Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The Pianoforte, Its Origin, Progress, and Construction (Rimbault, Edward Francis (1816 - 1876) )
The Pianoforte, Its Origin, Progress, and Construction (Rimbault, Edward Francis (1816 - 1876) )
JOHN BROADWGOO
LONDON; ROBERT
8c
SONS.
ST.
RECENT
ST, W.
FUNOrORTfi MA/VUfy^CrufiEHS AND MUSIC PVeifSMtJiS, BY SPECIAL yy^naA/V7 7 '? HER MOST GRACIOUS MAJESTY QUEEN VICTORIA, H.ft.H .THE. Pf.mCE OF WALES, &:T0 HIS WAJESTY THE LATE EMPEROR NA=>OLECiN ill.
THE PIANOFORTE,
ITS ORIGIN, PROGRESS,
AND CONSTRUCTION;
IT
;
VIZ.
SPINET,
ETC.
WHICH
IS
SPECIMENS OF MUSIC
COMPOSED FOR KEYED-STRINGED INSTRUMENTS,
BY BLITHJIMAN, BYEP, BULL, ERESCOBALDI, DUMONT, CHAMB0NNI;RBS, LULLY, PURCELL, MUFJFAT, COUPBRIN, KUHNAU, SCARLATTI, SBB. BACH, MAJTHBSON, HANDEL, C. P. EMANUEL BACH, ETC.
EDWAED
MEMBER OP THE
F.
R;[MBAULT,
LL.D.
ETC. ETC.
ItOYAL
LONDON
ROBEET COCKS AND
CO.
NEW BUELINGTON
STKEET,
REGENT STREET, W.
MUSIC PUBLISHERS TO HER MOST GRACIOUS MAJESTY QUEEN .VICTORIA, AND HIS IMPERIAL MAJESTY NAPOLEON IH.
1860.
TO
HENRY
E.
DIBDIN, ESQ.
A VALUED ERLEND,
BUT BECAUSE
TO HIS GRANDFATHEE
IS
OF HAVING
IN ENGLAND.
PREFACE.
Amongst the
many
the
Although
it
was the
birth only of
the last century, there have existed, for hundreds of years, instruments which,
under
more important
to the public.
But the
spirit of
present age demands some explanation of those musical fabrics upon which
so
for
many
which are
scale at
commensurate with
its
interest or importance.
;
Brief, unsatisfactory,
and
some
articles are to
following,
M.
Fetis's STcetch
of
the
History of
the
was
left
periodical, edited
by the
Mr.
W-
Ayrton.
The
Vienna.
late Professor
8vo.
1853.
vi
PREFACE.
Thalberg's
Remarks on
Mr.
1851.
I &c.
W.
of
may
also
Italy,
G-ermany,
I have
by Dr. Burney
derived
much
cannot be too highly commended for their intelligence, learning, and accuracy.
I accord this praise to Burney, because
to speak slightingly of his labours.*
it is
The task of writing the history of the Pianoforte was one of no small
difficulty
;
inaccessible.
too, required
was almost
and when
But, perhaps, if
my work
it treats, it
may be
viz.
Pianoforte.
II.
Pianoforte.
III.
The
My
friend
and
reflects
much
PEEFAOE.
vii
In the
first
e.
the clavicytherium, the clavichord, the clarichord, the virginal, the spinet,
;
and progress.
is
;
And
here I
may
remark, that a
much
greater antiquity
assigned to
although I
GrianelU,
who, in the
" that
King David
knew something
is
which
;
of course, to suppose that King, David wrote and spoke the Latin language
for
cymhalum
is
Hebrew term
by the Hebrews,
the
Perhaps some of
my
volume irrelevant
to the purpose
but
it
seems to
me
absolutely necessary to trace briefly, as I have done, the progress of the lyre,
many
Besides,
must be remem-
J.
&c.
throw new
lights
difficulties
which
The
up,
is
now,
it is
by the
meo
Cristofali
and
his discoveries.
set
fall
up
for
various ingenious
men Schroter,
Marius,
now
to
to the
ground
and
it is
me
be enabled to
viii
PREFACE.
The
list
must be welcomed
as a valuable
and
faithful
for the
honor of
discoveries
may
be solved
bj
referring to
It
desirable to have
examined the
specifications themselves,
of each invention
instance
;
manufactory.
It
is
i.
e.
1.
The Framing.
2.
The
Stringing.
Under
these divisions,
that relates to
the manufacture of the Pianoforte, of whatever shape, " grand," " square,"
or " upright," has been carefully considered, and the various improvements
anti inventions
duly chronicled.
And
my
obligations to
Mr.
The author
not only a
musician in the proper sense of the word, but a gentleman of highly scientific
attainments.
and what-
ever merit
may be due
/
my
work,
it
Mr.
Pole.
/
Had
1851
^the
would have received attention whose names do not occur in the index.
Amongst them
in
may mention
instruments
is
produced, well
PREFACE.
ix
This division of the volume also contains a chapter on the " Yarious
mind
and Piano-
The
work
consists of
an interesting collection of
manu-
mass of material,
chiefly
may
Many
by a
careful
pronounced vastly
inferior to our
falls
John Bull
whilst
Henry
Purcell, the
French Court, Jean Baptiste LuUy, whose harpsichord works betray a genius
for
credit.
time in the
the
by which they
are surrounded.
Some
who
Mode
How to regulate
may
Mechanism of the
all
be gleaned by
who need
it.
X
I have also
PREFACE.
used in the Manufacture of the Pianoforte," which might have been indefinitely
much
exceeded) of the
work
allowed.
left,
which
me much
pleasure
the
W.
offer of
my
who have
so kindly assisted
me
in carrying out
my
And
at
first,
to
my
friend
who
kindly translated,
my request,
Chetham Library,
my
attention to
monk
De MensuraCymbalorum,
and
for per-
mission to use his translation of the same. To Count Pepoli, for his kind letter
(printed in the Additional Notes and Illustrations) respecting
Marco Jadra,
To
E.
W.
To H. E. Dibdin, Esq.
many
To the Messrs.
(a gentleman
on the Publishers'
Staff),
who
during the progress of the work through the press, and favoured
valuable observations
;
me
with his
and
also
for
alas
no more), I acknowledge
;
many
valuable communications
as
also to
my
late
PREFACE.
xi
J.
P. Barratt, for
most valuable
assistance in
many
of the
causes
of defects
in
Pianofortes,
remedying them.
to
the Pianoforte,
and
his
are well
is
known
to all to the
who
This acknowledgment
due from
me
memory
EDWARD
MarWs
Crescent, Gloucester Boad,
P.
RIMBAULT.
'29, Si.
Regenfs Park,
February 10, 1860.
ERRATA.
Page
13, line 8, read "^ijyj^) J^ Ain, not 13, 19, 19, 33,
foot-note, 2nd column, line 5, for " or," read " on." last line but one in tlie text, for "MusieS,," read " Musica." foot-note, 2nd column, line 8, for "prseseus," read "praeaens." foot-note, 2nd column, line 10, for " sub-silentia," read " sub-silientia." 47, foot-note, for " Fishof 's," read " Fischhof 's." 64, foot-note, for "Arlington House," read "the Mulberry Garden." 74, line 8, for " Eucker," read " Euckers " ; the same in the foot-note. 77, line 18, for " Podini," read " Todini." 91, line 20, for " son," read " nephew." 129, foot-note, 1st column, for "Piachoff," read "Fischhof." 155, line 33, for " James," read " John." 156, paragraph 13th, read " Samuel Thomas CROitWBLL." 190, line 1, for " George," read " James." 208, foot-note, for "part^e," read "portfe de tout le monde." 217, No. 28, for " Peachy," read " Peachey." 218, In the italics at the head of the columns ; for " Cutalogw," read " Catalogue "
for
" Orund,"
CONTENTS.
PART L
XIV
CONTENTS.
"Vaeiotjs
Chapter IV.
197 205
Chapter
V.
Chapter VI.
OP Trade
209
PART
III.
223
A Collection
Instruments
1.
237
ILLUSTRATIONS.
XV
APPENDICES.
Appendix Appendix
I.
...
369 372
380
IL
III.
On Tuning
Appendix
How
to bectolate Defects in the Mechanism of the Pianofoete op the principal Terms used in the
...
Appendix IV.
A Glossary
Manufacture of the
387
Pianoforte
398
LIST OE WOOD-CUTS
1.
