scientific musicians against " le 
 diapason normal malheureusement fix^ arbitraire- 
 ment." Handel's tuning fork gives from 499 to 
 500 vibrations. That of Mozart, and that of Berlin 
 in 1772, (according to the report of the French 
 Commission,) was 843 "half-vibrations" for A, in- 
 stead of 8 5 3-5, which is the calculated pitch for A under 
 the present system of tuning the Sixth ; or 864, if 
 the true A, (a Fifth above D,) allowing 512 for C. 
 The later works of Haydn, and those of Beethoven, 
 were composed for a pitch approximate to 512. 
 
 Considerations for private interests need not 
 prevent the Society of Arts from giving notice of 
 
216 THE HISTORY OP MUSIC. 
 
 future change. The members know what is right, 
 but, influenced by good nature, have not yet acted 
 up to their knowledge. Such a reunion of art and 
 science as might thus be made, would be of at least 
 equal benefit to art. If pianofortes can now bear a 
 tension of 528, (and more) they can also bear thicker 
 strings, and so can produce a better quality of tone 
 at 512. The same rule appUes to all' instniments 
 with strings, whether of wire or catgut. The plea 
 of extra " brilliancy" by high pitch is a mistake ; for 
 brilliancy is not constituted by mere acuteness, but 
 requires the addition of richness of quahty in the tone. 
 The practical effect now is, that the instruments ia 
 an orchestra are too thinly strung, and thus, richness 
 of quahty is sacrificed to acuteness. The violoncello 
 has no longer the fuU tone that Lindley produced. 
 Old violins were not made strong enough to bear the 
 new tension, so, thinner strings must be resorted 
 to. Thus, the works of the great masters are now 
 inadequately represented. It is a case in which 
 Germany and England should unite. In France, 
 change must await the repeal of an eccentric law. 
 
 » The Frenoli oouat to and fro as " Harmonic F is 11 to 8 of 0, and 
 
 two vibrations, and so their num- our F is only 4 to 3. Deduct the 
 
 bers are the doubles of these, there- interval of 4 to 3 from that of 11 to 
 
 fore to be looked for an Octave 8, aa above. Result, 33 : 32. 
 
 ^fr^-,' . -.r.- u T ^ A-it ■ * ^ sharp (or F flat) is 21 to 16. 
 
 "Allnoteswithinbracketsdifferm Our F is 4 to 3. Deduct the former 
 
 .pitch from our spale. The readermay ^ i,,,„,. Result, 63 : 64. There 
 
 easily prove m figures how much our j^ ^^^^ ^^ 
 
 B flat IS too sharp. From to our !,„■•„„ +. „„ , i" s> J- 
 
 F is a Fourth, and F to B flat ^J^^^ '"""^ '"J "™^ ^'Z 
 
 another Fourth. Add the two r^'°'' ''^,^^\^ ff'^K.^^ 
 
 Fourths together by multiplying ^ ,f.- ^f"^*' 63 forty-eighths. 
 
 them: (tx4 = ¥) Then Har- ff'^J^J ^ ^^ ^-"1*' 64 
 ■ x.1^- 1,77 4. n -n J J. forty-eighths above C. Difi'erence, 
 monic B flat is but ^ to C. Deduct 63-64 
 
 J from '/- '2 ': ° (inverted f to 4). 
 
NATirilE VERSUS ART. 217 
 
 THE MUSICAL SCALE OF NATURE ; 
 Or, a Table of Natural Sounds, called Harmonics or Overtones, in 
 the order of their ascent from any note of any pitch that may 
 be the sound of the whole length of any string, horn, or open 
 pipe. The swing to and fro of a pendulum is here counted as 
 one vibration, according to the English meaning of a vibration. 
 
 Vibrations 
 per Second. 
 
 Fundamental note, Generator, or Root 32* 
 
 Octave to No. 1. (Half length of the string) 64 
 
 Fifth No. 2, and Twelfth to No. 1 96 
 
 in Bass clef — Fourth to No. 3, and Octave to No. 2 128 
 
 Major Third to No. 4 160 
 
 Minor Third to No. 5 192 
 
 Harmonic Seventh to C, flatter than our B [? by a 
 
 sixty-fourth part («.«., 63 to 64) 224 
 
 in Tenor clef — Octave to No. 4 256 
 
 Major tone to No. 8 288 
 
 Minor tone to No. 9 320 
 
 Harmonic Fourth to No. 8 (sharper than our F by 
 
 33 to 32)° .352 
 
 Fifth to No. 8 384 
 
 Harmonic Sixth to No. 8 (sharper than our A flat) 416 
 
 Harmonic Seventh to No. 8, Octave to No. 7 448 
 
 Major Seventh to No. 8, Fifth to No. 10, and 
 
 Third to No. 12... 480 
 
 in Treble clef — Octave to No. 8, Minor Sixth to 
 
 No. 10)..... : 512 
 
 Semitone above 16. (Too flat for our d flat) 544 
 
 Octave to 9 576 
 
 Semitone above 18 608 
 
 OctavetoiO : 640 
 
 Semitone to 20, Fifth to 14, Harmonic Seventh to 
 
 No. 12 (flatter than our F by 63 to 64)0 572 
 
 Octave to 11.... 704 
 
 Semitone above Harmonic Fourth 736 
 
 Fifth to 16, Octave to 12 768 
 
 Semitone to 24, Major Third to 5, 10, and 20 800 
 
 Octave to Harmonic Sixth, No. 13 832 
 
 Semitone to 26, Major tone to 24, Fifth to 9 and 
 
 18. (Our a is a Minor tone to 24) 864 
 
 Octave to 14 896 
 
 Semitone above Harmonic Seventh. (Too sharp 
 
 for our 6lr) 928 
 
 Octave to 15 960 
 
 Semitone above 6. (Too sharp for our c [? ) 992 
 
 Octave to 16 1024 
 
 For notes a, b, c, d, see preceding page. 
 
 
 No. 
 
 
 
 1. 
 
 ceo 
 
 
 2. 
 
 =cc 
 
 
 3. 
 
 GG 
 
 
 4. 
 
 = C 
 
 
 5. 
 
 E 
 
 
 6. 
 
 G 
 
 
 7. 
 
 [Bh" 
 
 
 r ^• 
 
 = 
 
 
 9. 
 
 d 
 
 i 
 
 10. 
 
 e 
 
 s 
 
 11. 
 
 m 
 
 H 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 %\ 
 
 12. 
 
 g 
 
 
 1.3. 
 
 [al?] 
 
 •3 
 
 14. 
 
 [bf] 
 
 1 
 
 15. 
 
 b 
 
 
 U6. 
 
 = c 
 
 
 17. 
 
 
 
 18. 
 
 d 
 
 
 19. 
 
 
 
 20. 
 
 e 
 
 <U 
 
 21. 
 
 [^1 
 
 § 
 
 22. 
 
 m 
 
 u 
 
 23. 
 
 f\ 
 
 
 24. 
 
 g 
 
 
 25. 
 
 4 
 
 n 
 
 26. 
 
 
 
 
 
 H 
 
 27. 
 
 LaJ 
 
 XI 
 
 .s 
 
 28. 
 29. 
 
 Ibir] 
 
 
 30. 
 
 6 
 
 
 31. 
 
 
 
 32. 
 
 cc 
 
218 THE HISTORY OP MUSIc! 
 
 The scale might be carried further, into quarter- 
 tones, but it is unnecessary to print it, because there 
 is a simple rule by which any one may tell what the 
 interval will be, and it applies to the division of all 
 "super-particular" ratios, or such as differ only by one 
 degree. Nature makes no fractions, but doubles the 
 numbers, and interposes the one and only intermediate 
 number. Thus, in the above division of the Fifth, No." 
 3, which is in the ratio of 3 to 2 of CC, No. 2, she 
 doubles the ratio, viz., 6 to 4, and interposes the inter- 
 mediate 5. Then, in the next Octave, this Fifth is 
 divided into 6 to 5 and 5. to 4, minor Third and major 
 Third. A-U odd numbers are new sounds ; all even 
 ones have before appeared in the Octave below. The 
 numbers of the Harmonics are of importance in many 
 ways. First, each indicates its proportion to the 
 whole string, so No. 5 is a fifth part of the length, 
 and No. 27 a twenty^seventh part, vibratiug twenty- 
 seven times as fast as No. 1 ; then, by multiplying 
 the 32 vibrations of No. 1 by 27, we ascertain the 
 vibrations of the latter to 'be 864 per second of time, 
 or just as they stand in the table. 
 
 Again, multiply any number by 2, and we find 
 its Octave ; miiltiply by 3, for its Fifths though 
 an Octave too high ; multiply by 5, for its major 
 Third. Take the ratio of one number to another, 
 as 21 to 14. These are as 8 to 2 ; therefore, the 
 notes they represent are at the interval of 3 to 2, 
 or a true Fifth. Take 9 to 12, or 12 to 16, the 
 ratios are as 3 to 4; therefore, either p^ir'is at the 
 interval of a "Fourth." If 15 to 18, a true minor 
 Third ; and so on. Every number thus carries its 
 musical ratio to all the rest. 
 
 These are mere hints of the value of the scale 
 
A KEY AND ITS SUKDOMINANT"^ 219' 
 
 of Nature, all evident upon the surface. It m for- 
 tke musician to point out its deeper meanings.* 
 
 And now to try our adopted scale by tim most, 
 ancient of all scales, and the one test of right and. 
 wrong. We find neither F, nor .A as we tune it,, 
 in the Harmonic scale, when C is the- root, because 
 they belong only to a fundamental K But we 
 have the scale of G intimately connected with the 
 scale of C If our A were tuned a comma of 
 Didymus higher than it is, viz., as a major tone 
 instead of a minor tone above G, it would agree 
 with Nature's No. 27, thus proving the scale of 
 Didymus to be correct at that point. Ptolemy 
 has mathematically calculated a Fointh above, and 
 a Fifth below C, where no such iatervals come from' 
 the root ; and he has made the imported scale of 
 the subdominant F more perfect by one degree 
 than that of the true key-note. For instance, F' 
 has its Sixth (D) a major tone above its Fifth,, 
 although C, the nominal key-note of the scale, has 
 it not. Transfer the name of key-note to F, and 
 we may derive every interval of this so-caUed scale 
 of C from F, except the B natural. As to B flat — 
 that is from a third root — it belongs neither to C 
 nor to F. 
 
 Natiure's Octave scale agrees to this extent with 
 the Greek, and therefore with our own, that each 
 may justly be said to consist of a disjunctive or 
 major tone immediately above the key-note, and 
 
 * If Professor Helmholtz would Jn tte meantime, he does not seem 
 
 number his fundamental tone as to have thought of the numbers as 
 
 No. 1, and let the first "overtone" guides to harmony, although hia 
 
 be No. 2, instead of No. 1, a book is intended to lay a basis for 
 
 German reader would find the same the theory of music — ^hia No. 7 is 
 
 advantage from hia book, as an our No. 8, and so on. 
 English reader may from this scale. 
 
220 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 then of two conjoined tetrachords or Fourths; 
 From C to D is the major tone, and from D to 
 G and from G to C are the two Fourths. The 
 difference is in the filling up of those two Fourths. 
 It has been said ah-eady that F and B flat are two 
 iessentially wrong notes for the key of C. Also, 
 that A should be a major tone above G, instead of 
 minor, as it now is; and that E sharp has been omitted 
 in our scale only because we have a wrong F 
 brought too close to it. Our F is only a 64th 
 part of a string above E sharp, and is a 33rd part 
 below the F of Nature. Again, if we had the 
 true instead of the artificial B flat in our scale, the 
 semitone that we omit above E would harmonize 
 as a true Fifth above it. Our B flat is just as much 
 above the real note as our F is above the true 
 semitone to E. We omit three Diatonic notes 
 out of eight, viz.. Nature's Fourth, Sixth, and 
 Seventh ; for A is but one of the semitones between 
 the Sixth and Seventh in Nature's scale, and it 
 ought to be a true Fifth above D.* Our B natural 
 would then be the eighth tone in the scale, if the 
 key-note were stiU. counted as No. 1, and we 
 admitted eight, as in Nature. 
 
 The special disadvantage of our adopted F and 
 B flat is the impossibility of having more than 
 four consecutive notes in one key while we include 
 them. Even to have four, we must begin with the 
 major Seventh, as B, C, D, E. Our B flat belongs 
 neither to the key of C nor that of F ; for, just 
 as there is no such Fourth as F from the root of 
 
 " As the real A is No- 27, its true nearer, because 27 is an odd number, 
 Kftb (multiplying by 3,) must be and all odd numbers are new notes, 
 the sound of 81. It cannot be found 
 
CONSONANCE AND DISSONANCE. 221 
 
 C, SO neither is there any such Fourth as B flat 
 from the root of F. The Harmonic B flat that 
 we omit has the major-toned A (No. 27) as its 
 semitone, on the one side, and the B natural of otu* 
 scale (No. 15 or 30) as a tone, on the other side, to 
 divide it from the Octave. Its ratio of 7 to 6 of 
 the Fifth makes it the interval next in the order 
 of consonance to a minor Third. 
 
 And now as to the constitution of consonance 
 and DISSONANCE, two words which, although they 
 carry their own interpretations as "sounding with," 
 "and sounding apart," have, nevertheless, been 
 misapprehended; and one of the two causes of 
 consonance has been but Httle taken into the general 
 account. 
 
 Degrees of consonance depend upon the proportion 
 that coincident vibrations bear to those which "sound 
 apart." The unison alone is perfect consonance, 
 because therein only do all vibrations coincide. 
 Their simultaneousness is rigidly exact, whether 
 sounded upon the unison-strings of a pianoforte, 
 or upon the many instruments of an orchestra, 
 with their varied qualities of tone. Only in 
 intervals is there any intermingling of coincident 
 and non-coincident vibrations. The unison is not 
 an interval. 
 
 In order to abbreviate explanations, I refer to 
 the Harmonic scale at p. 217. Nos. 1 and 2 are 
 an Octave apart. The first has 32 and the second 
 has 64 vibrations per second of time. Therefore, 
 No. 2 vibrates as 2 to 1 of No. 1, and the first of 
 every two vibrations of No. 2 coincides with one 
 of those of No. 1, while the remaining 32 of No. 2 
 "sound apart." 
 
:222 TttE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 AgaoEj Nxjs. 2 and 3, or double C and double G,' 
 are at tke internal .of a Eiffch, and No. 3 vibrates 
 .96 to the 64 of No. .2 — or in the proportion of 3 
 to 2. Tke first of every two vibrations of No. 2 
 •coincides, with the fiist of every three vibrations of 
 No. 3. So, there .are still but 32 coincident 
 vibrations. Divide 6 A by 2, and 96 by 3 to 
 prove it, 
 
 One more example from. Nos. 3 and 4. Here the 
 total number of vibrations is 96 to 128, but it is 
 i;he first only of every three of the one that coincides 
 vrith the first of every four of the other. Therefore, 
 the naimber of non-coincident vibrations has pro- 
 cessed, while the original number of 32 coincident 
 vibrations has remained .stationaryi For that reason 
 the interval of the Fourth, or 4 to 3, is less con- 
 sonant' than that of the Fifth, or 3 to 2 ; just as 
 the interval of the Fifth, 3 to 2, is less consonant 
 than that of the Octave, 2 to 1. 
 
 This natural law may be carried throughout the 
 scale, wherein dissonant vibrations increase, between 
 consecutive numbers, at. every ascending step, while 
 the consonant remain stationary. So the lower the 
 two numbers, the more consonant the interval Still, 
 it is a necessary proviso for consonance that the 
 sounds be derived from one root, as in this scale. 
 
 To take a last example from 15 and 16. They 
 represent the interval of a major semitone in every 
 Harmonic scale. Here it is from b to c. The 
 numbers of vibrations are 15 times 32 of the one, 
 to 16 times 32 of the other. But as only the first 
 of every 15 coincides with the first of every 16, 
 there are still but 32 coincident vibrations to leaven 
 the mass of dissonance. So the ear pronounces the 
 
CONSONANT VIBRATIONS. 223 
 
 interval from b to c, when simultaneously sounded, 
 to be exceedingly harsh and disagreeable. Never- 
 theless, the two sounds are absolutely required for 
 melody. 
 
 Hence follows a rule — that, whatever may be the 
 aggregate number of vibrations in a second of time 
 from the fundamental note, or entire length of a 
 string — whether it be of such a length as to give 
 32, 33, 132, 133, or any other quantity — ^the same 
 will be the number of consonant vibrations between 
 every two succeeding sounds of the scale. The 
 intervals follow invariably m the same succession, 
 and are, therefore, represented by the same numbers 
 in every Harmonic scale. Hence any two numbers 
 indicate the proportions of an interval, just as every 
 one number indicates its proportion to a whole striag. 
 
 Again, a second rule. Consonant vibrations are equal 
 to the difference in the total number of vibrations 
 between every two succeeding sounds — for just as 32 
 is the number of consonant vibrations iu the funda- 
 mental sound of this scale, so 32 is the difference be- 
 tween the vibrations of every two succeeding numbers 
 throughout the scale. If the same interval be taken 
 an Octave higher, the same proportion is observed, 
 but the vibrations are completed in half the time. 
 Thus in the Octaves, 1 and 2, with 32 and 64 
 vibrations, and 2 to 4, with 64 and 128 ; the 
 the vibrations of the later are doubled in rapidity 
 as they are in number. So they only perform in 
 half a second of time what the others do in a 
 second. 
 
 Coincident vibrations are strengthened beyond 
 others by their perfect agreement, just as in the 
 case of two hammers striking at the same instant. 
 
224 
 
 THE HISTORY OP MUSIC. 
 
 The united sound is then louder than if the blow 
 of the one were to follow immediately after that of 
 the other. 
 
 Coincident vibrations, having thus a superior 
 power, mark a musical rhythm combining sounds of 
 different pitch. It is this rhythmical coincidence 
 which constitutes the charm of harmony in its 
 different shades, for harmony has always a certain 
 amount of dissonance embodied ui it. The unison 
 alone is free from all dissonance. Ehythm is the 
 first in order of the pleasures derived fi-om music. 
 It suj6&ces wholly for the savage, with his monotonous 
 tom-tom beats; and, except as to the Harmonic 
 sounds evolved, it is the only gratification that the 
 ear can receive firom such instruments' of percussion 
 as yield but a single note — such as a drum, cymbals, 
 or castanets. In harmony, we enjoy the effects of 
 rhythm erdianced by a combination of various sounds 
 that differ in pitch, and we derive further pleasure 
 from the varied qualities of tone that are produced 
 by the many instruments of an orchestra. The due 
 appreciation of so many simultaneous sounds is a 
 reward reserved for those who have cultivated their 
 powers of hearing. A peasant wiU better under- 
 stand the single sound of a fiddle or of a flute. 
 Some ears remain uncloyed by the perpetual sugar 
 of successive unisons, while others have a greater 
 appreciation for varied harmony. Of the latter, 
 some have also a taste which indulges largely in 
 an admixture of spice, in the form of discords. 
 
 The rhythm of coincident vibrations between two 
 sounds is often audible in the separate form of a 
 third sound. The conditions are, that the vibrations 
 of the two originating sounds shall be sufficiently 
 
OTHER SOUBCES OF CONSONANCE. 225 
 
 rapid, and they must, therefore, necessarily be high 
 in the scale. If otherwise, they will not admit of 
 consonant vibrations in sufficient number within a 
 second of time to form themselves into an audible 
 musical note. If too few, the resultant tones are 
 indistinguishable from the general sound. Another 
 condition is, that the two primaries shall be 
 sufficiently loud to bring out the feeble sound 
 of the resultant tone. A few examples of these wlQ 
 be cited from practical experience in the sequel. 
 
 The second source of consonance to which I have 
 adverted is in the Harmonic sounds which follow 
 immediately after the notes of pipes, of strings, and 
 of voices, and which thus serve to enrich their tones. 
 If two sounds be combined, the lower will produce 
 greater effect, and this is particularly manifest in the 
 case of the wider consonant intervals. Thus, between 
 Nos. 1 and 4 of the Harmonic scale the interval is 
 a double Octave. When No. 1 is soimded, it throws 
 out its Harmonics, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and they enrich the 
 consonance with No. 4. Upon keyed instruments. 
 Octaves are usually the only intervals thus enriched, 
 because, in all cases, Octaves are tuned perfectly, 
 but, in too many cases, other intervals are tempered, 
 i.e., put either a little, or not a little, out of tune. 
 Unless the tuning be perfect. Harmonics militate 
 against, instead of strengthen consonance. 
 
 I have been thus minute in detailing the causes 
 of consonance and of dissonance, because a theory 
 as to their partial dependence upon a fixed number 
 of vibrations has been propounded by the learned 
 Helmholtz, Professor of Physiology in the University 
 of Heidelberg. His view has been widely dissem- 
 inated through Lectures on Sound, dehvered by 
 
 Q 
 
226 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 Professor Tyndall at tlie Koyal Institution of Great 
 Britain. The lectures have been published, and 
 having reached a second edition, in which this defi- 
 nition is repeated, the objections to Hehnholtz's 
 view require to be pointed out. It is the more 
 necessary, because the lectures have been largely 
 adopted as authoritative upon soiund, just as might 
 have been expected from the varied knowledge and 
 the high reputation of its author. 
 
 Professor TyndaU says, "Beats, which succeed each 
 other at the rate of 33 per second, are pronounced 
 by the disciplined ear of Helmholtz to be hx their 
 condition of most intolerable dissonance." — (p. 295.) 
 
 In order to represent this theory, derived from 
 Helmholtz, in the fairest way, I extract one of the 
 paragraphs from his Tonempjindungen. The original 
 words are at the foot of the page, and the following 
 is a very Hteral translation": — f 
 
 "The interval, &|:|' c", gave us 33 fluctuations in a 
 second of time, which make the imited soimd very 
 grating to the ear. The interval of a whole tone, 
 6bi Cj, yields nearly double the number, but these 
 are much less grating than those of the first-named 
 narrow interval. Finally, the interval of the minor 
 Third, a c", should, according to computation, yield 
 88 fluctuations in the second; but, in fact, the 
 latter interval allows us to hear scarcely anything 
 of the roughness which the fluctuations of the 
 
 » " Daa Intervall, K c", gab una Terz, a' c", der Eeehnung nach 88 
 
 33 Schwebungen in der Secunde, Schwebungen in der Seounde geben; 
 
 welche den Zusammenklang scharf in der That ISisst aber das letzere 
 
 Bohwirrend machen. Das Intervall Intervall kaum nocli etwas von der 
 
 eines ganzen Tones, J i c j , giebt nahe Rauhigkeit hOren, welohe die Schwe- 
 
 die doppelte Anzahl, diese Endlich buugen der engeren Intervalle her- 
 
 solte uns das Intervall der Meinen vorbring&n. Man konute nun 
 
QUOTATION FROM HELMHOLTZ. 227 
 
 closer intervals produce. Now, it might be supposed 
 that it is the iacreasing number of fluctuations which 
 obhterates the impression, and makes them inaudible. 
 For this supposition we should have the analogy of 
 the eye, which is likewise no longer able to separate 
 a series of quickly following impressions of light 
 when the number is too great. Take, for example, 
 a burning coal swung round in a circle. When it 
 describes a circuit from 10 to 15 times in a second, 
 the eye imagines that it sees a continuous fiery 
 circle. So, also, with the disk of colours, the 
 appearance of which is known to most of my readers. 
 When suck a disk rotates more than 10 times in a 
 second, the different colours on it are blended into 
 one fixed impression of their mixed colour. It is 
 only by very intense light that quicker changes of 
 the various fields of coIotu: must take place" [to be 
 distinguishable] "20 to 30 times in a second. Thus, 
 in the case of the eye, a similar phenomenon takes 
 place as with the ear. When the change between 
 irritation and rest takes place too rapidly, the 
 
 vermutlien, das es die wachsende acheiben, deren Anblick den meis- 
 
 Zahl der Sohwebungen sei, welohe ten meiner Leeer bekannt sein wird. 
 
 ihren Eindruck verwische und sie Wenn die solche Scheibe mebr als 
 
 unhorbar mache. Wir wiirden fiir 10 Mai in der Sectmde nmlauft, 
 
 diese Vermuthung die Analogic des vennischen sich die verschiedenen 
 
 Auges habeu, welchea ebenfalls auf sie aufgetragenen Farben zu 
 
 nicht mehr im Stande ist, eiae einem, ganz ruhigen Eindrucke 
 
 Reihe schneU auf einander folgender ihrer Miachf arbe. Nur bei sehr in- 
 
 Liohteindruoke von einander zu tensivem Licht musa der Wechsel 
 
 Bondem, wenn deren Anzahl zu der verschiedenfarbigen Felder 
 
 gross wird. Man denke an eiae im schneUer, 20 bis 30 Mai in der 
 
 Kreise umgeachwnngene gliihende Seonnde, geschehen. Ea tritt alao 
 
 Kohle. Wenn diese etwa 10 bia 15 beim Auge erne ganz ahnliche 
 
 Mai in der Seonnde ihre Kreisbahn Erscheuiung wie beim Ohre ein. 
 
 znrflcklegt, glaubt das Auge einen Wenn der Wechsel zwiachen Reiz- 
 
 continuirlichen feurigen Kreis zu nng und Ruhe zu scheU geschieht, 
 
 sehen. Ebenao auf den Farben- so verwischt sich der Wechsel in 
 
 Q 2 
 
228 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 change is obliterated in the perception, and rest 
 becomes continuous and uninterrupted." 
 
 "But we may convince ourselves in the case of 
 the ear, that the increase in the number of the 
 fluctuations is not the only cause of their obliteration 
 in the perception. Thus, when we passed from the 
 interval of a semitone, &h' c", to that of a minor 
 Third, a c", we have not only increased the 
 number of the fluctuations, but also the width of 
 the interval. But we may also increase the 
 number of the fluctuations without altering the 
 interval, by transposing the same interval into a 
 higher region of the scale. If, instead of &h' c", 
 we take the same two notes an Octave higher, 
 we obtain 66 fluctuations, and if yet an Octave 
 higher, even 132 fluctuations, and these are actually 
 audible in the same manner as the 33 fluctuations 
 of 6h' c", though indeed they becoine feebler in the 
 very high Octaves."— (pp. 269, 270.) 
 
 I have quoted Hekoholtz's words at full length, 
 to show how the second part of his argument 
 militates against the first. In the second part, he 
 
 der Empiindung, die letztere wird wir dasselbe Intervall in eine hohere 
 
 continuirlich und anhaltend. Gegend der Scala verlegen. Nehmen 
 
 ' ' Indessen konnen wir uns beim -wir atatt A' c", die beiden Tone eine 
 
 Ohre zunaohst davon iiberzeugen. Octave holier, Ik' c", so erhalten wir 
 
 dasa die Steigerung der Zahl der 66 Schwebungen, in der Lage h'" 
 
 Schwebungen mobt die alleinige c"" sogar 132 Schwebungen, und 
 
 Ursache davon ist, dasa • sie in der diese sind wirklich horbar in dersel- 
 
 Empfindung sich verwischen. In- ben Weise, wie die 33 Schwebungen 
 
 dem wir namlioh von dem Intervall von h' c", wenn sie auch allerdings 
 
 eines halben Tones, K c", zu dem in den ganz hohen Lagen schwacher 
 
 einerkleinenTerz, fls'c", Uberbringen, werden." — (Die Lehre von den 
 
 habeu wir nicht blosa die Zahl der Tonempfindungen, als physiologische 
 
 Schwebungen, sondem auch die OTumdlage fur die Theorie der Musik, 
 
 Breite des IntervaUs vergrossert. von H. Helmholtz, Professor der 
 
 Wir konnen aber auch die Zahl Physiologic an der Universitat zu 
 
 der Schwebungen vergrossem, ohue Heidelberg, .3rd edit. 1870. 8vo, 
 
 das Intervall zu verandern, indem pp. 269, 270). 
 
A DIFFERENCE OF OPINION. 229 
 
 gives a case in which 33, 66, and 132 fluctuations 
 are equally dissonant ; and that alone should prove 
 that dissonance follows this interval, and does not 
 depend upon 33, 66, or 132 fluctuations. But 
 Hehnholtz has mistaken the character of these fluc- 
 tuations, (Schwebungen,) and to that cause must also 
 be attributed the indefinite name he has given them. 
 They are nothing but the coincident and consonant 
 vibrations. It is strange that he shoidd have so 
 mistaken them as attribute dissonance to consonant 
 vibrations, instead of to the exceeding number of 
 dissonant vibrations that are mixed in the interval 
 from bb to c. 
 
 That I may not misi'epresent Helmholtz, I again 
 give his words. At p. 258, he says, " The number 
 of fluctuations within a given time is equal to the 
 difiference in the total number of vibrations (Schwin- 
 gimgen) which the two sounds execute in the same 
 time."* That is a precise definition of consonant 
 vibrations, and it can be of no other. The same 
 number runs throughout a scale in more or less 
 rapid succession, whether the interval be Octave, 
 Fifth, Fourth, Third, or any other. 
 
 The mistake in the character of "fluctuations" 
 has led Hehnholtz to propound a new doctrine as to 
 the cause of resultant sounds, to which I shall have 
 occasion to refer hereafter. 
 
 This eminent acoustician did not sufficiently 
 regard the musical bearings of the Harmonic scale 
 when he proposed to lay a basis for the theory of 
 music. That part of the subject has been too much 
 
 " " Die Zalil der Schwebungen in Schwingungen welche beide Klange 
 einen gegebener Zeit findet sioh also in derselben Zeit auafuhren." — 
 gleioh der differenz in der Anzahl der {p. 258. ) 
 
230 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 neglected by many writers on music. Helmholtz, 
 through his system of numbering by overtones in- 
 stead of by the lengths that produce them, has 
 missed the advantages that the proportion-numbers 
 of the scale would have conferred, and has himself 
 been led into such slips as to attribute to cc and dd 
 18 and 20 "fluctuations," instead of to dd and ee — 
 (p. 259). As only the ninth and tenth vibrations 
 coincide in the example which he has given, the 
 numbers must be our 9 and 10, or their doubles. 
 C cannot have 18, neither can D have 20 fluctuar 
 tions, when the fundamental note throughout the 
 book is C C C, at the German pitch of 33 vibrations. 
 
 For the reasons above given, I demur equally to 
 the doctrine in Professor TyndaU's Lectures, on 
 Sound, that, while " dissonance is at its maximum 
 when the beats number 33 per second, it lessens 
 gradually afterwards, and entirely disappears when 
 the beats amount to 132 per second" — (p. 296). If 
 the full length of the string be about four feet, and 
 give 132 vibrations, there will be 132 in every 
 following interval, consonant or dissonant. 
 
 AgaiQ, writers upon the science of music have for 
 a long time assumed as an admitted fact, that the 
 numerous sounds which result from the Harmonics 
 of a string, or pipe, are not only emitted collectively 
 and superposed, but also simultaneously with those 
 of the entire string. There would indeed be a 
 jargon if it were so — ^let any one fancy half the keys 
 of a pianoforte down at once. Then, following out 
 this theory, they attribute all the various qualities 
 of tone inherent ia musical instruments, whether 
 by wind, by string, or by percussion, to differences 
 in their Harmonics. 
 
HARMONICS GENERATED CONSECUTIVELY. 231 
 
 So very general has been the submission to these 
 assumed laws, down to the present time, that some 
 may be astonished that I should throw even a doubt 
 upon them. Nevertheless, both the eye and the ear 
 give evidence against such doctrines. The test of 
 the ear is within everybody's reach. 
 
 For instance, strike one of the lowest keys upon 
 a grand pianoforte smartly, and raise the finger 
 instantly, so that the damper may fall heavily upon 
 the string. The harder the damper, the more patent 
 will be the fact that the Harmonics are not simul- 
 taneous, but consecutive. Each successively rising 
 note may be identified by a cultivated ear, upon an 
 old grand pianoforte, and even the uncultivated can 
 distinguish the progressively rising sounds, and that 
 the highest note of all is the last. 
 
 This order would be reversed if the sounds were 
 emitted simultaneously, because, the higher the note, 
 the sooner wiU its rapid vibrations be completed. 
 To prove it, touch a base and a treble string of a 
 pianoforte at the same instant. 
 
 Again, as to the Harmonics produced by the 
 human voice. Kegnault's recent experiments upon 
 propagation of sound through long water pipes may 
 be cited to establish the same order in their succes- 
 sion. The results of these experiments are pubhshed 
 in the Appendix to Professor TyndaU's Lectures. 
 The following is an extract : — 
 
 " V. Experiments made with waves produced by 
 the human voice and by wind instruments have 
 demonstrated these principal facts. Acute sounds 
 propagate themselves with much less facility than 
 grave sounds. In very long conduits, to hear well, 
 it is necessary to employ a baritone; the fundou- 
 
232 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 mental sounds are heard before the Harmonics, 
 which then succeed each other in the order of pitch. 
 The propagation of the sound changes its timbre, 
 which is due to the admixture of the Harmonic 
 sounds. In very long conduits, therefore, a tune 
 embracing a certain extent of the gamut would 
 change its character." — (p. 329.) These long con- 
 duits are the best proof, because the sounds are 
 concentrated by them. 
 
 So far for the ear, and next as to the eye. Not 
 only may a quick eye see the diminishing nodes 
 upon a pianoforte string when it changes its 
 Harmonics, but Kundt's experiments have proved 
 them to demonstration. He strewed the light dust 
 of lycopodium within a glass tube, and made the 
 glass emit its various Harmonic notes by employing 
 slower or quicker friction. His experiments were 
 exempUfied by Professor TyndaU in his fifth lecture, 
 and were therefore witnessed by large audiences, 
 composed of those who take an interest in science. 
 With every ascending sound, the dust was seen to 
 arrange itself into a greater number of . equal 
 divisions. The length of every section in the tube 
 was changed just as every sound was changed. 
 Indeed, it might have been predicted ; because 
 Harmonics are only produced by aliquot parts of a 
 string, or of a column of air. Every division of a 
 string into equal parts will produce an Harmonic 
 note,, but the scale nmst teach where to place it. 
 
 Thus, both the ear and the eye, assisted by the 
 pipe, the string, and the voice, bear testimony 
 against the simultaneous projection of Harmonics. 
 
 As to the duration of sounds emitted, one impor- 
 tant cause has not been sufficiently taken into 
 
PROLONGATION OF TONE. 233 
 
 account. It is the after-current wMch follows upon 
 every displacement of air, however minute that dis- 
 placement may be. The vibrations of the air thus 
 continue, as in echoes, after the exciting cause has 
 ceased. The longer the string, the wider is its range 
 of vibration; and, therefore, the greater the dis- 
 turbance. The effect of the displacement is felt on 
 a grand scale in the after-current which accompanies 
 the discharge of a cannon. Not only the concussion, 
 but also the rush of air, are sensibly felt by all who 
 are behind or near to it. We have again the best prac- 
 tical evidence of the sound-waves which pervade even 
 the seeming stillness of the air, when we hear them 
 concentrated and intermixed within the hard and 
 polished windings of a shell, by raising it to the ear. 
 
 And now, as to the theory which has been sup- 
 posed to account for difference of tone in numberless 
 musical instruments. 
 
 Professor Tyndall says, "It is the addition of 
 such overtones to fundamental tones of the same 
 pitch which enables us to distinguish the sound of 
 the clarionet from that of a flute, and the sound of 
 a violin from both. Could the pure fundamental 
 tones of these instruments be detached, they would 
 be indistinguishable from each other; but the 
 different admixture of oveitones in the different 
 instruments renders their clang-tints diverse, and 
 therefore distinguishable." — (p. 127.) 
 
 In the first place, a flute, a pianoforte, a violin, 
 and a hautboy, have the same Harmonics ; but very 
 different are their tones. In the second place, pxu-e 
 fundamental tones are always detached in har- 
 moniums, because they have no audible Harmonics. 
 This is perhaps owing to their being made with 
 
234 THE HISTOEY OP MUSIC. 
 
 tapering springs. Yet different qualities of tone 
 are sensibly produced from the different stops of 
 harmoniums, and every ear can distinguish between 
 them. Again, take three wooden open pipes of an 
 organ, of equal length, but, one of a square shape, 
 the second with the proportions of 3 to 2 in super- 
 ficies, and the third of triangular form; they have 
 the same Harmonics, but all differ in tone. If facts 
 of this kind cannot be gainsayed, surely the two 
 theories must fall together. 
 
 I here touch upon acoustics only so far as they 
 are strictly related to music, and thereby run into 
 my path. Upon other, even allied branches, I have 
 nothing now to say. 
 
 The practical range of the ear for adequately 
 distinguishing mustcal sounds does not far extend 
 beyond the seven Octaves of a pianoforte, or else 
 more notes would have been commonly added by 
 the mamifacturers. An eighth Octave gives very 
 indefinite sounds to most ears, and even the 
 extreme notes of the seven Octaves are not easily 
 distinguishable unless their Octaves are sounded 
 with them, to make them definite. The advantage 
 of an eighth Octave consists in this, that it iacreases 
 the quantity of tone, and gives the richness of its 
 Harmonics to the others. 
 
 The six-octave scale of Nature is as foUows : — 
 First, the note and its Octave only. Second 
 Octave, divided into a Fifth and a Fourth, after- 
 wards providing an equal number of intervals for 
 each of the two divisions. Third Octave, divided 
 into four Thirds, of which we employ only two, and 
 change the character of the lesser two, by having 
 omitted the Harmonic Seventh that divides them. 
 
ATTENTION FIKST DRAWN TO HARMONICS. 235 
 
 FoiTRTH Octave, eight tones of gradually diminishing 
 interval, of which we employ only the largest two 
 and the least, but entitle the least a "Diatonic 
 semitone." Fifth Octave, the same eight tones as 
 before, with their eight intermediate semitones. 
 Sixth Octave, tones, semitones, and quarter-tones. 
 
 The Harmonic scale was only developed during 
 the last century, and was scarcely thought of in the 
 theory of music untU the present. The discovery 
 which led to its formation was made by two 
 graduates of Oxford, about the year 1673. It was 
 communicated to Dr. John Wallis, the celebrated 
 mathematician, in 1676; was first made known by 
 him. in the English edition of his Algebra, in 1685, 
 and subsequently in the Latia edition of his 
 Mathematical Works, in 1693. 
 
 Dr. Narcissus Marsh, founder of Maxsh's Library 
 in Dublin, and an exemplary prelate, who was 
 successively Archbishop of Dublin and of Armagh, 
 was residing in Oxford in and before 1676. Dr. 
 Marsh was a great lover of music, and especially 
 of part-music, both vocal and instnunental. These 
 two branches were then much cultivated by members 
 of the University, and Marsh's chief relaxation was 
 in private concerts with certain of them, either at 
 his own, or at their rooms. In 1676 he informed 
 Dr. WaUis, the Savilian Professor of Geometry, that 
 about three years before that date, two of his friends, 
 William Noble of Merton College, and Thomas Pigot 
 of Wadham College, had discovered a means of pro- 
 ducing, at command, the Harmonics or natural notes 
 from a vibrating string, and this to all appearance 
 simultaneously, and without intercommunication. 
 
 Before that time, little seems to have been known 
 
236 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 beyond the facts that, if two strings are tuned in - 
 tmison, and the one be struck at no great distance 
 from the other, the second string will sound with the 
 first; and, secondly, that the wind will produce weird 
 sounds from the strings of a harp exposed to its 
 effects. The same amount of information was shared 
 by the ancient Greeks, and, among the earHer 
 modems, by St. Dunstan. 
 
 The natural notes of a trumpet, or of a horn, could 
 not be measured; therefore it is of some importance to 
 have discovered that, if one of the aliquot parts of a 
 string be touched very lightly, while the string is 
 imder the friction of a bow, it wiU divide itself into 
 nodes, and give the Harmonic, instead of the funda- 
 mental, notes. 
 
 It has proved to be of more importance than Dr. 
 Wallis seems to have anticipated; for, although he 
 turns sensibly out of his path to record it in his 
 Algebra " lest the remembrance should perish,"* he 
 states it more as a natural curiosity than as of 
 advantage to science. 
 
 The discovery lay fallow for half a century, and 
 was then taken up by Dr. Brook Taylor, who was 
 the first to publish analytical researches into the 
 vibration of strings.'' Thenceforward, successively, by 
 BemomUi, Euler, Lagrange, d'Alembert, Eiccati, Dr. 
 Matthew Young, and by the illustrious Chladni, down 
 to the eminent mathematicians of the present century. 
 
 It will be an advantage to composers to consider 
 the difference of the several roots in every key, when 
 they are writing for performances in large buUdings 
 
 "■ "ne pereat." — (Wallia's O'pera * Methodm Incremenionmi directa 
 
 Matliematka, vol. ii. p. 466, fol. et inversa auotore Brook Taylor. 
 1693.) 1715. 
 
herschel's definition of harmony. 237 
 
 of resonant and Harmonic-giving qualities. They 
 must often wish to avoid the conflict of discordant 
 Harmonics, siace grandeur of effect mil, in a great 
 measure, depend upon care in that respect. Every 
 semitone, and even every quarter-tone, in the 
 Harmonic scale, may be used in melody without 
 preparation, and without going out of the key. 
 
 " The sense of harmony," says Sir W. Herschel, 
 "depends upon the periodical recurrence of coin- 
 cidental impulses on the ear, and affords, perhaps, 
 the only instance of a sensation for whose pleasing 
 impression a distinct and intelUgible reason can be 
 assigned." " This passage is quite the antithesis to the 
 definition of Helmholtz, that coincidental impulses 
 may be causes of dissonance. 
 
 Harmony now means, both technically and truly, 
 a mixture of concords with discords, both of which 
 are included ia the Greek word Harmonia. If 
 Herschel had intended consonances only, according 
 to the popular idea of harmony, he would have 
 limited his definition to " coincidental impulses on 
 the ear, derived from a common root." 
 
 Very difiPerent are the effects of the same interval 
 in two places. What singer has not observed how 
 much more natural and agreeable it is to sing a 
 Fourth either up to, or down from, the key-note, 
 than the same interval taken from the key-note to 
 a Fourth above iti The reason is that, in the last 
 case, he goes from one key into another. Again, the 
 minor Third, when in its right place, is one degree 
 more consonant than the interval between the Fifth 
 
 " Quoted by J. H. Griesbach, in Preliminary Discourses on the Study 
 his Analysis of Musical Sounds — of Natural Philosophy. 
 (p. 32) — from Sir John Herschel'a 
 
238 THE HISTORY OF MTJSIC. 
 
 and the Harmonic Seventh ; but, if in tte key of C, 
 we sing or play ascending C, E, G, Harmonic B 
 flat, B natural, and C, we have an agreeable melodic 
 passage ;* whereas, if we substitute for Harmonic 
 B flat, our B flatj which is a minor Third to the 
 G, and so play C, E, G, B flat, the ear will not allow 
 us to ascend further — we are driven back upon A 
 by the discord of B flat. 
 
 The system of subdominants is Greek, but not 
 Nature's. We sacrifice too much for the sake of 
 making one extra interval of a perfect Fourth from 
 the key-note to its Fourth above, which Nature 
 does not allow. Her perfect Fourths are from the 
 Second and Fifth of the key upwards, as from D 
 and G in the key of C. Defects of this kind were 
 less forcibly observed by' the old musicians than 
 now, because they did not test the s6ale by that 
 of Nature ; but ears, ancient and modem, have 
 always been protesting that these notes are wrong. 
 
 The protest against the two notes, Fourth and 
 minor Seventh, commenced in very remote Antiquity, 
 we might ssty, in ancient Egypt, on the assumption 
 that Pythagoras derived his scales from Egypt, of 
 which there is hardly a doubt. It seems impossible 
 to attribute the peculiarity of the Greek Chromatic 
 scale, in its passing down from the Octave, over the 
 Seventh; and then from the Fifth, passing over the 
 
 » The principal intervals of the of tryiug- the intervals in various 
 Harmonic scale are not only ways upon a pianoforte tuned by 
 theoretically, but also prafcticaUy, thfe mondohord. The real effect of 
 familiar to me, from having, (as in uufamiliai sounds is not arrived at 
 duty bound, before writing on the by testing them alone upon a 
 subject,) drawn out a scale, from monochord. They gain immediately 
 which a monochord was constructed upon being tried in their proper 
 under the superintendence of Mr. places. For a bold melodic pro- 
 Kemp. I had then the opportunity gression, try E, Harmonic F, and G. 
 
rOTIRTH AND MINOR SEVENTH KEJECTED. 239 
 
 Fourth ; to any other motive than that of avoiding 
 those intervals which their ears told them were out 
 of the key. Again, the same two notes were picked 
 out for omission in the Greek Enharmonic scale, 
 which, Plutarch tells us, had its origin in the desire 
 of Olympus to avoid the minor Seventh. It is also 
 sure that Olympus, or whoever invented that system, 
 equally rejected the Fourth; for no ancient Chromatic 
 or Enharmonic scale includes either the one note or 
 the other. Similar instances may be noticed among 
 the moderns — as in the universal rejection of the 
 Seventh in the ascending minor scale, and in the 
 substitution of the major Seventh, which the ear has 
 judged to lead so definitely to the Octave, that it 
 received from the French the name of "la note 
 sensible ;" or, in the words of Rousseau, " parcequ'- 
 eUe annonce la Tonique et fait sentir le Ton." 
 Again, in the rejection of both Fourth and minor 
 Seventh by the musical ears" of the composers of old 
 
 • It would be an advantage to able to sensitive, as well as to 
 music if there were a larger educated, ears, instead of affording 
 preponderance of such ears at the them any pleasure. If singing- 
 present time. With many evidences, masters should be led to adopt 
 ancient and modem, of the guidance such tuning as this for their 
 of the ear to what is right, it is pianofortes when they are teaching 
 regretful that, owing to the imper- pupils to sing, they can hardly 
 fections of keyed instruments, we expect the pupils to sing correctly, 
 shouldbe driven to adopt the system and wUl have tenfold trouble in 
 of tuning called Equal Temperament. trying to instil into them the 
 Tempering is to be "just so much imitation of imperfect sounds, 
 out of tune as the ear will bear." The one recommendation of the 
 The consideration of sounds that system is, that it enables the 
 will give most pleasure to the ear pianoforte player to have the com- 
 does not enter into the arrangement. mand of twelve keys ; and, as 
 There are some ears that will bear his instrument does not sustain 
 a great deal of ."tempering," smd tone like the organ or harmonium, 
 they must have been especially equal temperament passes muster 
 consulted as to the tuning of the with a greater number of persons. 
 Thirds in the new system. Sustained But they do not derive equal 
 harmony in Thirds is now disagree- pleasure from the music, although 
 
240 
 
 THE HISTOEY OF MUSIC. 
 
 popular ballads, Scotch and Irisli. There are many- 
 English airs of the same class, but they were not 
 included in Popular Music of the Olden Time, 
 because the pubHc voice would probably have 
 attributed them to Scotland or to Ireland ; also 
 beca4;ise there was already too large a number of 
 English airs for publication in one selection. Other 
 cotmtries have tunes remarkable for the same 
 omissions. Mathematical science alone will not 
 teach that the two intervals are wrong, but the 
 true science of music rests upon the investigation 
 and following out of the laws of Nature, and does 
 not sanction any conflict with those laws. 
 
 According to one learned writer upon the mathe- 
 matical branches of music,* there was a true scale ia 
 use from the time of Monteverde or Caccini. It 
 
 unable to point out tlie cause. 
 The advantage of twelve keys is 
 counterbalanced by having them 
 aJl out of tune and without any 
 redeeming variation of character. 
 It is an attempt to do too much 
 upon imperfect instruments. The 
 greatest benefactor would be he who 
 could invent mechanism by which 
 a pianoforte, in tune in one key, 
 could be raised by pedals to others, 
 and remain in tune there also. It 
 is not a shifting movement that is 
 wanted, but one that shortens the 
 strings. Till then, we can make 
 something out of difference of 
 character. "II est bon d' observer," 
 says Rameau, "que nous recevons 
 des impressions differentes des in- 
 tervaUes i proportion de leurs 
 differentes alterations. Par ex- 
 amples la Tierce majeure qui nous 
 excite natureUement 4 la joie, nous 
 imprime jusqu' k des id^es de 
 fureur quand eUe est trop forte, 
 et la Tierce miueure, qui nous 
 
 porte i. la tendresse et a la douceur, 
 nous attriste lorsqu'eUe est trop 
 foible. " There is a character in every 
 interval, derived from the coinci- 
 dental vibrations that give a sort 
 of rhythm it. 
 
 " "La vraie gamme majeure de 
 la tonality modeme, depuis I'in- 
 novation de Monteverde ou Casini, 
 s'exprime par les rapports : 16, 18, 
 20, 21, 24, 27, 30, 32." (Compare 
 the numbers by the preceding Har- 
 monic scale.) "EUe n'est pas con- 
 forme i ceUes donnies par la 
 g^niralitd des didacticiens — ^les leurs 
 devaient infaiUiblement ^garer tout 
 spioulateur contemporain — Cette 
 gamme seule contient I'harmonie 
 consonnante et dissonante eutre eUes 
 oonjointes par un ^gal terme appreci- 
 able de comparaison, qui nous in- 
 spire un sentiment unique de 
 tonality" &c. — (Calcnl Musical et 
 PhUosophie de la Mumpie par Charles 
 Meerens, p. 20. 8vo. 186*.) 
 
THE MIXTURE-STOPS OF ORGANS. 241 
 
 had the F lowered by a sixty-fourth part, so really 
 changed it into E sharp, and it had the true A (27 
 to 16). He does not allude to the Harmonic B flat 
 which should have followed upon this arrangement, 
 so as to make true Foiirths and Fifths with this 
 semitone above E, because he there writes only of a 
 Diatonic major scale. But the partial adoption of 
 the Harmonic scale is confirmed by the ancient use 
 of trumpets and horns without keys. They were 
 formerly very important instruments in out-door 
 music, and could not be played upon in any other 
 scale than that of Nature until keys or valves were 
 invented for them. So it appears that the moderns 
 have really retrograded, and have gone away from 
 Nature in the present scale. The reason for employ- 
 ing the semitone above E, to make an F, was 
 evidently to keep as near as Nature would permit 
 to the present scale. One grand objection to a 
 tempered scale is, that it makes false Harmonics, 
 as well as false notes. Richness of tones depends 
 much upon Harmonics. 
 
 The mixture-stops of an organ are solely for the 
 purpose of supplying the Harmonics which are 
 deficient ia stopped pipes, and there can be no 
 grandeur of efiect in an organ without those mixture- 
 stops. But there are organ builders who do not 
 seem to know that such stops are to be voiced softly, 
 and organists who forget that they are only to be 
 used with the fuU organ, so that their tones may be 
 covered by the volume of other sounds. If made 
 prominent, they produce a disagreeable, instead of a 
 grand efiect. 
 
 The stopped pipe of an organ is merely a pipe 
 with a plug at the end, or cap upon it, so that the 
 
 R 
 
242 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 wiad has to travel to and fro to obtain an exit at 
 the open lip, or notch. The column of air is thus 
 ddubled in. length, and the note produced is therefore 
 an Octave lower than that of an open pipe. A 
 clarionet is of the nature of a stopped pipe, and 
 although closed only at the end next the mouth, the 
 effect of lowering the tone by an Octave is the same. 
 One foot ia length of the clarionet produces the same 
 C as two feet in length on a flute. Only two Har- 
 monics can be produced from a clarionet, viz., a 
 Twelfth, and another Twelfth above it — ^the latter, 
 with difiiculty, on account of its high pitch. The 
 peculiar Harmonics of the clarionet were first brought 
 into notice by Sir Charles Wheatstone, F.E.S. Pro- 
 fessor Tyndall says, that the clarionet has the 
 Harmonics 1, 3, 5, -7, by opening the holes at the 
 sides. But to do so is to change the fundamental note. 
 Professor TyndaU gives a useful second rule for 
 comparing intervals, only in terms that may not;be 
 understood by every reader without a line of expla- 
 nation. He gives the notes of the scaleiof C thus: — 
 
 "'Names, . . . c, D, B, r, G, A, b, c. 
 'ilates of vibration,!, .f, |, |, f, f, V. 2." 
 
 and then says : " Multiplying these ratios by 24, 
 to avoid fractions, we obtain the following series 
 of whole numbers, which express the relative rates 
 of vibration of the notes of the Diatonic scale: — 
 
 24, 27, 30, 32, 36,40, 45,48;" 
 
 To multiply the ratios, means to multiply each 
 upper number by 24, and divide by the under, as 
 in the case of fractions. This rule may be! preferred 
 by some to the one I have given at page 200, and. 
 
LOGARITHMS FOR INTERVALS. 
 
 243 
 
 for musical purposes, the one is as efficient as the 
 other. 
 
 But, for those who are verged in mathematics, 
 it should be pointed out that the use of the 
 logarithms of the intervals very much simplifies 
 calculations, as then all the multiplication, the 
 bringing to a common denominator, &c., is entirely- 
 dispensed with. The logarithms, in fact, exactly 
 represent to the eye what the intervals do to the 
 ear, and we have only to deduct or compare the 
 logarithms on paper, just as the ear does when the 
 corresponding intervals are heard. 
 
 For example, taking two kinds of tetrachord : 
 their composition is at once clearly illustrated by 
 the following simple statement, in which, it will be 
 observed, there is nothing but addition used : — 
 
 Pythagorean 
 Tetrachord. 
 
 Majoe Tone 
 Majoe Tone 
 
 LiMMA 
 FOUETH ... 
 
 Logarithm. 
 
 0.05115 
 0.05115 
 0.02264 
 
 0.12494 
 
 Ptolemy '8 
 Tetrachord. 
 
 Major Tone 
 MraoR Tone 
 Majoe Semitone 
 
 FouETH ... 
 
 Logarithm, 
 
 0.05115 
 0.04576 
 0.02803 
 
 0.12494 
 
 This excellent mode of calculating intervals was 
 introduced long ago by French and German writers, 
 and extended examples of its use will be found in 
 Dr. Pole's admirable Diagrams of the MvMcal Scale, 
 which are incorporated with the Rev. Sir F. A. Gore 
 Ouseley's Treatise on Harmony. The system has 
 not been followed here ; first, firom the wish to bring 
 the explanations within the reach of those who may 
 not understand logarithms ;' and, secondly, because 
 
 * For those who are extra-curious 
 in their calculations, there is a 
 table of acoustic logarithms, calcu- 
 lated, by M. Delezenne, from 1 to 
 1200 semi-Tibrations, expressed in 
 
 commas. This table is appended to 
 the already quoted Gaicul MaMccd, 
 by M. Charles Meerens, in pamphlet 
 form. 8vo. 1864. 
 
 R2 
 
244 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 the division of a string into its aliquot parts is of 
 practical application, and, to many minds, it will 
 convey a more lively impression of a sound, than 
 will a short row of figures. 
 
 And now, quitting the subject of calculations, I 
 turn to anothef of Nature's musical arrangements. 
 The Pythagorean doctrine of the existence of certain 
 vibrating soTuids, some of which are too high and 
 others too low to reach the human ear, has received 
 unexpected confirmation both during the last and in 
 the present century. The existence of sounds that 
 are too high for our hearing has been demonstrated 
 by the discovery that, under certain conditions, the 
 union of two generates a third and much lower 
 sound, which is quite distinct from its two primaries. 
 Next, that this resultant sound may be obtained 
 even when the two primaries are inaudible. On the 
 one side, these resultant tones are said to have been 
 discovered in 1745 by a German musician and able 
 writer on music, named Sorge, but that the disclosure 
 attracted very little attenticAi at the time. Then, 
 that they were discovered independently by Tartini, 
 the celebrated fiddle player, in 1754, and, after him, 
 were called Tartini's tones. On the other side, 
 they are said to have been discovered by Tartini 
 while studying the violin in 1714, and that he had 
 taught them to his pupils long before he published 
 his theory of them in 1754. 
 
 In an Analysis of Musical Sounds, with Illustrative 
 Figures of the Ratios of Vibrations, by John Henry 
 Griesbach, these tones are thus defined : " Eesultant 
 sounds are not audibly produced by the combined 
 sounds of a pianoforte, because the sound of a piano- 
 forte gradually diminishes from the instant of its 
 
RESULTANT SOUNDS. 245 
 
 production to its extinction. For the audible pro- 
 duction of resultant sounds by musical instruments, 
 it is requisite that the sounds be continuous and 
 equal. They are produced audibly by organ pipes, 
 and by the metal reeds of harmoniums, also by many 
 different intervals when the strings of a violin or 
 tenor are made to vibrate powerfully. Tartini used 
 to tell his pupils that their Thirds could not be in 
 tune unless they heard ' the low note,' meaning the 
 resultant sound. Resultant sounds may occasion- 
 ally be heard when two sounds are powerfully 
 sustained by female voices. Triangles, metal bars, 
 and bells, not'" only produce their Harmonics power- 
 fully, but also resultant sounds. "^ — (p. 65.) 
 
 To produce such tones audibly it is necessary that 
 the two primaries be sounded rather loudly, as well 
 as continuously, and it is expedient to select two 
 notes of high pitch for the experiment. Some 
 attention may be required at first to single out the 
 feeble resultant tone, but it will be readily accom- 
 plished after a little practice. A guidance to the 
 ear in early experiments will be, that the note to be 
 listened for may be predicted. 
 
 Harmoniums that have been careftilly tuned yield 
 these sounds much more distinctly than those which 
 have not. The best way of hearing them is upon 
 one of Wheatstone's symphoniums, an instrument 
 which is no longer manufactured, it having been 
 superseded by the concertina. The tone is pro- 
 duced by the same metal springs, but, instead of a 
 bellows, they ai-e breathed upon through the half- 
 opened mouth. By breathing into this instrument, 
 and lightly stopping the ears at the same time, the 
 resultant sound is heard quite as distinctly as the 
 
246 THE HISTOHY OF MUSIC. 
 
 higher two. The tones pasa through the mouth to 
 the auditory nerve by the Eustachian tube, therefore 
 inside the drum of the ear. A further advantage of 
 this method is, that, practically, the springs do not 
 yield Harmonies, therefore there is no confusion of 
 sounds. It is the deficiency as to Harmonics that 
 makes the harmonium an unsatisfactory substitute 
 for the organ. The symphonium should be warmed, 
 to diminish condensation of the breath upon cold 
 metal. When a symphonixun cannot be obtauied, 
 try the harmonium or concertina. 
 
 The following are examples of resultant tones : — 
 
 If the two primaries be e and g, which are Nos. 
 20 and 24 of the Harmonic scale, and at the interval 
 of a minor Third, the resultant tone will be C, No. 
 4, two Octaves and a major Third below the e. 
 
 If the same e, with c, the major Third below it, 
 or Nos. 20 and 16, be sounded, the result will be 
 the same C, No. 4, as before, but it will now be only 
 two Octaves below c. 
 
 If we next try g with the same c above it, Nos. 12 
 and 1 6, making the "interval of a Fourth, the result 
 win be the same C, No. 4, as in the two former 
 cases, but now it is only a Twelfth below g. 
 
 If we transpose the order of g and c, and take g 
 as a Fifth above c, Nos. 16 and 24, the resultant 
 tone will be C, No. 8, one Octave above the other. 
 
 If we try a major Sixth, as g and e, Nos. 12 and 
 20, the result wiU be C, No. 8. 
 
 If a minor Sixth, as from e to cc above it, Nos. 
 20 and 32, the resultant tone will be g. No. 12, the 
 major Sixth below e. 
 
 It might have been supposed^ from five of the 
 above examples, that aU would have resulted in the 
 
CONSONANCE versus DIFFERENCE TONES. 247 
 
 true key-notes, had not the last experiment dis- 
 proved it. 
 
 Helmlioltz changed the name of Resultant Tones 
 to Difference Tones, and his reason was that the 
 resultant note is that which is equal to the difference 
 between the ratios of vibration of the two primaries. 
 That is true enough, but it does not accoimt for 
 their being audible beyond others. Difference 
 tones only add one more degree of discord to each 
 set of vibrations, and the above are all consonant 
 to the upper notes. Therefore I demur to Helm- 
 holtz's new theory, and revert to that of Dr. 
 Thomas Young, that these are the reflected sounds 
 of the consonant vibrations, which are also equal 
 to the difference between the two primaries. There 
 is good reason for their superior audibUity; but it 
 would be indeed difficult to find a reason for the 
 predominance of the others. 
 
 The two notes which constitute the above example 
 of the minor Third e and g, when referred to the 
 preceding scale, are Nos. 20 and 24, giving 640 and 
 768 vibrations. The consonance and the difference 
 are both 128, and if we look for 128 vibrations, we 
 find them produced by C, No. 4 of the scale. Therefore 
 C is the resultant tone. Then taking the last of the 
 series, the minor Sixth, from e to cc, as another test, 
 they are Nos. 20 and 32, with 640 and 1024 vibra^ 
 tions. The consonance and the difference are both 
 384, and that mnnber indicates g. No. 12, as the 
 resultant. All the other intervals may be similarly 
 proved. I would, however, suggest that the differ- 
 ence between the two numbers in the Harmonic 
 scale is a shorter test than that of calcuLating the 
 difference between vibrations. 
 
248 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 I can but suppose Helmlioltz's new theories to be 
 due to the imperfection of the instrument wMcli 
 he employed for his experiments. Thus, in Dr. 
 Tyndall's words, when treating on these resultant 
 tones, we are told that "the sound incessantly 
 varies between silence and a tone of four times the 
 intensity of either of the interfering ones" — (p. 278). 
 This is given with aJl the emphasis of italics. 
 
 I have tried the experiment with the most 
 delicate instnunent for the purpose, tuned perfectly 
 for me, with cotton in my ears to exclude aU 
 external influence, and neither by that means, nor 
 by harmoniums, by concertinas, or other, can I 
 discover any intervals of sUence. - Furthermore, I 
 have appealed to the highly sensitive ears of Mac- 
 farren, J. H. Griesbach, and others, but no one 
 can distinguish them. Then surely they are due to 
 the peculiar character of the Siren which Helmholtz 
 employed for the experiment. And, possibly, the 
 Siren is also to be held responsible for the theory 
 of the " fluctuations." It seems hard to account for 
 it upon any other principle. 
 
 The Siren is a nondescript instrument, the tones 
 of which are produced by puffs of air through 12, 
 20, or 30 holes at one time. So there are 
 virtually 12, 20, or 30 instruments sounding at 
 the same time, and some of these are counter- 
 acting the effects of others. If two harmonium- 
 reeds, exactly alike, be placed side by side and 
 sounded together, it is all but certain that the 
 combined tones of the two wiU. have less power 
 than those of either, separately; If two tuning 
 forks of the same pitch be sounded at the same 
 instant, near to one another, the sound of both may 
 
THE SIREN . ILL-ADAPTED EOE EXPERIMENTS. 249 
 
 be neutralised by tbe manner of bolding one at an 
 angle to the other. This is a well-known experi- 
 ment, which I have often made, and one that 
 Professor Tyndall has largely illustrated in his 
 lectures. " It is easy to see," says he, "that the forks 
 may so vibrate that the condensations of the one 
 shall coincide with the condensations of the other, 
 and the rarefactions of the one with the rarefactions 
 of the other. If this be the case, the two forks will 
 assist each other. ... It is, however, also easy to 
 see that the two forks may be so related to each 
 other that one of them shall require a condensation 
 at the place where the other requires a rarefaction ; 
 that one fork should urge the air-particles forward, 
 whUe the other urges them backward. If the 
 opposing forces be equal, particles so solicited will 
 move neither backwards nor forwards, and the aerial 
 rest, which corresponds to silence, is the result. 
 Thus, it is possible, by adding the sound of one fork 
 to that of another, to abolish the sounds of both " 
 —(p. 256). 
 
 It is singular that the intervals of silence did not 
 arouse the attention of the great acoustician to the 
 imperfections of the instrument with which he con- 
 ducted so many experiments. 
 
 Resultant tones had been much experimented 
 upon in England before Hehnholtz gave birth to 
 his theory, and they led to the discovery, or re- 
 discovery, that sounds might be too acute to affect 
 the human ear. 
 
 Sir Charles Wheatstone, LL.D., D.C.L., F.K.S., had 
 two very minute metal tongues made for him, of the 
 kind used for concertinas and harmoniums, but so 
 minute that their exceedingly acute sounds were 
 
250 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 inaudible separately, yet when blown together their 
 graver resultant sound was distinctly mthin hearing. 
 
 Our present Professor of Music in the University 
 of Oxford, the Eev. Sir F. A. Gore Ouseley, Bart., 
 had two very minute open pipes constructed; which 
 were equally inaudible when blown separately, but of 
 which the resultant sound, two Octaves below the; 
 calculated pitch of the lower pipe, was distinctly 
 heard. A similar experiment was tried with equal 
 success by Mr. J. H. Griesbach, from whose work, 
 already quoted, the above account of these experi- 
 ments is derived. 
 
 Instruments have been invented for testing the 
 limit of the human ear as. to the higher notes, and 
 they show considerable variations in difiPerent 
 individuals. 
 
 In the case of exceedingly low notes, the sound- 
 waves succeed one another too slowly to effect the 
 necessary continuity by which the auditory nerve 
 must be excited in order to convey the impression of 
 a musical sound to the brain. If the vibrations are 
 less in number than 16 in a second of time, the ear 
 is conscious only of separate shocks. If they exceed 
 38,100 in a second, according to the recent calcula- 
 tions of Helmholtz, the consciousness of sound ceases 
 altogether. "The range of the best ear covers about 
 eleven Octaves, but an auditory range limited to 
 6 or 7 Octaves is not uncommon. The sounds 
 available in music are produced by vibrations com- 
 prised between the limits of 40 and 4000 a second. 
 They embrace 7 Octaves. The range of the ear far 
 transcends that of the eye, which hardly exceeds an 
 Octave."" 
 
 " Tyndall's Lectures on Somid, p. 84, 2nd edit. 1869. 
 
PYTHAGOKEAN IDEAS REALIZED. 251 
 
 Experiments upon very low sounds were exhibited 
 by the late D. C. Hewitt, by the late Professor 
 Donaldson of Edinburgh, but on the largest scale 
 by the present Oxford Professor. 
 
 Sir E. A. Gore Ouseley strained a wire of 64 feet 
 in length, and regulated the tension so as to produce 
 C, four Octaves below C in the base staff When 
 plucked aside, the note was inaudible, and even the 
 half-length was only to be heard by a few favoured 
 ears, but the quarter-length of 16 feet, or the lowest 
 upon a pianoforte, became sensible to all when 
 put iato vibration by a bow. The experiments of 
 Professor Donaldson were of the same character, and 
 with the like result. 
 
 These recent investigations have been turned to 
 account by, at least, one manufactiurer. It became 
 evident that horns of various kinds might be made 
 of such length in the tube, straight or curved, that 
 although no sound would be heard from its entire 
 length, the player might take up Nature's scale at 
 her fourth Octave, and so produce the eight Diatonic 
 notes within that Octave, and sixteen semitones in 
 the Fifth ; whereas, if he could have sounded the 
 whole length, he would have obtained but two notes 
 in the first Octave, and but three in the second. This 
 has demonstrated the possibility of effecting a great 
 enlargement of the powers of instruments of that 
 class, subject to the one great drawback of their 
 cumbrous size. 
 
 Thus the doctrine of the Pythagoreans, which was 
 adopted by Cicero, Pliny, Boethius, and generally in 
 the middle ages, has been unexpectedly verified by 
 modern science. 
 
252 
 
 CHAPTEE X. 
 
 The musical instruments of the ancients. — DiflSeulties of the 
 subject.^ Athenseus's incorrect account about the Hydraulic 
 Organ — General names. — ^Magadis. — Sambuca. — Buxus. — Wind 
 instruments. — Syrinx, or Pandean Pipe. — Pandura. — The Double 
 Eeed or Hautboy principle. — The Bassoon and -Comet, or 
 Corno Inglese. — The Gingras. — The Bombos.' — Koman Haut- 
 boy-player. — Second principle: the Single Eeed Clarionet. — The 
 Shawm, or Chalumeau. — ^A Pythian game of Apollo and the 
 Python. — Pythauli. — Chorauli. — The Box for Eeeds. — Many 
 mat rials for Pipes, and their names from countries and from 
 special purposes. — Length of Arabian Pipes proverbial. — ^Egyp- 
 tian Pipes many notes. — The Bombyx. — Third principle : the 
 Pipe blown at the end. — The old English Flute and the Flageolet. 
 — The Organ Diapason. — The Egyptian Pipe and Greek 
 Monaulos and Kalamaulos. — Fourth principle : the present 
 Flute. — The Photinx and Plagiaulos. — Egyptian Flute. — 
 Phrygian and Berecynthian Pipes with horns at the end. — 
 Elymos. — Scytalia. — Competitions of Pipers. — The muzzles 
 round their mouths. — Bagpipe. — Fifth principle : the free Eeed 
 or Harmonium principle derived from China. — Sixth principle : 
 Trumpets and Horns — Egyptian, Assyrian, Greek, Etruscan, 
 and Eoman. 
 
 The musical instruments of tJbe ancients have always 
 been found a diflScult subject to treat upon ; and for 
 several reasons. The first is, because only a limited 
 number of the instruments named by classical 
 authors can be thoroughly identified. This is partly 
 owing to the absence of cotemporaxy representations 
 in sculpture or in paintings; and even when such are 
 to be foxmd, too much poetical license has not in- 
 frequently been taken with their forms, and they are 
 rarely accompanied by distinctive names. Such 
 allusions to them as are to be found in the texts 
 
CONTEADICTOEY DESCRIPTIONS. 253 
 
 are generally casual and brief, and often very 
 indefinite. In these cases, other notices have to 
 be sought for, sometimes far and wide ; they are 
 then to be collected together, and to be compared. 
 
 When all this has been done, the descriptions 
 have often an appearance of being contradictory, 
 and the next step must be to endeavour to trace 
 the source of this seeming contradiction. Sometimes 
 it will be found that a name has been varied on 
 account of a slight, and, perhaps, unimportant 
 difference of pattern, or in the material of which 
 the instrument was made. It is next to impossible 
 to distiaguiah such differences in sculpture, and 
 hardly less so in paintings, without a previous 
 minute knowledge of what is to be sought for. 
 Again, the same material may have supplied names 
 to widely differing instruments ; and, lastly, some 
 even of the ancients, who undertook to describe 
 them, were not musically qualified for the task. 
 
 This was especially the case with Athenaeus, to 
 whom we are, nevertheless, more indebted than 
 to any other writer, for having collected together 
 a large number of extracts concerning musical 
 instruments. Athenseus had little or no knowledge 
 of their construction, although he seems to have 
 taken particular pleasure in hearing music. If 
 there were no other description extant of the 
 Hydraulikon, or Hydraulic Organ, than the one 
 he has given, it would now be classed among 
 mythical instruments. Fortunately there exist two 
 other good and even minute descriptions. According 
 to Athenseus, the Hydraulic Organ was inflated 
 with water, and the pipes were turned down into 
 the water. Then the water was strenuously agitated 
 
254 THE HISTORY OF liflJSIC. 
 
 ^by 3, youth, and thus thp pipes were made to enpt 
 an agreeable sound.* 
 
 This is just such 9, description as might have 
 beqn given by any (?areless observer, who knew 
 nothing of hydraulics or pneumatics, and who did 
 not trouble himself to enquire into jfche principle 
 of the instrument. Any one who has once heard 
 the rush of wiater through a pipe into a cistern, 
 after the turncock has turned on the water-supply 
 to a house, will be able to judge whether a series 
 of such pipes would emit "agreeable" sounds. It 
 is not too much to say that no reaUy musical 
 instrument was ever constructed upon such a 
 principle, although the attempt :has certainly beQn 
 made in consequence of Athenseus's description- 
 The true Hydrauhc Organ will here be jho-vm to 
 •have beeU' of a very, different character. 
 
 Again, the reader must not expect help, as to 
 music, from the generality of old Latin translations, 
 ■such as that of JuUus PoUux's Onomas^i^oji. Many 
 musical instrument^ are enumerated in the Greek 
 text, but the author of the Latin version knew so 
 little about Greek poetry and Greek music that 
 he could not distinguish between a Mode and a 
 Nome,'' i.e., between a scale and a hymn. It is, 
 therefpre, hardly a matter for surprise that he 
 supposed flutes to have been played upon by strings, 
 instead of by iwind-" Translations of the same 
 
 » Deipno-sophists,)ih. iv. cap. 75. considered that x"?^ ^^ » second 
 
 " See lib. iv. caip. 9, 66. meaning, of "a sound," as -well as 
 
 " He translates thus : "PlatoYero "a string," as in the perpetually 
 
 ahisaa. etiaxn. multis chordis prceditcmi recurring word, "tetrachord," he 
 
 nominavit." — .(OnomO'StilfOii, lib. would, perhaps, have altered «. his 
 
 iv. cap. 9.) — The words in italics translation to "multisonantem," or 
 
 were intended as a translation of "multis sonis prseditam." 
 TroXvxopSovaTov. If he had but 
 
MAGADIS AND SAMBITKA. 255 
 
 description are by no means so uncommon as many- 
 would gladly suppose, but one such, instance will 
 suffice for present purpose. 
 
 General names create one of the greatest difficulties 
 to the enquirer into ancient musical instruments ; 
 and his first thought should be : " Is this a generic 
 or a particular name? " In the case of the Magadis, 
 or Octave-playing instrument, many seemingly con- 
 fficting descriptions are collected by Athenseus. 
 AU are reconcilable the moment it is understood 
 that the name " Magadis" was transferable to any 
 stringed or wind instrument that might be played 
 in Octaves. The name was originally given to a 
 foreign instrument. It was a Lydian Magadis upon 
 which Anacreon played, that had twenty strings.* 
 
 Again, the Sambuca, in Greek, Sambuke, is de- 
 scribed by one as a small triangular harp with four 
 strings, and of such high sounds as to make it 
 practically of little use. That kind of Sambuca was 
 a small TrigSn. By a second, it is identified with 
 the Barbitos, or many-stringed Lyre. By a third 
 writer, it is made a synonyme for the Lyro-phoeni?:, 
 or Phoenician Lyre.'' In a fourth case, it is the large 
 Greek Lyre. In a fifth case, it is a Magadis." In 
 the middle ages, it was at one time a Dulcimer, and 
 at others a large Pipe. In a seventh case, it was a 
 Roman military engine, of a light and portable 
 character, for scaling waU^.* 
 
 * " ^oXXw S' eiKOfft AvSajv 
 'KopdaliTiv fjtayadiv ix^^j 
 
 "Q AevKaajTi " — 
 
 (AthensBus, lib. xiv. cap. 37, p. 634, c. and Bergk's Anacreon, frag. 5.) 
 
 •> 4>om? has sometimes the mean- " See Euphorion, quoted by 
 
 ing of palm-nrood, but not in this Athensens, lib. xiv. cap. 36. 
 ease. * See index to Athenaeua, and 
 
 LiddeU and Scott's Lexicon. 
 
256 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 It is scarcely to be doubted that tbe clue to aU 
 tbese varieties is the word "Elderwood." The 
 musical instrument was not originally Greek, which 
 will account for the root of the word not being 
 Greek ; but the Romans inherited the name as that 
 of the elder tree, in the form of Sambucus and of 
 Sabucus. Pythagoras and Euphorion speak of the 
 Sambuca as played by the Parthians, and by nations 
 bordering on the Red Sea.* Others again attribute 
 it to the Phcenicia;ns. Elderwood, when dried, is 
 very light in point of weight ; and first, its 
 portability, and, secondly, its wide grain, would 
 have recommended it for sonority in stringed 
 musical instruments. Again, the facihty with which 
 the green pith might be removed from its branches 
 made them useful for large pipes. The system of 
 naming musical instruments after the wood of which 
 they were made was very common in ancient times. 
 For instance : Boxwood, (Gr. Puxos, Lat. Buxus,) 
 lent its name to smaller pipes and flutes ; because, 
 being a hard and close-grained wood, it was suitable 
 for exactitude in the bore of their tubes. It was 
 smooth, and took a good polish, and it would bear 
 rough usage. Clarionets, flutes, and fifes are still 
 made of boxwood. Both in Greek and in Latin 
 the name of this wood is often used for the pipe. 
 
 There are so many kinds of general names for 
 musical instruments — so^e derived from a particular 
 nation — some from an inventor — some from their 
 special use, and some Jfrom their shape '' — ^that the 
 
 » Athenseus, lib. xiv., cap. 34. sint, vel regiones uTji vigebat usus, 
 
 * "Si enim diligentius antiquo- vel sonus, vel materia, numenis, 
 
 rum monumenta inspiciamua, tot figura, et usus varii postulabant." — 
 
 earum differentias reperiemus quot (Bartholinus De Tihiis Veterum, 
 
 vel inventores diversi inferre pos- p. 6.3.) 
 
THE WINDS. THE FIRST TEACHERS. 257 
 
 more practicable way of treating the subject, at the 
 present time, seems to be according to the principles 
 involved in their construction, and thus in classes, 
 instead of individually. It wiU greatly abbreviate 
 details, and the various properties of the instruments 
 will be more readily understood. 
 
 To which class shaU priority be given — to wind, 
 string, or percussion ? It may justly be argued that 
 melody first arose between the beats of time that 
 marked rhythm, and therefore rhythm was the 
 parent of vocal melody ; but whether instruments of 
 percussion, like the drum, are on that account to 
 be ranked as the first of musical instruments, as 
 Dr. Bumey and others would have it, is another 
 question. Upon such a theory precedence must be 
 given to hands and feet before all instruments, but 
 where is their musical sound ? The distinction 
 between noise and music is, that the first acts by 
 sudden and uregular shocks, and the second by 
 rapidly succeeding periodic impulses upon the ear. 
 These impulses give the continuity of tone which is 
 called "music." Rather, then, should the play of the 
 wind upon the ends of broken reeds be credited 
 with the first suggestion to man of a musical 
 instrument. 
 
 To cut pieces of reed so as to form whistles, was, 
 in all probabOity, a thought which preceded that of 
 boring holes into one reed, so as to make it emit 
 several sounds. Priority may also be assigned to 
 this practice of blowing at an angle across the ends 
 of the reeds, in the manner of the wind, before that 
 of twisting a string and attaching it to a sounding- 
 board, so as to cause it to produce a musical note. 
 And, thirdly, over the cutting off a part of the horn 
 
 s 
 
258 THE HISTORY OP MUSIC. 
 
 of an animal, with tlie object of employing it as a 
 wind instrument, by inserting the smaller open end 
 into the mouth. 
 
 " Fond zephyrs playing on the hollow reeds 
 First taught the rustic how to use his pipe."" 
 
 The Syrinx of the Greeks is now called Pandean 
 Pipe, or Pan's Pipe, and is rarely seen except with 
 the Punch and Judy showman. It was formed by 
 a combination of short pieces of reed of different 
 lengths, and they were joined together by waxed 
 threads, and tuned to a scale by filling the ends 
 with wax, or by cutting down the reeds exactly to 
 the note. 
 
 " A pipe composed of reeds of lessening height, 
 By wax conjoined the greater to the less."b 
 
 Instruments of that kind are common to un- 
 civilized as well as civilized nations. In consequence 
 of the myth that Pan was the inventor of such 
 pipes, and that he taught the world how to join 
 the reeds together with wax and flax, the Syrinx 
 came to be called the Pandura. This name, instead 
 of Syrinx, was assigned to it only by compara- 
 tively late vrriters, among whom are Cassiodorus, 
 Hesychius, and Isidore of Seville." It has already 
 been shown that the more ancient Pandura, or 
 Pandoura, was a stringed instrument. 
 
 » " Et zephyri cava per calamorum sibila primum 
 Agreateis doouere oavas inflare cicutas." 
 
 Lucretius, Ub. v. lines 1381-1382. 
 •> " Fistula cui semper decrescit arundinis ordo 
 Nam calamus cera jungitur usque minor." 
 
 TibuUus, lib. ii. 5, 31. 
 ""PandoriusabinventoreTOoatua, — (Origrme*, lib. iii. cap. 20.) Isidore 
 de quo Virgilius : Pan primus cala- derived the quotation from Virgil's 
 mosceraconjungerepluresinstituit." Eclogues, ii. 32. 
 
THE SYEINX, OR PAN's PIPE. 259 
 
 The Syrinx was one of NebucliadnezzEir's musical 
 instruments, according to the Septuagiat version of 
 the Book of Daniel, and it was irfed by the Lydians 
 in going to battle. "■ Nebuchadnezzar's "comet, flute, 
 harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer," according to the 
 Greek, were the Salpinx, i.e., trumpet, the Syrinx, 
 the Ejthara, the Sambuca, the psaltery, and the sym- 
 phonia, the last being but a vague name for some 
 instrument for harmony. 
 
 Theocritus wrote a short poem, under the title of 
 "The Syrinx."'' It consists of twenty Hues, in ten 
 pairs of gradually decreasing length, like the pipes 
 of the instrument. Each of the last pair is com- 
 posed of a single word of "four syllables. From the 
 ten pairs of lines in this poem it may be inferred 
 that, at the time it was written, or in the earlier part 
 of the third century before Christ, the Syrinx had 
 ordinarily ten pipes or reeds. But, according to 
 sculptures of later date, seven or eight reeds was its 
 more usual number. 
 
 The Syrinx is of an exceptional character. It is 
 not to be classed with any other, because aU other 
 ancient pipes had the wind blown wholly or partially 
 through them ; whereas, in the Syrinx, the wind 
 passes in and out of the same aperture. The breath 
 directed against the inner edge of the top of the 
 reed causes it to sound, just as it would upon the 
 inner lip of an empty physic phial. 
 
 Setting aside this instrument as one of a peculiar 
 character, there are four distinct principles upon 
 which ancient musical pipes and flutes were con- 
 structed, and all were acted upon by blowing 
 
 " Herodotus apud Athenaeum, 627. of his Analecta veterum Poftarwm 
 •■ Printed by Bninek, in vol. i. Grceeorum. 8vo. n. d. 
 
 s 2 
 
260 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 through at least some part of the pipe, instead of 
 merely across the end of it, as in the Syrinx. Out 
 of these have impartant modern instruments been 
 evolved, as well as the admirably contrasted tones of 
 organs. All four had their origin in shepherds' 
 pipes, and were made either out of a reed or of a 
 straw. They may stUl be experimented upon with, 
 the original materials, and with the like result. 
 
 Shepherds are no longer musical as a class in our 
 latitudes, but boys in country schools exercise them- 
 selves occasionally in the craft, and many of them- 
 would be good teachers of the four different systems. 
 Having received some instruction, and gained a Httle 
 practical experience, I wiU endeavour to explain 
 them. Two are with a vibrating tongue of straw or 
 reed, which i^ to- be held in the mouth, and two are 
 without it. 
 
 The First Principle is o;^ the Double Eeed or 
 Hautboy system. 
 