AND DIAGRAMS.
3
2.
3.
Museum
..
.
...
5
5
Theban Tomb
4.
5. 6.
at
Herculaneum
6 6
Male Figure,
ditto
in the
Museum
at Florence
8
8
7.
8. 9.
8
...
Ditto,
still
larger
8
jBia>j e^ Jfofooif
T
10
14
Male Figure,
ditto
14
Museum
at Florence
...
14
19
The Cithara
'20
20
of the Fourteenth Century
The
Psaltery or
Nabulum
21
Drawing
of a grotesque Performer
21
The
24
25
21
Drawing
of the Clavicytherium
29
22.
^0
of the Clavichord
..
.
23. 24.
Diagram
of the
Mechanism
31
33
XVI
ILLUSTRATIONS.
The Simicum, The Cymbal,
Drawing
35 39
25.
26. 27. 38. 29.
as depicted
by
Galilei
as represented
by Grassineau
of the
Manichord
..
.
46
......
49
50
The
Syntagma
Mmicum
30.
31.
32. 33. 84.
35.
53
57
The Virginal
Drawing of
a
64
67
in
Lady playing on
the Spinet
Representation of a Spinet
1723
...
69
72 79 84 99
1
36.
37.
....:.
A Spanish
Diagram
Diagram
Harpsichord
....;.
38. 39.
of the
Mechanism
of Cristofali's Pianoforte
of Marius's
04
40.
Mechanism
...
105
...
41 .
42.
Mechanism
106
......
107
43.
Drawing of a Pianoforte
in the Palace at
119
44.
45. 46. 47.
48.
Mason
front view without the strings.
.
137
169
back
when
169
is at rest ..
.
187
187
the key
is
pressed
down
...
49.
50.
Diagram of the Action of the modern square Pianoforte Diagram of the common Grand Pianoforte Action
Diagram
of Broadwood's old
188
189 189
189 190 190 190 191 191
191
51.
52. 53. 54. 55. 56.
Grand Action
Improvements of W. Southwell
Diagram
of CoUard's Patent
Grand Action
Ditto of
57.
58.
Wornum's Double
or Piccolo Action
PART
I.
CHAPTER
I.
stretched strings
;
the
but
first
it is
beginnings
by
fables
these instruments
His
And, wond'ring, on
To worship
of that shell.
The Egyptians
whence the
arts
down
The
it is
impossible to unravel
up
THE LYRE.
who, about 525 B. C. subdued Egypt, overthj-owing the temples in which the records
priests.
all
Ham, or one of
who
Egypt
patriarch with
whose
secretary,
Hermes
Trismegistus,
THE LYRE.
Apollodorus* gives the following account of the circumstance which led to the
discovery of this enchanting art
its
;
owe
not
origin to the
encounter of
shell of
the tortoise,
it
is
may be
attributed to
"
The Nile,"
says the writer, " having overflowed its banks at the periodical
its
subsidence to
rest,
its
left
but nerves
happened
against the shell, and was so pleased with the sound produced, that the idea of the
lyre suggested itself to his imagination.
The
first
the form of a tortoise, and was strung with the sinews of dried animals-]-."
the discovery to some
Assigning
human
much
probability as can be
* Bibliotheca,
lib.
ii.
earliest
It seems
magas
formed
of
for
Pausanias speaks
The Egyptian
lyre
was generally
of a breed of tortoises
suited
to
Pans. Groec,
lib. ii,
lib. viii.
Arcad.
The
But
statement
is
exhibited in
ancient
sculptures
by drawings in
his
own work,
numerous
as to defy
any attempt
The
THE LYRE
afforded
by the
fact that
many
figures of ancient
Greek
lyres
figure of a tortoise.
The
common
and various
names
lyra, chelys,
testudo,
by which
its
principal varieties
1133 Kinnor,
were distinguished.
form of
Hassan.
Hebrew
was a
lyre, a representation of
which
is
The
is
Egypt, and
J.
G. Wilkinson,
the
p,
is
taken, says,
The
lyre
is
rude,
and
;
differs
but
its
of the
oldest
sculptures,
amply
great antiquity,
and claims
ments.
"
for it
The
question as to the
number of
;
Hermes, has
three,
had only
;
i. e.
winter,
and summer*.
These three
strings
sound
the
mean
;
to spring,
to
summer.
first
and
Others
Hermean
had seven
strings
but
have arisen from confounding the lyres of the Egyptian and Grecian
to the state of the instrument at different periods.
* Not only
divided
Greeks,
called
which were
fair
hours.
Thus Hesiod
human
Theogony.
THE LYRE.
Many
five,
seven, ten,
They were
and the mode of playing them was generally with the hand, and
and
it
as
it
from Greece
nor was
it
unusual
for the
Greeks
to
There
is
as little
is
respecting the
in
number of
its
its strings.
it,
which
figure
exists
various
shapes;
some
resembling the front part of the head and horns of a bull, others the shell of the
tortoise.
wood
The
and
strings
sides,
at the lower
to a raised ledge, or
hollow sounding-board,
about the centre of the body, which was of wood, like the rest of the instrument.
The
tion
Museums
are perfectly
;
preserved.
collection is
strings,
though the
left-hand.
Josephus
says
that
the
:
Kinnorim
and
this
of the
may have
common
ii
to
have
to
much
Pictorial Bible
sweetness or delicacy.
of a goat's foot
Hawkins
574.
The
quill
stringed instruments.
It
the plectrum
lyre.
may
When
was held
in the right-hand
it,
and
writings, a distinction
the /wafers of
When
the fingers
with
is
em-
term including, as
kind,
lyrists
were celebrated
for their
instruments of the
bow
THE LTRE.
board to which the strings are fastened
the number of strings
is
is
more
The body
is
two
feet.
It is entirely of
wood, and
one of the
one
;
sides, as of
many represented
in the sculptures,
was tuned by
bar.
The Greek
lyres
the head and portion of the horns of a gazelle, and other elegant forms
were
as varied in
number
had
to hint,
was reputed
to
time of Terpander, a
several other strings
;
who added
limited
still
number
and although
The
scattered notices of
music preserved by
THE LYRE.
lyres of great
power had long beeu known, and were constantly used, many Greeks
and Eomans contented themselves with, and perhaps preferred, those of a smaller
compass.
strings, as
The
Herculaneum vary
;
in the
number of
their
much
Egyptian frescos
and eleven
We
The
at
Herculaneum.
male,
The female
is
who
plectrum.
There
is
every reason to believe that the musical instruments used by the Greeks
originally the
same
as those used
by
The
"It
is,
lyres
own
and
art.
But
pretensions, since
The Eomans
derived
many
THE HARP.
of their instruments, and the traditions connected with them, from the Greeks
7
;
to
their
Thus Juvenal*
Rome from
between
Romans and
"
most of
and
this is
always
in the East
in
some
instances,
Phrygia or Lydia
As
for the
Hebrews, we need not suppose that they were themselves the inventors
to
that
it is
Rome
among whom
came
the Egyptians,
whom
furnished them with the models of most of the instruments they possessed."
THE HARP.
One account
ments, attributes
string.
all
stringed instru-
it
an observation made by Apollo upon the twanging of a bowbe inferred that the
earliest
It might, therefore,
Yet
this does
;
has been
Roman monuments
The
Egypt are
more or
less of
the
bow
engravings, which
we have
selected
idea from the simplest modification of the bow-form to the large and magnificent
bowed
harp.
Sat.
iii.
I Lib. xxxix.
THE HARP.
application of the
bow formed
it is
given by Eosellini,
Museum
at Florence.
From
seem
to
the
number
and which
V=
it
or belly, framed at one extremity of the arc, in order to strengthen the sound.
exhibits
another instrument of
the same kind, with the four strjngs stretched over a box.
This figure
in
is fiirther
interesting, as
upon
the shoulder.
The next
is
instrument of
The
fourth figure
class,
gives;
Hebrew
nehel.
THE HARP.
All the Egyptian harps, according to Sir J. G. "Wilkinson, have a peculiarity for
which
it is
to the bar, or
and
it is difficult
to conceive
how, without
the strings could have been properly tightened, or the bar sufficiently
strong to resist the effect of their tension, particularly in those of a triangular form.
The
were of catgut
G. Wilkinson
at Thebes, in 1823,
numerous perishable
objects,
The
Eameses
iii,
B. C. 1235.
first to
which the
of Music.