 Take the pulpy end of a straw of green corn, or 
 one of the snijaUest of reeds without a knot, and split 
 one end by squeezing it. Place the split end 
 between the lips, and blow through the straw. The 
 spht part will act like the double reed of the haut- 
 boy, of which the ancient Enghsh name was Waight. 
 That nam^ was derived from the Castle Waight, or 
 " Watchman," who carried and played upon pipes of 
 this kind at stated hours of the night. 
 
 The experim,entalist miist vary the strength of his 
 blowing tin he finds the pitch of this tiny tube, or 
 else it will not sound ; and then he can raise or lower 
 the note by shortening the straw or by taking a 
 longer. 
 
 The modern bassoon has a double reed on this 
 
THE DOUBLE EEED, OB HAUTBOY SYSTEM. 261 
 
 same principle, but it is one of larger si^e than that 
 of the hautboy. Thus it forms the appropriate base 
 to the hautboy. 
 
 The intermediate instrument was formerly called 
 the cornet in England, from having been originally 
 made of horn, and stUl is called the Corno Inglese. 
 It forms the tenor to the hautboy. 
 
 And now to trace back instruments constructed 
 on this double reed principle. 
 
 In the Egyptian collection at the British Museum 
 is a small reed pipe of eight and three-quarter inches 
 in length, and into the hollow of this httle pipe is 
 fitted at one end a split straw of thick Egyptian 
 growth, to form its mouthpiece. When compressed 
 by the lips, this mouthpiece will leave but a tiny 
 space for the admission of the breath. The pipe 
 corresponds so precisely to the descriptions of the 
 Gingras, given by Greek writers, as to leave hardly a 
 doubt of its identity. The agreement is not as to 
 form only, but also as to the wailing tone attributed 
 to the Gingras. That quality could only be pro- 
 duced by a pipe on the double reed principle. The 
 GijDgras in the British Museum has four holes for 
 , the fingers. 
 
 Athenaeus," quoting Xenophon, says that the 
 Phcenicians used a kind of pipe, called the Gingras, 
 about a span in length, of very high pitch, and of 
 a mournful tone. Also that it was employed by 
 the Carians in their wailings, and that these pipes 
 were called Gingroi by the Phoenicians, from the 
 lamentations for Adonis — "for you Phoenicians call 
 Adonis Gingres, as Democlides teUs us." So this 
 Adonis-pipe was admittedly of Asiatic origin, and 
 
 » Lib. iv. 174 f, 175 a. 
 
262 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 was most likely common to the various nations of 
 Asia, as well as to Egypt. 
 
 Next, the Bombos of the Greeks signified both 
 the base of a scale* and a long pipe that produced 
 very low notes. '' Such a pipe was specially used at 
 funerals ; and its name, which signifies "humming" or 
 " buzzing," again suggests the double reed principle. 
 There would be no buzz without a reed, unless a 
 thin piece of skin or parchment were made to 
 vibrate, as paper with a comb, and so to parody 
 the quality of its tone. From a flute of either kind, 
 the tone would be pure, soft, and weak in the base, 
 whether blown from the end or at the side. 
 
 For these reasons, it seems a fair inference that 
 the Bombos of the Greeks, and the Bombard of the 
 middle ages, are now most nearly represented by the 
 bassoon. But there is this difference that, whereas 
 the Bombos was a very long pipe, the wooden tube 
 of the bassoon, which would be equally long if 
 straight, is curved back in the middle, or folded in 
 two, in order to avoid the inconvenience of great 
 length. A curved end is therefore necessary to 
 keep the face of the player away from his returned 
 breath. The reed is inserted into the curved end, 
 which is usually made of brass. 
 
 Some Etruscan Pipes shew the double reed very 
 clearly." The Etruscans seem to have had a great 
 
 " Budid's Sectio Ganonis, p. 37, Hist. Anim., tradit eos qui calido 
 
 edit. Meibom. utuutur spiritu talem emittere vo- 
 
 "> "Porro alii sunt bomboai, cem, qualem Sitioines et Lamenta- 
 
 bombis latissimarum tibiarum non trices graviorem sonum inspirant 
 
 absimiles, quales habere solent ii tibiis." 
 
 qui Xumbauli, i.e., Sitioines, appel- " See Sir WOliam Hamilton's 
 
 lantur." — (Quoted from Galen, lib. CoUeetion, vol. ii., plate 41, and 
 
 iii. De Sympt. Cam., by Bartholi- vol. iv., plates 81 and 83. (Naples. 
 
 nus, in his De Tibiis Veterum, p. FoL 1791-95.) 
 278,) "Ideo Aristotelfis, lib, iv., 
 
THE SINGLE REED, OR CLARIONET SYSTEM. 263 
 
 preference for sucli pipes. Among their musical in- 
 struments are lyres, tabrets or tambourines, with 
 gingling little cymbals attached to them, and the 
 Syrinx. Although the harp is less frequently 
 exhibited, there is at least one specimen to be 
 found on an Etruscan vase ia the British Museum.* 
 In the following representation, a Roman holds 
 two conical pipes, which are therefore the true 
 hautboy, as are some of the Etruscan. The original 
 of the picture is in the British Museum, case 67. 
 
 Ancient Roman Hautboys. 
 
 The Second Principle is that of the Single Reed 
 or Clarionet systemi 
 
 Take a straw with a knot at one end and open at 
 the other. To borrow Professor TyndaU's words : 
 " At about an inch from the knot, cut lightly with 
 a penknife to the depth of about a quarter of the 
 straw's diameter. Then, turning the blade flat, 
 pass it upwards towards the knot, and so raise 
 a strip of the straw, nearly an inch long." This 
 strip wiU be the reed or tongue, to be set in 
 
 ' Amphora, No. 1260, in First Vase Room. 
 
264 THE HISTOKY OF MUSIC. 
 
 vibration by the breath passing down upon it into 
 the pipe. The straw may be cut the reverse way, 
 that is, beginning from the knot, and with the same 
 effect. The tongue of straw is so pliable as not to 
 require pressure from the Hp, as it would in the case 
 of a reed. 
 
 Such was the principle of the ordinary pipe of the 
 ancients. The greater depth and volume of tone 
 that could be produced from the middle and lower 
 notes by the employment of a reed, recommended it 
 especially for out-door celebrations. 
 
 It was the Shawm, Schalm, Schalmuse, or Chalu- 
 meau of a few centuries ago, and it is now repre- 
 sented in an improved form by the clarionet with 
 keys. The clarionet differs from the hautboy in 
 form as well as in the reed, for the clarionet is an 
 equal sized tube, enlarging only at the bell end, 
 but the bell adds notlung to the tone, and might t>e 
 discarded. The hautboy has been already described 
 as conical. 
 
 In aU cases where a reed mouthpiece is required, 
 the object most desired by players is to obtain a 
 pliable one. The stiffer the reed the harsher and 
 louder will be the tone produced. There was one 
 case among the ancients in which a stiff reed became 
 rather desirable than otherwise. That was in the 
 Pythian games,* when the players had to take part 
 in the representation of the fight between Apollo 
 and the Python. It must have been rather an 
 amusing exhibition for once seeing. It consisted of 
 five paxts. First, the attempt ; second, the provo- 
 cation ; the third an iambic, and the fourth a 
 spondaic movement; the fifth, the ovation to the god. 
 
 " When the v6ix.og TlvBucos, or Pythian Nome, was^ sung. 
 
APOLLO AND THE PYTHON. • 265 
 
 During the first movement Apollo looked about 
 Mm to see if the place was convenient for a fight — 
 for even the gods were prudent in such matters. In 
 the second, Apollo provoked the dragon, and 
 in the third they fought. This third movement, 
 being in iambic measure, was excellent for thrusting, 
 (u - I u - I u - I .) While the fight was going on, 
 the pipers had both to play, and now and then 
 to imitate upon their pipes the hissings of the 
 dragon, the gnashing of his teeth, and his screams 
 when he was hit by the arrows of the god. (Here 
 the stiff clarionet reed would be most useful. ) The 
 base trumpets impressively gave out the dragon's 
 shudders and groans. When the fight was over, 
 came the stately spondaic movement. That was to 
 represent Apollo's victory. Last came the ovation, 
 during the whole of which the god danced to 
 celebrate his trimnph. We are not told the measiu-e 
 of this last movement, but, having already had both 
 iambic and spondaic, we may suggest anapaestic, and 
 then we can fancy Apollo carelessly dancing the 
 polka, (uu - I ou - I uu - II .) 
 
 For this game the players had especial pipes, 
 called in Greek Puthauloi, Latin, Pythauli. The 
 same pipes, but not necessarily with the same stiff 
 reeds, were also used with choruses of voices, and 
 thus were called also Chorauloi" 
 
 The single and double reed principles may be 
 said to have been by far the more general among 
 Greeks and Romans, especially with- the latter, who 
 required the loudest pipes for the great dimensions 
 
 a "1 
 
 'Pythaules qui Pythia canta- appellatns est Choranles." — (Quoted 
 verat, septem habuit paUiatos, qui from Hyginus by Bartholinns, De 
 voce cantaverunt', unde postea Tibiis, p. SI.) 
 
266 • THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 of their ampHtheatres. Horace refers to pipes of 
 Hs time as being bound with copper or bronze, and 
 as emulating the power of the trumpet. He 
 contrasts them with pipes of more ancient days, 
 which were of small bore, slender in size, and had 
 few notes. The ancient pipes, said he, accompanied 
 a chorus, but those of his own time served rather 
 to drown it.^ This emulation of the power of the 
 trumpet in pipes seems to have suggested the 
 modem name of clarionet ; for a clarion was a 
 trumpet an octave above the ordinary one, and 
 clarionet is its diminutive. In this way, the names 
 of instruments are sometimes transferred from one 
 class to another of widely different character. 
 
 Whenever we read of an ancient player who had 
 a box," in which he kept the reed or tongue of his 
 pipe, (the glotta or glossa,)" we may infer that he 
 used a double, or possibly, a single reed, because 
 they alone would require the protection. The 
 double reed is the more probable, because a cap 
 over the end of the pipe would suffice to protect 
 the stronger siagle reed. The necessity exists at 
 this day. The clarionet player has a wooden cap 
 to cover the end of his pipe, but no hautboy or 
 
 " " Tibia non ut nimc orichalco vincta, tubseque 
 
 ^mula, sed tenuis, simplexque, foramine pauco — 
 Adspirare et adease choria erat utUis, atque 
 Nondum apisaa nimia complere sedHia flatu.'' 
 
 {Ars Poetica, linea 202 to 205.) 
 ^ CaUed a yXiDaaoKofmov, or mentary on Claudiua Ptolemy, 
 yXiaaaoKOiiov. where he gives directions for 
 
 ' "Keed," or "tongue,"' is a selecting one of cloae grain, light, 
 more exact translation of glotta, and equal, and for moistening the 
 or glossa, than the usual one of zugoi of double pipes before playing, 
 "mouthpiece," which is rather the — "Aci Si xal tSiv aiiXStv dvai tAq 
 glottis, into which the reed waa yXwrraf irviaid^ xal Xuag koX ofiaX&g, 
 inserted. The glotta is fully ex- &c.— (p. 250, Wallis's edit.) 
 plained by Porphyry in his Com- 
 
PIPES AND THEIR REEDS. 267 
 
 bassoon player would be without a box, into wMch 
 lie fixes his delicate double reeds when he has 
 ceased to play. The ancient reed-box had a 
 sliding top, like a modem box for dominos. The 
 sHde is described in Heron's explanation of the 
 Hydraulic Organ. The double reed principle is 
 nearest to that of the human voice ; but, as the 
 reeds are smaller than the apertiu-e at the top of 
 the throat, their tone has more of the quality that 
 we designate as reedy. 
 
 It is next to impossible to identify many of the 
 pipes. The names give no sufficient clue to them. 
 Aulos is a general title that does not distinguish 
 between a pipe and a flute ; and the Latin Tibia 
 is equally indefinite. 
 
 Among other materials employed by the ancients, 
 for pipe or flute, were lotus, laurel, palmwood, 
 pinewood, boxwood, beechwood, elderwood, ivory, 
 reeds of various kinds, leg-bones of animals and of 
 large birds, such as the eagle, vulture, and kite ; 
 horns of various animals for the beU-ends of certain 
 pipes, and metals of various sorts. Some pipes 
 derived their names from the special purposes 
 to which they were devoted, as Spondauloi, for 
 supplication to the gods ; Chorauloi, for accom- 
 panying choruses; Chorikoi, for accompanying choral 
 dancings ; Dactylic pipes, for a kind of dancing 
 which must have been in common time, from its 
 name, (- u J); Hippophorboi, for horsekeepers, whose 
 pipes were made of the bark of the laurel; others 
 for travellers, and so on. 
 
 Again, pipes were sometimes named after the 
 country or nation from which the Greeks denved 
 them, as Alexandrian, Tuscan, Theban, Scythian, 
 
268 THE HISTORY OB" MUSIC. 
 
 Phoenician, Lybian, Arabian, wMcli were very long 
 pipes; and Phyrgian, or Berecynthian. The Lybian 
 was a true flute, blown at the side ; a Plagiaulos. 
 It was made of lotus, and so was distinct from the 
 Ik horsekeepers' flute which was also attributed to 
 Lybia. The Scythian were of eagles or vultures' 
 legs ; and the Theban were made of the thigh-bone 
 of a fawn, and were covered .with metal." The 
 length of Arabian pipes was proverbial, and a man, 
 of whose tongue there seemed to be no end, was 
 called an Arabian piper. 
 
 The Egyptians had the credit of the many-toned 
 flute,*" as they had of the many-stringed instruments. 
 
 Perhaps another of the ancient pipes may be 
 identified, from its seeming to answer so well to the 
 descriptions ; its name, ■ Bombyx, suppHes the clue, 
 for the pipe bears some resemblance to "a silk- 
 worm." 
 
 Adrian Junius, in his Nomenclator, quotes 
 Aristotle to the efiect that " these pipes were long, 
 required a great deal of breath, and were blown 
 only with much exertion." If they required exer- 
 tion, as well as a great deal of breath, they were 
 wide pipes, and were blown through a reed mouth- 
 piece. Pliny, in describing the reeds grown in lake 
 Orchomemis, in Boeotia, says, that one which was 
 pervious throughout was called the piper's reed, 
 \auleticon). This reed, says he, used to take nine 
 years to grow, as it was for that period the waters 
 of the lake were continually on the increase. If the 
 flood lasted at the full for a year, the reeds were cut 
 
 " Onomastikon, cap. 10. modoa .^gyptia ducit tibia." — 
 
 ' The iroKv(p96yyoi dvXoe, Ono- Claudian. 
 mastikon, lib. iv. — "Varjpsque 
 
THE BOMBYX, OR SILKWORM PIPE. 269 
 
 for double pipes (zeugitoB), and if the waters subsided 
 sooner, the reeds were not so fine, were called Bom- 
 byciae, and were used for single pipes.* These reeds 
 threw out shoots around them, and perhaps each 
 row of shoots may have been counted as a year's 
 growth. In Bumey's History of Music^ there is a 
 representation of a large musical pipe, copied fi:om 
 "the beautiful sarcophagus in the CampidogHo, or 
 Capitoline Museum, at Rome," and this is, in all 
 probability, a Bombyx. Thereon seem to be the 
 marks of the attributed nine years' growth, from 
 each of which the leaves have been cut away, and 
 they give it the appearance of the sUkworm's body, 
 while the five raised circular apertm-es may have 
 suggested the idea of silkworms' legs. Perhaps, 
 also, the reed was flossy, and thus had a sUky 
 appearance. 
 
 The Bombyx. 
 
 These circular apertures were probably made of 
 horn, and intended as stops by turning them ro^nd, 
 and so to close or open the pipe. Such use appears 
 more probable than that they can have been intended 
 either to be plugged, or to be stopped by the fingers 
 during the performance. The pipe is the only large 
 one that I have noticed which can be supposed to 
 bear any resemblance to the silkworm. The Bom- 
 byx, says Julius Pollux, was well fitted for orgies, 
 on account of its powerful tones." If it had been 
 played without a reed, the tone of the low notes 
 would have been soft and feeble, 
 
 " Pliny's NaiMral History, lib. •> Vol. i. plate 6, No. 3. 
 
 rvi. cap. 66. ' OnomastUcon, lib. iv. cap. 10. 
 
270 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 The single reeds for mouthpieces, such, as we call 
 clarionet reeds, were cut out of Bombyx. 
 
 And, now, to the Third and Fourth Principles, 
 which are those of Flutes and Pipes which are 
 blown, either at the end or at the side, without 
 the intervention of an artificial reed to increase the 
 power and to change the quahty of the tone. 
 
 Of these two, the Plagiaulos, or flute, blown at 
 the side, as at the present time, is the more 
 powerful. The reason is, that the lip is made to 
 serve the piirpose of a reed, and it sets the' column 
 of air within the pipe into more active vibration. 
 On the other hand, the flute or pipe blown at the 
 end has a stiff mouthpiece, which precludes the 
 use of the Hp, and the sounds are weaker, but with 
 nearer approach to perfect purity of tone. The tone 
 is there produced by the breath being directed 
 agaiQst a sharp edge. 
 
 Instruments of comparatively modem date will 
 sometimes serve to illustrate the principles of 
 ancient ones; and it may, therefore, be noticed 
 that the old English flute, blown at the end, was 
 remarkable for sweetness, but with httle power. In 
 France, (according to Rousseau) it had three names 
 — " FlAte-k-bec, Flute douce, and FlAte d'Angle- 
 terre." It has a mouthpiece like the beak of a bird 
 cut short, and the second name exactly describes 
 the kind of tone. Having once possessed a set of 
 four such flutes, of difierent sizes, I may, with 
 more certainty, speak of the general quahty as 
 remarkably sweet and musical, but with little 
 power. The flageolet and the diapason-pipe of an 
 organ are- constructed on this same system, and 
 carry out the description. 
 
PIPES PLAYED WITHOUT REEDS. 271 
 
 For exemplification of tHs third principle, viz. — 
 instruments blown at the end — take a joint of reed 
 which has a knot at one extreme, and is open at 
 the other. Take the knotty end for the mouth, and 
 make a narrow sUt through the upper part of the 
 knot, almost to the outside of the reed, so as to admit 
 the breath only through that sHt ; then cut a sloping 
 notch out of the body of the pipe, about an inch from 
 the knot, so as to leave a sharp edge pointing towards 
 the slit. Against this edge the thin sheet of breath 
 must be directed as it passes through the sHt. 
 When blown, the breath wiU then flutter rapidly 
 against the sharp edge, and that edge will sound 
 the pipe.* It would not have any musical sound 
 without it. Such is the principle of the diapason 
 pipes of an organ. The kind of notch to be made 
 may be seen on the outside of the pipes of an 
 ornamental organ-front. This also is the principle of 
 the flageolet. Take off the mouthpiece of a flageolet, 
 and the fine sHt through which the breath must 
 pass will be then seen. The inside of the organ 
 pipe has the same long narrow aperture, but is not 
 exposed to the eye. The mouthpiece of the flageolet 
 is added for convenience rather than for use. The 
 pipe may be sounded without it. The two essential 
 parts are the slit and the notch. If a pipe blown 
 at the end has no notch ii^j it, that pipe can only 
 have been intended for a reed. 
 
 For exemplification of this principle among the 
 ancients, we may look back to the Egyptian ladies 
 in the plate at p. 63. One of them holds two of 
 
 1 The old English name for this also been called the Plectrum, 
 part of the flute was the Fipple. because it is the exciting cause of 
 The sharp edge of the notch has the sound. 
 
272 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 these pipes, with, ivory mouthpieces between' her 
 lips. The mouthpiece is like that of a flageolet, but 
 the pipes are longer. They seem to be made entirely 
 of reeds, and so would answer to the Kalamauloi 
 of the Greeks. The notches in the pipes are not 
 shown in this mural painting, neither are the strings 
 to the lyres in the other portion which forms the 
 frontispiece, but strings and notch were equally 
 indispensable. 
 
 The " sweet Monaulos," which, according to 
 Sophocles " and others, was derived from Egypt, and 
 the invention of which was attributed to Osiris, was 
 the single pipe of this class. To attribute it to 
 Osiris was about equivalent to saying that it was so 
 very ancient that the Egyptians knew nothing at all 
 about its origin. It had many notes ; was a shepherd's 
 pipe ; was made of reed ; and, on account of the 
 sweetness of its tone, was especially employed at 
 weddings. Athenseus collected notices of this in- 
 strument,* and, among others, one from Amerias 
 the Macedonian, who calls it the shepherd's pipe, or 
 Tityrinus. This last name was derived from the 
 Tityri, or Satyrs. Again,. Athenseus quotes from 
 Alexandrides, " I the Monaulos took, and played a 
 wedding song ;" and next, from Protagorides, " Ite 
 touched every kind of instrument, but drew the 
 sweetest music from th^i^weet Monaulos." 
 
 Whenever we read of a flute or pipe of remark- 
 ably soft tone, we may infer that it was one of the 
 two kinds played upon without- a. reed mouthpiece, 
 and this, blown at the end, would most closely 
 answer to the description. Such pipes had not 
 
 » See Fragments of Soptocles, No. •> Lib. iv. cap. 78. 
 
 227, quoted from his TMmyris, by 
 Athenaeus. 
 
ANCIENT FLUTES. 273 
 
 sufficient power for a Roman ampHtlieatre, but 
 were charming in a room. The tone of all pipes 
 is softest when they have been well moistened 
 by use. 
 
 The Fourth Principle is that of our present 
 Flute, blown at the side by the help of the lip, and 
 the breath passing down the tube at a right angle, 
 or nearly so, to the direction of the breath. It is 
 only within about a century that this one kind has 
 monopolized the name of flute. Before that date it 
 was distinguished in France and England as the 
 " German Flute," and in Germany as the " Swiss 
 Flute." It was called Photinx by the Greeks, and 
 the fact of its being turned laterally for playing, gave 
 it the second name of a Plagiaulos. The correspond- 
 ing name in Latin is Tibia vasca, or Tibia obliqua. 
 It is found among the earhest monuments of Egypt, 
 and one of great length has been shown in the plate 
 on p. 65, of the fourth dynasty of Egypt. Accord- 
 ing to Athenaeus,* the Photinx was made of lotus- 
 wood, and he adds that the lotus grows in Lybia. 
 
 Modern flutes are not made of such great lengths 
 as many of the ancient, and consequently they can 
 be held in a horizontal position. If a flute were so 
 long as to reach to the ground, it would fatigue the 
 arm to hold it so high as we do for any lengthened 
 time. Our flutes are held nearly in a balance by the 
 two hands, and in a convenient position for the 
 mouth, through an extension of the headpiece 
 beyond the mouth. This also carries the upper end 
 beyond the face, and so with less risk of being 
 pushed into the eye or mouth of the player. But 
 the principle is not altered. That headpiece is filled 
 
 " Lib. iv. cap. 80. 
 
274 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 by a plug to witHn about a quarter of an inch, of 
 the hole through which the flute is blown. So, the 
 long Egyptian'flute, into which the player seems to 
 blow at the very extreme of the side, is the same as 
 our own.^ He tvirns the lower end of his flute rather 
 behind him, so that in case of being caught by the 
 foot or leg of a passer, the upper end may be directed 
 beyond his face. 
 
 When we see a representation of a man playing a 
 flute of about one foot in length, we may say, at 
 once, " that man is playing the treble," because the 
 length of his pipe wiU not sound lower than 
 about treble C. If the flute is two feet long, he is 
 playing the tenor part, because such a flute is an 
 Octave below the other. And if four feet long, he 
 is playing the base, because the length of the instru- 
 ment, roughly taken, gives C in the base stafi". So 
 our Egyptian performer with the long flute, on page 
 65, is certainly playing the base. We could equally 
 teU the compass of the other two pipes which we see 
 to be blown at the ends, if we could determine 
 whether the pipers are, or are not, using single reeds. 
 There are no indications of them, and therefore, in 
 all probability, the music is of the soft English flute 
 kind, like that of the Egyptian lady represented at 
 page 63 ; but the three instrumentalists are un- 
 doubtedly playing music in three parts. The shortest 
 pipe may go down to about a in the treble staff", and 
 the longer pipe is about an Octave lower. There 
 is no appreciable object for a selection of pipes of 
 such varied lengths except to play in harmony, and 
 the avoidance of varied sounds would be impossible 
 
 " This, again, was not understood two. different instruments instead of 
 by r^tis. He supposed the flCkle one. So he modestly corrects 
 ohUque and JMte iraversih-e to be Athenaeus. — (Histoire, i. 285.) 
 
PHOTINX AND MONAULOS. 275 
 
 when they were used. If the pipes have single 
 reeds, like clarionets, they must still be playing in 
 harmony, but an Octave lower. There is, however, 
 another reason why it is improbable that either of 
 the players with the shorter pipes should be employ- 
 ing clarionet reeds, and it is because, in that case, a 
 flute would make too weak a base for them. On the 
 contrary, such a flute would be quite an appropriate 
 base for the Egyptian Monaulos, which was like the 
 old EngHsh flute, or the flageolet. 
 
 If the Egyptian pictures have all been copied 
 correctly, and have not been inverted by the 
 engravers, the flute players sometimes held their 
 flutes on the left side of the body, and sometimes 
 on the right. The side-blown flutes were used iu 
 the worship of Serapis, and, according to Apuleius, 
 they were held on the right side, as our own.* The 
 invention of the Photinx was attributed to Osiris, as 
 well as that of the Monaulos. Each kind was made 
 of various sizes and lengths. Poseidonius, speaking 
 of a war which the Apameans were about to wage, 
 says that they had asses laden with wine and every 
 sort of meat, and by the side of them were packed 
 "little Photinges and Httle Monauloi, instnunents 
 of revelry, and not of war.* 
 
 Dr. Burney doubly mistook the Photinx when 
 he said, on the one hand, that it was the Monaulos, 
 and on the other, that it was a " crooked flute, and 
 its shape that of a bull's horn,"" He there mixed 
 together three different instruments. Neither the 
 Photinx nor the Monaulos were crooked, neither 
 
 " " Ibant et dicati magno Serapidi frequentabant." — (Apuleius Meta- 
 tibioines, qui per obliquum caJamum, morp., lib. xi.) 
 ad aurem pertractum dexteram, * Athenseua, lib. iv. cap. 78. 
 
 familiarem templi, deique modiUum " Burney, vol. i. p. 202. 
 
 T 2 
 
276 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 "was either of them shaped at the end like a horn. 
 An instrument made of a bull's horn would have 
 been a Keras, literally "horn ;" and a pipe with a 
 horn at the end, or a horn blown at the side, 
 would have been a Keraulos, or horn-pipe. The 
 Monaulos and the Photinx were both straight, and 
 the difference between the two was, that the first 
 was blown at the end, and the second at the side. 
 
 Dr. Burney was possibly thinking of the deep- 
 toned Berecynthian pipes which were named from 
 Berecynthus, in Phrygia, and were, therefore, also 
 called Phrygian. Horace refers to these pipes in 
 the first Ode of his fourth Book, and Ovid to the 
 curved horn in Fasti, lib. iv. line 181 : — 
 
 " Protinus inflexo Berecynthia tibia cornu 
 Flabit." .... 
 
 Athenseus speaks of the deep-toned Phrygian pipe 
 as having a horn mouth somewhat like a trumpet,* 
 and others say, like Ovid, that the ends were turned 
 up with horns. 
 
 "The Phrygian pipe," says Porphyry,'' "is of 
 smaller bore than the Greek, and, therefore, emits 
 much graver sounds." He there assigns a wrong, 
 reason. The bell at the end would lengthen the 
 column of air, and thereby give a little deeper tone 
 to Phrygian pipes ; but, in all probability, they were 
 like clarionets, blown down into by a single reed, and 
 so had the character of stopped pipes. That would 
 make them an Octave below others. The old theory 
 was, that there can be no difference of pitch between 
 pipes of equal length upon any other principle than 
 that of the one being a stopped pipe, whether 
 
 ° Deipno -sophists, lib. iv. cap. * Comment, on Claud. Ptol., p. 
 
 84, p. 185. 217, WaUis's edit. 
 
PHRYGIAN AND BERBCYNTHIAN PIPES. 277 
 
 wide or narrow, for width was supposed only to 
 increase loudness. Practically, the variation is very 
 trifling when the length is but 2 or 3 feet; but, 
 when pipes are upon a much larger scale, the in- 
 crease of diameter sensibly flattens the pitch. If 
 the pipes in question had reeds like clarionets, the 
 expanding mouth would make no difference in the 
 power of tone. In a trumpet, it is the reverse, for 
 all power depends upon the bell. It is difficult to 
 account for a clarionet having the properties of a 
 stopped pipe, but the only Harmonics it produces 
 are two Twelfths, one above the other, and the 
 breath cannot produce a third Harmonic. 
 
 Phrygian pipes are described by Aristides Quin- 
 tilianus as of a feminine character, "for wailing 
 and lamenting."* From that it must be inferred that 
 some were on the hautboy and bassoon principle, 
 played with double reeds. So there were Phrygian 
 pipes other than Berecynthian, and it is the more 
 certain, because Aristides contrasts them with the 
 Pythic, which were on the single reed or clarionet 
 principle, and he describes the last as of lower pitch, 
 and having more virility, or power, than the Phrygian. 
 
 The Phrygian are commonly spoken of as double 
 pipes, and sometimes as equal, and at others as of 
 unequal length. Octaves might be played upon 
 two pipes without doubling the length of one of 
 them, if a low note were taken on the one and a 
 high note on the other. 
 
 Double pipes of unequal length were often dis- 
 tinguished as male and female, and their piping as 
 gamelion aulema, or married piping. 
 
 Phiygian pipes were much in request for funerals 
 
 " 'Tqepov Kai dfyrp/uSn" — (Arist. Quint., p. 101.) 
 
278 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 and lamentations. There, again, we have the bassoon 
 principle. 
 
 Sophocles refers to a pipe called Elymos, in his 
 Niohe, and in his Tympanistai, upon which 
 AthenseUs comments that "we do not understand 
 it to be anything but the Phrygian, upon which 
 the Alexandrians are very skUful."" Again, Juba 
 says that the Elymoi were an invention of the 
 Phrygians, and that they were also called Scytaliae 
 (o-KuraXia?). This name may have arisen from their 
 resemblance to staves, or to Laconian snakes, said 
 to be of equal circumference throughout. J. C. 
 ScaHger says that the Scytaha was a tiny pipe, 
 like a small twig, and of very thin tone.*" It is to 
 be regretted that he does not give his authority, 
 for a horn could not be fixed at the end of a twig, 
 and his description answers better to the Asiatic 
 Gingras than to the ordinary Phrygian. 
 
 Lastly, Juhus Pollux says that the Elymos was 
 an invention of the Phrygians, that it was a double 
 pipe, made of boxwood, with a horn end to each 
 tube, and that it was employed in the worship of 
 Cybele." The second pipe may have been then used 
 as a drone. As the two pipes were of boxwood, , 
 they would not probably exceed the diameter of a 
 clarionet, nor the length, on account of the weight 
 of the material employed.. The definition of Julius 
 Pollux agrees with the former descriptions. 
 
 There seems to have been also a stringed 
 instrument called Elymos ; for ApoUodorus classes 
 it among them in his reply to a letter of Aristocles, 
 where he says, " That which we now call Psalterion 
 
 " Atjienseus, lib. iv. cap. 79. teuui, ac rei ipso reapondente." — 
 
 ^ " Seytalia vero pusillafuit tibia, (Poetices, lib. i.) 
 et exigiii aurculi similis, sono prae- ' Onomastikon, lib. iv. cap. 10, 74. 
 
BANDAGES OVER PrPBRS' MOUTHS. 279 
 
 is the same wHch. was formerly called Magadis; 
 but that which used to be called Klepsiambos" (a 
 lyre described as suited for varied metres, and 
 perhaps deriving its name from Mepto, to steal, or 
 filch from others,) "and the Trigon, and the Elymos, 
 and the Enneachordon, or nine-string, have fallen 
 into comparative disuse."* 
 
 Before parting with the subject of ancient pipes, 
 there are a few points connected with the manner of 
 playing upon them, and with pipers, that should be 
 noted. In the first place, we see representations of 
 men with leathern bands over their mouths, and 
 something of the halter kind over their cheeks and 
 heads. The bands are stretched tightly over the 
 cheek, and a hole is cut in the leather to admit the 
 ends of pipes into the mouth, while the loop over the 
 head seems intended to prevent the strap from 
 slipping below the cheek. This sort of bandaging 
 was called the Phorbeion ; in Latin, Capistrum. It 
 served to relieve the Hp from the weight of the 
 pipes, but more especially, by its tightness, to 
 diminish the exertion of contracting the muscles of 
 the mouth, which was necessary for the production 
 of high Harmonic notes. 
 
 In the competitions between ancient pipe-players, 
 it seems to have been an especial study who should 
 produce the loudest and the highest notes. A 
 competitor would over-exert his lungs, and over- 
 strain the muscles of his face, if he could only obtain 
 Harmonic sounds higher than his feUows. We may 
 smile at their foUy in making high notes such an 
 object of competition, but it is not far different from 
 that of the modem tenor singer, who, in his endea- 
 
 " AtlienEeus, lib. xiv. cap. 40. 
 
280 
 
 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 vour to bring down the applause of the galleries, 
 will strain his lungs to the very utmost to bring out 
 an "ut de poitrine," or high C, from his chest voice. 
 
 Some of the Harmonic notes 
 from pipes require great exertion, 
 and wiU even bring a flush into 
 the face and forehead, but not so 
 the fundamental or ordinary notes 
 of the pipes. The following is a 
 player, with a bandage of this 
 kind, copied from the Arch of 
 Titus. 
 
 Another peculiarity was that the players had 
 sometimes plugs, or stopples, that passed quite 
 through their pipes. The effect of such plugs might 
 be to shorten the column of air, and so to raise the 
 pitch of the instrument, or, on the other hand, to 
 close the tube so effectually as to make a stopped 
 pipe. The capricious forms of some of them are a 
 puzzle that has hitherto defied explanation, and may 
 continue to do so, until some ancient treatise on 
 pipe-playing shall be discovered. 
 
 Piper, with a Phorbeion, 
 or Capistrum. 
 
 Peculiar Plugs to Pipes. 
 
 The bagpipe had at least the Greek name of 
 Askaulos, but it was very little used by Greeks. 
 The Eomans sometimes gave it this Greek name, 
 and, at others, called it the Tibia utricularis. It is 
 
CHINESE FREE KEED. 281 
 
 to be considered rather as a Roman than as a Greek 
 instrument. 
 
 Ancient pipes were of so many kinds, that it has 
 required consideration to place the subject even so 
 far in a digested form before the reader. Other 
 classes of instruments do not present the same 
 amount of difficulty. But, before parting with the 
 subject of vibrating reeds, a Fifth Principle should 
 be mentioned, although we yet lack evidence of any 
 very ancient use. 
 
 In instruments of the clarionet kind we have 
 a single reed that extends over, and flaps against, 
 the sides of the mouthpiece. That is called the 
 Beating Eeed. 
 
 The Fifth Principle is the Free Eeed that 
 vibrates without touching any thing. The earhest 
 use we know of' it is in Chinese organs, but of these 
 we have no really ancient specimens. StUl it is a 
 principle of considerable interest at the present 
 time, because it is the one upon which harmoniums 
 are constructed, and we are indebted to the Chinese 
 for all such instruments. The free reed is now also 
 employed in modem organs. Tongues of this kind 
 will vibrate, and therefore produce musical sounds, 
 whether they be made of wood or of metal. If the 
 tongue be large, so as to fit very closely, and perhaps 
 even to touch the sides of its fi:ame imperceptibly, 
 the tone is more reedy than with a freer space. 
 Hence the varied qualities that may be produced 
 from metal reeds made of the same material. 
 Another variation is caused by superior hardness 
 and closeness of metal. 
 
 The Sixth Principle — that of a cup to be blown 
 into by the mouth, using the lip as a reed, as for 
 
282 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 Trumpets and Horns, is the same now as ever. It 
 matters not, except for convenience, whether the 
 instruments be curved or straight. They all require 
 the lip to be subjected to strong pressure, the marks 
 of which -will often be seen on the player's mouth. 
 It is the lip that makes them sound, by its acting 
 as a vibrating reed. ITieir great power arises from 
 the beU end. 
 
 The ancient trumpet, (Salpinx of the Greeks, and 
 Tuba of the Romans,) was ordinarily, but not always, 
 straight, and some were very long. Egyptian 
 trumpets seem to have been straight, and, in com- 
 parison with others, to have been short. Sir J. 
 Gardner Wilkinson says eighteen inches long. The 
 Assyrian were only rather longer than the Egyptian. 
 The curved trumpet used by Greeks and Romans 
 was of attributed Tyrrhenian, otherwise Etruscan, or 
 Tuscan origin. The tubes were of metal, usually of 
 bronze, and the mouth-pieces of bone.* The curva- 
 ture enabled the Tyrrhenians, who, according to 
 Aristoxenus, were originally Greeks,'' to, have more 
 deeply-sounding trumpets, without inordinate length. 
 Some of the earlier specimens of the straight 
 trumpet, such as one kind of Assyrian, were cones 
 of gradually increasing circumference, in the style 
 of a -postman's horn, instead of having only a beU- 
 shaped hodon, or mouth. Others, like the Egyptian, 
 had the bell end, as in modern trumpets ; but the 
 Egyptians had also conical trumpets of four feet in 
 length, without bell ends, and speaking-trumpets of 
 five feet in length, and of large diameter." 
 
 » Onomastikon, lib. iv. cap. 11, " Lepaiua's Derikmcihr, Dju. 4, 
 
 and other authorities. Aht. 2, Blatter, 27 and 30. 
 
 * Athena3US, lib. xiv. cap. 31. 
 
SHELLS FOE HOENS AND TEUMPETS. 283 
 
 A sliell of twisted form was used rather as a 
 horn than as a trumpet, by the Greeks and by the 
 Romans. The Greek name was Kerux, which also 
 signifies a Herald and a Crier, suggesting that it 
 was originally employed by men holding such offices. 
 The Latin name of the shell was Buccinum, and of 
 the trumpet, Buccina. By the Romans it was 
 chiefly, but not exclusively, used for proclaiming 
 the watches of the day and of the night. Virgil, 
 and otherS) refer to the employment of the Buccina 
 in war, as well as for variovis other purposes. 
 
 When Greece fell under the dominion of the 
 Romans, the ancient Greek name, Kerux, seems to 
 have been dropped, and the Greeks to have adopted 
 an imitation of the Latin, calling it Bukane. 
 
 We may suppose the original to have been the shell 
 with which Tritons are represented on ancient gems. 
 
 The following cone-shaped pattern was copied 
 from an antique by Blanchinus, who refers to other 
 such representations." Another Buccina, of curved 
 form, is given by Dr. Burney as ' " sounded by a 
 Triton on a frieze, in the court of the Santa Croce 
 Palace at Rome.'"' 
 
 Burney made the very natural mistake of suppos- 
 ing this conch to have been named Tromha Marina 
 by the Italians; but, oddly enough, they gave. that 
 designation to a wooden triangular instrument of 
 about six feet in height, with but one string, and 
 played with a bow. In fact, to a Monochord, having ~ 
 nothing whatever of the trumpet, or of the sea 
 about it. 
 
 » "Figura nostra desumitur ex anaglyphis, et picturis vetemm,'' 
 
 SBnea Tritonia imagine antiqui operis, &c. — (p. 16, edit. 1742.) 
 
 quam servo. Frequentes occumint * History, vol. i. plate 6, No. 6. 
 hse turbinatie Tritonum buccinse in 
 
284 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 It must not be supposed that the Buccina was 
 always a shell, or even an imitation of one. The 
 name was transferred to any short straight trumpet 
 of metal, with a beU-shaped mouth, and so was 
 opposed to the Salpinx as to size and length, and to 
 the Lituus, as to the latter having a curved end. 
 For instance, Josephus, in describing the two silver 
 trumpets made by Moses, says they were little less 
 than a cubit (21 inches) in length, and scarcely 
 thicker than the reed of a Syrinx ; also, that they 
 had bell-ends like common trumpets. To the long 
 common trumpet he gives the name of Salpinx, and 
 to the short and small straight trimnpet of Moses, 
 Bukane. 
 
 The Kerux, or Bucciha. 
 
 The Lituus was curved upward at the end, and is 
 said to have taken its name from the bent form of 
 the augural staff. It was a species of clarion, or 
 Octave-trumpet, made of metal, and of shrill sound 
 The Romans employed it for their cavalry, and the 
 straight trumpet, for the foot. 
 
 " Multos castra juvant, et lituo tubse 
 Permixtus sonitus, bellaque matribus 
 Detestata." — (Horace, Ode i. 1. 23-25.) 
 
 The Lituus is usually represented as not exceed- 
 ing two feet in length, and such were fit for cavalry; 
 but an ancient instrument was found, among other 
 Roman antiquities, in the bed of the river Witham, 
 in Lincolnshire, in 1761, and this had the form of 
 the Lituus, but exceeded four feet in length. The 
 
THE ROMAN LITUUS. 285 
 
 following, is a reduced copy of it, from Burney's 
 History, included in plate 4 of vol. i. The instru- 
 ment was then in the possession of Sir Joseph 
 Banks, and Bumey says was of "very thin hrcuss, 
 and had been well gUt." As the mixture of copper 
 
 A Lituus of large size. 
 
 and zinc, to make brass, seems to have been un- 
 known to the ancients, I suspect that for " brass" we 
 should read " bronze." 
 
 Horns, straight and twisted, may be so readily 
 imagined that there is nothing more to be said about 
 them than that they were at first, Hterally, horns of 
 animals, and that these were afterwards imitated in 
 metal. In the first case, they had every variety of 
 Nature's forms, but when made in metal, they were 
 usually curved throughout their entire length, 
 instead of only at the end, as was the Lituus. 
 
286 
 
 CHAPTEE XI. 
 
 Instruments of Percussion. — The Egyptian Sistrum. — Drum. — 
 Dulcimers. — Timbrels or Tambourines. — Three kinds of 
 Cymbals. — Oxubaphoi. — Lekidoi. — Acetabula. — Krotala. — 
 Krembala or Castanets. 
 
 And now, as to Instruments of Percussion. 
 
 Among these, the Sistnun has some claim to be 
 first named, on account of its having been employed 
 in Egyptian temples, and for religious purposes 
 exclusively. It consisted of a thin oval hoop of 
 metal, fixed at the lower end into a handle, and the 
 handle was iisuaUy of metal also. The hoop was 
 pierced with holes at equal distances on both sides, 
 and in these holes were three or four loose metal 
 bars, which were all to be shaken at one time, by a 
 light jerk from the hand, and this made them rattle. 
 The bars were like the stems of thin fire-pokers, but 
 they were bent at the ends, to prevent their falling 
 out of their places. " It was so great a privilege," 
 says Sir J. Gardner Wilkinson, " to hold the sacred 
 Sistrum in the temple, that it was given to queens, 
 and to those noble ladies who had the distinguished 
 title of ' women of Amun,' and who were devoted to 
 the service of the deity."* The Egyptian Amun was 
 the Jupiter Ammon of the Romans. Again, Sir 
 Gardner says, " The Sistrum was the sacred instru- 
 ment par excellence, and belonged as peculiarly to 
 the service of the temple, as the small tinkling beU 
 
 ^ Popular AcQOunt of the Ancient Egyptians, vol. i. p. 13.3. 
 
THE EOYPTIAN SISTRUM. 287 
 
 td that of the Roman Catholic chapel. Some pretend 
 it was used to frighten away Typhon," [the Evil 
 Being,] "and the rattling noise of its movable bars 
 was sometimes increased by the addition of several 
 loose rings. It had generally three, rarely four, 
 bars ; and the whole instrument was from 8 to 1 6 
 or 18 inches in length, entirely of brass or bronze. 
 It was sometimes inlaid with silver, or gUt, or 
 otherwise ornamented ; and being held upright, was 
 shaken, the rings moving to and fro upon the bars. 
 These last were frequently made to imitate the 
 sacred asp, or were simply bent at each end to 
 secure them. Plutarch mentions a cat with a 
 human face on the top of the instrument, and 
 at the upper part of the handle, beneath the bars, 
 the face of Isis on the one side, and of Nephtys 
 on the other," [signifying the beginning and the 
 end.] 
 
 " The British Museum possesses an excellent 
 specimen of the Sistrum, well preserved, and of the 
 best period of Egyptian art. It is one foot four 
 inches high, and had three movable bars, which 
 have been unfortunately lost. On the upper part 
 are represented the goddess Pasht, or Bubastis," 
 [the Greek Diana,] "the sacred vulture, and other 
 emblems; and on the side below is the figure of 
 a female, holding in each hand one of these in- 
 struments. 
 
 " The handle is cylindrical, and surmounted by 
 the double face of Athor," [the Yenus of Egypt,] 
 " wearing an ' asp-formed crown,' on whose smnmit 
 appears to have been the cat, now scarcely traced in 
 the remains of its feet."* 
 
 » Popular AtxowrU of the Ancient Egyptians, vol. i. p. 131. 
 
288 
 
 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 Dr. Bumey exhibits a perfect specimen of a Sis 
 trum witli tte cat upon it, copied 
 from one in the library of Gene- 
 vieve at Paris,* which is here 
 reproduced. 
 
 The followitig is a translation of 
 Plutarch's account of the Sistrum, 
 in his treatise on Isis and Osiris. 
 It shows why this instrument of 
 rehgion was carried only by married 
 women, and the signification of the 
 cat as an emblem. Isis was the 
 supposed enemy to Typhon, and 
 Osiris was the supposed judge of 
 the dead : — 
 
 "The Sistrum Hkewise radicates 
 
 An Egyptian Sistrum. 
 
 IS 
 
 that it 
 
 necessary that beings should be agitated, and never 
 cease to rest from their local motion, but should 
 be excited and shaken when they become drowsy 
 and languid. For they say that Typhon is deterred 
 and repelled by the Sistra ; manifesting by this, that 
 as corruption binds and stops", [the course of things] 
 *' so generation again resolves nature, and excites it 
 through motion. But, as the upper part of the 
 Sistnun is convex, so the concavity of it compre- 
 hends the four things that are agitated. For the 
 general and corruptible portion of the world is 
 comprehended indeed by the lunar sphere ; but all 
 things are moved and changed in this sphere through 
 the four elements of fire and earth, water and air. 
 And on the summit of the concavity of the Sistrum, 
 they carved a cat, having a human face ; and on the 
 under part, below the rattling rods, they placed on 
 
 » Bumey's History, vol. i. plate 5, No. 13. 
 
PLUTAECH ON THE SISHRUM. 289 
 
 one side the face of Isis, and on the other that of 
 Nephtys, obscurely signifying by their faces genera- 
 tion and death (or corruption) ; for these are the 
 mutations and motions of the elements. But by 
 the cat they indicated the moon, on account of 
 the diversity of colours, operation by night, and 
 fecundity of this animal. For it is said that she 
 brings forth one, afterwards two, three, four, and 
 five kittens, and so adds till she has brought forth 
 seven ; so that she brings forth twenty-eight in 
 all, which is the number of illuminations of the 
 moon. This, therefore, is perhaps more mythologi- 
 caUy asserted. The pupUs, however, in the eyes of 
 the cat are seen to become fuU and to be dilated 
 when the moon is full, and to be diminished and 
 deprived of light dtuing the decrease of this star."* 
 
 However debased were many of the superstitions 
 of the ancient Egyptians, as to the supposed 
 emblems of their gods, there was some part of their 
 philosophy in which they were in advance of other 
 heathens; and, so far as knowing the true form of 
 the earth, they were in advance of the heads of the 
 Roman Church to within the present century.'' 
 
 The Egyptians worshipped Osiris as the sun, 
 and Isis as the moon ; and when Manetho, the 
 Egyptian priest, states their emblems, he adds, 
 " Statues and holy places are prepared for them, but 
 the true form of God is unknown. The world had a 
 beginning, and is perishable — it is in the shape of a 
 
 " The translation from a note in Roman authorities still maintained 
 
 Book xi. of Apuleins. Bohn's edit. that the earth was a plain, and that 
 
 For the original, see Reiske's edit. there were no Antipodes. More- 
 
 of Plutarch, vol. vii. p. 481. over, they prohibited the circula- 
 
 * Although various navigators had tion of all books that taught the 
 
 then sailed round the world, the reverse. 
 
290 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 ball. The stars are fire, and eartMy things are 
 under their influence. The moon is eclipsed when it 
 crosses the shadow of the earth. The soul endures, 
 and passes into other bodies. The rain is caused by 
 a change in the atmosphere."^ 
 
 There are many points of resemblance between the 
 Egyptians and Christians which might interest the 
 curious, but they are beyond the scope of the present 
 work. I will only name one which I do not recollect 
 to have seen noticed, and that one, only because it 
 is included in a book to which few would think of 
 referring upon such a subject. It is as to sprinkling 
 with water those who enter the temples, to purify 
 them. Vessels of water were kept at the entrances 
 of Egyptian temples for that special purpose.'' As 
 to the Sistrum, according to Bruce, the Abyssinian 
 Christians retain it in use in their worship, instead 
 of little bells ; and one of triangular form, with 
 rings on its bars, seems to have been used in Italy 
 at the time of chUd-birth as late as the sixteenth 
 century. " 
 
 The Assyrians had an instrument with bars of 
 metal such as those of the Sistrum, but, instead of 
 being straight and loose, they were fastened into a 
 long shallow box as a sound-board, and bent to 
 curves of different heights, so that they might with 
 greater ease be struck separately by a rod of metal 
 held in the right hand. This instrument approaches 
 
 " Manetho's Oompendiwm of Na- reumve trigonum ferme, orbiculis 
 
 twal Philosophy — "tS>v ^vaueGiv annuKsve baciUo ferreo complosis 
 
 iTriTojirj," quoted through Diogenes tinnitum edens, ad quos staticulos 
 
 Laertius, by Bunsen, i. p. 74. edebant olim pueUse, qui mos in 
 
 •i Heron of Alexandria, SpiritaMa, Italia etiam num durat." — (Adrian 
 
 No. 31. Junius's Nomendator, edit. John 
 
 " " SiSTBUM Ovid, crotalum Vir- Higina, p. ,350. 8vo. London, 
 
 gilio. Instrumentum seneum far- 1585.) 
 
THE ASSTRIAN DULCIMER. 
 
 291 
 
 more to the class of dulcimer than to any other. 
 Its Assyrian name is unknown, and although a 
 recent writer has proposed for it the Hebrew one of 
 Asor, I prefer that of Assyrian dulcimer, because 
 the Hebrew word "Asor" has no such meaning as 
 " a musical instrument," but is simply the numeral 
 *' ten." This will be seen in the sequel, under the 
 Hebrew instruments, where the question is fuUy 
 discussed. 
 
 An Assyrian Dulcimer Player. 
 
 The Egyptians had instruments of the same class 
 as the above, but they played them by pulling the 
 wires. In one case the two ends were fixed, and in 
 the other one end of the wire rods was left free. 
 Bepresentations will be found in Sir J. Gardner 
 Wilkinson's Popular Account, vol. L p. 120. 
 
 These instruments must have been for the purpose 
 of obtaining Harmonic soimds from vibrating rods, 
 just as now exemplified in lectures on sound. The 
 
 u 2 
 
292 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 Egyptian instruments are curious anticipations of 
 supposed modern discoveries. 
 
 The large drums of the Egyptians were shaped 
 like wide barrels, about two feet and a half high 
 and two feet broad, and were beaten at the ends 
 by drum-sticks covered with leather pads. The 
 dnom-heads of skin or of leather were ingeniously 
 tightened by strings, as in some modern drums. 
 The Eg}'ptians had likewise small drums, which 
 were in the proportion of three or four degrees of 
 length to one of diameter. These, also, had a 
 wider circumference in the middle than at the 
 extremes, and were hung from the neck to a little 
 below the waist of the player, so as to be con- 
 veniently tapped at the ends by the fingers. The 
 modern Hindoos use a drum of this kind. The 
 Egyptians had timbrels or tambourines, both round 
 and quadrilateral ; also cymbals of various sizes ; 
 and clappers, or short maces, to be sounded by being 
 knoclked together. 
 
 The quadrilateral tambourines were sometimes 
 divided into two by a bar, so that one end Inight 
 be tuned to a different note, possibly to a Fifth 
 above the other. They do not seem to have added 
 beUs, or tiny cymbals, to tambourines, as did the 
 Greeks, Etruscans, and Romans. 
 
 The Greeks had, at least,J^aree kinds of cymbals. 
 First, the Kumbala, which appear to have been the 
 largest, and of metal; next, the Lekidoi," which, 
 judging from their name, were perhaps the oval 
 
 " For the name Lehidoi, see ring handles, see plate 21 of 
 
 Nioomachua, p. 1.3, and lamblichua' Herculanevm, by Thomas Martyn. 
 
 Life of Pythagoras, cap. 26. For London, 1773. 4to. For the round 
 
 an example of the ovai dish, or shaped, see Bumey's History, vol. 
 
 sauce-boat shaped cymbals, with i. plate 5, No. 7. 
 
CYMBALS AND CLAPPERS OF VARIOUS KINDS. 293 
 
 dish-cover shaped metal cymbals with handles, of 
 which kind we see so many in the hands of dancing 
 nymphs; and, thirdly, the Oxubapha, or Oxubaphoi. 
 The last were named after the Greek vinegar 
 saucers, and were therefore of diminutive size. 
 They were perhaps such as were suspended in the 
 frames of their timbrels or tambourines. The 
 Romans had large cymbals like the Greeks, and used 
 them specially for festivals. They had also the same 
 small metal cymbals, which they named, from their 
 sUver vinegar cups, Acetabula. 
 
 According to Clemens Alexandrinus, cymbals were 
 the war-instruments of the Arabs. " Cymbals," says 
 St. Augustine, " are compared by some to our lips, 
 because they sound by touching one another."* 
 
 The short Egyptian maces, for clappers, were called 
 by the Greeks Krgtala, and were especially used in 
 the importedworship of the mother goddess, Cybele. 
 The Krotala were either hinged, or had a weak 
 spring, midway between the two heads or knockers, 
 so that they could be bent towards one another. 
 They flew apart by the opening of the hand, and 
 clapped together when it was shut. Sometimes the 
 Krotala were made wholly of wood, or of a split 
 reed, vdth something to clash at the two ends. 
 
 These latter forms are found among the Romans, 
 under the Latinized Greek name, Crotala. Publius 
 Syrus, in his Sententice, calls the stork: crotalistria, 
 on account of the noise made by the bird in striking 
 together the two bones of its beak. 
 
 All nations have had castanets of some kind. 
 Their origin has been debated between nut shells 
 on the one hand, and cockle or oyster shells on the 
 
 » Comment, cm Psalm, No. 130. 
 
294 THE HISTORY OF MTJSIC. 
 
 other. Climate and the character of the country 
 had more to do with the use of either than any 
 thought of invention. The Greek name for the 
 castanets used to accompany dancing was Krembala. 
 "And beating down the limpets from the rocks, 
 they made a noise Uke castanets." — {icpen^aXi^ova-c.Y 
 They were sometimes made of metal, and gilt. 
 
 The principle of ancient instruments of percussion 
 has been so entirely the same in all ages, and in all 
 districts, that there is scarcely a difference between 
 them worthy of note. They marked rhythm, but 
 had little else to do, either with the art or with the 
 science of music, and the only thing now required is 
 to be able to recognise them imder their various 
 names. 
 
 * Hermippus, apud Athensenm, lib. xiv. cap. 39. 
 
295 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Stringed instruments. — The four grades of Lyre. — Phorminx, 
 Kithara, and Chelys. — Polyphthongos, Polychordos, Barbitos, 
 or Asiatic Lyre. — Sambuca, or small Trigon. — Etruscan Lyre. 
 — The fabulous Tripod of Pythagoras. — Apollo an iU-used god. 
 — The Pektis. — Nabla. — Pandoora. — Skindapsos. — Pelex. — 
 Greeks no originators of new principles in instruments. — 
 Appendages of the Lyre. — Psaltery a class of Harp — Large 
 Trigon. — ^Psalmos. — No wire strings.' — Epigoneion and Simikion 
 real Harps. — Egyptian Harps of various kinds. — Etruscan 
 imagination. — Bands of blind men. — Roman use of four strings. 
 — Boethius an indifferent authority upon music. 
 
 Op stringed instruments much has already been said 
 incidentally. As to the different sizes, and different 
 kinds of Lyre, Aristides Quintilianus classifies them 
 in the following manner : — First, the parent Lyre, 
 as the most masculine, on account of its low and 
 rough tones. This was therefore the largest kind of 
 Lyre, and probably was often on a stand, as its name 
 agrees with that of a fixed star. Next to it, the 
 Kithara, as a little less low and rough, but not 
 differing materially from the Lyre. The Kithara 
 was a portable instrument, and as the quality of 
 yielding low sounds must depend mainly upon length 
 of string, it may be ranked as rather less in size 
 than the Lyre proper. It is now indistinguishable 
 from the Phorminx, which was also portable ; but 
 a third kind, the Chelys, derives its name from its 
 having had a shell back. Aristides passes on from the 
 Kithara to the Polyphthongos, " or many-sounding " 
 
296 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 Lyre. This is elsewhere termed the Polychordon, or 
 " many-stringed," and is equivalent to the Barbitos,* 
 or Asiatic Lyre. Anacreon preferred instruments of 
 many strings, and he refers to the Barbitos, as of the 
 lyre kind. We know that Greek lyres had not at- 
 tained to many strings in his time. Horace hkewise 
 alludes to the Barbitos as a Lesbian instrument, and 
 devotes it to the hands of Polyhymnia. — (Ode i.) 
 
 " If neither Euterpe withhold her double pipe, nor Polyhymnia 
 flee away to strain the Lesbian Barbiton." 
 
 Theocritus describes the Barbiton as many-stringed,'' 
 and Euripides again makes it a synonyme for lyre. 
 Aristides describes the Polyphthongos as of a feminine 
 character, in contrast to the larger Lyre and to the 
 Eathara, as masculine. It is hardly to be doubted 
 that the instrument which is seen in the hands, of 
 the young girl at p. 118, where she is reading 
 music from a scroll or book, is the Polyphthongos 
 or Barbitos. The description as "feminine" means 
 that it yielded higher sounds than the larger instru- 
 ments, which had also fewer strings. 
 
 The following i-epresentation of Terpsichore, with 
 a lyre, is from Herculaneum." As the eruption of 
 Moimt Vesuvius, by which both Herculaneum and 
 Pompeii were overwhelmed, took place in the year 
 79, the representation cannot be of later date than 
 the first centiiry of the Christian era. The lyre is 
 of the more poetical kind — fit for recitation, but of 
 very little use for music, in our sense of the word. 
 
 » Also called Barbiton, Banimi- separately. — (Athenaeus, lib. iv. cap. 
 
 ton, and Barmos — (Athenseua, iii. 80.) See also Strabo, lib. x. 
 1014, 1016, and Julius Pollux's ^ Idyll xvi. line 45. 
 
 OTwrnastihon, lib. iv.) Euphorion " Antichitd, di Ercolano, vol. ii. 
 
 speaks of the Baromos and Barbitos p. 31. Naples, 1757-59. Pol. 
 
TERPSICHORE WITH HER LYRE. 
 
 29-7 
 
 yy^^iuv'^i.-^ 
 
 Terpsichore, with a Lyre. 
 
 The wood of the crumbling Greek Lyre in the 
 British Museum is sycamore; and it is noteworthy 
 that the Egyptian Lyre in the Berlin Museum, and 
 the two in the British Museum, are of the same wood. 
 
 The most feminine, or highest sounding of lyres, 
 according to Aristides, was the Sambuca.* 
 
 "Arist. Quint., p. 101. 
 
298 
 
 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 Strabo says that tliis name is " barbarian ;'^ the 
 Phoenicians, the Parthians, the Scythians; and the 
 Troglodytes or cave-dwellers, have in turn had 
 the credit of the invention. The last were a wise 
 people to have made their homes under ground, 
 when they had such a country to inhabit as the 
 borders of the Red Sea. The Parthian and the 
 Troglodyte instruments are said to have had but 
 four strings.* We may suppose this kind to have 
 been the little Trigon. 
 
 Aristides does not name the Phoinix nor the 
 Atropos, but they must have had many strings, for 
 Aristotle refers to them as magadizing, or octave- 
 playing, instruments.'' According to Semos of Delos, 
 the ribs of the Phoinix were made of the palm tree." 
 
 Among the Etruscan antiquities in Sir William 
 Hamilton's collection,* is the accom- 
 panying representation of a small 
 lyre of peculiar construction. It 
 has a tail-piece for the attachment 
 of the strings ; a bridge to raise 
 them ; and sound-holes for the 
 escape of the tone. The strings 
 are seven in number, but virtually 
 only four, because, while the base 
 string is but single, the others are 
 doubled. Six are placed closer 
 together, in twos, so that the plectrum could sweep 
 from one to another. I find nothing like it among 
 Greek instruments, but the bridge, the tail-piece, 
 and the sound-holes, are ancient Egyptian. We find 
 
 Etruscan Lyre. 
 
 » Athenseus, lib. xiv. cap. 34 
 
 » Prob. xiv. of Sect. 19. 
 
 ° Athenseus, lib. xiv. cap. 40. 
 
 ^ Etruscan Antiquities, voL i. p. 
 109. Naples, 1666-67- Fol. 
 
THE TRIPOD OF PYTHAGORAS. 299 
 
 a bridge to the hieroglyphic lute on p. 62, and sound- 
 holes to one of those in the frontispiece, and again 
 at p. 43. 
 
 Athenseus quotes a story told by Artemon,* that 
 Pythagoras once strung the three sides of a Delphian v 
 tripod, such as was used to support an ornamental 
 vase, and that he tuned one side to the Dorian scale, 
 another to the Phrygian, and the third to the Lydian 
 scale or mode. So far, aU was possible ; but it is 
 improbable that Pj^thagoras should have attempted 
 it, because there could be no tone from such a tripod, 
 for it had no sounding-board. The minuteness of the 
 remaining part of the story proves the whole to be a 
 myth. Artemon adds that Pythagoras contrived a 
 pedal to turn this tripod, and that he twisted it 
 about with such rapidity whUe he was playing, that 
 any one might have fancied he was hearing three 
 players upon three different instruments. 
 
 Pythagoras, at least, had ears ; and no one 
 possessed of them could have tolerated such bar- 
 barisms as rapid changes from D minor into E 
 minor, and then into F sharp minor, and back again. 
 Artemon admits that it is uncertain whether such 
 an instrument ever existed, and there can be no 
 doubt the story was fabricated by some one who had 
 no knowledge of music. That, indeed, would not 
 preclude a painter from depicting such a tripod, and 
 so the curious may see the imaginary instrument 
 copied into Dr. Burney's History of Music. — (Vol. . 
 i. plate 5, No. 11.) 
 
 • Another instrument, which demands a certain 
 amount of faith to beheve in it, is depicted upon an 
 ancient vase in the Munich collection. No. 805. It 
 
 " Athenseus, lib. xiv. cap. 41. 
 
300 
 
 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC, 
 
 is supposed to be in the hands of Erato, and it is 
 perhaps as mythical as the Muse. No sounding- 
 board is shown, and, without one, it could have no 
 tone. The form does not even seem to admit of 
 such an addition. 
 
 There are many more 
 ancient instruments for 
 which we are indebted to 
 the invention of painters 
 and of sculptors. Some 
 are made so heavy with 
 ornament that any tone 
 produced by the strings 
 would have been in- 
 audible at the distance of 
 a few yards. Others 
 are without sounding- 
 boards. ApoUo was in 
 these respects a particu- ' 
 larly imfortimate god. 
 He had scarcely ever a lyre that would have been 
 worth an obolus for its music. 
 
 The Pektisis almost as perplexing as the Sambuca. 
 Sopater says that it had two strings.'' In that case, 
 it must have had a neck and a finger-board, like the 
 hieroglyphic lute. But then Diogenes, the tragic 
 poet, says that it was harp-shaped.'' That was quite 
 another iastrument, and one that had neither neck 
 nor finger-board. Plato supports the second de- 
 scription, by referring to it as a Trigon, or harp, 
 having many strings." Again, both Aristoxenus and 
 Mensechmos identify the Pektis as a kind of Magadis, 
 
 " Plato, RepuUk, lib. iii. cap. 10. 
 
 Erato's Harp on an Etruscan Vase. 
 
 » Attenseus, lib. iv. cap. 81. 
 i> Atbensens, lib, xiv. cap. 38. 
 
PEKTIS, NABLA, AND PANDOUE.A. 301 
 
 and the former adds tliat it was played with both 
 hands, without the use of a plectrum.* In those 
 cases it was an Egyptian harp. Anacreon and 
 Sophocles ascribe this iastrument to the Lydians. 
 The root of the name has seemingly to be sought in 
 some language other than Greek. The description 
 of Sopater is irreconcilable with those of others ; 
 and, further, there were also lyres and pipes called 
 by the same name.* 
 
 Again, as to the Greek Nabla, Euphorion dis- 
 tinguishes between the Nabla and the Pandoura. 
 This is, perhaps, only as to name, for, in the same 
 sentence, he joins together the Baromos and the 
 Barbitos," which two instruments, quotations from 
 other authors seem to identify. Sopater appears to 
 attribute the Nabla to the Phoenicians, when he 
 alludes to the sounds produced by the hand upon 
 the neck, [tlie laryngophonos,) of the Sidonian Nabla. 
 Yet, Mustakos, in The Slave, notices the emblem of 
 the lotus painted upon the ribs of the instrument.'' 
 The lotus was the emblem of Lower Egypt, and the 
 Phoenicians were the corn carriers of Egypt. An 
 instrument with ribs had, m all probability, a back 
 rounded like a lute, for that form alone would 
 require to be ribbed. It is probable, then, that the 
 Nabla is one of the two kinds of lute exhibited in 
 Egyptian paintings, as in the frontispiece to this 
 book ; and, possibly, Pandoura may be the Greek 
 name for the other. 
 
 And now, while on the subject of the ribs of an 
 instrument, which ribs would only be made for one 
 rounded at the back, there is an antique pantheistic 
 
 » Athenseus, lib. xiv. cap. 36. ' Athenaeus, lib. iv. cap. 80. 
 
 •> See LiddeU and Scott's Lexicon-. ^ Athenseus, lib. iv. cap. 77. 
 
302 
 
 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 gem of the second century, which exhibits both the 
 ribbed back and the reced- 
 ing head of the lute. It 
 represents, perhaps, Osiris as 
 Apollo, with the seven rays, 
 for the rising sun. On the 
 head are the wings of Hermes; 
 under the chin, the moon ; 
 and at the back of the head 
 of Apollo, the trident of Nep- 
 tune, and a lute, instead of 
 the lyre, for Hermes. The 
 gem is cut in chalcedony, and 
 is here copied from the col- 
 lection of Gem/me Antiche, by 
 
 Causeus de la Chausse, Rome. 4to. 1700. This 
 is the earliest that I have yet observed with the 
 receding head, which distinguishes the lute. 
 
 With all the care that can be taken, and after 
 every word of the description has been studied, 
 ancient musical instnmients are a difficult subject, 
 and one of which but little can be gleaned. What 
 can be said of the Skindapsos ? We know only that 
 it was a "barbarian" instrument, and that it had 
 four strings. Again, the Spadix, one of the same 
 class, having high notes. The Pelex was a kind of 
 psaltery, according to Juhus Pollux, and the only 
 giiide to its probable form is that the name also 
 signifies a helmet. 
 
 Perhaps no one thing is more likely to strike the 
 
 reader in the foregoing account than the ve ry lim ited 
 
 amount of invention among the Greeks, if there was ' 
 
 ""even^ai^ at ~all, as to musical instruments. These 
 
 seem to be all Asiatic or African. Even the word 
 
GREEKS COMPARED TO EGYPTIANS. 303 
 
 " lyre" has not been traced to a Greek root, and 
 we have representations of many-stringed lyres in 
 Egyptian paintings before the Greeks were a nation. 
 Again, the Dorian Mode was the one upon which the 
 Greeks prided themselves ; and Herodotus, in tracing 
 the genealogy of the Dorians, makes them natives 
 of Egypt ; adding that, in this respect, the Lacedae- 
 monians resemble the Egyptians — their heralds, 
 musicians, ar^d cooks, succeed to their fathers' pro- 
 fessions, so that a musician is the son of a musician.* 
 We can find no new principle for stringed instru- 
 ments discovered by a Greek, nor anything new in 
 pipes. AU was ready-made for them, together with 
 their system of music. The Greeks were even inapt 
 pupils ; for, although they had many strings ever 
 before their eyes, they did but reduce the number, 
 after a time, to bring the instruments down to their 
 own level. They practised a certain amount of 
 harmony, but not so much as earher nations. Cul- 
 tivation of the ear is required to be able to appreciate 
 many different notes running together at one time, 
 especially with different qualities of tone. We read 
 of no such combinations of instruments in Greece as 
 we see with our own eyes in Egypt; and Gre'ek defini- 
 tions of concord and of discord are almost invariably 
 limited to two simultaneous sounds. On a first 
 perusal of Greek authors on music, I had formed a 
 much higher estimate of the nation in comparison 
 with others, than a subsequent more general 
 acquaintance will sustain. 
 
 If the following account of the present state of 
 music in Japan, as given by a recent visitor, may be 
 relied on, the Japanese are now very much in the 
 
 " Herodotus, Erato, vi., 53 and 60. 
 
304 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 condition of the earliest Egyptians and Greeks as to « 
 music, and they, too, rnust have had a Hermes, or 
 an Apollo, among them : — 
 
 " The music of the Japanese is worth extremely 
 little. To accompany the singers on the stage, they 
 have an orchestra of twenty-one performers. The 
 ' Syamsia' is the principal instrument. It is a kind 
 of guitar with three strings, two being toned in the 
 Octave, and the third in the dominant. The body 
 of the instrument consists of the shell of a tiirtle, in 
 the cavity of which the sounds produced by the 
 three strings are re-echoed, the strings being set in 
 movement by a small rod, made of horn. From this 
 wretched instrument, the reader may form an idea 
 what the others must be. The Japanese are not 
 acquainted with harmony, and their instruments are 
 played either unisono, or in the Octave. As regards 
 intervals and rhythm, the poverty of their melody is 
 such that no European musician 'can possibly con- 
 ceive it. The Japanese, nevertheless, li-sten with 
 pleasure to their music for hours together. Blind 
 people are exceedingly numerous in Japan, even if 
 we leave out of consideration the beggars who feign 
 blindness. The bands which play at festivities and 
 private parties are composed of blind men."* 
 
 Here we have actually the lyre of the Egyptian 
 Hermes, with the two outer strings sounding an 
 Octave apart, and the middle string a Fifth from 
 the lower, and a Foiuth from the upper. We have 
 also the shell back to the instrument, and a piece of 
 horn for the plectrum. Thus, wherever music is in 
 its infancy, we may encounter the same kind of story 
 again and again. 
 
 " Musical World, Nov. 28, 1868, p. 817. 
 
PARTS OF THE LYRE. 305 
 
 Before passing on to the many-stringed instru- 
 ments, such as harp and psaltery, something may be 
 said about the appendages to the lyre. 
 
 The magas, or bridge, which was added to some 
 kinds of lyre, and which is shown on the Etruscan 
 lyre at p. 298, was admittedly of "barbarian" origin. 
 Hypolyrios has been also occasionally translated 
 "bridge," but its more precise meaning seems to be 
 the cross-reed,"' or fixed cross-bar, to which the lower 
 ends of the strings were attached in very early lyres, 
 and not the movable bridge over which strings were 
 passed in order to raise them above the body of the 
 instrument. In many cases there was no sounding- 
 board which could be in the way of a hand on the 
 strings, and so that which is strictly a bridge was 
 not necessary. 
 
 According to the Latin version of Julius PoUux, 
 but not at aU according to the Greek, the Hypolyrios 
 formed the sides of the lyre.*" The translator was 
 led into that misconception by adhering to the old 
 
 * " IIpoff£7rt7-fip7rErai ^ 6 ^opfiuerdg 'AttoXXwv, 
 "EvEKa dovaKOQj 8j/ v-jroXvptov 
 "'Ewdpov iv Xiiivaig Tpe(l)ut." — (Aristoph. Ranee, 231-233.) 
 
 * This translation of viroXvpiog lyramiait." So, althoiigh a ijroXtljOio*' 
 has passed uncorrected by the and vitotlBshivov, it has been sup- 
 numerous commentators upon Julius posed to be neither at the bottom 
 Pollux, who have made notes upon nor at the top, but at the sides of a 
 the passage. The Grreek is, "Kai lyre; and the oiairipei of Sophocles 
 Sovaxa Sk Tiva viroKvpiov oi Koj/uEoi has been mis-translated to suit 
 6}v6iwZ,ov, i>Q TraKai avri Kipanyv this interpretation, as if he had 
 inrorSiiJivov toIq Xvpaig. "09£v Koi written iha wipl. This is through 
 So^ofcXjjf EijDjjKsv, ^Y(lirjps67j trov having translated dvri KEpdrijiv by 
 KdXajuof, (iiTTrfpfi Xvpag." — (Lib. iv. cornmim loco, instead of ami cor- 
 cap. 9, 62.) The Latin translation nibus; and it has led into the very 
 given is, "Et arundinem quandam evident misconception, that a stiff 
 comici Hypolyrium nominanmt, and brittle reed could be so twisted 
 quod olim lyris, cormmm focoap- as to take the place of two horns 
 posita sit : uude et Sophocles dixit, on opposite sides of a lyre. 
 Sublatus tibi est calamus qui circa 
 
 X 
 
306 
 
 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 manner of rendering the preposition anti by loco, 
 althougli, just as in a case before cited, (p. 53, note 
 &,) it was in evident contradiction to the sense of 
 the whole passage. 
 
 The Greek lyre seems to have been tuned at the 
 lower end of the strings," and that part of the in- 
 strument to have had the name of the Chordotonon, 
 or Batera.'' The Echelon was the sounding-board, 
 , or rather the sounding part of the body. 
 
 The lower parts of the curved sides of the lyre 
 were called Angkones, and above them were the 
 Pechees, or fore-arms, also called Ktenia, for which 
 Kerata, horns, were sometimes substituted. The 
 Zugon, (in Latin, Transtillum,) was the cross-bar that 
 yoked together the fore-arms, or horns, and along 
 which the upper ends of the strings were either tied, or 
 otherwise fastened. In some Egyptian lyres this cross- 
 bar sloped, and the strings were timed by sliding the 
 noose upwards, and so increasing the tension. 
 
 An eighteen-stringed Egyptian lyre will -be found 
 preceding the pipes and harp, in the following from 
 Wilkinson's Egypt. 
 
 Singers, accompanied by Harp, Double Pipes, and Lyre. 
 
 " ',' 'YTTipSde iKaary irvxnv, icai 
 Kurd) Trpoaapfwaas xopioTOVia.'' — 
 (Athenasus, lib. xiv. cap. 41.) 
 
 '" Pythagoras, in bis experiments, 
 is said at length to hare transferred 
 
 the strings " £tf rbv tov opydvov 
 jSarfipa, op xopSoTOVov wvo/iaZt." — 
 (Nicomaohus, p. 13, lines 8, 9; and 
 lamblichus' Life of Pythagoras, 
 cap. 26.) 
 
ERATO'S UPRIGHT PSALTERY. 307 
 
 Psaltery was a general name for several kinds of 
 stringed" instruments. The Greek word, psalterion, 
 is derived from jpsallein, to twang a string with the 
 fingers, as a bow-string. Every stringed instrument 
 which was played upon with the fingers of both handsj 
 instead of by one hand and a plectrum held in the 
 other, came under the denomination of a psaltery. 
 Therefore the Greek name for a harp was also psal- 
 terion. Again, the harp might be called a Trigon, 
 in reference to one of triangular shape. Aristotle 
 combines the two words, Psalterion and Trigon, in 
 defining our harp.^ On the other hand, Psalteries 
 were not necessarily Trigons, as will be seen firom the 
 following copy of a painting foimd in Herculaneum.'' 
 
 The instrument is evidently the four-sided, or 
 "Upright Psalteiy," (^aXTriplov opdiov). A second 
 representation of one of the same description is also 
 included in the Herculaneima collection. It has a 
 similar outline, and the same number of strings ; but 
 the painter, who placed it in the hands of AchOles, 
 and represented him as taking his music-lesson from 
 the Centaur Chiron, forgot, in that case, that there 
 was such a thing as a sounding-board necessary 
 to give sonority to the strings. However, to give 
 the artist the benefit of the doubt, he may have 
 intended to represent AchUles as taking his music- 
 lessons upon a dumb instrument, in order that he 
 might not offend Chiron's ears." 
 
 In the following representation the Muse Erato 
 holds a ten-stringed psaltery ; and, happily, both 
 
 » "'En oi iv Toig rpiyiivoiE foKTrj- ° Dr. Burney has included a copy 
 
 piotc ■ ■ . cvfupuivovai did iraaiov." of this PsaJtery without sounding 
 — (Prob. No. xxiii. of Sect. 19.) board, in his History, vol. i. plate 
 
 •> AntkliUa di Ercolano, vol. ii., v., No. 12. 
 p. 41, NapoU. 1757-59. f. 
 
 X 2 
 
308 
 
 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 the name of tlie Muse, and that of the instrument 
 which she holds, are given at the foot, so as to 
 remove any doubt. 
 
 Erato, with an upright Psaltery. 
 
 Athenseus' distinction of an " upright" psaltery 
 might lead to the inference that there was another 
 kind to be used in a horizontal position. In such a 
 
PSALTEBIES, TRIANGULAR AND QXTADBILATERAL. 309 
 
 case the employment of wire strings might be 
 suspected, and that, ao far, it would resemble the 
 modern dulcimer ; but no sign of the employment of 
 such thin wire strings as would be required for this 
 purpose has yet been traced among the ancients ; 
 or, at least, no such discovery has hitherto been made 
 known. We have no proof that the art of wire- 
 drawing was then luiderstood, and Athenaeus must 
 therefore be supposed to distinguish between the 
 quadrilateral and the triangular psalteries. 
 
 In the Egyptian Sistrum there were loose bars of 
 metal to be rattled by shaking ; and in the Assyrian 
 dulcimer there were firm bars of metal of different 
 lengths, fixed into a firame by bending, and these 
 were to be struck by a short rod ; but in no case 
 have such thin wires yet been found as could be 
 tuned by turning them round a pin or a peg. 
 
 The Egyptian instruments made of metal rods, and 
 fixed either at one or at both ends, have already 
 been referred to. 
 
 The psalteries of ancient Greece cannot have been 
 strung with wire, because no such instruments would 
 have been played upon with the hands. The ancient 
 Greeks were very tender of their fingers, as may be 
 seen by their preference for a plectrum to touch even 
 the finer catgut strings of the lyre. Fingers were 
 their purveyors for the mouth, and the forefinger of 
 the right hand was made especially useful in clean- 
 ing out the dish. The practice of employing two 
 hands was primarily due to a multiphcation of 
 strings, and that increase was one of the many 
 importations fi-om Asia, or from Egypt. Clemens 
 Alexandrinus says that Psalterion was a name 
 applied generally to such stringed instruments as 
 
310 THE HISTORY 0¥ MUSIC. 
 
 were Egyptian. That would be on account of their 
 larger number of notes requiring the use of two 
 hands. A plectrum was unfitted for playing chords 
 — it could only sound one string at a time, or shp 
 from one to the next. 
 
 Psalmos is another name for a Psaltery, and the 
 only distinction that can now be drawn between the 
 two is, that Psalmos impUes an instrument made 
 expressly for accompanying the voice, and that the 
 same designation includes any song to be chanted 
 or sung with such an accompaniment. Hence 
 our word Psalm. Whoever may wish to return 
 to the primitive use of psalmody should there- 
 fore chant or sing the Psalms, whether he may 
 adopt the one version in prose, or the other in 
 metre. The Psalmos must have had at least ten 
 strings, if not more, because Plutarch speaks of it as 
 an octave-playing instrument.* We might infer 
 from his description that the number was much 
 larger, if he had not coupled with it the Phorminx, 
 in the same sentence. We know of no Greek lyre 
 that had more than fifteen strings, and even such 
 a lyre would have been ranked as a Polychordon. 
 On the other hand, we have, at p. 306, a representa- 
 tion of an Egyptian lyre which has seventeen or 
 eighteen strings. 
 
 We now arrive at a Greek instrument that 
 must have been originally the true Egyptian harp, 
 but which was afterwards changed in form, and 
 mutilated in compass, by the Greeks. Julius PoUux 
 says that the Epigoneion had forty strings, and that 
 it took its name from Epigonus, who was the first to 
 
 » "'H fxev vepl )//aX/toij Kal rb aviitjiiiivov." — (Plutarch De^mtcft. 
 ipopiiiyyaQ appovtc Si avn<l>ilivot sxn Multit., p. 96, f. ) 
 
THE EPIGONEION, WITH FORTY STRINGS. 311 
 
 introduce it." Athenseus adds, upon the authority 
 of Jobas, or Juba,"" (the learned King of Mauritania, 
 who had been educated in Italy,) that Epigonus 
 brought the instrument from Alexandria, and that 
 he played upon it with the fingers of both hands, 
 instead of the Greek usage of but one hand, and of 
 employing a plectrum with the other." Further, that 
 Epigonus did not confine the powers of his harp to 
 a simple accompaniment for the voice, but introduced 
 chromatic passages, and instituted a chorus.* Never- 
 theless, his example was not followed by the Greeks ; 
 for Athenseus adds that the Epigoneion had been 
 transformed into an upright psaltery, ° although it 
 
 " Julius Pollux, Onomastikon, lib. 
 iv. cap. 9, Sect. 2. 
 
 '' Juba is one of the authors whose 
 descriptions of Greek musical in- 
 struments F^tis undertakes to cor- 
 rect; but Juba is in excellent 
 company, with Aristoxenus and 
 others. Fetis uses " une s^vfere cir- 
 conspeotion," so he will not allow 
 that a flute made of lotus may be 
 also called "a flute blown at the 
 side. " A pjiotinx must not be called 
 a plagiaulos — (Histoire, i. p. 285.) 
 F^tis sees in all second names errors 
 of the Greeks, so neither may the 
 Sambuoa have a second name. 
 ' ' Jobas se trompe & I'egard de ce 
 dernier instrument, car il lui donne 
 aussilenomdeLyrophcenix." Again, 
 Aristoxenus is quite wrong, says 
 F^tis, to have drawn any distinction 
 between the Greek Trigon and the 
 Hebrew Kinnor, because "I'identite 
 de ces instruments est rendue evi- 
 dente par I'autoriti de Diodore de 
 Sioile." But this is not the only 
 castigation for Aristoxenus. "Plu- 
 sieurs auteurs, an nombre desquels 
 est Aristox6ne, ont attribue . 
 leur erreur a ^t^ causae," &c. Next, 
 
 Josephus is charged with not having 
 known the meaning of the Hebrew 
 word "Asor." He required in- 
 fallible F^tis to teach him Hebrew. 
 As to other writers unspecified 
 — "Us ne meritent aucune con- 
 fiance." Trust must only +0 
 placed in F^tis. These choice 
 specimens have not been sought 
 for far and wide — they are included 
 within about three pages of F^tis's 
 Histoire Ginirale de la Masique- 
 8vo. 1869. Pages 383 to 386. 
 F^tis had a large library, but either 
 it did not include a Greek Lexicon, 
 or else he did not know the forms 
 of the Greek letters sufficiently to 
 use it. And yet, from assumed 
 superiority over everybody, ancient 
 and modem, and from the number of 
 second-hand quotations, in various 
 languages, introduced into his 
 pages, F^tis must have hoped to 
 pass for a paragon of learning. 
 