He
also
in that work,
to represent
tombs.
It
is,
Denon
Then
Egypt-f,
Some
serious errors
contains thirteen strings, not eighteen, as stated by Bruce, nor twenty-one, as in the
French work.
But
Sir J.
* This distinguished
takes, through his zeal
traveller
committed
many mis-
t Description
and
enterprise.
See
investigations of the
present
character.
10
that
it
THE HARP.
had only
twelve strings.
is
copied from the latter gentleman's Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians,
&c., and
may be depended on
and minuteness of
detail.
Bruce, as
we have
said,
made
form of the
first
harp,
its
strings.
He
also
made another
error,
To
the figure, the painter should have had about the same degree of merit with a good
sign-painter in
Europe
manner
never to be mistaken.
His
left [right]
in the
alto, as if
an arpeggio
he
[left]
hand
to
and promising
this
by an
shows that
his time
or, in
other words,
that great hands \sic\ were then frequent, and consequently that music was well under-
If
we
then
we may compute
half.
extreme length,
itself in equilibrio
to
be
its
somewhat
less
It
seems to support
on
THE HARP.
foot, or base,
11
it
steady.
It has thirteen
[ten] strings,
treated,
and
liberty with
show
made
in a very different
This description of the manner in which the performer's hands are placed upon
the instrument,
is
knew nothing
we
harmony
and
it
art,
the discovery of
are
which belongs
that, the
;
is
manner
probably with ivory, tortoiseshell, and mother-o'- pearl; the ordinary produce
It
to finish
an
subject-f, liable
however
from his
When,
a few years after his letter to Br. Burney, Bruce published his
own work,
he gave a representation of the second harp, which he had overlooked on the previous
occasion; and which, although considerably modernized and improved,
faithfully copied than the other.
is far
more
With
my
opinion, overturn all the accounts hitherto given of the earliest state of music
and
musical instruments in the East ; and are altogether, in their form, ornaments, and
* Whether
the ancients
The
among
scientific
men
is,
and
disputes.
The
authorities in
were
totally
favour of the hypothesis, are Gaffurio, Zarlino, G. B. Doni, Isaac Vossius, Z. Tevo, the
of the
term
but those
who
feel
Abbe
Fraguier, &c.
Those
upon the
Music,
who deny
Glareanus,
vol.
p. 112,
where they
Mersennus,
ably discussed.
t Vol.
i,
p.
213, et seq.
12
THE HARP.
when
this
and that the period from which we date the invention of these
sera of their restoration.
of Solomon, a writer
there,'
who
'
when
"
Is
says Solomon,
may be
new
It
hath
us.'
ARE UNKNOWN.
Much
defined.
light
lyres,
and other
more accurately
which has
ho subject
in Scripture
been so
Hebrew
musical instruments*.
The
They enumerate no
;
supposing
that the
names of
But of
this there is
* Those who
subject,
knowledge on
this
seems
to
to
it,
may
The
first
volume,
tions of
volume
of his History
which
1757-
is
of
Music: those
Abbe Mattel
in various disserta-
which
treat of the
tions with
which he has
of the
Psalms in
Gabi-
netto
Armonico,
Michtam
;"
signifies
Francisco Blanchini,
De
"
Psalm composed
or written
by David
;"
Sigaion
(or
Shiggaion), "
wandering Song
The Padre
Harp
of eight strings."
ii,
The
work
life
Book of Psalms,
Mich-tam
scale, that,
DHDPaccording to
Targum, "Sculp-
THE HARP.
Mersennus, and,
instruments
;
13
after
the latter professing to have derived his information chiefly from the
and
still
more
to
wade through
It is to the
upon
this subject,
Much
nor
can
the
various
wind instruments
of
of the
-
Jews be more
is
satisfactorily ascertained.
The
"
difficulty
identifying
them
not surprising,"
the Greeks
says
Sir
J.
G. Wilkinson,
when we
observe
how
many names
had
and
et Effectihus,
Generibus, Modis,
David "
which
;
seems
to
strumentis ;
i.
folio,
Paris, 1636.
The most
material conproperties
;
Shigga-jdn
erratica Davidis
e.
varia."
of
It is otherwise explained,
Isatitia,
sound
on strings
or
ratios, proportion,
on the
on singing and th e
human
ments.
voice
on composition
numeral jy
octo.
Athanasius Kircher,
* As
these two writers will frequently be mentioned in
He was a professor
retired into France,
we
shall
here briefly
born at
Germany, he
He was
educated
received the
aged 79.
He was He
the author of
many
He was
ear,
among others,
folio,
of Vci&Musurgia Universalis,m
two volumes,
He
had
also
1650.
and
and were
want
of
and
materials.
His Musurgia,
ing
to
to
prove
much
that they
had
and in the
original
is enti-
know how
to sift truth
from
error,
and usefulness
from
futility.
agitur de
14
form
;
THE HARP.
and we sometimes hesitate whether
latter."
to ascribe to
former or the
is
It is
among
undecided, that
we must
many of
the Scriptures.
Perhaps,
among
form, two of which are here copied, as given by Eosellini, from tombs at Thebes and
Dakkeh.
The
belt
first
is
probably supported by a
is
a larger one of
by pressing
it
is
producing.
From
their peculiar
character and
To
found in Egypt,
now
Museum
at Florence.
In
this,
as appears
triangle,
by
their extension
strings
are
at
as
shown
in
THE HARP.
our engraving.
Portions of the strings
still
1|
h^n
Remembering
it is
Solomon obtaine^wood
by distant commerce,
remarkable that Jhewood oLjims instru(swietana) from the East Indies ;"
ment
is vv^hat
mahogany
and
Comparing
the delta form, which the old authorities assign to the nabl or psaltery, with the
number
of the strings,
that
the
present
instrument
^^
TTiiyV)
Hebrews*.
powers
lyre,
still
and guitar
the nabl, the sambuc, and the ten-stringed ashur of the Jews.
now
two
deposited in the
Nimrud room
Museum.
is
Two
of these represent
five
processions, in
last
met by
figures, the
referred to.
In the third
carrying the heads of the slain, are rejoicing, in company with two musicians, also
is
possible that
* " Owing
to the obscurity
{Antiq.
vii,
13, 3)
whereas,
we know, from
it
the second
Jewish
The
Rev.
Even Josephus
of the
since he speaks
146.
of twelve strings
16
THE HARP.
a drum, and
side,
which
is
left
the neck.
flat
The
hand
the
left
it
had no
cross piece
between
it is difiicult,
therefore, to understand
how
* Nineveh and
In a
its
Remains, 8vo.lS4kd
There
is
vol.
ii,
p.
41 2.
lion,
now
in the British
Museum.
a representation of
king stand-
CHAPTER
II.
but
little
can be said
we were
to
by
learned authors
We
differences could
we have
six
referred.
hundred
lyres
sculpture, without
coming
to
any conclusion*.
upon the
subject.
"
Among
the stringed
instruments," says this authority," " you will find the lyre of a character analogous
to masculine,
its
tones
the
sambuca of a feminine
weak and
delicate
and, from
its
great acuteness
strings,
Of
the inter;
but the
much from
description
From
this
we
learn
;
that the
classes,
as
they
The Greeks,
says a recent
says, in all
the representa-
but
all
had open
strings,
discovery,
More
recent
f Sistory of Music,
vol.
i.
Appendix.
18
writer, "
works.
if
To
them we
and,
we may
of the
human
The Doric
;
represents
masculine strength
the
So
it
accustomed
lyre,
the
distinguished for
spoken of by Homer,
were, in
all
probability,
many
varieties
and the
to the
polypthongum."*
We do
The
arts
not intend to carry out our inquiries into the stringed musical instruit
to
any
satisfactory result.
and sciences of
all
The
knowledge
we can
readily account
We
is
played with the fingers or the plectrum-]-, and differed from the cithara, chiefly in
having
its
its
being belowj.
* Higgins on Sound,
t Kircher
p.
102.
cites Suidas, to
quam Psalterium
Op.
torn,
viii,
rium
is
habet."
BedtB
Musurgia.
311.
19
The
cithara
is
manuscripts.
the
tine
and Isidore of
was of wood
or,
according
to St. Basil
Drawings of various
MS.
and
in a
MS.
This seems
show
that the psalterium was, at the earlier period, considered as the nobler instrufitted to
The
Greek a
was
barbarians.
According
to Isidore of Seville, it
et
Canticum.
left
The Abbe
Gerbertt, in his
De
Cantu
us figures of both
the square and triangular psalterium, copies of which are here given.
* See
the
Annates ArchSologiques
of
M. Didron, where
enquirer.
MS., Tiberius,
Eorda
Letters of Marpurg.
He
interval, the
St. Blaise
were
man
he
The
full title of
art, that
a pass-
many
plates, is
De Cantu
et
ing notice.
ecclesiee cetate
usque ad pneseui
et
of Benedictines,
of St. Blaise, in
Con-
was born
in 1720, at a small
town in
From
his position
Romani Imperii
The author
parts
:
he was enabled
to discover the
the
Gregory
to the ordinary
the
second carries
on to
and
D 2
20
this instrument
went
The name
later
served,
and given
to
it,
at a
somewhat
period to a stringed
first
instrument
having
some analogy
with a key-board.
Trevisa, in his translation of Bartholomieus de
Proprietatibus
Rerum, printed
latter instrument.
The Sawtry
name
tree,
;
of Psallendo, syngynge
answeryth
to the
The harpe
is
But
same
in the sawtry is
an holowe
and
of that
The
Hebrewes
mentes.
made
own
time.
But
the
is
* Bartholomew's singular
is
Ex
&c,
variis ItalitB,
collecti et
The
GallicB et
Typis 8an-
divinity, ethics,
natu-
This
with a very interesting dissertation on the music and musical instruments of his time.
an
extensive analysis of
it
in his Histoire de la
Musigue.
21
To
now
The
strings
were placed
on the upper
face,
sometimes perpendicular
The
first
Imperial Library at Paris ; the second from a grotesque alphabet, by " the Master of
1466." t
feast of
we have
The
psaltery
was a
from
may be
gleaned
its
extracts.
v.
PsaU
(i. .
which
latter
stick),
whence
it is
usually ranked
among
Its
and
;
octave,
is
name
bridges, on the
little
two sides
it
d Psallendo; some
j-
also
now
call it
Nahlum
or
Nahlium."
iron
rod, or sometimes
This
is
tlje
22
In the Squire of Lowe Degre, a romance of the fifteenth century, we are told
" There was myrth and melody,
and clokarde,
them amonge,
With
With
and dowcemere.
clere,
With
With
trompette,
dulcet pipes of
many
all
cordes,
In chambre revelyng
the lordes."*
Gawain Douglas,
visit to
in his allegorical
On
And
poem
called
The
The
ribus, the
rift.
The
The
lilt-pype,
and the
dulsate,
of assay
The amyablp
vol. iii,
p 189.
p.
vol.
i,
THE DULCIMER.
Clarions loud knellis,
Foitatibis,
23
and
bellis,
cellis,
Cymbaellonis in the
That soundis so
soft."
THE DULCIMER.
The
psaltery or sautry gave rise
to
the
The
thirty-six.
The instrument
is
by striking
the
in each hand,
force of the stroke being varied according as the tones are required to be piano
or forte.
The
been of a smaller
size,
and
to
vided with
much
Ottomarus Luscinius, in
cutors are,
sive
p.
179-
own
expression.
Bartholomeus Stoflerus,
accident,
They meet by
and
but,
the science,
pipes
made from
Leyden
says,
The
dialogue
is
is
somewhat awkwardly
to
{Complaint
conducted
for
though Stoflerus
supposed
be just arto
qf Scotland,
p.
360).
be accigreat
him with a
was
certainly an instrument
which
its
the
contents.
The in-
dulsacordis," of
The
by a
discourse,
of
dulcimer with
which
this
is
The merit
book
we
shall
instruments described in
delineated.
to
which the
interlo-
24
of the dulcimer, which
before
it
is
THE DULCIMER.
here copied.
It
its
earliest stage,
had attained
its full
complement of
Luscinius calls
i.
it
e.
exactly resembles
" Short
instruments,
called
dulci-
first
century after
;
but we
much
question whether
it
A kind of
side.
A
The
specimen
called a ckdnoon,
was
about forty inches long, sixteen inches wide, and two inches deep.
face
and
fine deal,
and the
is
sides of beech.
The
made
of beech,
wound
number
The
three
made
tuned in unison.
The
fore-finger of
each hand
is
armed with a
plectrum,
made
of thimble or sheath
sits
strings are
touched.
The
player
and places
the
fol.
200.
THE
CITOLE.
25
THE
The word
citole is derived
CITOLE.
cistella,
little
chest
and, in truth,
chest or
It diifered
hammers.
It
was known
thirteenth century,
when
outlaw "
sitole,
and jonglerie*."
served in the
is
pre16),
British
Museum
(Bib. Reg.
20 A.
which
is
here copied.
ancient authors
Amongst the
who
In the
Roman
de la
Rose,
commenced by Guillaume de
Meun
we
et si fretele,
Et chalemaulx,
et chalemelle,
Et puis
Et Et
citole, et
si
trompe, et cheurie,
;
psalterionne et viele
et se travaille
Aux
instrumens de Cornovaille,
et sautele et bale."
Et espringue
Adam
was trumpyng,
* Wright's Essays on
stitions
the
Literature
and Supervol,
ii,
p.
53-
MS.
26
THE
CITOLE.
The next
quotations are from the Confessio Amantis of the " Moral Gower."
"
But
For olde
lowe,
citole.
and the
the carole."
*
till
*
she was certaine
riote,
He
taught her
Of harp,
citole,
and of
With many
a tune, and
many
a note." *
hand hadde
semely on to
she.
see,
And
on hir heed,
ful
feast, in
the
Romance
of Launfal,
we
are told
And
elles
of the fifteenth
contained in Lydgate's
poem
entitled
Reson and
Of
al
manor
of Mynstralcye,
That any mane kane specifye For ther wer rotys of Almayne,
And
* Printed by Caxton,
in 1493.
for
Romances,
vol.
i,
p.
198.
Percy Society,
vol.
i,
p. 79.
THE
CITOLE.
notys newe
27
And
Many moo
Harpys,
than I kane
telle.
fythels,
Wei
More
for estatys
than taverns
And
ther
among
King
;
Edward
the Third.
See
also, besides
Du
p.
Cange, in
v.
Citola
and M. de
la Ravaliere, Poesies
du Roy de Navarre,
248.
E 2
28
THE CLAVICYTHERIUM.
CHAPTEE
III.
CLASS.
who have
struments with key-boards, that no traces of their existence are to be found anterior
to the sixteenth century.
M.
From
all
that
we can
learn by tradition,
antiquity
may be
may
The
clavier or
when
it
was applied
to the organj-
would be
lost in
THE CLAVICYTHERIUM.
The
first
In
its
early stage,
it
The
which were of
to the
by means of
quill-plectra, attached in a
rude way
ends of
the keys.
is
its
mechanism.
but seems
to
it is)
claiming to
Revue
it treats,
Harmonicon
for
We
shall have
its
Historical Section,
3]
THE CLAVICHORD.
29
The
idea of the Clavicytherium was of course suggested from the lyres, citharas*,
strings of
quill or
with a
The thought
varieties
The
clavicytherium assumed
earliest
but the
delineation
of
its
us, is the
wood-cut
we have
Luscinius's
Musurgia,
THE CLAVICHORD.
The next instrument on record,
to
was
called
by
all
three appellations.
As
the
* The
but
its
cithara
was a
some ben
foure cornerde,
the
precise structure
is diverse.
known.
We
on
p.
19
but
it
Men
men
in
olde
tyme
callyd
The
aticients describe it as
;
Greek delta
accordyth in Fey.
And
Bartholomew, in his
De
libro septimo.
Eerum, has
"
on the subject.
And
all
the note.
Other
De
Cithara.
for
fiyrst
heaven sownyth
seven menyngs.
A strynge hyghte
;
cithara,
;
and was
founde of
is like to
corda,
for
mannys
wyse
as the voyce
comyth
of the
strynges
is
in the harpe.
to
fore
that
name
Thicariuz.
And
And
many manere
name
plectrum."
And
30
clavichord (for that
THE CLAVICHORD.
is
the
name by which it
entitled
Luscinius depicts
in this form.
rare.
Douce
quoted by Sir Harris Nicolas, in the Prixy Purse Expenses of Elizabeth of York)
" The clavichord
is
says,
in
Douce must
do they exist in the numerous archeological works of France and England which we
have consulted.
are acquainted.