 " Athenseus, Ub. iv. 183 d. 
 
 ^ Athenaeus, lib. xiv. 638 a. 
 
 ' "IrdKTripiov op9iov." — (Lib. iv. 
 cap. 81, p. 183, d. See also Ub. xiv. 
 cap. 42, p. 638, a.) 
 
312 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 still retained the name of the attributed inventor. 
 So the ultimate meaning of the word was — an in- 
 strument to be played upon with two hands, after 
 the manner of Epigonus. 
 
 Any portable instrument having forty strings 
 would necessarily be made of triangular form, on 
 account of the extreme difference of length that was 
 absolutely required between the longest and the 
 shortest string. . No other shape was practicable 
 where the diminution was progressive, and the 
 number so large. The transformation of an instru- 
 ment of forty strings into one of only ten proves 
 that the cultivation of music was not sufficiently 
 advanced among the Greek people, to enable them to 
 appreciate such harmony as arises from many simul- 
 taneous sounds. Every one who can now listen with 
 pleasure to the chords upon a harp or a pianoforte 
 is in advance of the average of musical intelligence 
 among the ancient Greeks. 
 
 The Greeks had also a second kind of harp, called 
 the Simikion, or Simikon. It had thirtv-five 
 strings,"' but the reason for its name is unknown. 
 All the musical instruments of Egypt must have 
 been known to the Greeks, and yet, as to those 
 which had many strings, we find scarcely a reference 
 to one of them in the works of Greek classical 
 authors, or a representation in their sculptures. As 
 two Octaves are the full average compass of the 
 human voice, so fifteen strings seem to have been 
 the maximum extent of Greek musical instruments. 
 The Simikion, and the Epigoneion in its original 
 form, are rather to be classed among instruments 
 
 " Onomastihon, lib. iv. cap. 9, art. 2. 
 
STATE OF THE CULTIVATION OF MUSIC. 313 
 
 once known to tte Greeks, than among Greek 
 instruments. 
 
 The Romans undoubtedly approved the combina- 
 ' tion of numerous instruments in concert, but rather, 
 as it seems, for their increased loudness, than from 
 any more decided taste for harmony than that of the 
 Greeks. Indeed, both Greeks and Romans sink below 
 the average, when compared either by the standard 
 of the most ancient, or of the modem stages of 
 musical cultivation. This is perfectly natural ; for 
 nations so often engaged in war, and especially with 
 intestine wars, could have but Httle leisure for the 
 more intellectual branches of art or science. The 
 only inventions encouraged, at such times,, are those 
 of some new missile for destruction, while the arts 
 of peace die away,, rather than make advance. The 
 history of music affords throughout the most perfect 
 proof of this acknowledged maxim. 
 
 In consequence of the absence of representations in 
 the sculptures and paintings of Greece and of Italy, 
 we must revert to Egypt for the forms of ancient 
 harps, and there we may indeed find them portrayed 
 to perfection. " Some [Egyptian] harps," says Sir 
 Gardner Wilkinson, "stood on the ground while 
 played, having an even, broad base ; others were 
 placed on a stool, or raised upon a stand, or hmb, 
 attached to the lower part. Men and women often 
 used harps of the same compass, and even the 
 smallest, of four strings, were played by men ; but 
 the largest were mostly appropriated to the latter, 
 who stood during the performance. These large 
 harps had a flat base, so as to stand without a 
 support, like those in ' Bruce's Tomb' ; and a lighter 
 kind was also squared for the same purpose, but. 
 
314 
 
 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 Harpers painted in the Tomb of Kameses III., 
 
STAGES OF TRANSITION FEOM BOW-SHAPE TO TRIANGLE. 315 
 
 known as Bnice's, or the Harper's Tomb. 
 
316 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 when played, was frequently inclined towards the 
 performer, who supported the instrument in the 
 most convenient position."" The Egyptian name for 
 the harp was Bouni, having usually the prefix of the 
 article Ta, in the feminine gender for " The." 
 
 The preceding highly ornamented harps are 
 copied from paintings in the Tomb of Rameses III., 
 by Wilkinson, whose remarkable accuracy has been 
 so frequently attested by more recent travellers. 
 They are of the greater interest because they exhibit 
 two of the stages of transition from the original shape 
 of a bow to that of a triangle. The one is bent over 
 like the stem of a pliable tree from its trunk, while the 
 larger number of strings upon the other necessitates 
 a nearer degree of approach to the triangular form. 
 
 When James Bruce, the celebrated Eastern 
 traveller, first brought home the model of harps of 
 this kind from Thebes, because they had no poles; 
 which were judged necessary to support the fore- 
 arm against the tension of the strings, his account 
 was disbelieved, and he was nick-named the Theban 
 "Lyre." Brace's truthfulness has been vindicated 
 by every succeeding traveller, and in the most ample 
 manner ; but the want of, poles to Egyptian harps 
 has nevertheless appeared as a singular deficiency in 
 so advanced a stage of art. On the other hand, it is 
 a satisfactory proof that the bow and bow-string were 
 the models upon which these instruments were 
 originally , formed ; indeed, we may see the earliest 
 Egyptian harps to have been bow-shaped, as are 
 those of the fourth dynasty, exhibited at p. 65. 
 The bow-shape did not admit of treble strings, and 
 hence the substitution of the triangle. 
 
 » Wilkinaon's Popular Accoimt of the Ancient Egyptians, vol. i. p. 111. 
 
INNER LIFE OF THE EGYPTIANS. 317 
 
 Many minor vaxieties of harp-form will be found 
 in the admirable work from whicb the last two 
 splendid specimens have been borrowed. In a 
 general history, extracts are necessarily limited to 
 essential varieties in construction, and the Popular 
 Account of the Ancient Egyptians is accessible to aU. 
 More is to be learnt about the inner life of the 
 Egyptians from Sir J. Gardner Wilkinson's volumes 
 than from the costly and noble works of Lepsius, 
 KoseUini, and others put together. A great lesson 
 is also to be derived as to the rise and fall of 
 nations, and how art, science, and literature, spring 
 up and decline with them. In Sir Gardner 
 Wilkinson's pages we see the character of the 
 Egyptians— ^a great and free people under their 
 own kings, learned, skilful, inventive, industrious, 
 sportive, and mirthful ; also more humane, because 
 more civilized, than any other ancient nation. 
 The Egyptians make no exhibitions of torturing 
 prisoners and flaying them alive, as do the Assyrians 
 — the Egyptians had no gladiatorial fights, like the 
 Romans — human sacrifices had been abolished in the 
 empire of Upper Egypt for ages before Moses was 
 bom. Dr. Burney says that the Greeks and Komans 
 made religion an object of joy and festivity, but that 
 the Egyptians worshipped their gods with sorrow 
 and tears. He made this erroneous deduction from a 
 corrupt text of Ammianus Marcellitius, written after 
 the nation had been crushed by five hundred years 
 of slavery. It should be : " The Egyptians have a 
 suppliant, rather than a sad, expression of face," 
 and not, "they are even more sad."^ How different 
 
 " .^Sgyptii plerique subfusculi tiores." — (Ammianus Marcellinna, 
 sunt, et atrati magis qimm mcesti lib. xxii. cap. 16.) 
 oris — not, atrati magisque nues- 
 
318 THE HISTOEY OiF MUSIC. 
 
 is sadness to the song and dance to Ptah, or Vulcan, 
 exhibited at p. 63. Women, we know, are more 
 readily given to tears than men, but even the 
 ladies are there sufficiently happy-looking .and 
 cheerful. So late as the end of the first centmy 
 of our era, Dion Chrysostom speaks of the Egyptians 
 as cheerful and hilarious, " although they had a mortal 
 objection to paying tribute. The men had also the 
 credit, a Kttle before that date, of having become 
 expert thieves.*" The crushing out of such a nation 
 is one of the problems of the world. Josephus, in 
 his answer to Apion, triumphantly accounts for it 
 on the score that the Egyptians were never admitted 
 to citizenship by any of their conquerors. This 
 poUcy was often reversed in the case of smaller nations, 
 like the Jews, who were less to be dreaded. What- 
 ever may have been the causes, or cause, the Gopts, 
 who are but a mixed race, seem now to be the only 
 remaining descendants of the once mighty nation ot 
 the Egyptians. 
 
 Egyptian triangular harps, or Trigons, had but a 
 frame on two sides of the triangle, the third side 
 being formed by the lowest string, but the Etruscan 
 had frames complete. A fine example of these will 
 be exhibited in the sequel, under the head of Hebrew 
 Music. They are of the class so much referred 
 to in the middle ages as in the form of the Greek 
 letter delta, A, and, therefore, as emblematic of the 
 Trinity. The same form is found in Herculaneum. 
 
 The Egyptians had triangular ' harps in great 
 varieties of form. The following is one of twenty- 
 
 " TiKoiovQ in tte exordium, and i' Diodorus Siculus, lib. i. cap. 80. 
 
 iKapoiQ at the end of his orstion, 
 No. .32. 
 
TBIGON, OR TEIANGULAR HAHP. 
 
 319 
 
 one strings, and the original instrument is -included 
 in the Paris collection. 
 
 Egyptian ^arp in the Paris Collection. 
 
 An imaginary Egyptian Trigon will be found in 
 Wilkinson's Egypt, and in ChampoUion's great work, 
 under the arm of Typhon.* In depicting the gods, 
 such license might well be allowed, but some sculp- 
 tors employed their imagination equally upon musical 
 instruments which they put in the hands of mortals. 
 The Assyrian sculptor, who designed the triumphal 
 procession on the magnificent marble slab, which 
 represents the triumph of their king Asshur-Bani- 
 Pal over the Susians, and which is now in the British 
 Museum, has indulged his fancy rather overmuch in 
 the forms of the harps which the harpers are 
 
 ' Wilkinson's Popular Account, 118, and here, in the sequel, under 
 of tlie Ancient Egyptians, vol. i. p. Hebrew music. 
 
320 
 
 THE HISTORY OP MUSIC. 
 
 supposed to be plajdng in the open air, at this 
 celebration. The instruments have no other sound- 
 ing-boards than one upper bar, and the lower is 
 too weak to bear the requisite tension. They consist 
 of one horizontal and one nearly vertical bar, there- 
 fore approaching to a right angle, without support to 
 the comer at which they are joined. If of metal, 
 the harps would give no sound, and if of wood, the 
 strings could not be ttmed to an audible pitch with- 
 out breaking the frame. There are instruments of 
 similar character in Egypt, but the bars and the 
 strings are shorter. We must suppose ^at, in both 
 cases, one of the bars was large enough to be made 
 hoUow, so as to assist the production of tone. 
 
 The following elegantly designed harp, in the 
 hands of a blind man, is of smaller size than those in 
 
 Bliad men playing in ceneert, on Harp, Double Pipes, and Nefer. 
 
 " Bruce's Tomb." We have here a band of blind 
 men, with harp, double pipes, and lute, or Nefer. 
 
ROMAN FOUR-STRINGED TRIGONS. 321 
 
 The last named mstrument has a head, either of a 
 god or of a human being, carved at the extremity; 
 and it may be noted that the old EngHsh cittern 
 inherited this characteristic. Music has been a 
 resource for the blind of civilized countries in aU 
 ages. In England and Wales blind harpers, who 
 sang ballads to their harps, were once as numerous 
 as are blind organists now. The frequent represen- 
 tations of Egyptian blind men playing or sin^ng 
 in concert prove a system of musical education for 
 the blind in ancient Egypt. The preceding repre- 
 sentation is taken from Lepsius's great work," and 
 a second, very much like it, will be found in 
 Wilkinson's Popular Account, vol. i. p. 110. The 
 harp has not there quite so many strings, and the 
 cenWal figure is beating time, instead of playing on 
 the pipes. 
 
 Small Trigons, or harps with only four strings, 
 seem to have been used by Eoman singers for the 
 sole purpose of taking a pitch for the voice. If tuned 
 to an Octave chord, they would have had one outer 
 string double the length of the other. Horace 
 refers to them in the third Satire of his first book. 
 The subject of the Satire is a celebrated musician, 
 named TigeUius, who was admitted to intimacy 
 by C. Julius Caesar. The first eight lines of the 
 argument may be stated as follows : — - " Singers 
 have aU one faihng — that they cannot bring 
 themselves to sing to their friends when they 
 are asked, but when im.asked they never leave ofi". 
 This was the case with the Sardinian TigeUius. 
 Even Caesar himself, though he were to entreat him 
 
 » Band. vii. Abt. 3, Blat. 236. It from Thebes— a tomb at Kouma, 
 is of the twentieth dynasty, and No. 18. 
 
 2 A . 
 
322 THE HISTOKY OP MUSIC. 
 
 by Ms father's friendship, and by his own, could not 
 prevail .upon him to sing ; but, if Tigellius were in the 
 humour, he would sing convivial songs from the time 
 of egg to that of the apples," or " from the beginning 
 to the end of the repast." Then foUows the musical 
 point — 
 
 " modo summa 
 
 Voce, modo hac resonat quae chordis quatuor ima," 
 
 " at one time in the highest pitch of his voice, and at 
 another, in that [pitch] which vibrates lowest in 
 the four strings ;" or less Hterally, " at the pitch of 
 the lowest of the four." 
 
 A doubt has long been felt by the learned as to 
 whether "summa voce" is to be taken to denote 
 "highest pitch" in our sense, or "lowest pitch" in 
 the Greek musical application of the word Hypate. 
 I submit that the evidence of Nicomachus clears up 
 the doubt, and that the former is the true rendering. 
 I have already shown from his treatise, (see p. 36,) 
 that Hypate was the name of a string, or strings, 
 upon the lyre, and had no reference to the sound 
 produced by those strings. It or they were simply 
 "highest" by being the longest upon the lyre. So 
 the sense of Wete and of Hypate was not changed in 
 music. The mistake was to think of them as to the 
 notes they produced instead of as mere strings. 
 
 The confusion aS to the meaning of the two words 
 seems to have originated with Boethius, and is there- 
 fore of very long standing. I observed his error 
 while skimming over his treatise after the principles 
 of Greek music had been fixed in my mind. I noted 
 also that the forte of Boethius rests in arithmetic 
 of the oldest school of musical proportions, and that 
 
THE DEFICIENCIES OP BOETHIUS. 323 
 
 the remainder of his treatise is but indiscriminately 
 copied from Greek writers, without a thorough under- 
 standing of the subject. The one inducement to him 
 to write upon music must have been the arith- 
 metical part, so as to form a sequel to his De 
 Institutione Arithmetica. He limits his definition 
 of the science of music to the cognitio rationis, 
 and declares it to be as superior to the practical 
 branch as the mind is to the body. This is only 
 an apology for his want of practical knowledge, 
 and his cognitio rationis should be translated, 
 " acquiring a knowledge of the ratios of intervals," 
 for that is the limit of his acquaintance with the 
 science."' Boethius makes such a confusion of 
 terms between summa and ima, in refei-ence to 
 Hypate and Nete, and so turns the Greek scale 
 upside down, that I can only transfer the passages 
 to a note.'' It is strange that he should quote the 
 
 " See Inst. Mus., i. 34. He writes itifimum quod est paramese,'' &o. 
 
 strongly as to liis superior claims Here the scale is turned upside 
 
 upon this point : ' ' rationis expers down to make paramese below 
 
 servitio degit," &c. hypate hypaton. Paramese is above 
 
 * Turning to p. 209 of Teubner's Mese, and hypate hypaton ought to 
 
 edition, part of cap. 20 of lib. i. , line be the lowest in the scale. Again, 
 
 3, " hypate quidem hypaton vocatse lines 24 and 25, "inter hoc mesen 
 
 sunt, quasi maximae magnarum aut tetrachordum et inferius quod est 
 
 gravissimse gravium, aut excellentes netarum." There are no Netes 
 
 excellentium." These last are the below Mese. He has still the scale 
 
 iyperboleon, or highest tetrachord, topsy-turvy. There is nothing like 
 
 under its Latin name. So here is fine sanction, in any Greek author, for 
 
 choice for a reader — "The hypates anything of this kind. The above 
 
 are either the largest of the large are from one small page, and will 
 
 strings, and so gravest of the grave, probably suffice to show that 
 
 or else they are the smallest and most Boethius had but an imperfect 
 
 acute." (He himself identifies ex- understanding even of the Greek 
 
 cellentes with hyperboleas, in cap. scale. Yet, because he wrote in 
 
 26, at p. 219.) Next, on the same Latin, instead of in Greek, his 
 
 page, 209, line 17 — "Sed quoniam treatise has been the one always 
 
 inter superias tetrachordum, quod adopted to teach Greek music, even 
 
 est hypate hypaton," &.C. ; "et inter in our Universities. 
 
 2 A 2 
 
324 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 very paragraph from Nicomaclius, comparing the 
 seven planets to seven strings of the lyre, and yet 
 not discover the meaning of 'Nete and of Hypate. 
 His treatise, which has now been regarded as a grand 
 authority for many ages, has really been the prime 
 cause that the subject of ancient music has been so 
 generally misunderstood. 
 
325 
 
 ri 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Organs : Why the Hydraulic Organ was an enigma to lookers-on. 
 — ^Invented in the third century b.o.' — Atheneeus's error as to 
 the date. — Heron first describes it.— Vitruvius and his com- 
 mentators. — The light touch of the Organ. — Burney and 
 Hawkins give up the attempt to understand the Hydraulic 
 Organ. — The supposed difficulties explained. — An application of 
 the power of water no longer in use. — Why the water was 
 supposed to be boiling. — A condensing syringe used for bellows. 
 — A Greek altar with its raised rim and extinguisher. — Heron's 
 description translated. — Vitruvius paraphrased. — Organs of 8 
 stops in use b.o. — Use of hollow vessels to reproduce tone in 
 theatres. — Competitions of organists and their medals. — Two 
 Latin idioms. — Verses to represent organ pipes. — Antiquity of 
 the Pneumatic Organ, — Ancient bellows. — Organs on the Obelisk 
 of Theodosius. — Juhan's epigram, and other notices. 
 
 Organs of two kinds were known to the ancients. 
 One was the " Pneumatic Organ," which was blown 
 by bellows fashioned very much in the present 
 style, and the second was popularly called the 
 "Hydraulic Organ" (in Greek, Hydraulis, or Hy- 
 draulikon Organon). In spite of its name, this 
 second instrument was decidedly not hydraulic, 
 although it bore the appearance of being so. 
 
 The Hydraulic Organ was always an enigma to 
 superficial observers. They saw water bubbhng up 
 from the bottom of an open vessel, and the water in 
 the perpetual interchange of rise and fall, and of 
 rolling or tumbling about. They saw a piston 
 working in a cylinder, and at every stroke of the 
 piston the water rose higher in the vessel Hence 
 they concluded, naturally enough, that it was water 
 which was undergoing the process of injection into 
 
326 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC, 
 
 the pipes of this organ, and that the effects were 
 produced by means of that syringe-like pump. But 
 it was simply a condensing syxinge acting upon air. 
 
 Ctesibius, the Egyptiati, was the inventor, and the 
 date of this one of the several inventions attributed 
 to him may be fixed within the reign of Ptolemy 
 PhUadelphus, or between the years 284 and 246 
 B.C. The question may one day arise as to whether 
 all these were the inventions of Ctesibius, or whether 
 he was but the medium of communicating Egyptian 
 science to the Greeks. 
 
 The Mographer of Philon, the celebrated mecha- 
 nician of Byzantium, in Dr. W. Smith's Dictionary 
 of Greek and Roman Biography and. Mythology, has 
 rehed upon a statement by Athenseus, that Ctesibius 
 flourished in the reign of Ptolemy Euergetes IL 
 He has therefore dated three important men in the 
 history of science a full century or more too near to 
 our own times, viz., Ctesibius, Philon, and Heron of 
 Alexandria. Athenseus was undoubtedly mistaken 
 when he wrote Euergetes II. It shotJd have been 
 Euergetes I.; but, as he was recounting an historical 
 event of five hundred years before his own time, 
 Athenseus was liable to such slips. Euergetes L 
 succeeded Ptolemy Philadelphus, but the invention 
 of the organ must be referred to the earlier of the 
 two reigns. 
 
 An epigram, by Hedylus, fixes the date con- 
 clusively, and a copy of this epigram is included in 
 Athenseus's own book.* He must therefore have 
 forgotten it when he wrote Euergetes II. Hedylus 
 therein alludes to the temple of Arsinoe, to the 
 Hydraulic, Organ, and to Ctesibius as its inventor. 
 
 » Deipno-SopMats, lib. li. cap. 97, p. 497. 
 
VARIOUS MEANINGS OP ORGAN. 327 
 
 This Hedylus was the rival of Callimachus, who 
 was librarian to Ptolemy Philadelphus, or Ptolemy 
 II. Upon the authority of Hedylus, or even upon 
 that of the epigram alone, without the name of its 
 author, there can be no reasonable doubt as to the 
 date of Ctesibius. No one would be found to pay 
 homage to the deceased Arsinoe, as to a divinity, 
 after her brother-husband's death. 
 
 There is often a difficulty as to the precise mean- 
 ing, of the word "organ" in Greek and in Latin, when 
 it is unaccompanied by further explanation. Any 
 simple mechanical invention, musical or otherwise, 
 was an organ. Ordinarily, the best translation is 
 the first of those given by LiddeU and Scott, " an 
 instrument;" for it might be a surgical instrument; 
 or it might be a musical instrument, such as a simple 
 pipe; or even an organ of sense, as the instrument 
 of reasoning, or of other power, Vitruvius draws a 
 distinction between an organ and a machine, as that 
 a machine requires the labour of several persons, or 
 a greater exertion of power by one than is required 
 for an organ ; whereas all the powers of an organ may 
 be exhibited, without any especial exertion, by one 
 alone.* It is not, therefore, to be inferred, as it has 
 been by some musical writers, that a Greek organon, 
 or a Latin organum, must necessarily mean a musical 
 instrument; but rather that every manufactured 
 musical instrument might be included under the 
 designation of organon, 
 
 " "Inter macliinaa et organa id scorpionis, sen aniaocyolornm ver- 
 
 videtur esse discrimen, quod ma- sationes. Ergo et organa et 
 
 chinse pluribna opens, ant vi majore, machinanim ratio ad usum sunt 
 
 eoguntur effectua habere ; uti balis- neeessaria, sine qnibua nulla res 
 
 tsB, torculariommque prela. Organa potest esse non impedita." — (Vitru- 
 
 antem uniua operas prudenti tactu viua, lib. x. cap. 1.) 
 perjiciunt quod propositum est ; nti 
 
328 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 The first full description of the Hydraulic Organ 
 is by Heron of Alexandria, who was a pupU of 
 its inventor, Ctesibius. Ctesibius seems to have 
 flourished only some fifty years after the conquest 
 of Egypt by Alexander the Great; and, not only in 
 that century, but even long after it, all who desired 
 to obtain a thorough knowledge of art or science, 
 such as no European teachers could impart, sought 
 to place themselves under Egyptian masters. Philon, 
 the mechanician of Byzantium, the site of Constan- 
 tiuople, must also have been to some extent, if not 
 altogether, a pupil of Ctesibius. In his Belopoiika 
 he speaks of Ctesibius iu the past tense, as having 
 resided in Alexandria, and of his having explained 
 to him the nature of air, and especially its elasticity. 
 He refers also to several inventions by Ctesibius, 
 and, among them, to the HydrauHc Organ. Philon 
 defines it as a kind of "syrinx played by the hands, 
 which we call hydrauHs;" and he adds, that the kind 
 of bellows, by which the pnigeus, or air-condenser, 
 was filled with air, was made of copper." It was, in 
 fact, nothing more than a condensing syringe, which 
 is just the opposite ■ of the modem air-pump, or 
 exhausting syringe; for the first pumps air into a 
 receiver, and the second withdraws the air. The 
 Egyptians had for ages before employed smaU syringes 
 for injecting embalming fluids into the bodies of the 
 dead. 
 
 The second full description of the Hydraulic Organ 
 is by Yitruvius PoUio, in his discursive treatise upon 
 Architecture. The date of this treatise is stated to 
 be between B.C. 20 and 11. Although there have 
 
 ""Kai yAp kiri Trjs aipiyyoQ Trjs ivrijiiSan m/iyia vapamjiirovaa ^v 
 Kpov/isvrie rdic X'P"'"! ^'' ^6yo/i£j/ xaXiaj."^ Vetera Mathematka, p. 
 iSpaiXriv, ri (jivaa if ri> Trvev/ia eiQ rbv 77. ) 
 
A MISTAKE BY ATHEN^US. 329 
 
 been mimberless commentators upon the works of 
 Heron and of Vitruvius, tlie Hydraulic Organ has 
 not been sufficiently explained, and does not seem 
 even now to be fully understood. 
 
 I argue thus, from stUl reading Athenseus's 
 erroneous description quoted by an eminent scholar, 
 in one of the latest English books. Thus, currency 
 is given to the fable of " the pipes having been bent 
 down into water," and "the water being ' pounded' 
 by an attendant." EYom this it is evident that the 
 mistake of Athenseus has not yet been satisfactorily 
 proved. .. 
 
 Athenseus knew nothing except by hearsay about 
 the Hydraulic Organ, for he goes so far as to assert 
 that it was debated whether it ought to be classed 
 among wind or stringed instruments." If he had 
 understood its construction, he would have ridiculed 
 such a discussion. 
 
 Neither Sir John Hawkins nor Dr. Burney, our 
 two recognised musical historians, has rendered any 
 assistance towards correcting the error of Athenaeus 
 — they give up the instrument as incomprehensible. 
 Neither does the Hydraulic Organ seem to be better 
 understood in Germany than in England, if an 
 opinion may be formed from the labours of one of 
 the latest exponents of the musical instruments of 
 the ancients. In a work of such a class, some special 
 study of the subject might reasonably be expected, 
 but Herr Volkmann informs his readers that " the 
 pipes of the organ were filled with air through the 
 compression of water enclosed in a bronze receiver, 
 which water boys were stirring about." Also, that 
 "the organ was played upon with difficulty, and 
 
 ^ Lib. iv. cap. 75. 
 
330 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 vsdtli considerable exertion."* As to the difficulty 
 of performing upon the instrument, Herr Volkmann 
 seems to have mistaken the labours of the bellows- 
 blower for those of the organist. The organ itself 
 was of very light touch, and the labour of filling it 
 with air fell upon the attendants. As to "the 
 compression of water," the learned writer must be 
 ■understood to mean " compression of air by water," 
 which is not over-clearly expressed. The boys did 
 but pump in air; and the air was enclosed imder a 
 receiver, into which water had free ingress and 
 egress. Water is practically incompressible. 
 
 I shall have occasion to explain the principle of 
 the instrument hereafter, and will now only adduce 
 the evidence of Claudian, as an eye-witness to the 
 lightness of the touch. 
 
 In one of his poems, Claudian lauds the organist 
 as " He who, sending forth powerful rolling sounds 
 by his light touch, can cause the countless tones, 
 which spring from the graduated multitude of bronze 
 pipes, to resound to his wandering finger ; and who, 
 by a beam-like lever, can arouse from their depths 
 the struggling waters iato song.""" 
 
 These lines are thus versified by Dr. Busby : — 
 
 " With flying fingers, as they lightsome bound, 
 From brazen tubes he draws the pealing sound. 
 
 " "Etsi BBgre et magna cum {De Organia, sive Instrumentis vete- 
 
 Tirimn intentione tangebatur. Com- rum Epvmetrrmn, p. 150, appended 
 
 pressione aquse arose senese inclusae, to Plutarchi de Musica. Leipzig, 
 
 quam aliqiii pueri organarii move- Teubner. 1856.) 
 bant, fiatnlse aere inflabantur." — 
 
 ^ "Bt qui magna levi detrudens murmura taotu, 
 Innumeras vocea eegetia modulatus ahense, 
 Intonet erranti digito ; penitusque, trabaJi 
 Veote, laborantes in carmina concitet undas." 
 
 —{De Consulatu Fl. MaUii Theodori, lines 316-319.) 
 
LIGHT TOUCH OP THE ORGAN. 331 
 
 Unnumber'd notes the captive ear surprise, 
 And swell tlie thunder, as his art he plies : 
 The beamy bar is heaved ! the waters wake ! 
 And liquid lapses liquid music make."' 
 
 Claudian refers to one of the large Roman organs 
 dating from the second to the fourth century of our 
 era, and not to those which existed two or three 
 centuries before the commencement of that era. 
 The pipes of the earhest organs were made of large 
 reeds, just as are those of the Chinese at the present 
 time, and not, at first, of bronze. But, from 
 Claudian's description, it appears that the touch of 
 the large Roman organs was equally light; and, 
 indeed, there is no reason that it should have been 
 otherwise, for the key-action of the one must have 
 answered equally well for the other. 
 
 One of the ablest commentators upon the Hydrau- 
 lic Organ, in modern times, is Isaac Vossius,'' in 
 his De Poematum Cantu, et virihus Rhythmi, 
 printed at Oxford in 1673. In this work he gives 
 a partial description of the organ of Vitruvius, and 
 suppHes many of the quotations which have since 
 been constantly reappearing in the works of later 
 commentators. During the eighteenth century, 
 perhaps the ablest treatise on the subject was that 
 of Albert Meister, in 1771." It is mainly copied 
 
 » General History of Musk, vol. i. years afterwards, was made a Canon 
 
 p. 220. Dr. Busby wrote " he of Windsor, dying at Windsor 
 
 heaves,'' which I have ventured to Castle in 1688. 
 
 change to "is heaved." 'Albert Ludov. Frid. Meister, 
 
 ^ Isaac Vossius is recorded to De vetervm Hydrcmlo in Novi Com- 
 
 have been bom at Leyden in 1618, mentarii Sac. Reg. ScierUiarum Got- 
 
 and to have passed the latter part tingensis. 1771. Printed at Gottin- 
 
 of his life in England. He was gen and Gotha in 1772, 4to, p. 158, 
 
 admitted to an honorary degree at et seq. 
 Oxford in 1670, and, about three 
 
332 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 from Yossius. Gottlob Schneider, in tis careful 
 edition of Vitruvius, supplied mucli that was desired 
 towards a correct text of his author, but he does 
 not explain the principle of the organ. 
 
 The comments of Vossius, of Albert Meister, and 
 many others, were published before the Histories 
 of Bumey and of Hawkins. Dr. Burney, remarking 
 upon them, says, "But neither the description of 
 the Hydraulic Organ in Vitruvius, nor the con- 
 jectures of his innumerable commentators, have put 
 it into the power of the modems either to imitate 
 or perfectly to conceive the manner of its con- 
 struction."* And Sir John Hawkins says, "So 
 imperfectly has Vitruvius described it, that to 
 understand his meaning has given infinite trouble 
 and vexation to many a learned commentator.'"" 
 And again, after publishing the Latin text of 
 Vitruvius, from a copy not over-carefully collated, 
 Hawkins adds, "This description to every modem 
 reader must appear unintelligible. "" 
 
 I cannot admit the existence of any such extra- 
 ordinary difi&culties. The descriptions are trouble- 
 some, as I found when scrutinizing that of Heron ; 
 but it suflSiced for me, after some reflection, to make 
 an experimental Hydraulic Organ, and it answers 
 perfectly. That which is now more wanted than 
 a new translation is an explanation of the principle 
 of the instrumen,t, and I do not doubt but that I 
 can make it intelligible henceforth to every one who 
 may indulge a wish to understand it. A mass of 
 learning has hitherto been expended upon it without 
 any very adequate result. 
 
 » Bumey's History, vol. i. p. 491. ' Hawkins' History, vol. i. p. 
 
 •> Hawkins' History, vol. i. p. 70, 8vo. 
 69, 8vo. 
 
PRINCIPLE OF the; HYDRAULIC ORGAN. 333 
 
 If only a thoroughly good translation of Heron 
 were wanted, there could not be, so far as I am able 
 to judge, a better than the one included in the 
 English edition of Heron's Pneumatika, or Spiritalia, 
 published in 1851. The translation is by Mr. J. G. 
 Greenwood, Fellow of University College, London. 
 Manuscripts must have been carefully collated for 
 the text of that edition. 
 
 The principle of the Hydraulic Organ is both 
 simple and ingenious, but it is one no longer in use. 
 To this fact we may trace, at least, one reason why 
 it has not hitherto been generally understood. 
 
 I have already said that the name hydraulic is, at 
 least in the modern view, incorrect. There is not 
 one "water-pipe" in the instrument — they are all for 
 air. The Greeks were not far advanced in science 
 when the public gave it this name. The earHest 
 description is in a Greek work on Pneumatics. 
 
 The ingenious application of water was but to 
 prevent the possibility of over-blowing the instru- 
 ment, and thus to save it from the destruction to 
 which the Pneumatic Organ was always hable from 
 that particular cause. Such an improvement was, 
 no doubt, the principal reason for the superior 
 popularity of the Hydraulic over the Pneumatic 
 Organ for many centuries. A second advantage in 
 the Hydraulic Organ was, that the condensing 
 syringe for injecting air took up less space than the 
 Egyptian-shaped bellows, which were trodden by the 
 feet, and which the sculptured Pneumatic Organs 
 on the Obelisk of Theodosius prove to have been 
 continued in use by the Romans down to the fourth 
 century of our era. 
 
 The apparatus for supplying wind to the Hydraulic 
 
334 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 Organ acted vertically, and not horizontally, as it 
 "would in bellows. The upright condensing syringe 
 was worked by a lever from below. It pumped in 
 wind, but no water. It injected air very spasmodi- 
 cally, on account of the elasticity of air, and as a 
 syringe it could act only at intermittent iatervals. 
 The distribution of the air was then equalized, and 
 the supply to the pipes was maintained by the 
 pressure of water returning to seek its level under 
 the bronze receiver, from which it had been 
 previously expelled by the air. The receiver was 
 opeii at the bottom, and, according to Vitruvius, its 
 edges were supported by wedges. Thus the water 
 had free ingress and egress. It is a well-known fact 
 that the pressure of water is alike in aU directions, 
 so that it must act equally weU upwards or 
 downwards. 
 
 The law is that " liquids transmit pressure equally 
 in all directions, and the pressure they produce by 
 their own weight is proportionate to the depth." 
 
 And now, for exemphfication, take a glass funnel, 
 and turn the broad end downwards in a pan of 
 water. Put a cork under the funnel, and it will float 
 upon the surface of the water. Jf you then cover 
 the smaller end' of the funnel with your lips and 
 blow down it, you will see the cork sink gradually 
 to the bottom of the pan. When it has arrived 
 there, all the water will have been expelled from 
 under the funnel, and, instead of water, it will be 
 filled by the breath from your mouth. The water 
 which you have driven out will necessarily mix with, 
 and raise the height of the outer water, which is 
 around the funnel, in the pan. If you then continue 
 to blow, your breath will only rise in bubbles from 
 
A FULL EXPLANATION. 335 
 
 the bottom of the pan to the surface of the water. 
 The elastic force of the increased quantity of air 
 within the funnel has become too great to be further 
 condensed by that insufficient weight of water. 
 
 Now, suddenly remove your Hps, and put a tiny 
 organ pipe, or whistle, into the neck of the funnel, 
 covering the pipe round with iudia rubber, or a cork, 
 to make it fit into the neck. As the pressure from 
 your mouth is now withdrawn, and there is a hole 
 through the pipe which permits the escape of the 
 air, the water will return, and in returning under 
 the funnel to seek its level, it will drive up the air 
 that has been enclosed, through the pipe. In doing 
 this it will keep up a continuous sound from the 
 pipe just as if it were blown from the lips. The 
 pressure of the water will continue untU it has 
 found its level within as without. The water 
 exercises the pressure of its weight upon the air, 
 and the higher the water in the pan, the greater 
 will be that weight. There is hardly a limit to the 
 compressibility and to the elasticity of air, (as 
 witnessed in the pop-gun, and in the air-gun,) but 
 water is not practically compressible, and therefore 
 is not elastic. It exercises only its weight. 
 
 This is the simple secret of the pnigeus or air- 
 compresser of the Hydraulic Organ. It is evident 
 from it that the Egyptian inventor understood the 
 compressibility and the elastic power of air, as well 
 as that the pressure of water is equal in all directions. 
 
 We may note also an advantage in this system of 
 causing water to return to seek its own level iinder 
 a solid open receiver. It thus becomes a more 
 powerful agent than if the same amount of water 
 were equally distributed as a weight upon the top 
 
336 
 
 THE HISTORY OP MUSIC. 
 
 of a drum-shaped receiver having elastic sides, 
 because the water expelled from the pnigeus will raise 
 the height of that in the pan or outer vessel, and 
 "the weight of water is proportionate to its depth." 
 
 But the pnigeus, or air-coinpresser of the organ, 
 had two pipes at the top instead of the one of the 
 funnel, and being made of bronze instead of glass, -it 
 was impossible to see into it, as through the glass 
 of the funnel. Suppose, then, that instead of a 
 fiumel, you use as an air-condenser a large pewter 
 basin, inverted in a pan of water, and, near to the 
 circular rim, which would support the basin if it 
 were upright, let there be two holes on opposite 
 sides. The first hole is for the insertion of a pliable 
 tube to communicate with the syringe by which the 
 air is to be injected into this condenser, and the 
 second hole is for a somewhat smaller tube, to carry 
 air from this condenser into the organ. If the wind 
 be then injected into the condenser, it cannot escape 
 through the second tube untU a key of the organ 
 has been put down, to allow it to pass, and, in 
 passing, to sound a pipe. The only means of 
 knowing whether this condensing receiver is well 
 suppHed with air, is to continue blowing until 
 bubbles rise from the bottom of the pan to the surface 
 of the water. Then as much air is inclosed as the 
 pressure of the water will retain. If greater loud- 
 ness be required from the pipes, it is only necessary 
 to take a 'deeper, receiver, and to add more water in 
 order to increase the weight upon the enclosed air. 
 Under any circumstances, the only way to make 
 sure of having a supply of air in readiness is to see 
 the bubbles rise outwards. 
 
 If the pewter basin were deeper, and it were made 
 
THE CALDEON AND THE EXTINGUISHER. 337 
 
 of copper or bronze, as was the Greek pnigeus which 
 was used for this purpose, it would resemble a 
 caldron, and the bubbling up of the water from the 
 bottom would, to a superficial observer, strengthen 
 the idea that it was really a caldron, and that the 
 water was boihng. 
 
 To that appearance we may attribute the Latia 
 name of cortina (the caldron), given to the Hydrau- 
 lic Organ — as, for instance, in the poem of JEtna, of 
 which a superior text has recently been edited, from 
 a Cambridge manuscript, by Mr. H. A. J. Munro, 
 late Professor of Latin in that University.* 
 
 In the sequel of this book, if it should extend to 
 the Middle Ages, more allusions vnU be found to the 
 supposed boiling of the water, to make the pipes 
 sound; one, even of as late a date as the twelfth 
 century, in the writings of William of Malmesbury, 
 
 It should be added that this pnigeus, or air- 
 condenser, was placed within a pedestal, made in 
 the form of a small altar, being either rounded and 
 like a very short column, or hexagonal with its base 
 in steps. The tops of altars were hollowed out, to 
 prevent the spread of fii-e, and the pnigeus was a 
 sort of extinguisher for it. The water in the outer 
 rim or basin of the condenser was kept incessantly 
 tossing up and down, because it rose at every fresh 
 injection of air into the condenser, and it fell again 
 
 " "Nam veluti sonat hora duci Tritone oanoro, 
 Pellit opus collectus aquae viotusque movere 
 Spiritus, et longas emugit bucina voces, 
 Cannmeque irriguo magnia cortina theatris 
 Imparibus numeroaa modia canit, arte regentis. 
 Quae tenuem impellena 3.TiiTn3.ni aubremigat unda : 
 Haud aliter summota furens torrentibus aura 
 Pugnat in auguato, et magnum commurmurat j^tna." 
 
 —(Lines 293 to 300.) 
 
 2 B 
 
338 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 at every emission of that air througli the smaller 
 tube int,o the organ, whenever the organist touched 
 a key. This accounts for the "toiling and labouring 
 of the water" so often referred, to, as by Tertullian 
 and others. 
 
 The foregoing full explanation of the air-condenser, 
 air-compresser, or pnigeus, has perhaps been de- 
 manded, because this contrivance of ancient science 
 is no longer in use,, but the condensing syringe, which 
 supplied the place of the ordinary bellows, acted so 
 much like an ordinary condensing syringe of to-day, 
 that, except perhaps as to the position of the valve, 
 it will be better understood by a glance at a 
 diagram,, than from any number of words. 
 
 The question then arises as to which of the 
 diagrams is to be offered to the reader. It cannot 
 be one copied from the small antique designs upon 
 medals or, gems, because they are too minute to 
 supply the details. It may be desirable to repro- 
 duce one further on, not only for the sake of the 
 true external appearance of the Hydrauhc Organ, 
 but also for the purpose of presenting to the enquir- 
 ing pubHc a portrait of one of the laurelled organists 
 of former days. StiU, for present use, some one 
 of the medifeval designs must be adopted, such as 
 are found in manuscripts, or in early printed copies 
 of -Heron's Pneumatika. 
 