It will
is
we
be seen that the instrument was made something in the shape of a small
Indeed, the idea of the square
it
their actions
have no
similarity.
The
its
action
it
where
proper string
this
pin could be held against the string as long as required by the firm pressure of the finger.
It thus necessarily
key was held down, a close damper being fixed behind, always acting upon the string
when
quitted by the
it
pin-j-;
back, but
f "
As
the clavichord
was
still
call
it
single strini",
Prsetorius says
it
Syntagma Musicum.
THE CLAVICHORD.
31
3.
Some
vichord
annexed
^
'~'
a,
diagram.
key ;
/
;
6,
brass pin
c,
string
It is
d, cloth
strings as a damper.
have been
solitary,
soft
amusement.
;
he considered
it
He
found
it
venient for the expression of his most refined thoughts, and did not believe
to
possible
produce from any harpsichord, or pianoforte, such a variety in the gradations of tone
as
on
this instrument,
which
is
flexible*."
This instrument,
;
it
will
be
down
difficult compositions,
and
spirit, for
which he
is
so justly celebrated
among
his countrymen.
to express,
he
absolutely contrived to produce from his instrument a cry of sorrow and complaint,
Concerning the origin of the name clavichord, and the various other appellations
given to this instrument, our etymologists are not very clear.
To quote
a few of the
most erudite
" CLAyicoKDES, an instrument having
many
sttinges of one sound, saving that with small pieces of clothe, the
sound
is distinct.
Monochordium,
orum Monochordiom."
J. Baret's Alvearie, or Triple Dictionarie, 1573.
many
which with
little
pieces of cloth
make
distinct
Queen Anne's
New World
of Words, by John
Florio, 1611.
Forkel's Life
of Bach,
p.
28.
p.
269.
32
" Clericordes, claricords or
manicordion
;
THE CLAVICHORD.
clavicdrdes.
;
Spanish, clavicdrdias
Latin,
clavecymbalum
French, clavessins,
German,
clavibus (because the strings thereof are wrested up, with a wrest of iron, like a key, called, in Latin, clavis), vocatur
etiam
Latin, Monochordum,
It is
an instrument having many strings of one sound, saving that with small pieces
of
cloth the
sound
is distinct."
the
Instruments so called."
See
ClavecymbaV
up
Blount's Glossographia, 1656. " Claricord, or Clericord, a kind of musical instrument, somewhat like a cymbal." " Clateoymbal, or Claricymbal,
virginal."
by some taken
for
a harpsical or
by E.
Phillips, l"e78.
musical instrument in the form of a spinet, containing from thirty -five to seventy strings.
it
Florio
of
and makes
He
also spells
p.
it
claricoes.
See his
New World
Words,
Sir
238.
'
W.
Lond. 1613."
Halliwell's
Archaic Dictionary.
It will
be observed, in the
first place,
make no
distinction
we
an hypothesis.
clavichord
is
The word
an
it
We learn that
of cloth.
that the
Now
it
and
name was
monochord, or clavichord.
its
Or it may be from
clarion
in
low Latin,
clario ;
name
THE CLAVICHORD.
from its
the
shrill
33
sounds*.
were
probably identical.
The clavicymbal
and
clarichord.
differed materially
It appears to
of the harp."
It
in
an upright form
sometimes
wire,
in
an horizontal one
its
strings
were of
steel
quill plectra.
it
The
drawing of
is
this
instrument exhibits
in
an
upright form. It
work before
mentioned-]-.
book of
" That
new
invention
or contrivance was Simio's, which, from him, was called the simicum
thirty-five strings,
; it
consisted of
from which
is
now
call
monochords
in which,
when
in order, plectra
which
elicit
a more lively
strings.
When
I was a boy,
was
and
* Menage
derives the
Italian
sichord in the
Harmonia
of
Mersennus
and
sound.
used among
also in Kircher."
first
His
printed in 1617:
The passage
" Fuit
et
the instrument:
the harpsichord,
"The
claviciinbalum
no other than
Simi commentum
quinque
et triginta
constabat cbordis,
k quibus eorum
vocat.
name
for
that
the
strings
origo, quos
In quibus,
Additse
filis
sented in
perpendicular situation;
and there
good
reason to suppose that the harpsichord was orginally so constructed, notwithstanding that the upright harpsichord has
me puero, clavycymbalum
mucronibus, spinetam
harpichordium,
nunc ab
Wis
There
is
nominante,"
34
THE CLAVICHORD.
Musicum*,
who
word monichords,
clavichordia
Scahger
The
the
statements of these two old writers are exceedingly valuable, as pointing out
spinet.
to
been applied the first and oldest is the harmonic canon of Pythagoras.
single string
sections
;
to
which
it
by
bridges,
showed the
relation
to
way was
instrument, called a monochord or unichord, used for that purpose, not by the ancients^
but by the
called the
modems
It
was sometimes
Trumpet Marine
what reason
fitted
is
a pyramidal shape,
and
bowf
was
an instrument of a single
monochordis.
The
is
may
be seen in the
which
Earmonicorum
Armonioo.
of
as follows:
We lately saw
Mr. Walesby, of
the trembling of
Waterloo Place.
the bridge
is
in
when
makes
it
the trumpet,
which
is
tractantium gratiam
Wolfenbiittel
and
this is
Tomos distributum.
it
the denomination of
Trumpet Marine,
-
tho' in propriety it
be a kind of monochord."
THE CLAVICHORD.
a
35
mode
in
fact,
a polychord, or instrument of
It
many
strings*.
of which was recommended by Guido in the eleventh century as the best method of
teaching beginners their musical intervals, was the Pythagorean monochord above
described.
all
Guido
is
said to
clavier, or
it
key-board, and
it is
not at
to apply
to
to the
medieval instrument of
many
strings
at
any
rate, the
monochord seems
and, as such, was the progenitor of the harpsichord, the spinet, the virginals, and the
pianoforte of
modern
times.
With
Musica Antica
Moderna, Fiorenza,
it,
a representation of
although
it
authority
from antiquity
assigned
it
so
doing.
has
different perhaps
(lib.
iv)
epigonium invented
;
by
the
"The
it."
chiamato, perchfe,
fra le corde, accid
senza
s'
quel
writers and
of
readers
by
its
equivocal
oda distinto
suono di ciascuna di
confuso, e nojoso.'
meanings
it
in
some passages
modern
authors.
Sometimes
esse
farrebbe
un
sol sentire,
e molto
seems
to signify
From
In Domenico Scorat
Armoniche, published
Naples in 1701,
keys and
of
many strings
or wires
'Fu ancochiacome
quelli
mato Moriocordo
quell'
instromento che ha i
tasti,
and
Appendix,
p.
78.
F 2
36
These instruments,
in
THE CLAVICHOBD.
of those
we have
described in the
first
much more
nearly allied,
Presuming that the monochord and the clavichord were the same instrument
(which we can hardly doubt), we have evidence that
twelfth century, the proofs of which
it
was known
as early as the
we
shall
now bring
forward.
d'
Metrical Romances, that the musical instruments of the French minstrels at this
period were " the viole, the clavicorde, the rote, the tabour, and others."
au
said, "
Of the
collected
It
is,
state of
first
much may be
1353-f'.
as
ingeniously united them, under the supposition of a party formed during the dreadful
pestilence
in
and young,
The company
consisted of ten
number
Each
day's
amusement
is
finished
at the
end of the
fifth
day, after a
dance, the queen orders Dion, one of the gayest and most facetious of the company,
the Literature
edition.
Grand Duke
of Tuscany,
and
after
vol.
i,
p. 12S,
Bohn's
andP
pes
Decameron
Trent
was
proscribed
At
THE CLAVICHORD.
to sing,
offer
37
who
some
objection,
others,
He
tells
them
he would sing
if
of later invention than the time of Boccaccio, who, in the passage where the word
cembalo or ciembalo
is
used, probably
basque, or
drum
it
;
in the shape of a sieve, with small bells and bits of tin jingling at the sides of
tinkling cymbal, but not the
ancients,
marked the
and which
M.
Fetis, writing
says, "
known under
that
name
in Italy,
same species
as the
cymbalum
This
is
of the
was intended
that
is
to say,
an instrument of percussion.
not likely
so widely
made such
under the circumstances related in the romance, have accompanied the voice with an
instrument of percussion."
writer, "it
were permitted
me to
be
venture a conjecture in this regard, I should rather think that the instrument spoken of by Boccaccio was the tympanum (the timpano of the Italians), which
is
stiU to
occasionally seen in the hands of itinerant musicians, and which consists of a rectan-
is
a sounding-board, surmounted by a bridge mounted with wire player strikes these strings with two small sticks hooked at
if skilful,
The
some
difficulty.