 An objection may be raised to the one m- Vetera 
 Mathematica, and in other editions of Heron's work, 
 on the following grounds. Either the artist, or the 
 engraver, has so rounded off the ends of tubes, and 
 the mouths of cylinders, in order to improve the 
 picture according to his ideas of the beautiful, and 
 yet, so little in accordance with the description in 
 
SELECTION OF A DESIGN. 339 
 
 the text, that, instead of elucidating, they only tend 
 to mystify the subject. The worthy man saw that 
 the organ was infinitely larger than the air-com- 
 presser, and therefore he gave it a tube four times 
 the size of the other; and yet, in practice, the 
 intermittent action of the condensing-syringe would 
 require a channel double the size of the second tube, 
 which had to convey a continuous and equal flow 
 of air into the organ. Again, he has given a pretty 
 battledore-shaped shde under the mouth of the 
 organ pipe, instead of a straight one. It has at 
 least the merit of being large enough, but how it 
 was to slide in a narrow groove must be a mystery 
 to aU enquirers. 
 
 Choice is embarrassing, for each artist has had his 
 special prochvities. I have adopted the diagram in 
 the Harleian manuscript. No. 5605, and, ceteris 
 paribus, I was perhaps a little influenced in the 
 choice by a curious exhibition of idiosyncrasy on the 
 part of the good monk who must be supposed to 
 have designed it. It appears that he could not 
 induce his pious fingers to draw a heathen altar as a 
 support for anything, and therefore he left the 
 pnigeus dangling in the air. Our less scrupulous 
 artist has supplied the stand, but the reader must 
 not expect to find anything of the kind in the 
 manuscript. 
 
 No one of these diagrams is of any authority, the 
 oldest extant copy of the Pneumatika not being 
 older than the fourteenth or fifteenth century. The 
 text is the one and only reliable source for elucidation. 
 
 It may be well to note that the condensing 
 syringe, or wind pinnp, must be understood as being 
 detached from the organ; for, in this design, it looks 
 
 2 B 2 
 
340 
 
 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 very much as if it were under it ; moreover, the con- 
 densing syringe, or wind-pump, as here represented, 
 is of most unnecessary grandeur for so small an air- 
 compresser, or pnigeus. 
 
 ■KEY BOARD 
 
 JAj 
 
 The Hydraulic Organ of Ctesibiua. 
 
 Instead of the tedious series of three or four letters, 
 one for every angle of each part to be described, I 
 have substituted the names, which seem to be quite 
 sufficient for an intelligent reader. The lever by 
 
ACTION OF THE ORGAN KEY. 
 
 341 
 
 which the condensing syringe, or wind-pump, is 
 worked explains itself. The little valve to admit 
 air is at the top of the syringe, in the small box 
 above the shoulder of the larger cylinder in which 
 the piston works. It falls to a restricted distance 
 by its own weight when the piston is down, and so 
 it admits air ; and it is closed by the rush of air 
 from below when the piston is suddenly forced 
 upwards. That valve added greatly to the labour 
 of . blowing. The most important of subsequent 
 improvements in the HydrauHc Organ was in the 
 form and character of the valve. Instead of being 
 flat, as here, it was made like a cymbal, or of a 
 bell-shape, so as to catch the wind from below more 
 readUy. Again, its weight was balanced from the 
 outside, by hanging this bell-shaped valve to a Httle 
 chain, which was held in the mouth of a dolphin- 
 shaped balance. The dolphin moved upon a centre- 
 pin, and his head went down or up with the bell. 
 So he took off" the weight 
 of the valve, and looked 
 like a dolphin sporting. 
 Thus, too, the popular 
 idea of the agency of 
 water was further pro- 
 moted. 
 
 And now as to the 
 key-action of the organ. 
 The diagram is here en- 
 larged in order to show 
 more plainly the " little 
 key with three bent 
 arms," (the ayKwvla-Koi 
 TpiKoiXoi). It will be seen 
 
342 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 that, when the key is pressed down at its upper 
 extremity by the finger, it will cause the lid 
 of the box to slide on, so as to close it, and 
 thus to bring the little round hole in the lid 
 under the mouth of the pipe, and admit air to it. 
 The box ought to have been inverted, the mouth 
 of the pipe fitted into it, and the slide should act 
 below, instead of above, but then the action could 
 not have been seen. 
 
 The box should also have been exceedingly 
 shallow, so as only to take in hautboy reeds, and 
 the lid to sHde as in a box for dominos. The 
 shallower the box, the quicker woxdd the pipe 
 speak. The slide is the one important part, and that 
 alone is spoken of by later writers. The wind-chest 
 of the organ iacluded an air-channel under these 
 sHdes. 
 
 "Wlien the finger was raised from the key, there 
 was a piece of string, like the tape in a modern 
 pianoforte action, to bring back the key into its place. 
 The string was attached to a spring secured to the 
 case, and this spring was made of elastic horn. It 
 wiU be seen in the diagram acting upon the lower 
 end of the vertical arm of the key. The action is 
 very simple. The key turns upon a centre-piQ, like 
 two spokes of a wheel upon its axle. 
 
 It has been argued that the Greeks had no keys 
 to their organs, because such a word as Tdeis, which 
 would express the key to a fastening or lock, is not 
 named in connection with musical instruments. 
 But it should be remembered that we employ the 
 Enghsh word idiomatically. Even in Latin, Vitru- 
 vius uses pinna for an organ-key for playing upon 
 the instrument, and would only adopt such a word 
 
REASONS FOB, A FREE TRANSLATION. 343 
 
 aa clams for a key in the literal sense, if it were to 
 lock up the instrument. 
 
 The hydraulic action of modern organs does not 
 bear any resemblance to the ancient. The object of 
 the present hydraulic action is only to diminish the 
 weight of the touch. 
 
 The following is the invention of Ctesibius, as 
 described by Heron of Alexandria. I give a free 
 translation, because it will save trouble to all 
 readers. For instance, a word like hanon is here 
 used in half-a-dozen different senses. Any straight 
 rod, beam, pole, or rule of any kind is a Tcanon, 
 besides its other meanings. Here, it is at one time 
 a piston-rod ; next, the beam of a lever ; thirdly, 
 the fulcrum upon which the lever works ; fourthly, 
 it is a part of the case within the organ. To give 
 at once its precise name saves the reader the trouble 
 of gathering from the description what kind of 
 hanon is there intended. The most tiresome part 
 of aU indefinite or technical descriptions is the 
 summing up of an author's words to find out his 
 meaning. 
 
 Heron's Pneumatiha, or Spintalia, has not been 
 reprinted in Greek for the last two centuries, 
 therefore, that part of the work which contains 
 the description of the Hydrauhc Organ is now 
 freed from abbreviations, and subjoined in modem 
 types. The only exception is, as to the three letters, 
 koppa, sampi, and stigma, which are only here 
 employed to denote parts of the instrument, and 
 therefore do not give any trouble : — 
 
344 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 "THE CONSTBTTCTION OF THE HYDRAULIC ORGAN.* 
 
 " Let there be a smaE. altar-like pedestal of 
 bronze (a^yS), containihg water. In the water let 
 there be a convex hemisphere, called a pnigeua 
 {e^vO), retaining a free passage for water underneath 
 it. From and through the top of this pnigeus, let 
 two tubes be carried above the pedestal; one of them 
 (tlKX/j.) bending downwards outside the pedestal, and 
 communicating with the box of a condensing syringe 
 (v^ott), having its mouth downwards, and its inner 
 surface made smooth and true to fit a piston. Let 
 the piston (per) be weU fitted into this box, or 
 cylinder, so that no air may escape by its side, and 
 to the piston attach a very strong piston-rod (rv). 
 Again, to this piston-rod attach a transverse rod 
 ■{ijcj)), which shall act as a centre-pin (at v), and work 
 as a lever upon an upright fulcrum {^x)> 'v^hich 
 must be firmly set. 
 
 "Into' the inverted bottom of the box above 
 described insert another box of small size {oo), with 
 its mouth quite open to the larger, but closed above, 
 and having a hole through the upper part, by which 
 air may enter into the larger box. But under this 
 
 "'■"ICSpavXucov'OpyavovKaraaicsvii. irpbg ifipoXsa airBifiyaviiivriv. Tavry 
 
 EiTrw ne Pio/uaKOQ xdXicEof o (ajiyd), Si ^fijioXeiig apuoaroe ian> o {pa), Hare 
 
 iv If 'iSmp tOTiti ' iv Si Tif vSan koTXov Mpa /oj irapairviXv; Tif Si l^/3oXc( 
 
 fifiiaipaipwv KaTiarpaiifiivov Itmi, o av/iipv^s tarw fcavuv o (ru), iaxopoQ 
 
 toKuTai nviyeiie, o (tJijS), fX'^ ^'' ''V a^oSpa ' irpog Si rbv apfiol^oVTa 
 
 vypi^ Siappvaiv elg t& npSg n^ irvdfiivi irepog Kavcjv, 6 {vtp), nepi wepovrjv 
 
 idpt]. 'Airb Si r^e Kopvipijs airov Svo KivovfiaiOQ tjjv irpbg T(f (v) " o avrbg 
 
 dvaT€tvsTtM)(iav ' att}\ijv£Q owriTprifdvot Si .KtiXiiivivktjQts} irpbg opQiov leavova 
 
 airifi 01 iiTrip Tbv, /Sw/iteoj/ ' Big fiiv, tov (^) fii^riKOTa aff^aXwf . Ty Si 
 
 (iJ/cX/t), KaTantKa/iiiSvog eig rb ixTbg (vJott) ttvUSi iTructtaBiD Kara rbv 
 
 TOV l3(i)fiiaK0v jiipos, Kai avvnTprj/iivoe w9fisva 'irepov iw^iStov rb (w), avf- 
 
 TTv^iSi Ty (rSoTr), Kario to aTOfia TiTprtfikvov avTy, Kal immTraipaaiJiivov 
 
 ixoiuy, Kai r^v Ivroe iTrupapeiav dp9i)v sk twv avia fiepiiv, xai ixov rpvTnjfm, 
 
HERON^S DESCRIPTION OP THE ORGAN. 345 
 
 hole let there be a thin plate to close it, and let this 
 plate be upheld by pins passing through small holes 
 made in. it, and these pins are to have heads, so 
 that the plate may not faU off. Such a plate is 
 called a valve (platusmation). 
 
 "The second tube from the top of the pnigeus 
 (t^ is to be carried up to communicate with the 
 transverse channel (\'^), [included in the wind-chest 
 of the organ]. , Into this transverse channel the 
 ends of the organ pipes (aaa) are inserted, and have 
 their extremities enclosed in Httle boxes, such as 
 are made to hold hautboy reeds. The orifices of the 
 organ pipes (j8/3;8) are left open within them. 
 
 " The hds of these boxes are to slide over the 
 orifices of the organ pipes, and they must have holes 
 made in them, so that when the sliding lids are 
 pushed home, the holes in them may correspond 
 with the orifices of the organ pipes ; but when the 
 sliding lids are drawn back, they will pass over these 
 orifices and close the pipes. 
 
 " Now, if the lever b6 depressed at its extremity 
 (ip) the piston will be raised, and thus expel the 
 air which is enclosed in the box of the cylinder, and 
 the force of that air wUl close the hole in the Httle 
 box above it, through its action upon the aforesaid 
 
 SI ou irjp dacXivatrai lig rfiv irv^iSa. ra aro/iaTa avtiDyora iarii) ri (/3/3;8) " 
 
 *T7r6 Si rpVTnjfia XsttISiov ?otw, sttl- Am Se rdv CTOfiaTtjiV ra TrojfiaTa Suoadu 
 
 ^pacuov avTOf Kai dvexof^^vov did rpq^ara exovra, Sum eiffayofikvwv 
 
 Tpr][j,aTitiiv VTTO Tivutv TTEpovituv K£fpa\dg piv twv irojfidrbjv rd ivauTOig rpiifiara 
 
 IxoVTttiv &(rTi] p.ij iKTriTTTEiv t6 XeiriSiov' KUTdWrjXa yiyv£a6cu roXg run/ aiAuiv 
 
 Syj KoKuTai irXarvapdrtov. 'Airii SI Tprjfiaai ' i^ayopkvutv Si irapdkdfraeiv 
 roS (?>;) 'inpoQ dvaTtivina auiKriv 6 kui diro(ppdaaaai roig aiXovg. 'Edv 
 (??), awTCTpripsvog cripif) auX^i ovv 6 TrXdyiog Kaviiv miXujveiriTm Sid 
 vXay'uf Tifi (1^1), iv if emKCurOoxrav rov(0) ci'erAKarw/ilpof, 6 (po) l/i/SoXfif 
 
 01 avXol (ivvTiTpr]jxivoi airif, ol (a), Bat UBXi^u /KTeuipiZopivog tov iv ry 
 iXOVTSg, tK Ttuv xdria fispSiv KaOdirep [v^oir) irv^iSt dkpa, og dTrOKXeltrei 
 yXuitjaoKOfia avVT£7pijpkva airoig, b)V fuv to sv Ttp (w) irv^iStiit rpvirrijia Sid 
 
346 THE HISTORY OF MtTSIC. 
 
 valve. The air can. then pass out only through, 
 the first tube, and so into the pnigeus ; again, out 
 of the pnigeus, along the second tube, into the 
 wind-chest of the organ; lastly, out of the wind- 
 chest of the organ into the pipes, if the orifices in 
 the pipes 'and the holes in the sliding lids coincide 
 — and that is, when the lids, or some of them, are 
 pushed home. 
 
 " Therefore, in order that, when we wish any of 
 the pipes to sound, their orifices may be open, and 
 that, when we wish them to cease, these orifices may 
 be shut, we may do as foUows : — 
 
 [The Action of the Key.] — " Suppose one of the 
 reed-boxes (7^) to be separated from the rest, the 
 open part of its sliding Hd being S ; the organ pipe 
 above it being e ; the entire sHde that fits below the 
 organ pipe being t p ; and the hole in that slide 
 which is to correspond with the orifice of the organ 
 pipe being »;. Then let there be a key with three 
 little bent arms to it {^6 /«' f/.^), of which the arm {^9) 
 is attached to the above-named slide (■s-^, and the 
 key to turn upon a eelntre-pin at m^ 
 
 " If we depress with the hand the highest arm of 
 the key in the direction of the open part of the slide 
 
 Tov TrpoEipriiiivov irXarvaiiariov • eaBai, diroKXsitiTai, KaTatrKevaaojisv 
 
 Xiopriaet Sk Sia tov (/iXio;) auiXrjvos rdSe. 
 
 tig rbv irviysa. 'Ek de tov irviyidig "'SosiaBu) 1v tUv •fkiaaaoKojuav 
 
 •)(fj)ar\an Eig tov TrKdytov ffwX^va tov eyKsi^Evov x^P^-Q ^^ (y^)) ou rA OTOfia 
 
 iX^lt)) ltd TOV (t?) awXrivoe ' i/c Is tov larui tI> {S) • 6 Si mvTiTpiliikvoQ rovTif 
 
 ■TfXaylov OiMjvoe £'? Toiig avXoig avKbg o (t), n-u/ia Bi i&Tu) apfiouTbv 
 
 Xifpvmi, OTUV KoraXXijXa Eiy Ksi/ievn aiiTif ri (?p), Tpfijjui txn>v Tb (tj), TraprjK- 
 
 IV rots auXoic Tci iv ToXg v&iuiisi Xayjiivov airb tov (e) aiiXov. 'Eirro Si tiq 
 
 TprfjiaTa, TOVTiOTiv, 'iTav eiatiyfdva y Kal AyKuiviaicog TpiKuAog b (?9j[i*/t'), 
 
 rd TTii/iaTa, ffroi vavTO, 'ri tivA. aiiT&v. o5 rb (J9) kSiXov m)ji^lg fiiv IdTio Tif 
 
 Iva oiv, 'orav Trpomp<!>iJ,i9a Tuiv aiXwv (^?) Trtiftan ' irpbg Si T<f {/i^) mpl 
 
 TWO, <j)9'syyiadai ctvoiyriTai rd Ibkwwv Trcpovtjv Kivtia9<i> idmjv rrjv [ii'). 'Eav 
 
 TptifiaTa' '6Tav Si ^ovXiiiieBa irai- oiv KaTa^wiievTyx^^piTi {fi^) axpov tov 
 
heron's description continued. 347 
 
 (<5), we shall push the slide inwards, and when it has 
 reached the end of the box, the hole in the lid will 
 correspond with the orifice of the organ pipe. 
 
 " In order that, when we withdraw the hand, the 
 sHde may also be withdrawn mechanically, and thus 
 close the communication with the pipe, do as follows : — 
 
 " Rather lower than the reed-boxes, but at the 
 level of, and parallel to, the wind-chest, let a rod 
 (yu* fi^J be carried along, and to this rod fix slips of 
 horn, elastic and curved, one of which (m*) is opposite 
 to the reed-box (^7). 
 
 " From the top of this piece of horn let a catgut 
 string, well secured to it, be carried round the 
 extremity of the key {0), [the point of the lower 
 angle of the key,] so that, when the sliding lid is 
 pushed in the opposite direction, the string may be 
 tightened. Then, if we depress the upper part of the 
 key at its extremity (m^), we drive home the Ud of 
 the box, and the string draws after it the end of the 
 piece of horn, so as to straighten it by this traction. 
 
 " But when the hand is withdrawn from the key, 
 the horn, by returning to its original form, draws 
 back the slide away from the mouth of its box, so 
 as to overlap and cover up the hole in the end of the 
 organ pipe. 
 
 ayKioviaxov mi tov (J) aro/uov row Kei/tevov Kara to {Sy) yXiDcrffdeo/xoi/. 
 
 yXwffffOKOjttou, irapiiaoiiev rb Trujua eif 'Ek Si tov axpav avrov vivpa airo- 
 
 TO Iffoi fikpoQ ' wffT€, 'oTav lfjt7ri(7y sis SsQsiua dnodsSiiiaQd} irtpl rb {0) iiKpov, 
 
 rb ivrbs jitepof, tote to iv avTif Tprj/ia oiffre l^u) irapiaaBevros tov TriijiaTOS 
 
 KaTaXKrjKov Tif tov av\ov yiveoBai. TtTCUsBai rnv vsvpav. 'Edi/ ovv (cara- 
 
 'Iva oiv 'oTav aijiiKmiuv tt/v x^'P^j iavTSg Tb (/i") axpov tov ayioiiviaicov 
 
 aiiTOfUiTOV Tb iruj/ia i^iKicvaOy, icai wapdiaofuv Tb vtjfia eii; to tad) fispog, 
 
 'jrapcO^d^y Tbv avkbv, EffTai tclSe. ri vevpd kiriaTTMSSTai rb airaQiov, oJffre 
 
 "tTTOKtiaBd) vwb TCt yXdjaaoKO/ia Kavwv avopQCJaat rfiv Kafnrriv aiiTOV pif ' 
 
 Jffoe T<f ili^) ffwX^vi, Koi TrapnXXijXof "Otuv Si a^&jiiv, iraXiv Tb mradlov dg 
 
 aiiTif KeifKvos o {fi*fi^) • Iv Si TOVTiit t/jv s5 dpxnQ raXiv Kafivroiievov, 
 
 ifiininiykadiit airadia KspciTiva rfrova i^fKuvau rb iriuiia tov OTOiiaTOQ, oiffre 
 
 Kai smxEKaiiijiva, Siv 'iv laTui Tb {/i^) ■jrapdhXd^ai to Tprt/ia. 
 
348 THE HISTORY OP MUSIC. 
 
 " A contrivance of this kind being applied to the 
 box under each of the pipes, when we wish some of 
 the pipes to sound, we must press with the fingers 
 the key of each ; and when we do not wish them to 
 sound, we withdraw the fingers, and then the pipes 
 from which the slides are drawn away will cease to 
 sound. 
 
 [The Principle of the Instrument.] — "Water 
 is poured into the stand in order that the super- 
 abundant air — I mean that which, when driven out 
 of the cylinder, raises the height of the water in the 
 stand — may be retained within the pnigeus, so that 
 the pipes shall always have a supply in readiness to 
 enable them to be sounded. 
 
 " When the piston (pa) is raised, it drives the air 
 out of the cylinder, as already explained, • into the 
 pnigeus; and when the piston is depressed, it opens 
 the valve in the little box above it, by which means 
 the cyhnder is refilled with air from without. So 
 that, when the piston is again forced up, it will again 
 drive air into the pnigeus. 
 
 "It is better .that the piston-rod (tu) should work 
 round a centre-pia at t [where it joins the lever], 
 and this by means of a ring in the bottom of the 
 .piston-rod, through which the centre-pia [formed 
 
 ' ' TovT(DV oiv Kciff fxaarov yXwaao- a9ai, Trpof rJ aei txuv roie cdiXois 
 
 KOftov y£vt]9sVT0)v, orav ^ovKii/ieBd ^9eyyea9ai, 
 
 TivaQ'TtiiV avK&v ^9sYy£a9aiy KUTd^ofiEV "'0 dk [ptj] RfifSoXsig liraxpoiiwoQ jjhf 
 
 toXq SaKTvXotg t& kut Ikuvovq iiri rb dvdi, big dpriTcu, ISuSeT rbv iv 
 
 ayKwvitncm ' orav Si /joikbti ^9kyyta9ai ry Trv^iSi aipa i'lQ rbv Trviyka ' Kara- 
 
 j3ov\<iii£9a, iTrapovfiEv tovq iaKTvXovq, yo/icvos Sk dvoiyu rh iv T<i> Thj^ilitf 
 
 Kal TOTt vaitsovrai tuiv iriiinantv TrXaTva/idnov • St ov 17 Trwfif dipoe 
 
 iXKva9'tvrit>v. f Swdev irXripovToi " Hart trdXiv rbv 
 
 "Tb Si iv T(f ^(DjiiUKifi iSoip ifl/SdX- l/ujSoXIa dvaj9ovp,tvov iK9XiPciv avrirv 
 
 Xsrai, evsKa rov rbv Tripwasvovra dkpa eig rbv Trvtyia, 
 
 iv Tif miiyii, Xiyu ?>) rbv ix r^g irv^iSog ' ' BiXnov Si ian mi rb rbv {ni) Kcaiiava 
 
 i>9oviavov, i-iraipovra to ^liSutp avvix^- Tripi vtpovriv Kivtir!9m vpbi rif (r) 
 
FROM HEEON TO VITRUVIUS. 349 
 
 by the end of the lever-rod] must pass, in order 
 that the piston may not be twisted, but rise and 
 fall vertically." 
 
 Between the age of Heron and that of Vitruvius, 
 there is not perhaps any extant notice of the 
 Hydraulic Organ which wiU throw additional light 
 upon its construction. The description of Vitruvius 
 is ample for those who have some previous know- 
 ledge of the instrument ; but it has the fault of 
 being too briefly expressed to be intelligible to 
 others who have not had that experience. It is 
 evident, from the concluding passage of his chapter, 
 that Vitruvius did not anticipate any better result 
 from his labours. At least four attempts have 
 been made to translate his work into English, but 
 all have fa;iled at this point. The last two are by 
 Newton and Gwilt. Newton leaves the hard words 
 as they stand in the original, trusting that their 
 meanings may be discovered by the reader. He 
 writes of the "little cistern which supports the 
 head of the machine," instead of the wind-chest of 
 the organ, and of " brass buckets with movable 
 pistons." The late Joseph Gwilt, who was learned 
 in music of the Madrigalian era, has nevertheless 
 misconceived the Hydrauhc Organ. He translates 
 manuhreis ferreis "with iron finger-boards," (instead 
 of "with iron handles,") although, in the next line, 
 these handles are to be tiumed round. 
 
 For these reasons, the first object of a new 
 
 SiTOpfiiag ovar]Q Iv Ttf TniBjikvi tov l^jSoXca ;ii} SuxuTB^iaOai, akX 6pBbv 
 ijiPoXiioQ apjioaBtiaiTOi, di ^s Ssfiaa avuBeiaQai « icai KaTayeadai." 
 
 TTEpOVTiV SL(o6sltT9al, TTpOQ TO TOV 
 
350 
 
 THE HISTOEY OF MUSIC. 
 
 attempt should be to write so explicitly as to make 
 it possible that every one may understand. I 
 therefore amplify the description of Yitruvius, and 
 appeal rather to his words, to justify the construc- 
 tion I have put upon them, than offer such a 
 literal translation as may hereafter be made by 
 any one, with the assistance of the paraphrase. 
 The sentences of Vitruvius are exceedingly long and 
 interwoven, and I have therefore divided them into 
 parts. Further than this — Yitruvius having two 
 condensing syringes, or wiad-pimips, to his organ 
 instead of one, describes each part of them in the 
 plural number. He thus complicates his explana- 
 tions ; but as the two are ahke, it suffices to describe 
 one, and to reserve plurals for parts of that one. 
 
 The accompanying diagram is mainly a copy from 
 one made by Isaac Yossius for his De Poematum 
 Cantu et Viribus Rhythmi. Yossius's dolphins are 
 
ROMAN HYDEAULIC ORGAN. 
 
 351 
 
 made to work by the tail instead of by tbe bead, 
 because the text that he followed had ex cere, instead 
 of ex ore. He therefore referred those words to the 
 cymbals ; but as cymbals were invariably of metal, 
 the addition of ex csre would have been superfluous. 
 Isaac Vossius understood the instrument, but as he 
 was treating upon another subject, he did not com- 
 plete his explanation. Again, he wrote in Latin, 
 like Vitruvius, and so he left some technical diffi- 
 culties which neither Dr. Burney nor Sir John 
 Hawkins* could master. 
 
 THE HYDRAULIC ORGAN DESCRIBED BY VITRUVIUS. 
 
 De hydraulicis autem 
 quas habent ratiocina- 
 tiones, quam brevissime 
 proximeque attingere po- 
 tero, et scriptura consequi 
 non prsetermittero. 
 
 De materia compacta 
 basi, ara in ea, ex sere 
 fabricata, coUocatxir. 
 
 Supra basim eriguntur 
 regulse dextra ac sinis- 
 
 " Sir John Hawkins had no faith 
 in Vossius, because he -wrote that 
 the ascaules and utricidarii of 
 ancient times were organists and 
 not bagpipers. I do not doubt that 
 Sir John was right in his correction 
 of Vossius upon that point. No 
 one of the passages that I have seen 
 would justify the application of 
 either of the above names to an 
 organist. He is more reverently 
 spoken of, as the sldUed musician. 
 
 But I will not omit to 
 touch, as briefly as pos- 
 sible, upon the plan of 
 the Hydraulic Organ, and 
 to express, as weU as I can 
 in writing, the principle 
 of its construction. 
 
 A bronze altar-shaped 
 pedestal is set upon a 
 basis of timber. 
 
 Upon this same basis 
 are straight bars of wood, 
 
 or the master. Theodoret uses the 
 word askoi, (literally, hides of 
 animals,) for bellows ; but instead 
 of the organist being aslcaules, he 
 terms V^iTn the artist or musician 
 (technites) in the same sentence. In 
 the quotation to follow from Sue- 
 tonius, about Nero, the HydrauHo 
 Organ is named first, and the bag- 
 pipe last. The bagpipe follows after 
 the hautboy, or other pipe for 
 accompanying choruses. 
 
352 
 
 THE HISTOEY OF MUSIC. 
 
 tra, scalari forma com- 
 pactse, 
 
 quibus includuntiir 8erei 
 modioli, 
 
 fundulis ambulatilibus, 
 
 ex tomo subtiliter subac- 
 
 tis; 
 
 babentibus fixos 
 
 in medio ferreos ancones, 
 
 et verticulis 
 
 CLim vectibus conjunctos, 
 
 pellibusque lanatis ia- 
 volutos. 
 
 Item, in summa plan- 
 itia, foramina circiter 
 digitorum ternum, qui- 
 bus foramioibus proxime, 
 in verticulis coUocati, 
 
 shaped like the sides of 
 ladders, and erected both 
 on the right and on the 
 left of the pedestal. The 
 bronze cylinders of two 
 condensing syringes, (one 
 on each side,) are main- 
 tained in an erect posi- 
 tion by these bars. Each 
 of these cylinders has a 
 movable piston, which 
 has been carefully turned 
 by the lathe. The piston 
 has an iron elbow-joint 
 fixed into its centre [at 
 the lower end]. The 
 vertical arm of this elbow 
 is formed by the piston- 
 rod; and the horizontal 
 arm by a lever, the end 
 of which passes through 
 the handle of the piston- 
 rod, and thus becomes 
 the centre-pin by which 
 the piston-rod is raised 
 or depressed. It is 
 covered with unshorn 
 sheepskin [to prevent 
 noisy action]. 
 
 In the top . of each of 
 the cylinders is a circular 
 hole, of about the si^e to 
 admit three fingers; and 
 immediately above this 
 
VITE.UVIUS. 
 
 353 
 
 Eerei dolphini, 
 
 pendentia habentes ca- 
 tenis 
 
 cymbala ex ore, 
 
 infra foramina modiolo- 
 rum celata.* 
 
 Intra aram, quo loci 
 aqua sustinetur, iaest 
 pnigeus uti infundibuluni 
 inversum. 
 
 Quern subter taxUli alti 
 circiter 
 
 • In the manuscripta of the 9th 
 and 10th centuries {Hart. 2767 and 
 3859), this word is calata, in after 
 times changed into colcota, and 
 next into cWata. These were 
 attempts to correct, but the only 
 ■word to make good sense is celata, 
 and I do not doubt its being the 
 right word. As for chalata, from 
 
 hole is a bronze dolphin, 
 which is balanced upon 
 a centre-pin passing 
 through its middle. The 
 dolphin holds ia its mouth 
 a Uttle chain, which is 
 attached to a smaU con- 
 vex metal cymbal, with 
 a flat edge or margin 
 [like a modem cymbal]. 
 The cymbal is hidden 
 within the cylinder, [it 
 being just below the hole 
 so that the first pufi" of 
 air from below will cause 
 it to stop the hole]. 
 
 And now, as to the 
 altar-shaped pedestal. In 
 the upper part, where 
 water is maintained,- is 
 the air-condenser, called 
 pnigneus, which is of a. 
 convex form, like an in- 
 verted funnel. Under 
 the pnigeus are wedges, 
 which, in height, are, 
 about equal to the 
 
 XoXaw, to loosen, or let down, the 
 cymbal was too large to be let 
 down ; it could only be drawn up 
 through the open end of the cyUnder. 
 It could be let down afterwards; 
 and so we find calantes, or chalantes, 
 rightly enough in the other part of 
 the description. 
 
 2 C 
 
354 
 
 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 digitorum ternum sub- 
 positi, librant spatium 
 imuin, 
 
 inter labra pnigeos 
 
 et arae fundum. 
 
 Supra autem cervicu- 
 1am ejus coagmentata 
 arcula sustinet caput 
 machiiiEe, 
 
 quae graec^ 
 
 Kavicv fxova-iKos appellatur. 
 
 In cujus longitudine 
 canales ; 
 
 si tetrachordos est , fiunt 
 quatuor; si hexachordos, 
 sex; 
 si octocbordos, octo. 
 
 Singulis autem canali- 
 bus singula epistomia 
 sunt inclusa, manubriis 
 ferreis collocata. Quae 
 manubria cum torquen- 
 tur, ex area patefaciunt 
 nares in canales. 
 
 Ex canaHbus autem canon 
 habet ordinata in trans- 
 verso foramina, respon- 
 
 breadth of three fingers, 
 and tbey maintain a free 
 space below, for tbe 
 passage of the water be- 
 tween the lower edges 
 of the pnigeus and the 
 bottom of the vessel. 
 
 Above the neck of the 
 pnigeus is the wind-chest 
 for all the pipes, which 
 sustains the upper part 
 of the organ. The wind- 
 chest is called in Greek 
 " The regulator of the 
 music" (Canon musicus). 
 
 In the wind-chest are 
 air-channels running 
 longitudinally ; four air- 
 channels if for four stops ; 
 six for six stops ; and 
 eight for an eight-stopped 
 organ. 
 
 Each of these longi- 
 tudinal air-channels is 
 shut in by its stop, which 
 is worked by an iron 
 handle. When one of 
 the handles is turned 
 round, it admits air from 
 the wind-chest into that 
 channel or groove. These 
 air-channels have trans- 
 verse holes in them, which 
 open into corresponding 
 
VITRUVIUS. 
 
 355 
 
 dentia naribua quae aunt 
 in tabula summa ; quae 
 tabula grsec^ TrtVa^dicitur. 
 
 Inter tabulam et canona 
 regulse sunt interpositse, 
 
 ad eundem modumforatae, 
 
 et oleo subactse, ut faci- 
 liter impeUantur intror- 
 sus, et rursus reducantur. 
 
 Quae obturant ea for- 
 amina, plinthidesque ap- 
 pellantur. 
 
 Quarum itus et reditus 
 alias obturat, alias aperit 
 terebrationes. 
 
 Hae regulae habent fer- 
 rea choragia fixa et juncta 
 cum pinnis; 
 
 boles above in tbe table- 
 board, or sound-board of 
 the organ, wHcb is called 
 in Greek " The Eegister- 
 table" {pinax). 
 
 Sliders are interposed 
 between this register- 
 table and the wind-chest; 
 and these sliders are 
 pierced through with 
 holes which correspond 
 in size with the trans- 
 verse holes above-named. 
 The sHders are oUed, in 
 order that they may 
 easily be pushed in and 
 withdrawn. 
 
 These sliders are for 
 stopping the holes, and 
 they are technically called 
 "The Plinths," as each 
 forms a kind of basement 
 to an organ pipe. (Plin- 
 thides.) Their sliding in 
 and out will one way 
 open, and the other way 
 will close the holes that 
 have been bored for air- 
 passages. 
 
 These shders have iron 
 
 conductors fixed to them, 
 
 and connected with the 
 
 keys of the organ. Then, 
 
 2c 2 
 
356 
 
 THE HISTORY OF MTTSIC. 
 
 quarum piimarum tactus 
 motiones efficit regula- 
 rum. 
 
 Contmentur supra ta- 
 bulam foramina, quae ex 
 canalibus habent egres- 
 sum spiritus. 
 
 [lis] sunt anuli agglu- 
 tinati, quibus lingulse 
 omnium includuntur or- 
 ganorum. 
 
 E modiolis autem 
 fistulse sunt 
 continenter conjunctse 
 pnigei ; 
 
 cervicibus pertingentes- 
 que 
 
 ad nares quae sunt in 
 arcula ; in quibus asses 
 sunt ex tomo subacti, et 
 ibi collocati. Qui cum 
 recipit arcula animam, 
 spiritum non patiuntur, 
 obturantes foramina, re- 
 dire. 
 
 the toucbing of a key 
 will cause a correspond- 
 ing movement of its 
 slider. 
 
 On the upper side of 
 the before-named register- 
 table are the holes through 
 which the air must make 
 its egress from the air- 
 channels into the pipes. 
 These holes have rings 
 fixed in them, into which 
 rings the orifices of aU 
 the pipes are inserted. 
 
 And now, to revert to 
 the cylinder of the con- 
 densing syringe. Each 
 cylinder has a tube run- 
 ning from it to connect 
 it with the pnigeus, in 
 which the air is con- 
 densed, and out of the 
 pnigeus through its neck, 
 (which is formed by a 
 short tube,) up to the 
 orifice of the wind-chest, 
 over which orifice a weU- 
 tumed valve is placed. 
 When the wind-chest has 
 received its supply of air, 
 this valve closes the 
 orifice, and does not per- 
 mit the air to return. 
 
 Now, to go back to the 
 
VITRUVIUS. 
 
 357 
 
 Ita, cum vectes 
 extoUuntur, ancones de- 
 ducunt 
 
 fundos modiolorum 
 
 ad imum. Delphinique, 
 
 qui sunt in verticulis in- 
 
 clusi, 
 
 ctalantes in os cymbala, 
 
 replent spatia modiolo- 
 rum. 
 
 Atque ancones, extol- 
 lentes fundos iatra mo- 
 diolos vehement! pulsos 
 crebritate, et obturantes 
 foramina cymbalis supe- 
 riora, aera, qui est ibi 
 clausus, pressionibus co- 
 actum, in fistulas cogitur. 
 Per quas in pnigea con- 
 currit, et per ejus cervices 
 
 in arcam. Motione vero 
 
 vectium vebementiore, 
 
 spiritus 
 
 frequens compressus, 
 
 lever. When the handle 
 is raised, it depresses 
 the elbow-joint of the 
 piston, which is at its 
 opposite extremity, and 
 thus it brings down 
 the piston of the arr- 
 cyhnder to its lowest 
 point. Then the dolphin 
 which, as before said, 
 is set upon a centre- 
 pin, lowers the cymbal 
 which hangs from its 
 mouth, and thus refills 
 the cylinder with air. 
 
 On the other hand, 
 when the lever raises 
 the piston-rod, and the 
 piston is worked with 
 vigorous frequency, it 
 closes the hole above 
 the cymbal, and then 
 the enclosed air is driven, 
 by the pressure of the 
 piston, into the tube. 
 Through the tube the 
 air passes into the 
 pnigeus, and from the 
 pnigeus, through the 
 second tube, into the 
 wind-chest. By continued 
 vigorous movement of the 
 lever, the air being fi:e- 
 quently compressed, it 
 
358 
 
 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 epistoiniorum aperttiris 
 influit, et replet aninda 
 eainales. 
 
 Itaque ctim 
 pinnae, manibus tactse,- 
 propellunt et reductint 
 continenter regulas, 
 
 alteniis 
 
 Obturando foramina^ altef- 
 nis aperiundo, ex musicis 
 artibns, multiplicibus 
 modulorum varietatibus, 
 sonantes excitant voces. 
 
 Quantum pbtui niti, Tit 
 obscnra res per scriptn- 
 ram dilucid^ pronuncia- 
 retur eontendi; sed bsec 
 non est facilis ratio. 
 Neqile omnibus expedita 
 ad intelligendum prseter 
 eos qui in bis generibus 
 habent exeroitationem. 
 Quod si parum iatellexe- 
 rint e scriptis, cum ipsam 
 i-em coglioscent, profecto 
 inveniertt curiose et sub- 
 tiliter omnia ordinata. — 
 
 flows througb tbe' aper- 
 tures left open by the 
 organ stops, and refills 
 the air-channels that are 
 included in the wind- 
 chest with air. 
 
 Therefore, when the 
 keys of the organ are 
 touched by the hands, 
 they , continually propel 
 and bring back the 
 shdeifs, alternately clos- 
 iQg and opening the 
 holes. Thus, by the art 
 of music, these pipes 
 send forth their resound- 
 ing tones, with manifold 
 varieties of modula- 
 tions. 
 
 I have endeavoTired, to 
 the best of my ability, to 
 explain this obscure sub- 
 ject in writing; but it 
 is not an easy matter. 
 Neither will this expla- 
 nation be intelligible to 
 aU, beyond those who 
 have had some practice 
 in things of this kind. 
 But if they can under- 
 stand but little from this 
 description, yet, when 
 they know the thing 
 
THIN METAL VESSELS FOK SOUND. 359 
 
 (Lib. X. cap. 8 ; olim, itself, they will certainly 
 cap. 13.) find every part of it to 
 
 be curiously and ingeni- 
 ously arranged. 
 
 From the above it will be evident that there were 
 organs with four, six, and eight stops before the 
 birth of Christ; and, as a consequence, that they 
 had different quaUties of tone. The reed principle 
 was so fully understood, and so much in favour, that 
 its application to the organ cannot reasonably be 
 doubted. Organ pipes must have had sUders to 
 close or open them, and when there was any music 
 worthy of the name, these shders could only have 
 been managed by the fingers acting upon keys. 
 
 Before parting with Vitruvius, a few words may 
 be said about the metal vessels fixed in open spaces 
 among the seats, or otherwise near to the audience, 
 in Greek theatres, which vessels he describes in his 
 fifth book.- They were an ingenious and scientific 
 contrivance for assisting both voice and instrument, 
 and the principle upon which they were constructed 
 may be thus familiarly explained. 
 
 It is a well-known fact that, when a harp and a 
 pianoforte are in the same room, and in precise tune 
 together, a chord struck upon the pianoforte wiU 
 produce a corresponding chord fi-om the harp. The 
 sound-waves that the pianoforte has set into vibra- 
 tion have reached the strings of the harp, and they 
 have sujBScient power to excite new sounds in unison 
 with them, from the tightly drawn strings of the 
 harp. The efiect will be the same with two piano- 
 fortes if the dampers are up, and with other 
 instruments. This principle was well understood 
 
360 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 by the ancients. It is referred to both by Aristotle 
 and by Aristides Quintilianus. It differs, from echo, 
 which is but a reverberation of one sound. The 
 main body of sound travels like a billiard ball, and 
 it will either be returned or deflected according to 
 the angle at which it strikes the object. 
 
 The Greek vessels in theatres were for the purpose 
 of utilizing this waste power. The sound-waves 
 that were acting upon the ear of the listener were 
 at the same instant exciting new waves of sound 
 from another body, by setting it also into vibration 
 as a sound-board, when they would otherwise have 
 been deflected, or had travelled away. 
 
 The vessels must have had either a contracted 
 edge or hp, or else a hole in them. Sound may be 
 produced from air set in vibration by the edge of a 
 reed, as in a pandaean pipe ; or from the lip of a 
 phial, or from the hole in a flute ; but no sound will 
 ensue from blowing into a tea-cup. In that case the 
 breath will only be deflected. It requires- the strong 
 fiiction of a wet finger round the edge of a tea-cup, 
 or of a finger-glass, to set so wide-mouthed a body 
 into vibration. 
 
 The vessels thus set round the theatre were tuned 
 to the different notes of scales, even to quarter-tones, 
 because each vessel could produce but one note. It 
 is strange that this scientific contrivance should not 
 have been utilized in any way by the moderns, with 
 the well-known fact of the harp and pianoforte 
 before them. Surely it is preferable to reverbera- 
 tion, both from its adding power, and from its 
 simultaneousness. 
 
 About eighty, years after Vitriivius wrote, im- 
 provements were made, or attempted, in the 
 
KOMAN CONTESTS ON THE OKGAN. 361 
 
 Hydraulic Organ, but the nature of those improve- 
 ments is nowhere explained. Suetonius reports of the 
 Emperor Nero that, having finished a consultation 
 hurriedly when his enemies were approaching, he 
 passed the remainder of the day in exhibiting and 
 in discussing the properties of HydrauHc Organs of a 
 new kind, which he had resolved to bring out.* Just 
 before his death, Nero vowed that, if he escaped the 
 danger then threatening him, he would appear upon 
 the stage to contend for victory on the Hydraulic 
 Organ, on the pipe for accompanying choruses, and 
 on the bagpipe; also that, on the last day of the 
 games, he would appear as an actor and as a dancer.'' 
 All these dehghts were lost to the Romans by his 
 enforced suicide. 
 
 There are extant medals of the reign of this 
 Emperor, and of several other Roman Emperors, 
 which were given for victories gained in pubHc 
 contests of organ-playing upon the Hydraulic Organ. 
 One such medal, of the time of Nero, is in the 
 British Museum', and it has on one side the head of 
 the Emperor, with the inscription, " Imp. Nero 
 Caesar Aug. P. Max." The letters are, as usual, in 
 capitals, without stops between them. If in faU, it 
 would have been, " Imperator Nero, Caesar Augus- 
 tus, Pontifex Maximus." He was indeed a strange 
 
 » " Tranaaotaque raptim consul- '' "Subexitu quidem vite palam 
 
 tatione, reliquam diei partem per voverat, si sibi incolumis status per- 
 
 organa tydraulica novi et ignoti manaisset, proditurum se pro pairte 
 
 generis circumduxit ; ostendensque victorise ludis, etiam hydraulaan, et 
 
 singula, de ratione ac diffioultate choraulam, et ntricularium ; ac, 
 
 cujusque disserens, jam se prola- novissimo die, histrionem, saltato- 
 
 turum omnia affirmavit, si per Vin- remque Virgilii tumum." — (Sue- 
 
 dioem liceat." — (Suetonius, Nero, tonius, Nero, 54.) Macrobius 
 
 41.) C. Julius Vindex was then defines Virgilii twrmam as "canti- 
 
 marching with an army against Nero. cum saltare. " 
 
362 THE HISTORY OP MUSIC. 
 
 specimen for a high priest. On the reverse of the 
 medal is the portrait of the victorious organist, and 
 the inscription, " Laurenti nica,"* (The victory of 
 Laurentius). The victor stands beside his organ, 
 with a branch of laurel raised high in his right hand. 
 Laurel is upon the front of the organ, and on the 
 further side from the organist also are two branches, 
 where one of the condensing syringes should be. 
 The limit of space did not permit the introduction of 
 either of the condensing syringes into the medal. 
 
 There are other such medals of the reigns of the 
 Emperors Trajan, Caracalla, and Valentinian, in the 
 same collection. The last-named has the inscription 
 " Placeas Petri." In that we have a side view of the 
 organist who is seated, and of two organ blowers 
 who are working at the condensing syringes, one on 
 each side of the organ. A front row of nineteen 
 pipes is to be seen; but, in all such cases, the number 
 of pipes has been restricted by want of space. 
 Engravings from medals of the same class, and 
 copied from coins which are extant in foreign 
 cabinets, are depicted in Description General des 
 MSdaillons contorniates, by J. Sabatier."" In de- 
 scribing one of the time of the Emperor Trajan, 
 Sabatier has mistaken the laurel of the victor for 
 a, flaheUum. 
 
 In spite of these medals being " contorniate,"" or 
 " having an outer rim turned by the lathe, and 
 raised to protect them," they are much worn, and 
 consequently indistinct. They are all seemingly of 
 
 "Greek, vimi, Tictory. "Nica," * Paris, 4to. 1860. plate x. 
 
 says Dr. W. Smith, "aery with "Italian, oontorno. French, oon- 
 
 which each party in the circus tour, 
 encouraged its favourite combatant." 
 — (Latin Diet, sub nicd). 
 
PORTEAIT OF A VICTORIOITS ORGAJSTIST. 
 
 363 
 
 copper, which is much softer than bronze. For this 
 reason, I select an example from an antique gem. 
 It is a cornelian intaglio, formerly in the Hertz 
 CoEection, and now in the British Museum. As it 
 would be too minute to be distinct if exhibited in 
 the gem size of the original, it has been enlarged by 
 our artist. He could not determine the character of 
 the ornament upon the pedestal of the organ, but 
 Mr. Murray, of the British Musemn, has since 
 kindly informed me that it is a wreath of laurel, 
 and should have been carried round the centre of 
 the pedestal. The gem seems to have been intended 
 for the finger, being nearly the length of a finger- 
 joint. It was found to be too narrow to admit of 
 the portrait of the organist by the side of his indis- 
 pensable organ, if the organ blowers were to have 
 their share of fame, and therefore he has been 
 exhibited in ftdl face above it. It is to be regretted 
 that we cannot ascertain the name of this eminent 
 artist, but even his initials are not to be deciphered. 
 The medal is peculiar in exhibiting the victor in a 
 nude state, but it has this advantage, that we may 
 now admire his ribs and his collar bone, as well as his 
 good-humoured face. So great 
 a celebrity deserves something 
 more than a mere bust. 
 
 The two organ blowers have, 
 one the lever up and the other 
 down ; thus to work alternately, 
 and so to diminish the spas- 
 modic injection of the air. The 
 portrait of the before-named 
 victor, Laurentius, may be 
 seen in Dr. William Smith's 
 
364 THE HISTORY OP MUSIC. 
 
 Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, (under 
 Hyd/raula). A third organist, but oiie looking more . 
 like a woman than a man, is exhibited on another 
 coin of Nero, and by the side of that organ is 
 a horn-blower, with a cun^ed horn made of metal, 
 and of the largest si^e- — a very base instrument. 
 The horn is curved over the player's shoulder, and it 
 passes under his arm, to his mouth. A spear crosses 
 the circle described by the horn, and is seemingly 
 there placed for the purpose of steadying the horn.* 
 
 TertuUian, the most ancient of the Latin Fathers 
 of the Church, and who flourished in and after the 
 end of the second century, compares the soul of man 
 to the Hydraulic Organ. As the soul animates the 
 human body, and acts in every part of it, so does 
 the wind which fills the organ. « 
 
 "Behold," says he, "the highly portentous and 
 munificent bequest of Archimedes — I mean the 
 Hydraulic Organ. So many members of that body, 
 so many parts, so many joints, so many channels for 
 utterance, such union of different sounds, such inter- 
 changes between time, measure, and mode, and so 
 many rows of pipes; yet aU together form but one 
 huge pUe ! So the breath, which there pants by the 
 tossing about of the water, will not be separated into 
 parts, because it is administered through parts ; it 
 remains entire in essence though divided in its 
 working.'"" 
 
 • This ia copied into Guhl and oommeroia modorum, tot acies tibi- 
 
 Koner'a Das Leben der Griechen tmd arum, et una moles erunt omnia. 
 
 Romer, 8vo. 1164. p. 241. Sie et spixitua qui Ulic de tormento 
 
 ^ "Specta pdrtentoaisaimam Ar- aquae anlielat, non ideo separabitur 
 
 chimedis munificientiam ; orgauum in partes quia per partes administra- 
 
 hydraulioum dico ; tot membra, tot tur, substantia quidem solidus, opera 
 
 partes, tot compagines, tot itinera vero divisua." — (De Anima, cap. 
 
 vocum, tot compendia aonorum, tot xiv. o. Paris, 1664. fol., p. 273.) 
 
MUSICAL IDIOMS. 365 
 
 Tertullian was too full of his main subject to 
 think twice as to whether he was ascribing the 
 invention of the Hydraulic Organ to the right 
 person. He stands alone in attributing it to 
 Archimedes. Not only his cotemporary, Athenaeus,* 
 but also Vitruvius'' before, and Pliny" after his time, 
 unite in ascribing it to Ctesibius, as do aU earher 
 writers. 
 
 Three names were given to the sliders of the 
 Hydraulic Organ. First, Heron describes them as 
 "plinths" to the pipes; next, Vitruvius, as "straight 
 pieces of wood" {regulce); and Pubhlius Optatianus 
 Porphyrins, a Roman poet of the age of Constantine 
 I., terms them "the square plectra." This was, 
 no doubt, from their acting like the plectra of the 
 lyre in exciting sound, although from pipes. The 
 wind itself had a stronger claim to the designation 
 of plectrum, in an organ. These changes in the 
 names of sliders have been a puzzle to all com- 
 mentators. 
 
 As I shall not again speak of the plectrum, it is 
 well to notice two Latin idioms, intus canere, and 
 foris canere. In touching the lyre with the plec- 
 trum, the hand was projected outwards, and so 
 away from the lyre. That was foris canere. The 
 fingers of the left hand were behind the strings of 
 the lyre, and when they were used in playing, the 
 fingers were drawn in towards the palm of the 
 hand and the body of the player. That was intus 
 canere. Hence, intus canere became proverbial for 
 the action of a petty thief, who would draw in 
 anything upon which he could lay his hands, and 
 
 - Athenteua, lib. iv. eap. 75, p. * Vitruvius, lib. ix. cap. 9. 
 
 174 c. ' I'l™y> lib. Tii cap. 37. 
 
366 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 sometimes also for a glutton. Again, thieves were, 
 for a like reason, hinted at as Aspendii Citharistce, 
 because Aspendius was a famous performer on the 
 lyre and cithara, who rejected the use of a plectrum, 
 and played upon all the strings of the cithara with 
 his left hand. Therefore his performances were 
 altogether of the intus canere class. Cicero com- 
 pares Yerres to Aspendius in one of his orations," 
 and Asconius comments upon the passage; but it is 
 desirable that the modern reader should know the 
 position of the hands upon the cithara in. order to 
 appreciate the two allusions. 
 
 The Hydraulic Organ forms the subject of one of 
 the poems of the before-najneid PubUlius Optatianus. 
 For some reason now unknown, he" had been 
 banished from Rome ; and, in order to be allowed 
 to return, he addressed a panegyric in the form of 
 a set of short poems to the Emperor Constantine I. 
 This flattery was sufl&ciently acceptable to Con- 
 stantine to accomplish the object of the poet ; and, 
 further, it established him in the Emperor's favour. 
 
 Among these poems are three which are respectively 
 entitled " An AJtar," "A Syrinx," and " Organon,"' 
 which is the Hydraulic Organ. 
 
 The last is a fanciful composition, which is in- 
 tended to resemble the form of the organ. Between 
 twenty-six short iambics and twenty-six hexameters 
 a single long line runs vertically, from the top to 
 the bottom of the poem.*" This may be supposed 
 to represent the edge of the register-board, upon the 
 
 * "Aspendium citharistam quern ° " Augusto viotore juvat rata 
 
 omnia intus oanere dioebant." — {In reddere vota." 
 Verrem i, 20, edit. Amsterdam, 
 1724. fol., vol. i. p. 290.) 
 
POEMS ON THE OKGAN. 367 
 
 surface of which the pipes are placed. The twenty- 
 sLx hexameter lines represent a row of pipes, and 
 each hexameter increases by one letter in each 
 succeeding line, just as the pipes increase in height. 
 The short iambics may be designed for the body of 
 the organ below the register-table. It is difficult 
 to decide whether so, or for back rows of pipes. 
 The pipes are described as of copper or bronze, 
 accompanied by others of reed. The organ is to be 
 so powerful as to be capable of causing the hearers 
 to tremble. The length of the pipes is no further 
 defined than that the smallest is represented by 
 twenty-five letters, and the largest by fifty, thus 
 making twenty-six in a row. The only guess that 
 cau be formed as to the length of the pipes is from 
 the allusion to the trembling of the hearers. If 
 the organ could cause a rumbling sensation through 
 the body of the listener, there must have been pipes 
 of at least 16 feet in length, but probably longer. 
 Cassiodorus compares the organ to a tower, and 
 the preceding quotation from Tertullian represents 
 it as a grand pile (riioles). Optatian speaks of 
 organ-blowers only in the plural number, without 
 specifying the precise number. 
 
 So many Roman Emperors admired the tone and 
 the power of the organ that — considering first the 
 pubHc competitions in playing, and secondly the 
 wealth of the empire, coupled with the luxiuious 
 extravagances of both emperors and patricians — 
 we may reasonably assume at least the occasional 
 use of the largest pipes from which sound could be 
 produced. There can be but little doubt as to 
 experiments having been made iipon the largest 
 scale. In the character of the Eoman nobles, by 
 
368 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 Ammianus Marcellinus, written about the year 380, 
 and quoted by Gibbon in cbapter xxxi., lie says : — 
 " But the costly instruments of the theatre, flutes, 
 and enormous lyres and Hydraulic Organs are 
 constructed for their use ; and the harmony of 
 vocal and iastrumental music is incessantly repeated 
 in the palaces of Rome. In these palaces sound is 
 preferred to sense, and the care of the body to that 
 of the mind."* 
 
 Having enlarged upon the pith of Optatian's 
 poem, his description of the organ may be trans- 
 ferred to a note." In order to observe his self- 
 imposed task of making each succeeding line to 
 consist of exactly one letter more than the former, 
 Optatian seems to have been driven into writing 
 quis for queis, and into spelling rythmus instead of 
 rhythmus. 
 
 It is assumed that M. Danjou was the first of the 
 modems who counted the letters of Optatian's verses, 
 and so found out their design. Attention was drawn 
 to this fact by my learned fiiend, the Chevalier E. 
 de Coussemaker, when discussing the difficult subject 
 
 aAmmianus MarceUinus, cap. vi,, edit. Gronoviua. Leyden. 1693. 
 
 ^ "Hsec eiit in varios species aptissima cautus, 
 Perque modes gradibussurget fecunda sonoris 
 ^re cavo et tereti, calamis orescentibus aucta, 
 Quis bene, suppositis quadratis ordine plectris 
 ' Aitificis manus ia numeros clauditque aperitque 
 Spiramenta, probans placitis bene consona rythmis, 
 Sub quibus unda latens properantibus iucita ventia, 
 Quos vicibus crebris juvenum labor baud sibi disoors 
 Hinc atque bine animaBque agitant, augetque reluctans, 
 Compositum ad numeros propriumque ad cannina prsestat, 
 Quodque queat minimum ad motum intremefacta frequenter 
 Plectra adaperta aequi, aut placidoa bene olaudere cantus, 
 Jamque metro et rythmis prseatringere quid quid ubique est." 
 — (Wernsdorf's PoetcB latini minores, vol. ii. p. 406 : or Annates 
 Archdologiques par Didron ain^, vol. iii., 1845, p. 272.) 
 
INVERTED REPRESENTATIONS OF ORGANS. 369 
 
 of the musical instrum^its of the Middle Ages ia 
 the Annales ArcMologiques of Didron, in and afber 
 the year 1844. I cannot follow M. Danjou in his 
 further inference that, because the letters increase in 
 length in each hexameter instead of decreasing, 
 therefore the shortest pipes were on the left of 
 the ancient player, and he must have played the 
 longest pipes, which form the base of the organ, 
 with his right hand instead of his left. There are 
 undoubtedly some representations of organs in that 
 form, but they are overbalanced by others which are 
 not so. On the two medals of Nero's date the one 
 is; and the other is not. An engraver who was not 
 an organ player, but a spectator, would perhaps 
 accustom his eye to the view he had taken when 
 facing the organist, and so would place the long 
 pipes on the right. The "hght touch" and the 
 "wandering finger" were far more probably em- 
 ployed upon the smaUet and more quickly-speaking 
 pipes than upon the large ones. 
 
 Again, an engraver may have thought it a matter 
 of indifference which view he gave of the organ, or 
 he may have forgotten to invert the whole of the 
 design from right to left for a transfer to a seal or 
 to a die. 
 
 The poems of Optatian may be dated in or 
 before the year 324, because, in one of the set, he 
 lauds Crispus, the brave and accompHshed eldest 
 son of Constantine, who was put to death by his 
 jealous father in that year. 
 
 .Among the remaining passages from ancient 
 authors which might be quoted as referring to the 
 Hydraulic Organ, I do not observe one which will 
 throw further light upon the construction or the 
 
 2 D 
 
370 
 
 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 chaTacter of the instrument, and only sucli are here 
 required. I therefore pass on to the Pneumatic 
 Organ, or organ blo-wn by bellows, more or less after 
 the present manner. 
 
 Since the bellows by which the organ was inflated 
 are the distinguishing feature, it may be well to show 
 first how these ancient bellows were worked. 
 
 In one of the tombs at Kouma is a painting of an 
 Egyptian smithy;'' the smith is heating a rod of iron, 
 and his two assistants are blowing the bellows. 
 These are, in every sense, pairs of bellows, for the 
 blower has one under each foot. He throws the 
 weight of his body first upon one leg, and then upon 
 the other, drawing up the exhausted bellows at each 
 movement of his body by a string. This mode of 
 
 An Egyptian Smithy with the ancient Pairs of Bellows. 
 
 action proves that in ancient times bellows were 
 furnished with valves, like those of the present day ; 
 for, if otherwise, the exhausted bellows could not 
 have been thus drawn up by the hand. The weight 
 
 » It is included in the great work 
 of Champollion, plate 165 ; also in 
 that of Rosellini, and in Wilkin- 
 
 son's Popular Account of the Ancient 
 Egyptians, vol. ii., p. 316. 
 
ANCIENT SKILL IN WOBKING OEACLES. 371 
 
 of depressing, and tlie weight of raising, wotJd have 
 been equal. 
 
 If we now turn to Herodotus, we shall find, 
 through an interpretation which the Lacedaemonians 
 gave to an Oracle, that the ancient Arcadians, the 
 most primitive of Greeks, employed bellows of the 
 same character. 
 
 The Lacedaemonians had been repeatedly overcome 
 in war by the Tegeans, and therefore sent to the 
 Oracle at Delphi to enquire which of the gods they 
 should propitiate in order to become victorious over 
 the Tegeans. 
 
 The jfrqpAef es, or priest, Who interpreted the Oracle, 
 judging wisely that, as the Lacedsemonians were a 
 brave people and had set their minds upon it, their 
 turn must eventually come, answered that "the 
 Lacedaemonians should become victorious over the 
 Tegeans." It would have been unsafe for the repu- 
 tation of the Oracle that it should predict a particular 
 date, lest the Tegeans should still be too strong ; so 
 the Pythian was reported to have added, " When 
 they had brought back the bones of Orestes, the son 
 of Agamemnon." That was indeed a safe prophecy, 
 for the Lacedaemonians knew absolutely less about 
 the bones of Orestes than we do about the bones of 
 Moses. They could not even tell in what countiy 
 Orestes had died. If, then, the Lacedaemonians 
 should again be beaten, although they had brought 
 home certain bones which they supposed to be 
 those of Orestes, it would be argued that the Oracle 
 was true, and that the error was altogether on the 
 part of the Lacedaemonians, in having brought home 
 the bones of the wrong person. 
 
 A further advantage was to be gained by the 
 
 2d 2 
 
372 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 charming vagueness of the reply. It must entail a 
 second consultation of the Oracle ; and then the 
 brief was likely to be endorsed with a liberal 
 consultation fee, considering the weight of the 
 cause, the promise of success already made, and 
 the desirability of propitiating the god through his 
 ministers. 
 
 All was wisely judged. The Lacedaemonians 
 went a second time to entreat further information. 
 The priests still took care to have plenty of loop- 
 hole, for they alone could interpret the Pythian. 
 They instructed the Lacedsemonians to search for 
 the bones of Orestes iii the enemy's country ; to 
 
 Seek for them where two winds with strong compulsion are blowing, 
 Stroke ever answering stroke, and woe upon woe ever growing. 
 
 This lucid exposition gave considerable occupation 
 to Lacedaemonian brains, but luckily there was one 
 sagacious fellow among them, named Lichas. He 
 had heard from a smith, (whether blacksmith or 
 whitesmith is not expressed,) that being about to 
 dig a well by his smithy, ia Tegea, he had found 
 there the body of a man of great size, which had 
 been buried upon the spot. This was enough for 
 one so acute in making discoveries as Lichas. He 
 hired the smithy, stole the bones, and carried them 
 off to Sparta. For " seeing the smith's two bellows, 
 he discerned in them the two winds, and in the 
 anvil and hammer the stroke answering to stroke, 
 and in the iron that was being forged the woe 
 that grew on woe; representing that iron had been 
 invented to the injury of man."' Such confidence 
 did he inspire into the Lacedaemonians as to his 
 
 1 Herodotus, Glio, cap. 67, 68. 
 
ORGANS ON THE OBELISK OF THEODOSIUS. 373 
 
 having fulfilled the prophecy, that they were fully 
 convinced they coxild then beat the Tegeans, and so 
 they did. 
 
 And now as to the Eoman method of inflation. 
 We may descend to the fourth century of the 
 Christian era, and yet we find the same bellows 
 employed for Pneumatic Organs, according to the 
 sculptures upon the Obelisk of Theodosius. This 
 Obelisk was erected in the Hippodrome at Con- 
 stantinople, and on its white marble base are three 
 pipers playing upon double pipes, seven dancers, 
 and two Pneumatic Organs, one having larger pipes 
 than the other. 
 
 A representation of the entire subject would 
 exceed the width of the present page, and the 
 curious may see it in the Annates ArcMologiques of 
 Didron for 1845 (p. 277). It is included in one of 
 the learned articles upon musical instruments, more 
 especially those of the Middle Ages, by M. de Cousse- 
 maker. The representation is necessarily minute 
 even in the quarto page of Didron; and, since one 
 of the organs is alone required, I have availed myself 
 of the following woodcut of larger size from The 
 
374 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 History of the Organ by my friends Dr. Rimbault 
 and Mr. E. J. Hopkins, by tbe kindness of 
 Messrs. E. Cocks & Co. 
 
 These two men, or boys, ougbt to bave strings in 
 their hands, and to be standing upon different 
 bellows. AU that can be said as to this deficiency is, 
 that the sculptor has not descended to minutise. 
 The boys could be of no possible use as they are 
 represented in the engraving. 
 
 In point of date the Pneumatic system for the 
 organ is probably long anterior to the Hydraulic. 
 Heron's work was evidently intended to describe only 
 such inventions as were theji recent, or which had 
 some pecuHarities not generally understood. For 
 that reason, probably, the only representation of 
 the Pneumatic Organ included in his book is 
 of one with a windmill acting upon •the piston 
 of a condensing syringe. Thus it drives air 
 directly into the wind-chest of the organ, without 
 the intermediate action of a condenser. The pairs 
 of bellows might not have been worked so easily 
 by a windmill as could a piston, but the organist 
 would only be able to perform upon the wind- 
 mill-instrument when there was a sufficiently high 
 wind. 
 
 The main difiiculty in identifying the organ among 
 casual notices of musical instruments by Greek or 
 Roman writers rests upon the wide significations 
 of organon and organum. The organ may some- 
 times have been intended, even when the word 
 " syrinx " is used; for Philon explains an organ to be 
 "a syrinx played by the hands." The four principles 
 of musical pipes were evidently so well understood 
 by the ancients, that it would be strange indeed if 
 
A GREEK. EPiaEAM UPON THE ORGAN. 375 
 
 they had not utilised reeds which were too large 
 for the mouth, and too long to be carried about in 
 the hands. Still, we cannot look back for the organ 
 to any barbarous age. A love of harmony, and of 
 hearing several instruments in concert, must have 
 arisen before the organ would have been brought 
 into ordinary use. 
 
 The word organ retained its wide application to 
 musical instruments of all classes, down to the times 
 of the fathers of the Christian Church. For iQstance, 
 St. Augustine says that "aU musical instruments 
 are called organa — not merely the organ which is of 
 large dimensions, and which is blown by bellows, but 
 also every kind of instrument upon which a tune can 
 be played, or which may be used for accompanying 
 the voice."* 
 
 The ipmperor Julian wrote an epigram upon 
 the Pneumatic Organ, in which he alludes to 
 its metal pipes and to its leathern bellows. As 
 the epigram is written in the form of an enigma, 
 it is less easy to translate. Dr. Biurney,'' Dr. 
 
 " " Organa dicuntur omnia instru- cavern beneath their roots ; while a 
 
 menta musioorum. Non solum iUud robust mortal, running with swift 
 
 organum dioitur quod grande est fingers over the concordant keys, 
 
 et inflatur foUibus, sed etiam quid- makes them, as they smoothly 
 
 quid aptatur ad cantilenam et cor- dance, emit melodious sounds." 
 
 poreum est, quo instrumento utitur He translates ayifmxoQ "a taU 
 
 qui canat, organum dicitur." — {Com- sturdy fellow," and says, "alluding 
 
 ment. on Psalm, No. 56. ) Augustine to the force necessary to beat that 
 
 has a similar coromentary on the kind of climisy carillon keys of this 
 
 150th Psalm, beginning, " Organum rude instrument of new invention." 
 
 generale nomen eat omnium vasorum Dr. Bumey had not read Heron, 
 
 musioorum, " &c. and expressed his inability to under- 
 
 •> Dr. Burney [History, ii., 65,) stand Vitruvius, therefore he could 
 
 translates thus : — "I see reeds of a, know but little about the keys 
 
 new species, the growth of another of Greek or Roman organs, and 
 
 and a brazen soil ; such as are not he derived his idea of carillon keys 
 
 agitated by our winds, but by a from mediaeval writers, 
 blast that rushes from a leathern 
 
376 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 Busby," and others, accomplislied it by passing over 
 some of tbe words, I tberefore attempt a more literal 
 version. 
 
 " I see reeds, or pipes, of a different kind : I 
 ween that from another, ■ a metallic soU, they have 
 perchance rather sprung up. These are agitated 
 wildly, and not by our breath ; but a blast, rushing 
 from within the hollow of a bull's hide, passes under- 
 neath, below the foundation of the well-pierced pipes, 
 and a skilled artist, possessed of nimble fingers, 
 regulates by his wandering touch the connecting 
 rods of the pipes, and these rods, softly springing 
 to his touch, express [squeeze out] the song.'"" 
 
 There are several words in the above which will 
 bear two constructions, and thus may form an enigma. 
 For instance, donax is not only " a reed shaken 'by 
 the wind," and " a reed pipe," but also " a metal 
 organ pipe." Theodoret uses calamus in the last 
 sense, in a comparison included in the third of his 
 Ten Orations on Providence, where he says : — " It is 
 Hke a musical organ which consists of copper or bronze 
 pipes, inflated by leather bellows, and which, when 
 
 * Dr. Busby gives a metrical translation : — 
 
 " Reeds I behold, of earth the rigid spoil, . 
 Reeds of a novel growth, and brazen soil ! 
 That not heaven's wind, biit blasts mechanic breathe, 
 From lungs that labour at their roots beneath ; 
 While a skilled artist's nimble finger bounds 
 O'er dancing keys, and wakes celestial sounds.'' 
 
 — {History of Music,lYol. i. p: 26.3.) 
 ■i " E(f opjavov fiovaiKov, 
 
 'AXKoitiv opoii) SovaKW fvmv ' ^jrou cltt oXXj/e 
 "Kahciiriq raxa fiaXkov dvejSKdaTriaap apovprig. 
 Ayputij ovS* dvsfioniLV if' r/fi^TSpot^f Sovkovrca, 
 'AW airb T(wpur\e vpoBopiirv amiKvyyoQ aiims 
 TikpBtv IvTplynyv icdKdfiuiv inrb piZ,av bSwu, 
 Kai Tig dvrip Ayepuixog, Ixiav Bod SdicrvKa xetpAf, 
 1aTaTai,dnfa(j>6iav Kavovaig av/ifpdS/iovag aiiXdv • 
 01 S" dvoKbv aKifrrSyvTtg, diroGKifiovaw doiir/v." 
 
 — (Brunok's Analecta, vol. ii. p. 403.) 
 
THE DECLINE OF LEARNING.. 377 
 
 played upon by the fingers of a skilled musician, 
 produces that enharmonic reverberation of sound."* 
 
 Cassiodorus, who was Consul of Rome in 514, 
 retired in the latter part of his life to a monastery 
 of his own founding. He there wrote, among other 
 works, certain Commentaries on the Psalms, which 
 he acknowledged to be, in a great measure, derived 
 from the comments of St. Augustine. In his exposi- 
 tion of the 150th Psalm, Cassiodorus thus describes 
 the organ of his day : — " The organ, therefore, is 
 like a tower, made of different pipes, from which, 
 by the blowing of bellows, a most copious sound is 
 secured ; and, in order that a suitable modulation 
 may regulate the sounds, it is constructed with 
 certain tongues of wood from the interior, which 
 the fingers of the masters, duly pressing (or forcing 
 back), elicit a ftdl-sounding and most sweet song.'"" 
 
 In this last quotation, there is sGme doubt whether 
 he may not mean an organ with sliders only; for the 
 word reprimentes would apply equally to " pressing 
 down" a key and to " forcing back " a slider — which 
 last is the effect produced by pressing a key. We 
 have in this case a Roman, instead of a Greek, writer ' 
 before us ; and one whose date faUs within what 
 weire once termed the Dark Ages. They were indeed 
 dark as to music. The organ was then falling into 
 disuse in Rome ; and, consequently, the art of its 
 construction was soon afterwards lost. 
 
 » " 'Opyaj/^) ydp loocev carb xoXicuiv diversis fistnlis fabricata, quibus 
 
 mjyKafiivtp KaKdniov, Koi. inr' daKuiv flatu foUimn tox copiosissima dee- 
 
 €K^vaovuivWj Kai Kivovfiivqi viro tSv tinaturj et, ut earn modulatio decora 
 
 ToB ■nxuWov SaKriiKiav, koX - dworE- componat, linguis qnibusdam ligneis • 
 
 XouJTi Tip/ Ivapiioviov Udniv rixnv." ab interiore parte construitur, quas 
 
 (Migne's Patrologia Oroeca, Theo- diaciplinabUiter magiatrorum digiti 
 
 doret, vol. iv. p. 590.) reprimentes, grandisonani efficiimt 
 
 ^ Organnm itaque est quasi tuiris, et siiayissimam cantilenam. 
 
378 . THE HISTORY 01" MTJSIC. 
 
 It is from passages of this indefinite class, and 
 from descriptions of rudely constructed instruments 
 of later date, that the employment of keys in ancient 
 organs has been doubted. Cassiodorus speaks of 
 organists in the plural number ; two would, indeed, 
 be required if the organ had but sliders. On the 
 other hand, he refers to playing it with the fingers, 
 and not with the entire hand, therefore it is stUl 
 to be assumed that the organ was provided with 
 keys. If the instrument had sliders, and no keys 
 to command them, either the entire hand or the 
 forefinger and thumb would be used, and not merely 
 the fingers. 
 
 The last notable point in the quotation fi-om 
 Cassiodorus is, that the sounds produced by the 
 organists are not termed harmony {concentum), but 
 simply an air (cantilenam). This may be because 
 he sums up the ••whole efiect as one ; but, if to 
 be taken literally, how greatly must the art of 
 organ-playing have declined in the early part of the 
 sixth century, supposing two persons to have been 
 required to play the treble and base of an air ! The 
 doubts of our earlier historians as to Greek and 
 Boman organs having been furnished with keys are 
 to be accounted for by their not having known the 
 Pneumatika of Heron. Neither Dr. Burney nor Sir 
 John Hawkins refers to Heron's work in their His- 
 tories, nor would they expect to find a description 
 of the Hydraulic Organ in a work professedly on 
 Pneumatics. Each, therefore, required better data to 
 enable him to form a sound judgment. 
 
 Having now brought down an account of the organ 
 from its earliest known date to the sixth century, its 
 future history will pass through the ordeal of a 
 
GREEK WORDS MISAPPLIED. 379 
 
 second infancy of music, in the Middle Ages, before 
 that noble instrument can emerge in its fuU powers. 
 The obscurity which reigned in those ages was 
 originally and mainly due to the indifference which 
 had so long characterized the Romans as to arts and 
 sciences which would neither tend to their pecuniary 
 advantage, nor assist them to an advance in the 
 State. Neither in the times of Boman "virtue," 
 nor in those after times of luxury and self-indulgence, 
 do we find symptoms of that earnest desire for 
 knowledge which was characteristic of the ancient 
 Greeks. It would be vain to search for a Socrates, 
 a Plato, an Aristotle, a Didymus, or even a Claudius 
 Ptolemy, among Romans. Bunsen has said, rather 
 severely, that " the divine thirst for knowledge for 
 its own sake, or for truth from a love of truth, never 
 disturbed a Boman mind." — [Egypt, i- 166.) 
 
 After they had conquered the Greeks, the Bomans 
 embellished their own language by so large an impor- 
 tation of Greek words, as to form no inconsiderable 
 part of a modern Latin dictionary ; but partly from 
 inattention,- and partly from insufficient knowledge 
 of the Greek tongue, they so misapplied many 
 of the words, as to cause the greatest perplexity 
 to such after-enquirers as have sought to learn 
 Greek arts through the medium of Latin inter- 
 pretations. 
 
 This was especially the case in music, but the mis- 
 application of Greek terms extended far beyond that 
 greatest of arts. Even in architecture, upon which 
 the Bomans especially prided themselves, indifference 
 as to the preservation of right meanings of words 
 was equally manifest. Yitruvius comments upon 
 some of these misapplied terms in his book upon 
 
380 , THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 Architecture ;* but, like a true Roman, not from any 
 desire to see them restored to their proper places, 
 but simply to explain the words for the benefit of 
 philologists.'* 
 
 Unhappily, there was no Vitruvius to explain to us 
 the misappropriation of Greek terms in music, and, 
 consequently, they have remained, to this time, the 
 great stumbling-block to an intelligent appreciation 
 .of the Greek system. 
 
 Further than this. Western Europe was taught 
 through the Latin medium that there are but three 
 accents (prosodiai) in the Greek language." Dis- 
 cussions have consequently been carried on for more 
 than a century, and many of the ablest scholars in 
 Europe have taken part in them, to decide whether 
 Greek accents have that quantity in them which 
 characterizes the accents of, modern Europe, or 
 whether they have not. Each side, indeed, might 
 claim to have been right, according to its different 
 acceptation of the word " accents" or prosodiai; for, 
 
 « 5. Inter duo autem peristylia ante januas vestibula; nos autem 
 
 itinera sunt quse mesaulcB diouutur, appellamus prothyra quae grawe 
 
 quod inter duaa aulas media sunt in- dicuntur diaiJmra. 6. Item si q^ua 
 
 terposita ; nostri autem eas andronas viriK figura signa mutulos aut 
 
 appellant. Sed hoc valde est mirau- coronas sustiaent, nostri telamones 
 
 dum, neo enim graece neo latine appeUamt; cujus rationea, quid ita 
 
 potest convenire. Grseoi enim an- aut quare dicuntur, ex historiis nou 
 
 dronas appellant oecos, ubi convivia inveniimtur. Grseoi vero eas cUla/n- 
 
 Tirilia Solent esse, quod eo muUeres tas vocitant." — {Lib. vi. cap. 7, 
 
 non aocedunt. Iteiii alise res sunt vulgo 10.) 
 
 similes, uti xystm, prothyrwm, tela- * 7. Nee tamen ego ut mutetur 
 
 mones, et nonnulla alia ejusmodi; consuetudo nominationum aut ser- 
 
 xustos enim graeoa appeUatione est monis ; sed ut ea non sint ignota phi- 
 
 porticus ampla latitudine, in qua lologis exponenda judicavi. — (Tbid.) 
 
 afhleiae per hibema tempora exer- " It remained so in the Eton 
 
 centur. Nostri autem hypaethras Greek Chammar of 1819, from which 
 
 ambulationes xysta appellant, quas I began to le^n. All boys were 
 
 GrsBci paradromi^as dicunt. Item then taught Greek through Latin. 
 prothyra grseoe dicuntur, quse sunt 
 
GREEK ACCENTS FOR VARIOUS PURPOSES. 381 
 
 while the acute and the grave accents have neither 
 stress nor quantity assigned to them by any ancient 
 Greek author, there are other prosodiai which have 
 quantity. Again, there is one for hard breathing, 
 therefore it involves the stress which has been 
 claimed for them. 
 
 Ancient authorities define accents as of three 
 kinds ; the first, for the pitch of the sound ; the 
 second, for its duration ; and the third, for the hard 
 or soft breathing of vowels and consonants. The 
 three which are for pitch are the acute,* the grave, 
 and the circumflex accents ; the two for time are 
 identical with those which are still used in prosody 
 to mark long and short syllables (- ") ; and the two 
 for the management of the breath are the weU-known 
 signs which are placed over Greek vowels, to denote 
 hard or soft breathings.'' Some writers, indeed, add 
 
 " Take the word dvBpiairot. The a 
 ia the highest vowel, and it has the 
 mark of the acute accent, it is there- 
 fore to be pronounced naturally, as 
 if there were no accent at all. It 
 may seem then to be superfluous to 
 the moderns; but in the genitive 
 case, av9pii>Trov, the voice is to be 
 thrown up on the second syllable. 
 Thus the accent becomes a pronun- 
 ciation mark, very easily exercised 
 upon long vowels, but requii-ing 
 more care in the case of short ones. 
 Mr. Hullah ranks the ascent of our 
 vowels, if with continental pronun- 
 ciation, and with the open sound 
 of 0, as U, 0, A, E, I, in ascend- 
 ing, and as I, E, A, 0, U, in 
 descending. High vowels are pro- 
 duced from the back, and the low 
 vowels from the front of the mouth ; 
 the lowest sounds require the lips to 
 be elongated. The circumflex, or 
 perispotnene, is necessarily long. 
 
 because it commands both a rise 
 and a fall in the voice, something 
 like its semicircular form. Dionysiua 
 speaks of it as a twisting round of 
 the voice, fi kutA ir^ptKKaffiv Iv ry 
 wepiffTTbifi^vy. The grave accent 
 signifles only the equalization or 
 levelling of tone, Kara bfiaXiafiov 
 iv ry ^aptig.. Both the acute and 
 the grave accents are included 
 among musical signs, sometimes 
 over letters, and sometimes stand- 
 ing alone. See Alypius, pages 4, 6, 
 7, 8, 56, &c., in Meibom's edit. 
 
 ' The following is the whole 
 passage relating to prosodia. It 
 commences with accentuation by 
 the mouth into the flute ; and next 
 on the positions of accents ; but only 
 the last part of the paragraph is 
 referred to in the text above: — 
 'lariov on TpiX'"S Xlycrai jj irpoaifSia 
 Kai (7«p) i) TTfljOa Tolg fiovaucoigj tovt- 
 Effrt TO OT&iia Kai 17 iKfittvrjaig tuiv 
 
382 THE HISTORY OF MXTSIC. 
 
 tliree more to the above seven, viz., the apostrophe, 
 the hyphen, and the short stop called hypodiastole, 
 but no marks, which were on the same level or under 
 the words, are generally admitted among prosodiai. 
 
 Prosodiai were signs to guide the voice in recita- 
 tion of aU kinds_, and out of those accents grew the 
 systems of ecclesiastical notation, called pneumata — 
 guides for the management of the breath, now called 
 neumes. These are abundantly exhibited in manu- 
 scripts of the Eastern, and of the early Western, 
 Churches ; but the two divisions worked out their 
 systems differently. Neumes did not originally 
 designate any definite notes or pitch, because musical* 
 intervals were not required in recitation. If any 
 fixed musical sounds had been designed, letters over 
 the words would necessarily have been employed, as 
 in Greek music, instead of such indefinite marks. 
 
 In the course of after-ages, some of the scribes 
 attached to the Western Church drew faint lines 
 through each row of the neumes with a plummet, 
 while others painted coloured lines through them, 
 first one, and afterwards two lines — red and sa&on. 
 These were to guide as to the starting notes of the 
 chants, and as to the degrees of ascent or descent for 
 the voice. Thus the present musical notation by 
 lines and spaces had its origin. Square and round 
 notes, to mark time, are of later date. 
 
 aiXSiv, \iyCTat irpoaifSia' koI ^ Iv ry koX tovoi /ih e/ot rpiig, 6^ua, jSapeXa, 
 
 iKijiiovfloei yivojikvq, TOvrkoTiv iv Tip jrepuTTruiiiivri • j(p6voi Svo, /rnKpa koI 
 
 irapo^vveaQcu \$^lv r) 6^ivta9m rj jSpaxwi ' Trvdiiora Svo, Saaila Kai 
 
 mpvairaaOai • Koi aiiTOQ 6 x^P'""'')? '/'iXq. "ETrrd ovv etaiv,' ms SsSeucrai, 
 
 tS>v Toviav, Kai tS>v yjpoviav, Kai rSyv ai TrpoaipSlcu. (Immanuel Bekter's 
 
 TTvevudToiv, oXov bliia, PapeXa, iripia- Anecdota Orceca, p. 706. See also 
 
 iru/ievT]. Tavra /liv iv rovTOig. 'larsov p. 674 the 2;^o\i'a tig ttjv Aiovimov 
 
 Sk on Ev Toie TTpoaifSUus rpia hriv ypaii/iaTudiv, and Porphyrius Ilepi 
 
 e'iSri ■ tan yilp rovoe, XP"""?! TrvcvjM.' jrpoaifidiae.) 
 