To
* Hist,
of Music,
vol.
ii,
p.
344.
38
obtain subsitutes for these sticks,
THE CLAVICHOED.
we
Frenchman
is
evidently
the
portable clavichord or clarichord, and not the tambour de basque or the dulcimer.
Both
of
its
writers, however,
it
will
The
is
an instrument of that
is
class,
The
word cembalo
Latins.
cymbalum
accompanying
this
instrument
but
it is
more
likely to be
The
much
smaller than
those which we
now
call
Although
differing, as
we
do,
from
many
of
M.
the opinions of
M.
Fetis,
man and
his career
" In choosing
for
a degree of
my
taken place at
An
interesting
of
for,
prominent person.
may form
of the value of
artist,
first
my
anniversary of
the pupils
say that, as
struggled at
theorist, historian,
and
critic,
I have
by the
artists,
and several
of the principal
On
in the
Church
music of
t"The Cymbals
vessels
was
of
M.
Fetis'
own
composition.
After which
by
Opera,
torn,
a bronze
900.
THE CLAVICHORD.
Acetabulum, the
39
is
name
articulated
a horse's hoof.
It must, therefore,
undoubtedly have
;
was fastened
from
to
The
used at
it
was
feasts
and
sacrifices.
who has
written a learned
work on the
subject,
De
or inhabitants of
thracia,
Mount Ida
were reputed
their cymbal,
will
be remembered,
"
;
CL
Psalm, speaks of the " loud cymbals," and the " high sounding-cymbals
formed a conspicuous
part.
It is generally conthis
The nature
was
As we have
cymbal was
much smaller
Theophilus
the scale.
treatise of the
monk
we now
to the
various sounds of
Theophilus,
who
* Grassineau, in
his
interesting
Musical Dictionary,
is
of metal,
silver,
a kind
of instrument
differs greatly
which we likewise
a cymbal, which
It consists of a
much
fit
frame, about four feet long and two and a half wide, along
half through, to
the pins
is
C,
which there
is
straight,
like the
of the spinet.
There is near
at one
;
end
iiji.i.i..ii>i.LiiiuiinuiniiirrnnHUJ. |ijMi.iiiiiu.LiiiuiinuiniTT77?WUU.
more than
within a
all
little
distance
so that
may
be reckoned an instrustriking
it
the
is
iiiiMmiiiiiii..........i....T7:7nWUlili.
ment
of percussion,
it
with
The sound
yields is
number
upon the
soft, th e lo
w notes
two
first,
thirteen on
those behind;
{i. e.
wedge
of a particular kind
sound
may be compared
40
left
THE CLAVICHORD.
US a most valuable chapter on the subject of " cymbal-making for the use of the
church," which
we
transcribe entire*.
"
rectfe
''
Whoever wishes
make cymbals of
dividere
cum pon-
wax
for each
nire ad graviora.
Unumquodque autem
notet
cum
propria
may
know
be able
to arrive
He
he
can
own
letter, that
may
cum
libra,
in the partition.
In the
him make
ad G.
Ceram a
litterse
for letter a,
tantum ad ceram
cerse a.
litterse
litterse
quantum
letter
into
and
(give) so
much
to the
wax
of letter
quantum
est in
summa
hoc
ejus, et insuper
octavam ejus
semi-
wax a :
so
let
him
similarly divide
In
illo loco
wax
total,
by
eight,
and give
of its
much
to letter
as is in its
will
tonium ^ debet
esse, et
ita inveniat.
litterse dividat
in tres partes,
ipsamque
and an eighth
part beyond,
and he
have
notes.
litterse, et
him thus
a
find
cera
litterse,
quantum
est in
summa a
wax
of letter
partem.
Item tantum
C quantum habet
Then
let
him
give so
G,
et
mediam
much wax
part of
it.
as is in the total a,
let
semitonium.
Deinde tantum
cerse tribuat
litterse
quan-
Likewise
him
give as
of
much wax
him
tum
est in tota
et
summa E
littera
litterse et
as
G
B
possesses
it,
partem,
habebit iterum
semitonium
atque
septem
Then
afibrd to
symphonias ab a
vero
usque ad
inveniat.
Dyapason
so
much wax
and
as is in the whole
of
it,
amount
of letter
necdum haberet
Duplicet igitur
and he
will
totam ceram a
deerit.
litterse et sic
earn tribuat
A litterse, et nichil
Syneme-
let
him
to
B.
toUat
summam
cymbal.
all
the
will
wax
of letter a,
tum
det
litterse, et insuper
medietatem
and
so give it to letter
A, and nothing
let
be wanting: the
illam inter
et
B.
Omnind autem
fourth, eighth,
him
him take
letter
wax
of the letter
ilia
omnia.
aliquod
In magna
He who
all
habeat
ut,
priusquam
cymbalum
fundatur, stagnum
habeat.
cum
wax, which
Qudd
si
aliter
any cymbal be
may have
the
right sound.
fifth
or sixth part
* Theophili, qui
et
Eugerus, Presbyteri
et
et
MonacM,
Studio Roberti
Londini
THE CLAVICHORD.
Quinta aut sexta pars debet esse stagnum, utrumque bene
purificatum priusquam permisceatur ut
clarfe
41
tin,
should be
sonent.
Si
mixed
together, that
may sound
clearly.
Should,
rectfe
with the
file,
or stone."
"DE CTMBALIS
secundum quod docuerit formam
gentSr pondera.
est,
si
MUSICIS.
tibi
OF MUSICAL CYMBALS.
lectionem
et
Being
first
procure your ^
taught,
directions, and,
may have
Quas* cum
dictum
make
When
quid
incuriam de equitate
tonorum
defuerit, corriges.
Si volueris
si
cymbalum
altius
oram
you
will correct
file
it.
in circuitu.''
you wiU
The
possesses traces of
its
ancient accompaniment in two of its stops, the cymbal octave, and the cymbal regal.
With
the explanation
we have
name
of
it
To
There existed
It
at
of the
first
essays
it
made in
was then
aflirmed that
Rome
The author of
Encyclopidie Mithodique J, also speaks of another clavichord which existed in the same
city; the
This instrument
it
The
was
alto-
gether ridiculous. Zarlino speaks of a " cembalo," the relics of which existed in his time
(1555), and which appeared to have been
previous.
* Quae?
t In the MS. romance
read of "
certainly
of
fifty
is
years
"
The
testimony of
so.
M.
Fetis,
"
undeni-
Olariodus
and
Meliades,
we
pianist,
The
clear
He
Revo-
lution,
and
settled in
42
able,
THE CLAVICHORD.
and
is,
is
known
artists
of the fourteenth century, such as Francesco degli Organi, Nicolo del Proposto,
the harpsichord or spinet of the fourteenth century, or, at latest, at the beginning of
the fifteenth, than the manner in which they are spoken of by those
who
give descrip-
They do not
speak of them as
new
inventions
and the
varieties
in the clearest manner, that they could be the result only of multiplied essays, dating
The
manner
in
which
so
backward a
state of civilization as
that of these
of so complicated a kind could not start forth at once from the brain of such inventors as those described
The
centuries
may be
illustrated
by the following
the
extracts.
translation of The
Knyght of
Toure, printed in
passage, confirming
relative to the
common use
of the clavichord
The
where were many lordes, ladyes, and damoysels, and arrayed as they wold have
after the
them
maner
of
Almayne.
He cam
ladyes,
them
hym
before
man
with.
for
In the accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland*, we find the instrument spoken of under the " vulgar appellation
:"
" 1497. Apr. 10. Item, to John Hert, for bering a pare f of monicordis of the kingis fra Abirdene to Strivelin, ix s."
"
To
command,
xviij s."
at
to
Dauney's Ancient
4to. 1838.
An
more
in the Hist,
of
THE CLAVICHORD.
Also, in the testament of
43
of the Sang Scole of
St.
quha
deceist,
15 Aug. 1579."*
and the bodie
of poldavie,
my
sone,
James Henrysoun,
doublet,
my
my
bybill,
my hat,
&c."
From
these extracts
the case.
At
Margaret, in 1503,
we
the Princess) to
And uppon
ballade,
being together, " she played upon the clarychorde and after of the
his
he being uppon
At
we
clari-
^e
To one
xiij s. iv.
"1504. (March.)
Tot a ^air
ix
s."
Among
queen,
||,
Henry the
Seventh's
we have
Hugh Denys,
for
money by him
iiij
Queene apayre
li."
The
rewarded
to
poem
1506.
In Chapter
XVI, he
p. 99.
^ Addit.
edit.
MSS,
Brit.
Mus.
No. 7099.
iii,
p.
284.
1770.
||
Edited by
Sir.
N. H.
Nicolas, 1830.
p.
310.
G 2
;;
"^4
THE CLAVICHORD.
" There
sat
all
her mynstralsy
As tabours,
Harpes,
lutes,
Dyd
Among
the " proverbis " that were written about the time of
at Leckingfield,
now
destroyed, were
many
re-
The
fact
of inscribing
these
curious
rhymes on the
the period.
the
Those relating
''
He
him
Yet no
He
make goode
concordance.
Ought
Which may
comely Cays;
He
me
to
swete
His descant
The
writer of an old
poem on MusicJ,
in the reign of
gives the
following advice
MS.
is
preserved
among
D.
the
11.
XIX yere
printed
the
month
of July.
King's
MSS.
Museum,
and Informacion."
by Wynkin de Worde.
to
Alexander Dyce,
%
vol.
i,
p. 16.
"In
the rieete
called
and seems
to
otherwise
most
; :
THE CLAVICHORD.
Who
pleythe on a harp he should pley trew
45
Who syngeth a song, let his voyce be tunable Who wrestythe the Clavycorde, mystuning eschew Who bloweth a trumpet, let his wynd be mesurabyle
Tor instruments
in themselves be firm
and
stable,
And
them
is
no wronge."
Again he says
" The davicorde hath a tunely kynde
;
As
So
the
it
wyre
is
mynde
it
For as
wrested so must
reson
nodes showe,
As by this
ye may
well
know,
Any
King Henry
the Eighth, whose knowledge and love of music were very great,
clavichord, as well as
Richard
Pace, in a letter to Cardinal Wolsey, preserved in the State Paper Office, says
" The
Kynge
haith
bi the
that
M.
playith excellently)
wyse
and hath nowe brought hydre a newe goodde and goodly instrument, and playeth ryght wele uppon the same.
Mnem
nihil
In the
list
of
Henry
minster in the charge of Philipp van Wilder," immediately after the king's decease,
we
find
Manichord
appeared.
it
The
and he presumes
took
its rise
it
but
it
more probably
first
in
art.
60.
-f
Harleian
MS. No.
1419,
fol.
200.
Third
p.
200.
46
THE CLAVICHORD.
Italy.
Florio has
it
in his Dictionarie
of
the Italian
it
which
is
here copied.
this drawing,
to us, the
From
1
mded down
Manichord appears
"
Tl
fifty
keys
some of the
strings being
in unison*.
It
hammer
the vibration
had been
struck.
The hammer
whom
<a
we have
Mersennus
little
well as soften
it
whence
it
is
called
the
dumb
spinet
(ipinette
sourdej, and
is
much used
in nunneries,
square pianoforte.
It
Sir
John Graham
Dalzell, in his
Memoirs of
the
says, "
some musicians
stump
at the inner
me
more
much
THE CLAVICHORD.
47
woods; sometimes
it
was
domed
The
its
original form,
still
much encouraged by
to the
it
Duke Albert
who
died in 1594,
said to
first to
use
we
clavichoi-d
Lemme, an
The
organist
Brunswick, at a somewhat
boards."
as also
The
in
Germany, of any
still
note,
was Kramer of
old
may
occasionally be
Wien.
8vo.
1853.
CHAPTER
IV.
THE VIRGINAL.
M.
"
Fetis, in his Sketch of the History of the Pianoforte, before alluded
to,
has the
following remarks
upon the
When
covered, a plan was devised of striking the strings with small pieces of quill affixed
to
flat
pieces of
These jacks were directed perpendicularly upon the key, and when the jack had
made
to
fell
in such a
manner
as
A slip
was applied
to
differed only in
form
and variety of
effects,
by the
harpsi-
The
invention of the jack and quill had formerly been applied, although perhaps
The
virginal
instrument, and
its
and
iron,
instead of catgut.
gold, silver,
less
and even
harmonious in tone.
The
virginal,
we
upon the
THE VIEGINAL.
49
The
earliest
House
Henry
the Seventh*.
It runs thus
"
A slac strynge in a
so loose
and
light
The sound-borde
Throw mysgovernance,
make
notes whiche
was not
his intente."
The
virginal
was
also
known
on the continent.
it,
in
i.
e.
the clavicordium,
The
is
11.
Brit.
Mus.
See Ante,
p.
44.
2s.
Harp
Among
The
Lute Strynges,
called
50
THE VIRGINAL.
On
made
in a triangular shape.
Prsetorius
thus depicts
in his
Syntagma Musicum.
An
interesting engraving of
;a
is
given in the
of Playing Cards.
occur on the
title
instrument
the virginalls,
The former
is
Some
name
the
" Virgin
Queen
;"
but what
we have
to the date of
her birth.
Dr. Johnson suggests that the instrument was so called " because played upon chiefly
by young
uses
;
ladies
"
;
and a modern
writer,
its title
to its
halls, it served
hymns
to the Virgin.
The
subject
:
following
is
glossarists say
upon the
* Both editions
library.
of this rare
printed,
Antiquarian Society.
THE VIRGINAL.
-
51
ei
" ViEGiNALLS.
nomen inditum
Cymbalum apud
veteres
in sacris metris
"Virginal
sort of
The
" ViKGiNAL.
New World
An
instrument of the spinnet kind, but made quite rectangular, like a small piano-forte.
Their
remember
by
young
girls.
They had,
one wire
to
each note.
figures of
Sir
them
as being in fact
name
yet his
own
The
spinnet, as
many
persons remember, was nearly of a triangular shape, and had the wires carried over a
;
those of the virginal went direct from their ppints of support to the screw-
pegs, regularly decreasing in length from the deepest bass note to the highest treble."
v.
The
virginal, as
we have
if
seen,
was known
us
that he " exercised himselfe dailie in shooting, singing, dansing, wressling, casting of
of songs*, and
making of
life,
as
to the
Doge
by
his three
* Some
of the king's
own
compositions are
still
extant.
offices,
of all things,"
which
is
attributed to
him
in Boyce's Cathe-
In
dral Music,
is
Mundy;
the
Henry
MS. Lady
The music
Arundel Col-
in 1591),
es, et
is
Quam
pulchra
Museum,
is
also ascribed to
Henry
quam
VIII,
Musica Antiqua,
end
52
terms*.
THE VIRGINAL.
In their joint despatch of
May
"He
is so gifted,
and
we
believe
;
him
to
have few
He
understands Italian
;
well;
is
In the
at this
letter
same
date,
he says
is
"
He (King Henry)
is
many
other endow-
parts."
On
May, 1515,
May Day
after dinner,
flutes,
certain
and, after having heard from the ambassadors that Sagudino was a proficient on
some
of them, he was asked by the nobles to play, which he did for a long while, both on the virginals and organ, and says that he bore himself bravely, and was listened to
The
prelates told
him
Of Henry, he
says
"
He
little
from book
at sight,
man
in England,
me he
is
and
I,
seen
all
the sovereigns in Christendom, and last of all these two of France and England, might well rest content," &c.
Upon
"
ambassador at the courts of Spain, Portugal, Hungary, France, and of the Emperor,
he was enabled
to
and, indeed,
it
is
Ambassadors, and their peculiar freedom from prejudice or partiality (no jealousy or
Se-
from January,
Translated by
Rawdon Brown,
THE VIRGINAL.
rivalry existing
53
their
comments on our
country so valuable."
As
way
in
the virginal
to them.
known
This
obvious, also, from the fact of Sagudino, the Secretary, being able
his performance
to
upon
it
the Eighth,
N. Harris Nicolas,
" 1530
(April).
in 1827,
vj
we meet with
Item the
iii li.
iiii
stoppes
for a
brought to Grenewiche
little
And
li.
And
xxs
vii li."