THE ORIGIN OF ACCENTS. 383 
 
 The word accentus, from wMcli we derive accent, 
 is compounded of ad and cantus, which is a transla- 
 tion of the Greek pros ode. Length of syllable is 
 therefore quite as much a part of accent, or prosodia, 
 as the elevation or depression of the voice. The 
 Latin word cantus, like the Greek ode, includes all 
 recitation of verse, and all irregular chanting, as well 
 as that which is governed by strictly musical intervals. 
 
 It is commonly reputed that Aristophanes of 
 Byzantium " invented" the marks for Greek accents. 
 This rests upon the supposed authority of Arcadius of 
 Antioch, who is said to have lived at some uncertain 
 date after the completion of the second century of 
 our era. But as Aristophanes flourished in the third 
 century before JJhrist, the uncorroborated evidence 
 of Arcadius is insufficient to establish an event 500 
 years before his own time. Moreover, his account is 
 irreconcilable with passages referring to accents in 
 the works of ancient authors, such as the one I 
 have already quoted from Aristoxenus {p. 89, note 
 a). Aristoxenus flourished a century before Aris- 
 tophanes of Byzantium. Again, recitation of the 
 Homeric poems had been an especial subject for 
 competition in the public games of Greece from the 
 far earher date of Terpander ; and the copies of these 
 poems are said to have been irregular in metre 
 until they received the polish of the Alexandrian 
 grammarians. Aristophanes was one of the most 
 eminent of those grammarians. Irregularities in the 
 Homeric poems were excused, because they had been 
 written for chanting. The very irregularities made 
 those simplest of marks (which required no genius 
 to invent) almost indispensable for the study of the 
 rhapsodists. It is then by far more probable that 
 
384 THE HISTORY OP MUSIC. 
 
 Aristophanes marked tlie accents afresh, after he had 
 polished the poems, and had thus made certain 
 changes necessary, than that he was the first in- 
 ventor of those essential guides to rhapsodists. It 
 should not be forgotten that poems thus chanted, 
 are the most ancient of all Greek literature. 
 
 The passage in which the first employment of 
 Greek prosodiai or accents of the three kinds is 
 attributed to Aristophanes of Byzantium is more 
 probably the production of some later commentator 
 than Arcadius of Antioch. Judging by the Leipzig 
 edition of 1820,* it is not included in the acknow- 
 ledged work of Arcadius upon the subject of accents ; 
 and the sole authority for attributing it to him seems 
 to be a very indifferent manuscript in the Imperial, 
 or National, Library in Paris. '' Another coc?ea; in the 
 same collection includes this panegyric upon Aris- 
 tophanes in the Grammar of Theodosius of Alexandria 
 (who was himself one of the commentators upon 
 Dionysius of Thrace) ; while the best of aU the 
 manuscripts, the one of highest authority, which is 
 in the Library at Copenhagen, omits it altogether. 
 
 It is, however, quite unimportant, even if written 
 by one or other of these late grammarians ; for, when 
 opposed to conflicting evidence of much earHer date, 
 and examined by the light of reason, the originality 
 
 » Arcadiua De Accentibus {irepi codice (Paris, No. 2, 102), libro vilia- 
 Tovuiv, which includes vepl irpoa- simo. Codex No. 2, 603 eandem 
 ifiSiMv), edited by Edmund Henry expositionem in Theodoaiana gram- 
 Barker. Leipzig. 1820. 8vo. matica exhibet : omnino igaorat liber 
 
 ' AnstopTicmis Byzantii Oram- Havniensis, longe prsestantissimus." 
 
 matici Akxandrini Fragmenta, by Again, at p. 16 : — "In Homericia 
 
 Augustus Nauok (Halis, 1848. 8vo), carminibus jam Zenodotum quibus- 
 
 p. 12: — "Num ait Arcadii, cui dam signia uaum fuiase testatur, 
 
 vulgo tribuitur, fateor me dubitare ; prseter alioa, Gram. Bekk. Schol. 
 
 etenim Arcadio in aolo adhceret Iliados, p. iii." 
 
greee: ehapsodists. 385* 
 
 of Aristophanes becomes incredible. While so mucb 
 tbougbt was given to the art of writing down music 
 in the age of Aristoxenus, that he complaiaed of the 
 too great attention paid to it, as being mere mechan- 
 ism instead of art, is it probable that the declamation 
 of the Homeric poems and others, the staple music 
 for the lyres of few strings, can have been altogether 
 without its kindred notation ? To what other can 
 Aristoxenus refer when he writes of the prosodiai 
 which accompany diction ? 
 
 Upon this point it may be broadly stated that aU 
 the reciters of epic poetry, and all those who used 
 lyres of four, five, and six strings, were mere rhap- 
 sodists, or chanters ;* and that Greek music, ia our 
 sense of the word, began with the Anacreons, 
 Sapphos, and others, who sang lyric poetry, and 
 employed the many-stringed Asiatic lyres to accom- 
 pany the voice. 
 
 The limit to the fluctuations of the voice in dis- 
 course was fixed by Dionysius of Halicamassus, as 
 within the musical interval of a Fifth.'' Any dis- 
 cussion, which would fluctuate even so widely, would 
 appear energetic to men of ouri'-northern extraction. 
 It was probably not greater than a Fifth in those 
 ancient recitations, although they were carried on at 
 a higher pitch than the conversational tone of voice, 
 for the sake of superior audibility. 
 
 * It appears that when rhapsodists XafiovTa tZv AIitxvXov Xe^ai ri /wi. 
 
 made their chants -without holding See also the Commentary of Eusta- 
 
 musical iostniments in their hands, thins on the Hiad, Book i. , beginning : 
 
 they took a branch of laurel while —"On Si Kai wapa rhv pd^Sov, ri 
 
 reciting the poems of Homer, and pa^ifSia Aprirai — (p. 6, Leipzig edit., 
 
 one of myrtle when reciting from 1827.) 
 
 jEschylus. See Scholiast on lines ■> De Compositione Verhorwm, p. 34, 
 
 1364-5 (Dindorf 's edit. ) of the Nubes Taudmitz's edit, 
 of Aristophanes: — <iX\d laippivti" 
 
 2 E 
 
386* THE HISTORY OP MUSIC. 
 
 Having commented upon the indifference shown 
 by the Romans as to whether they did or did not 
 misapply Greek words, it should be added that, 
 among the moderns, there have been instances of 
 a like indifference as to the texts of Roman authors, 
 at least, upon the rhythmical arts. Not a little care- 
 lessness has been exhibited occasionally where it 
 would be least expected. A writer so pre-eminent 
 as Cicero had strong claims to careful treatment from 
 his editors ; but even his works have not yet ob- 
 tained their full meed of attention. Suppose, for 
 example, we take Cicero's Treatises on Oratory, which 
 form the second volume of his works, as re-edited 
 by an eminent scholar, one whose edition has been 
 recently stereotyped.* Cicero is still misrepresented 
 as having said that " the rhythmical foot is divided 
 into- three pa/rts."^ Anything so manifestly incorrect 
 must grate upon the ear of every thinking reader. 
 How could the two equal syllables of a spondee be 
 divided into three parts 1 If any one of the nume- 
 rous antecedent editors would but have put that 
 question to himself, he would surely have been led 
 to consider the conjkext, in order to arrive at the 
 author's meaning. Then he would have found 
 unequivocal proof that Cicero did not assert that 
 a foot in rhythm is divisible "into three parts," 
 but that it may be divided "in three ways." In 
 
 » M. Tullii Ciceronis Opera Omnia modk"^ "ut neeesse sit piirteiii pedis 
 
 . . iterum edidit Car. Frid. aut eequalem alteri parti, ant aftero 
 
 Aug. Nobbe, Prof. Lips, et Gym- tanto " [for " aut altero tanto," read 
 
 nasii Nicol. Hector. Nova editio "aut altero to»i!oi) Jos"] "aut sesqui 
 
 stereotypa 0. Tauohniaua, Tom. 2. esse majorem. Ita tit sequalis dac- 
 
 Nova impressio. Lipsise, 1867. tylus, duplex iambus, sesquiplex 
 
 •> "Pes enim qui adhibetnr ad paeon." — (Cicero, 11 OroiM', cap. 56, 
 
 numeros partitur in tria" [instead No. 188.) 
 of "in tria," it should be "trilus 
 
ERRORS IN THE PRINTED TEXT OF CICERO. 387* 
 
 the ensuing lines of the text the three ways are 
 exemplified. 
 
 (1), " Either the one part of the foot must be equal 
 
 to the other ; or, 
 (2), " It must be double the length of the other ; 
 
 or else, 
 (3), " The one must be in the proportion of three 
 
 to two of the other." 
 
 The editors were possibly confused by a second 
 error in the incorrect old text, although this second 
 is quite as palpable as the first. The word " plus " 
 has been omitted, and thus the first and second ways 
 are represented as identical. For the first mode of 
 division is, " one part equal to the other ;" and the 
 second is said in the text to be, "one part as much 
 as the other ;" instead of " as much more than the 
 other." 
 
 In doubtful cases it would have been necessary to 
 refer to manuscripts, but corrections such as these 
 are self-evident. Cicero continues the illustration 
 by examples which are familiar to aU. 
 
 For the first mode, or the equal division of parts, 
 he cites the dactyl, of which the first syllable is 
 long, and the second and third, being both short, are 
 equal to one long. His second example is the 
 iambus, of which the first syllable is short, and the 
 second long ; therefore the second is double the 
 length of the first. His third example is the paeon, 
 and this is of two principal kinds. The first kind 
 commences vsdth a long syllable, followed by three 
 short ones, as destnUe, Incipite, comprimite; and the 
 second kind commences with the three short, and 
 
 2 E 2 
 
388 THE HISTORY OP MUSIC. 
 
 ends with the one long syllable, as dSmUerdnt, and 
 sdnlpMes." 
 
 One long is equal to two breves, in syllables as 
 well as in music, so that either kind of paeon is 
 sesquialteral, or in the proportion of 3 to 2 in its 
 parts. The paeon, says Cicero, is unsuitable for 
 poetry, and is therefore the better adapted for 
 oratory, since oratory ought not to sound like verse. *" 
 Nevertheless, there should be a perceptible rhythm 
 in all oratory," as in good prose-writing. In these 
 cases the rhythm is constituted by a judicious inter- 
 mixture of short with long syllables, and of short 
 with long words, so that each sentence may seem to 
 flow from the tongue. Its divisions are then marked 
 by the rise and fall of the voice, by emphasis, and 
 by pause or punctuation. 
 
 Now, as to the word sesqui, which occurs in the 
 quotation from Cicero. It is of constant employ- 
 ment in music, and some have supposed it to be an 
 abbreviation of semisque,^ because a sesquilihra equals 
 in quantity a pound and a half, and a sesquicyathus 
 a cup and a half. But this coincidence occurs only 
 in certain cases, for the translation "half" will not 
 hold good when sesqui is prefixed to any number 
 greater than '2. Its quantity diminishes as the 
 number rises, for it is but the unit above its accom- 
 panying number. Our musical consonances are 
 generally in the ratio of the unit above ; and sesqui 
 
 " Cicero, 9 De Oratore, lib. iii., cap. ° Ergo esae in orations numerum 
 
 47, No. 183. quemdamuonestdifficilecoguoscere; 
 
 * Paeon autem minime est aptuS judicat enim sensus . . . sed in 
 
 adversum; quolibentiuseumreoipit versibua res est apertior. — (11 Ora- 
 
 oratio. — (11 Orator, cap. 57, No. tor, cap. 55, No. 183.) 
 
 194.) Effugimua tamen in Oratione ''That will not account for a 
 
 poematia aimilitudinem. (11 Orator, change of que into qid, 
 cap, 59, No. 201.) 
 
THE MEANING OF THE LATIN "SBSQIH." 389* 
 
 is used to designate them accordiag to their propor- 
 tions. Thus the sesquialter proportion is of 3 to 2, 
 and it represents the musical interval of a Fifth ; 
 sesquitertius is the proportion of 4 to 3, and is 
 therefore equal to the musical interval of a Fourth ; . 
 while the sesquioctava is the proportion which 9 
 bears to 8, and so represents the musical interval of 
 a major tone. 
 
 The Octave, being 2 to 1, is not a sesqui, but a 
 duplex. Therefore the principal sesqui, the one of 
 largest proportions, and of lowest numbers, is 3 to 
 2, or the unit above 2. Perhaps, for this reason, 
 
 3 to 2 may have been adopted as the meaning of the 
 word when coupled with quantity, instead of with 
 number ; and in this way only can the proportions 
 of the sesquilihra and the sesquicyathus be con. 
 sistently accounted for. The Greeks had two 
 different words to distinguish the proportions. If 
 so large as 3 to 2, it was hemiolios, and epi was 
 employed for aU numbers higher than 2, and then 
 signified the unit above the number specified. By 
 dividing the one pound into two parts, and adding 
 another such part, the quantity beconaes a pound and 
 a half 
 
 Some Orientalist may yet inform us from what 
 language sesqui is derived ; but, in the meantime, it 
 may be observed that, in music, it is equivalent to 
 the Greek epi if the number to which it is prefixed 
 be higher than 2, and to the Latin super. For 
 instance, the Greek word epitritos can only be trans- 
 lated into Latin by sesquitertius, or supertertius, and 
 in English it must be rendered, "the proportion of 
 
 4 to 3, or the interval of a Fourth." 
 
 In the opening chapter of this volume it was 
 
390* THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 stated that Cicero frequently paraphrased Aristotle, 
 and that QuintUian did the Kke by- Cicero. It is 
 well then to observe that the passage just quoted 
 from Cicero is one of those, which owe their parent- 
 age to Aristotle, and is likewise one which was 
 borrowed from Cicero by Quintilian. The original 
 wiU be found in Aristotle's Treatise on Rhetoric,'' 
 and the third in order is in QuuitUian's work on 
 Oratory. '' The two are subjoined in foot-notes, to 
 facilitate comparison. 
 
 The extract from Quintilian affords, unluckily, 
 two other cases of editorial remissness ; but the 
 original fault is probably chargeable upon the tran- 
 scriber's incompetence to decipher old manuscripts. 
 The w6rds sescuplex and sescuplum are evidently 
 cojiyifet's blunders ; the first should be sesquiplex 
 (equivalent to sesquiplus), and the second should be 
 sesquiplicem. Judging from other errors in the text 
 of Quintihan, we may form our opinion as to how 
 these two have occurred. The letter q is often used 
 in manuscripts as an abbreviation for qui, and the 
 copyist probably mistook the writing of a short- 
 tailed q for " cu." Then plicem would also be 
 abbreviated, after the letter I, and the copyist, 
 
 " "EffTi Ik tpiTog watav, koi I^o- copying] " ut paeon, qumn sit ex 
 
 fievoQ tUv tiptinivuv Tpia yap irpbg Longa et trilDns Brevibns, quiqne 
 
 Mo iaHv, tKUViiiv Bk 6 fikv tv irpbg ei contrarius, ex tribns Brevibus et 
 
 tv, o Sk lio irpiig 'iv ixirai Ik rwv Lohga ; vel alio qnoque modo ut 
 
 Xoyoiv Toiriiiv 6 riiu6\lof ovTog S'lafiv tempota tria !ad duo relata sescu- 
 
 o Ttaiav. (Aristotle Dc Rhtlorica, plum faciunt :" [read " sesquipU- 
 
 lib iii., cap. 8.) cem faciunt," for "seacuplus" gives 
 
 * " Est quidem via eadem et aUis a wrong sense — viz., "sixfold," in- 
 
 pedibua, sed nomen illud tenet: — stead of "three to two"] "aut 
 
 Longam esse duorum tempo'rum, duplex, ut iambus (nam est ex Brevi 
 
 Brevem unius, etiam pueri sciunt — et Longa), qiiique est ei contrarius " 
 
 aut sescuplex " [read " sesquiplex, '' [meaaiug a trochee]. — (Quintilian, 
 
 on the authority of Aristotle and of Inst. Orator., lib. 9, 4, 47.) 
 Cioero, from whoin Quintilian is 
 
EREOES IN THE FEINTED TEXT OF QUINTILIAN. 391* 
 
 understanding neither abbreviations nor the subject 
 df the book, converted plicem into plum. This 
 seems to be the only reasonable explanation of his 
 having changed the proportion of "three to two" 
 into "sixfold."* The texts of the three authors 
 establish one another. 
 
 A few words may be added as to the EngUsh pro- 
 nimciation of Latin in singing. More than two 
 hundred years ago MUton wrote, in his Tractate on 
 Education, that " to smatter Latin with an English 
 mouth is as ill hearing as Law French." We have 
 therefore had ample time to think about it, and we 
 are beginning to act. The excuse for not having 
 done so before is this : — 
 
 The pronunciation of Latin va. the English fashion 
 was not only allowed, but encouraged, after the 
 Reformation ; for by that test a scholar bred up in 
 England could be distinguished from one educated 
 at a foreign university. It thus became a trap to 
 catch a Jesuit. But since toleration has been 
 extended to all religious creeds by the good sense of 
 the English Government, the motive for mispro- 
 nouncing Latin has passed away. 
 
 No manner of speaking the language could be 
 more devoid of authority than the English. In our 
 native tongue we have twisted the vowels round 
 upon the wheel until we have made the soft a to 
 take the place of e, our e to take the place of i, and 
 i and y to have commonly the same sound. To this 
 there are, of course, exceptions, as there are to all 
 rules of pronunciation in the Enghsh language ; but 
 
 » The progression is duplus, tri- Soethins on Arithmetic, lib. 1., cap. 
 pl^ls, quadruplus, (piincuplus, sescu- 23, lines 23 et seq. 
 plus, septvplus, &c. See, for instance. 
 
392* 
 
 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC, 
 
 sucli has been the general system of speaking Latin 
 by Englishmen. It has neither the warranty of 
 our own more ancient language, of Northern English, 
 of Scotch, of Irish, nor of any European tongue, ex- 
 cept our own. 
 
 "Before quitting the field of ancient history to turn 
 to that of the middle ages, there is one instrument 
 much referred to, and described by early Latin com- 
 mentators on the Psalms, and although its name is 
 of Greek derivation, it does not correspond with the 
 Greek instrument. 
 
 A Greek psaltery has already been exhibited, at 
 p. 308, where it is in the hands of Erato ; and both 
 the name of the muse 
 and of the instrument 
 are inscribed on the 
 pedestal of the statUe. 
 It is there of quadrila- 
 teral form, whereas the 
 psalteries described by 
 Cassiodorus and by 
 others are triangular, 
 and must therefore be 
 more nearly represented 
 by the Greek and Etrus- 
 can Trigons, or by the 
 Assynan Harp. The 
 last especially had the 
 sounding body above 
 instead of below the 
 strings. The accompany- 
 ing figure is copied from 
 
 one of the sculptured Assyrian Harper, 
 
 11 11 1 • 1 from a sculpture in the British 
 
 marble slabs which were Museum. 
 
ONE KIND OF PSALTERY LIKE AN ASSYRIAN HARP. 393 
 
 taken from the palace of Konyunjik, Nineveli, and 
 are now in the' Britisli Museum. It represents 
 an Assyrian musician attending upon the King 
 Asshur-Bani-Pal in his garden. The reign of 
 this king is known to have been from B.C. 667 to 
 647. The form of the harp and its sound-holes is 
 better developed in this sculpture than in others 
 which represent the triumph of the same king over 
 the Susiahs, and which are also in the British 
 Museum. Here, too, the bow shape of the back of 
 the instrument is well defined. 
 
 Cassiodorus describes the psaltery as having its 
 sounding body above the strings, as in this example, 
 and he contrasts it with the harp, which has its 
 hollow wood for emitting sound situated below the 
 strings.* 
 
 Within a century after the death of Cassiodorus, 
 Isidore of Seville, the young friend of Pope Gregory 
 the Great, describes the Psaltery as in the form of 
 the Greek letter Delta, A. Isidore was made a 
 Bishop in 601, and died in 636. The Assjrrian harp 
 would make but an indifferent Delta, on account of 
 its rounded back, and its want of a third side to " 
 complete the triangle. So Isidore can only aUude to 
 another form of psaltery, of which examples will be 
 shown in the sequel. When we descend still lower 
 in the scale of time, we shall meet with descriptions 
 of this instrument as one which in shape resembles 
 a four-cornered shield. Thus it resinnes the form of 
 
 " PaaJterium vero est in modum latione respondet. Cithara enim 
 
 eitharse conversa positio. Buocas ligni quodam ventre inferius consti- 
 
 enim quasdam sonoras ligni geatat tuto, a sununo chordamm filia veni- 
 
 in capite : ubi ab imo venientes entibus sonos recipit, atque in nnam 
 
 chordarum sonos in altnm rapit, et gratiam juounditatis T»iittit. (In 
 
 Tatissima, quantum dicitur, modu- Psal. 150.) 
 
394* 
 
 THE HISTORY OF MUSIC. 
 
 the Greek model. The psalteries of the middle 
 ages were therefore of different kinds, and agreed 
 only in being of the harp class. They had no finger 
 boards to press the strings against, and so to make 
 one string produce many notes, but they were played 
 with the fingers, Hke the harp, and derived their 
 general name from being used to accompany the 
 voice in psalmody. 
 
 Another beautiful sculpture in the British Museum 
 deserves repi-oduction here, as an example of an 
 ancient flute, with an unusual mouthpiece. At one 
 time the flute was taught to all high-bom Greeks, 
 but Alcibiades drove it out of fashion, because he 
 
 thought it disfigured the beauty of his mouth.* That 
 objection once raised was found too serious an ob- 
 stacle to the continuance of its use by any other 
 
 » This account of Alcibiadea is 
 quoted in extenso by Aulus GeUius 
 from the 29th Commentary of Pam- 
 
 phila. See Noctes Atticae, lib. xv., 
 cap. 17, 1. 
 
FLUTES AND PITCHPIPES FOfi, ORATORS. 395* 
 
 young Athenian of fashion. In the example before 
 us, the instrument itself is removed from immediate 
 contact with the lips, by the mouthpiece, and thus 
 the entire face of the flute player is rendered visible. 
 The position of the hands is admirably suggestive of 
 the act of playing. 
 
 The original is a marble terminal statue from the 
 Civit^ Lavinia, the ancient Lanuvium. It has been 
 guessed to be a representation of Comus. 
 
 Roman orators had sometimes a flute player or 
 piper behind them to give them the pitch for their 
 orations. At least, one such instance is mentioned 
 by Cicero, by Plutarch, and by Quintihan. It is of 
 the celebrated orator, Caius Gracchus, whose " splen- 
 did and persuasive" eloquence for a long time carried 
 aU before him in Home. He had a servant, named 
 Licinius, who stood at his back when Caius spoke 
 in public ; and this Licinius being, as Plutarch says, 
 " a sensible man," judged when the brator was 
 straining his voice to too high a pitch, and would 
 then sound a lower note, in order to bring it down ; 
 and when, on the contrary, Caius had adopted too 
 low a tone, Licinius would sound a higher note, in 
 order to indicate that he should raise his voice to 
 that pitch. The pitchpipe, according to Cicero, was 
 of ivory ; and, as Quintihan gives it the Greek name 
 of tonarion, we may suppose instruments of the same 
 kind to have been used by Greeks. 
 
 It cannot be doubted that orators used a certain 
 amount df chanting or intonation in their addresses ; 
 and hence they are commonly represented in sculp- 
 ture and in paintings with musical instruments beside 
 them — usually a lyre resting on the left arm.. It 
 would, indeed, be difficult now to ascertain the ex- 
 
396* THE HISTORY OP MUSIC. 
 
 tent to which this kind of sing-song was carried ; 
 but it is evident from the books on oratory, including 
 the admirable work of Dionysius of Halicamassus, 
 De Compositione Verborum, that the tones of the 
 voice formed a complete study, both for recitations 
 and for harangues,* as well as for what is more strictly 
 music, in our sense of the word. 
 
 Melodia, in Greek, and cantus, in Latin, apply 
 equally to inflexions of the voice in prose and in verse ; 
 indeed, cantus is sometimes employed when neither 
 musical intervals nor agreeable sounds were intended, 
 as in the cantus galli, or crowing of the cock ; unless, 
 indeed, we are to suppose the ancient cock to have 
 had a more melodious voice than his descendants. 
 
 The Cantus, or Chanting of the Christian Church, 
 and its variations in different ages, as well as the 
 differences of practice between the Eastern and 
 Western branches of the Church, are subjects for a 
 future volume ; but before that division took place, 
 and before the so-called " antiphonal singing " had 
 been introduced, the chanting in the churches of 
 Alexandria seems to have been identical with Greek 
 rhapsodizing. 
 
 Materials for the history of those times are by no 
 means abxuidant, but this inference may be drawn 
 from an incidental notice in St. Augustine's Con- 
 fessions. It is, however, necessary to preface the 
 passage by his account of his own preferences, in 
 order to show the force of the context. 
 
 St. Augustine expresses his delight in hearing 
 the Psalms 'chanted according to musical modes, or 
 
 ■• This valuable treatise would xai ij rmv TroXirocwx \6yiiiv hinaTriiui, 
 
 furnish many quotations to the &c. — ^p. 34. — (Tauchnitz's edition, 
 
 point. It is, perhaps, sufficient here vol. v., cap. 11.) 
 to cite one line : — fiovaiK^ y&p ng ijv 
 
WORDS MORE FORCIBLY EXPRESSED BY MUSIC. 397* 
 
 scales, having the accompaniment of a musical ia- 
 strument, to regulate and to guide the voice. His 
 experience had told him that Psalms thus sung had 
 a far greater effect upon his own mind than by any 
 other means, although he felt at the time unable to 
 explain the "hidden cause."* 
 
 The cause, although hidden at the time from St. 
 Augustine, may be traced with very little difiSculty. 
 It was simply that he had taken advantage of oppor- 
 tunities to cultivate his ears. That cultivation was 
 afterwards evinced by his writing a treatise upon 
 music and upon rhythm, in six books, which are stiU. 
 extant. He had therefore learnt how much more 
 forcibly the sacred words are expressed with the aid 
 of music than by any mere reading or recitation. 
 
 Augustine tells us that sometimes he hesitated 
 whether, after all, he might not have been deriving 
 something of earthly pleasure from his sacred music ;'' 
 and, in one of those moods, he contrasted with his own 
 practice that of St. Athanasius, when Bishop of 
 Alexandria, of whose precepts he had often heard. 
 
 St. Athanasius directed the readers of the PsaJma 
 in churches to use " such moderate inflexions of the 
 voice, that it approached more nearly to speaking 
 than to singing."" 
 
 If, then, the Psalms were not sung according to 
 
 Dum ipsis Sanctis dictis religio- luptatis et experimentmu salubri- 
 
 siuB et ardentius sentio moveri ani- tatis. — (Lib. 10, cap. 33.) 
 
 mos nostros in flammam pietatis ' Aliquando . . . tutiusque 
 
 cimi ita cantantur quam si non ita mihi videtnr, quod de Alexandrino 
 
 • cantarentur ; et omnes adfectus episcopo Athanasio ssepe mihi dic- 
 
 spiritus nostri, pro sui diversitate, turn commemini, qui tarn modico 
 
 habere proprios modes in voceatque flexu vocis faciebat sonare lectorem 
 
 cantu, quorum nescio qua occulta psalmi, ut pronuntianti vicinior 
 
 familiaritate excitentur. — (Con/cs- esset quam canenti.—( Con/e«sioM«m, 
 
 siomim, lib. x., cap. 33.) Ub. x., cap. 33.) 
 • Ita fluctuo inter periculum vo- 
 
398* THE HISTORY OP MUSIC. 
 
 musical modes or scales in Alexandria during the 
 pontificate of Athanasius, there remained no other 
 way than by those indefinite sounds which the 
 Greeks termed natural music or unrestricted rhapso- 
 dizing, and which an Eastern now employs while 
 reading the Koran. 
 
 Having recently been indulged with a hearing of 
 this last kind, I can but say that it reminded me 
 forcibly of the saying of C. Caesar the Roman orator, 
 about 80 years B.C., " If you are singing, you skig 
 badly; and if you are reading, you sing."* This 
 kind of chanting appeared to me like a series of 
 attempts at musical intervals, every one of which 
 was sung out of tune. 
 
 Before closing this branch of the subject, some 
 reader may wish to know why, after having brought 
 down the history to the age of St. Augustide, no 
 notice has been taken of what is termed ". Ambrosian 
 music." The answer is, that Ambrosian music is not 
 of so early a time. The two systems, Ambrosian 
 and Gregorian, did not exist at the dates of their 
 now-supposed founders. The meaning of " Ambro- 
 sian music " is " music according to the use of 
 Milan;" and of "Gregorian music," "according to 
 the use of Rome." Nos Gregoriani, " we who follow 
 the use of Rome ;" and Nos Ambrosianij " we who 
 foUow the use of Milan" — Ambrose and Gregory 
 having been the foimders of the two churches. 
 
 And now, laus Deo, I bid farewell to ancient 
 Egyptians, Chaldaeans, Greeks, and Romans ; ending 
 with an Egyptian caricature of a quartet concert at 
 the Court of Rameses III. The King himself is the 
 
 - Si cantas, male cantaa ; si legis, ioria, lib. i., cap. 8, art. 2.) 
 cantaa. — (Quintilian, De Instil- Ora- 
 
EGYPTIAN CARICATURE OE A QUARTET CONCERT. 399 
 
400* THE HISTORY OP MUSIC. 
 
 royal lion playing upon the lyre ; one of his courtiers 
 is satirized as a crocodile playing upon a lute ; a 
 second as a long-taUed animal playing upon double 
 pipes ; while the third is represented as an ass, or 
 a mule, with exceedingly long ears, playing a base 
 upon the harp, to the treble of the King's lyre. The 
 characters thus satirized cannot now be judged, 
 through our not knowing the men ; but the Hon is 
 clearly intended for Rapaeses III. In another satirical 
 drawing in the papyrus, from which the above is 
 derived, iRameses, as the lion, is playing a game like 
 chess or draughts with a gazelle in the hareem. 
 
 A short volume, like this, does not show the amount 
 of investigation its manifold subjects have required 
 — sometimes in art, sometimes in science, and some- 
 times in language. Music is indeed a wide theme 
 to ymte upon, owing to the universality of its lan- 
 guage. The minds and feelings of all nations, have 
 been more or less influenced by it in all ages, accord- 
 ing to the degrees in which they have cultivated it, 
 A divine origin has been attributed to music, on 
 account of its originality, its universally beneficial 
 tendency, and its innocence, even when cultivated to 
 excess. No other art or science has so cheered the 
 spirits of man and so relieved a wearied mind as 
 music. As to beneficial operation it leaves aU other 
 arts at a distance. Justly did a Greek author say, 
 " Music is a great and lasting pleasure to all who 
 have learnt it and know anything about it."* 
 
 " Meyaq ydp flijiroupoff lirnKal ^i- -TraiSivBtXal t£ — (Athenseus, liv., 18.) 
 JSaiog ii flovtnKrj uTraai toTq fiaOovat 
 
ERRATA AND ADDENDA. 
 
 Page 6, line 6. For " of 8 to 3," read " nominaUy of 8 to 3." 
 
 Page 18, last line but five. For "more tlian a ceutary," read " in the 
 third century." 
 
 Page 21, last line but one of note. For " searched ford' read "searched 
 to prod/ace. " 
 
 Page 36, note ■>, line 1. "Of the ancients" refers to all except the fol- 
 lowers of Claudius Ptolemy. 
 
 Page 52, line 2. After " Olympus," add "istlie same whkh." 
 
 Page 52, line 1 of note. Delete the iota subscriplum to upai. 
 
 Page 53, line 17. For "takes awa,y nothing less than," read " artletsli/ 
 takes away." 
 
 Page 54. The use of lyre and pipe by the Romans in supplications to 
 the gods might have been added to that of the Egyptians and the Greeks. 
 Nee tibicen omnibus supplicationibus in sacris ;edibus adhibitur, says Ccn- 
 sorinus De Die Nhtali, cap. 12. Again, Ovid (Fasti, lib. iv.) 
 
 Temporibiis veterum tibiciiiis usus avorum 
 Magnus, et in magno semper honore fuit; 
 Cantabat faiiis, cantabat tibia hidis, 
 Cantabat mocMtis tibia funeribus. 
 
 Also, Horace (Carm. III. xi., lines 3 to 6), 
 
 Tuque, testudo, resonare septem 
 
 Gallida nervis. 
 Nee loquax olim neque grata, nunc et 
 Divitum mensis et amica templis. 
 
 Page 58, last line but four. For "adding an A" road " adding a vowel." 
 
 Page 78, last line but three of the Greek. For iZuav, read ogeiai/, as in 
 tiie fourth line above. 
 
 Page 79, note ■', line 2. ap/xoviif wants the iota subscriptum. 
 
 Page 82, line 16. For diazeutic read diazeuctic. 
 
 Page 92, line 20. After " notes " add "in treatises on Greek music." 
 
 Page 110, note ", line 1 (in some copies). iisyaKorcpeTis, read fityaXoTrpcTrte. 
 
 Page 116, note ", line 1 (in some copies), irip^j, read iripip. 
 
 Page 117, line 11. The "15, W leiera to-pa^e&m Introduciio Harmonica, 
 attributed (erroneously) to Euclid. 
 
 Page 118, line 2. For semeioi jnouslkoi, read semeia mAjusika. 
 
 Page 121, last line but five. For pentatonic, rather read penlaphonic. 
 
 Page 132. In referring to Meibom's mistakes in his Conjunct Greek 
 scale, in " notes upon Euclid," p. 63, I have not explained where they are 
 wrong. He treats Paramese and Trite as if two separate strings, instead 
 of one and the same under either name. So that Mese and all other names 
 below it in the scale are in wrong places. They should be moved up one 
 degree, and Ilypate should be added at the bottom of the scale. See p. DB". 
 
 2 /■ 
 
402* ERRATA AND ADDENDA. 
 
 Page 144, note *. For " tela qm," read "tela que." 
 Page 144, line 10. For "different passages," rather read "a different 
 kind of passage." 
 
 Page 145, note on Plato's miKvorrje and /iowdnjc. Parallel passages, which 
 further elucidate the musical use of these words, wiU be found in Claudius 
 Ptolemy's Harmonica, cap. 3, lib. i, p. 6, fol. beginning on Une 4, and 
 again at p. 7, line 1. 
 Page 180, lines 1 and 2. Delete the hyphen between ha and Icoupha. 
 Page 196, line 8. Before "Harmonic B flat," add " interval behoeen G 
 and." ' 
 
 Page 196, line 9. For "the key-note,'' read "the interval between that 
 Bfiat a/nd the key -note." 
 Page 203, line 18. Hyphen misplaced. It should be to quarter-tones.'' 
 Page 226, note \ line 6. After "diese," add "sind aber viel weniger 
 scharf als die ersten engeren IntervaUs," and in line 7, " sollte," not 
 "solte." 
 Page 228, note, line 11. For " iiberbriugen, '' read " ubergingen. '' 
 Page 229, line 10. For " as attribute," read "as to attribute." 
 Page 251, line 23. For " Fifth," read "Jifth Octave." 
 Page 264, last line but three. For " once seeing," read " to see once." 
 Page 276, line 18. For "like a trumpet," read "like tlie bell end of a 
 trumpet." 
 
 Page 277, line 4. No broad, general rules can be given as to the degree 
 by which increase of diameter will lower pitch in large organ pipes. 
 Pitch is affected both by the size of the tube and width of sUt through 
 which air is admitted into the pipe. at its lower extreme; also by the 
 height and by the size of the emboiKhure, of which the sharp, wedge - 
 like edge, called the lip, forms the upper part. The wind must be 
 directed against that cutting edge. Again, length and width must vary 
 according to the quality of tone to be produced, and according to the 
 weight of pressure upon the windchest. Lastly, pitch is affected by con- 
 tact with wall or roof. A 32 feet pipe, with 16 vibrations per second, 
 creates, according to computation, a sound-waVe of not less than double 
 its own length. AH width, which is in excess of due mathematical 
 proportion to other pipes of the series, changes the quality of tone. 
 Although the nominal 32 feet pipe of an organ is often practically but 
 28 feet 6 inches in length, Mr. Thomas HOI, the celebrated organ- 
 builder, informs me that this diminution in length is attended by 
 sacrifice of true musical quality of tone. His words are: — "The 
 diameter of pipe which produces the exact 32 length is 15 inches, and 
 this, extended upwards, is found to produce the most pure and agree- 
 able tone in a diapason." Herein science and practice are therefore 
 agreed ; but there are variations between them which have not yet 
 been satisfactorily accounted for. If we take two hollow tubes, such 
 as. Pan's pipes, of equal length, but the diameter of the one a quarter, 
 and the other of three eighths, of an inch, they will produce the same 
 note ; the larger only requiring more breath to sound it. Indeed, the 
 practical limit to width, in pipes blown by the mouth, is the too great 
 exertion required to sound those of large size. But, in the case of 
 horns, Mr. Carte, and his foreman, Mr. Charles Goodison, who makes 
 
ERE AT A AND ADDENUA. 403^' 
 
 the scales for the braSs instruments of the firm, inform me that, if 
 it is desired to enlarge a tenor horn so as to acquire a baritone quality 
 of tone, the tube of the former being 6 feet 6 inches in length, will 
 only be shortened by about one inch, although the diameter is increased 
 by several sizes. And yet, on the other hand, there will be a variation 
 of an inch and a half in the length of two horns of small size, to 
 produce the same note from both. The actual scale for horns having 
 two thirds of cylindrical tube and the lowest third of conical form, 
 ending in a beU, is as follows : — 
 
 Tube, i inch in diatneter, length, 40J inches, sounds AQ. 
 
 Tube, 7-16ths of an inch in diameter, length, 41f inches, sounds AJ. 
 
 Difference of form in the two cones may be one cause of the variation, 
 for the more dilated the cone, the flatter the pitch. But there are so many 
 bearings in these cases that the subject is one of considerable difficulty, 
 unless science wiU step in. It is a pretty problem, but not one to be 
 solved here at Oatlands, where there is not, perhaps, a brass instrument 
 within a mde. And yet anyone might practise the horn in a drawing- 
 room, if he would but have a bell to take on and off. The most skilled 
 manufacturers of pipes still act more by experience than by any precise 
 laws. In additioti to Mr. Hill, Mr. Carte, and Mr. Goodison, whose 
 authorities I have already quoted, I have to acknowledge practical 
 information, kindly given to me by Mr. Kemp, and through him, Mr. 
 Bryceson ; also by Mr. Bishop, through the kind ijitervention of Mr. 
 Griesbach. 
 
 Page 289, note '', last line but four. For " plain," read " plane." 
 Page 305, note •>, last line but seven. For w£ Trspt, read 6c ircpi. 
 Page 310, note *. On further consideration, I take Plutarch's meaning to 
 be that the Psalmos and the Phorminx make Octaves and harmony when 
 they are played together— not each separately. The Phorminx was for a 
 man's voice, and it had ordinarily but ten strings. The vocal Psalmos was 
 often accompanied by instruments of a feminine character, which would be 
 about an octave higher than the Phorminx. Athenseus cites a passage from 
 Telestes in which he refers to the acute sounds of a Pektis-Psalmos 
 employed for hymns in the Lydian mode. That mode in itself was two 
 whole tones higher than the Dorian. 
 
 rot 5' O^V^btVOl^ •7njKTiS(i)V \l/dkflOlQ XphKOV 
 
 KiiSiov vjivov. — (Athensens, xiv., 626.) 
 Page 351, line 6 of the Latin. For "praetermittcro,'' read "praeter- 
 mittoTO." 
 
 Page 353, line 1. For " dolphini," read " delphini." 
 Page 364, end of note ». For 1164, read 1864. 
 
 2/2 
 
From the marble statue of a Satyr, or Faun, with cymbals, of about the 
 First Century, now in the British Museum. The statue is known as the 
 Rondini Faun. 
 
THE BALLAD LITERATURE 
 
 AND 
 
 POPULAR MOSIC OF the OLDEN TIME; 
 
 A History of the Ancient Songs, Ballads, and National Dances of England, 
 with their Tunes : especially those which are referred to by Shakespeare^ 
 and by other of our early poets and dramatists, and which constitute the 
 National Songs and Music of Kngland. 
 
 The Airs and the Ballads are arranged chronologically, and Iheir en- 
 during popularity is proved by some thousands of quotations, which include 
 notices of them at successive dates ; sometimes with anecdote, and sometimes 
 merely by passing allusions which tend to establish their long continuance in 
 public favour. Each division is preceded by a sketch of the state of music 
 at the period, also, of the amusements associated with music in England. 
 
 W. CHAPPELL, F.S.A. 
 The Harmony to the Airs by G. A. MACFARREN. 
 
 In Two Volumes, Royal Octavo. Price £2 2s. 
 
 OLD BNGHjISH: 3DITTIES: 
 
 A SELECTION OF 
 
 THE FAVOURITE SONGS AND BALLADS 
 
 FROM 
 
 "POPULAE MUSIC OP THE OLDEN TIME," 
 
 WITH 
 BY' 
 
 G. A. MACFARREN. 
 
 The very long Ballads compressed, and in some cases new Words written to 
 
 the Songs. 
 
 LARGE FOLIO EDITION, Printed from Engraved Plates, contain- 
 ing 120 Songs, Price in Cloth, £1 Is. 
 
 SMALL TYPE EDITION, Complete, in Cloth, lOs. 6d. ; or Half- 
 bound in Morocco, 15s. 
 
 LONDON : CHAPPELL & CO., 50, NEW BOND STREET, W.