Item the
d.
xiii
for
William Lewes,
for
v payer of Vir-
And
in the inventory of
King Henry
the
we
find
mention of numerous
them were
"
Two
fair pair
of
new long
Virginalls
made
The "
virginalls
We give
a curious
drawing of an upright
collection
virginal,
taken from a
of pen-and-ink
drawings of ancient
engravings.
54
THE VIRGINAL.
mean
order.
Sir
Frederick Madden, in his introduction to the Privy Purse Expenses of the Princess
Mary*,
says, "
In regard
to the lighter
Mary
Of
Queen Catherine
according
Parr f.
to
virginals, regals,
and
lute, and,
and in the
letter of
by -her mother
lute,
'
if
From
we learn
and
after
Mary's restoration
to favour, she
||
seems
to
Mr. Paston
is
named
as her teacher
on the
virginals,
her wherever she removed, and items often occur of payments to a person coming from
London
to
tune them."
extenso.
8vo. 1831.
te
^ This person
is
often
simul
mecum
ii.
oppido
King Henry
given to
the Eighth.
2.
330.
The
him by Edward
many
sum
Annals of
the Stage,
i.
165.
We
in
same with
printed at
Antwerp
1554!.
di
manicordo
et di leuto.
In tanta
i
eccel-
Cantionum,
From
quando v'attendeva,
la fatto maravigliare
buoni
on the
mano
f.
et per la
maniera del
sonare."
MS. Lansd.
ii
840, A.
156.
The author
is
in possession of
an original
set of
I Burnet,
2, 336.
Nothing
II
is
known
He
seems
to
of
Edward
some interesting
him
presents.
THE VIRGINAL.
" 1537 (Jan.)
55
of
Item geven
to one
to
for
mending
v s."
Item geven
Item
for
iii
my
my lady my
Item geven
d."
" 1537 (April). " 1537 (May). " 1537 (Sept.) " 1537 (Nov.)
Item geven
Item paid
vij s. vj
d."
to the to
man
vs.''
Item geven
my
vij s. vj
d."
Item geven
tymes
to
my
ladys
d."
Item geven
to
my
vs.''
to the court,
with yearly
salaries.
retained by
Mary when
Their,
down
in a
MS.
d.
{John
Heywoode*,
fee
fee
50 30
12
Anthony Chounter,
is
canted on.
Camdenf,
well the Latin, French, and Italian tongues, and (was) indifferently well seen in the
Greek.
Neither did she neglect Musicke, so far forthe as might become a Princess,
being able to sing, and play on the lute prettily and sweetly."
There
is
much
Queen
of England.
in him."
A full length
wood-cut of him
is
prefixed to his
Henry VIII.
His
was
6 13:4
:
curious work,
The Parable of
the Spider
and
the Fly,
On
the accession
Heywood
is
left
England and
to
retired to
Mechlin
where he
supposed
skill in vocal
and instrumen-
Chounter and
Thomas More
and by the
latter
he was
Qiiem
whom
he
of England.
% Memoirs,
3rd
edit.
1635,
was
the
original
MS.
1683,
p. 50.
56
THE VIRGINAL.
this Princess, to
whom he
Whether
in 1564.
how
his
Queen
1
dressed
What was
that or her's
was
best
1
Which
of
And which
lately
of them was
I answered,
highest in stature
"
when
;
my
dispatch, the
Queen was
Highland hunting
that
upon the
and
"
virginals.
She asked
The same
my
that I
might hear some Musick, (but he said that he durst not avow
where I might
hung
before the door of the chamber, and seeing her back was
toward the door, I entered within the chamber, and stood a pretty space hearing her
play excellently well.
But she
to
left off
saw me.
She appeared
;
me
solitary, to
shun melancholy.
I answered, as I was
walking with
my Lord Hunsden,
we
melody
as ravished
my
fault
of homeliness, as being brought up at the Court of France where such freedom was
allowed
should be pleased to
upon me
Then she
sate
down low
my
;
knees by her
own hand
she gave
me
She enquired
me
to take
played best.
by Bynneman, in 1569, the author pays her Majesty the following compliment
besides
her
personal
of languages,
had considerable
taste in music,
and knowledge
"
THE VIRGINAL.
"
57
;
Your grace
is
skilful in all
kindes
Queen's musical
abilities in lines
The pow'r
of notes
Much joy
raise."
In a MS. note by Isaac Reed, written in a volume of old plays, we meet with
th& following anecdote
:
"
When Queen
Oxford, remarking the motion of the keys, said, in covert allusion to Raleigh's favour
at court,
'
The
ends with
plectra
upper
They were
By
own
elasticity giving
sound.
place,
and
a little bit of cloth, fixed on the top of the jack, rested on the string, and
stopped
vibration, or, in other words, acted as a damper.
The
pun;
simile
and
Charity as frozen, he says, " Her teeth chattered in her head, and leaped
\J
">
t,
'^^''^-
up and down
the
Untrmsing of
exclaims
:
one
we women
fall,
and
fall
still
and
Tongue.
d, Bristle spring.
and
fall
to our
humours, or
any good
^^'^ hamper.
strains of
58
THE VIRGINAL.
John Strangways,
the following lines
in
to
Tom
"
Kemp
yet doth
live,
and only
Much
From London
Doest merit
praise.
For though
were
it,
sore.
friscals of a
it all
poppet
Or that
Like
at once I
may
express
to t\ie jacks of
jumbled virginall."
we must take
in
different parts
of England.
There
is
one, a
at
Helmingham
ToUemache family
Sir E.
is
Bulwer Lytton
the fortunate owner of a most splendidly decorated instrument the most remarkable of
It
all, is
was purchased
at
1805, and
that
is
of incalculable
case
is
value.
we read
"The
of
Genoa
is
velvet,
engraved
the froat
is
covered entirely with gold, having a border round the inside two inches and a half
broad.
lightly
It is five feet long, sixteen inches wide,
is
so
and delicately formed, that the weight does not exceed twenty-four pounds.
fifty
There are
(i. e.
and
key
fifty pieces.
is
On
emblazoned
end
claw
the painting
is
MS.
fleur-de-lis,
&c., and gilt edges, traditionally said to have been Queen Elizabeth's Virginal Book.
THE VIRGINAL.
59
in the
six lines,
same hand.
At
the
end of each piece of music, the arrangers' names are generally given.
Among them
Martin
we
find,
WilUam
Marchant,
W.
Tisdall,
Thomas
Dr.
Oldfield,
Giovanni
says, " If
&c.
Bumey
as
some of these
which were
difficult,
composed by
it
that
to find a master in
to play
The
late
M. Choron
"
it is
of the utmost
common
error
which
music was
and from
its
not being
Besides, if
we
upon the
upon
the Virginal Book of Queen Elizabeth, for instance,^difficulties will be found which
-j-
A recent writer in
he goes on
sions of
to say, " a
Chambers's Journal %
is still
of the volume,
any ordinary
professor, but
* History of Music,
t Summary of
the
vol.
iii,
p. 15.
prefixed to the
1
first
volume of
thfe
Dictionary of Musicians,
;;
60
those spasmodic pianists
age."
THE VIRGINAL.
who
Opinions, such as these, regarding the extreme difficulty of the music in the
it
them.
Nevertheless,
first
it is
Of
;
quoted, the
(Dr. Burney)
for
examined the volume, and doubtless, in his time, the music possessed some claim to be
considered
difficult.
At
it
An
ordinary pianist
could with ease execute any of the pieces in the volume after an hour's practice.
At
the end of the sixteenth century, the virginal was the popular keyed-stringed
instrument in England, and was found in the house of every person of education.
we
find
regalls,
also,
and
virginalls, covered
"
faire paire of
double virginalls."
And
of
and
Thomas Kytson
;
Hengrave Hall,
we have
;
little virginalls
ditto,
virginalls."-]'
Upon an
his
By
bed
Ould instruments
of musick's
sound
And
And
* MS.
p. 24.
; ;
THE VIRGINAL.
His organes with the bellows burst,
61
And
His
me,
for to see
(wife of
at
May
With
their
gay goldin
glitt'ring strings
Thair was thehautbois and the harpe, Playing most sweet and pleasant springs
And sum
on
and
sing.
king.
With
With
The
instruments melodious.
seistar
With
one of those
which the
him
to
abandon.
The
line,
:
virginal
is
the witnesse of
my unhappie
state.
Make
Thought, and
unto
my
Whether
ii,
p. 6.
62
THE VIRGINAL.
is
of the
How
oft
when
thou,
my music,
music
play'st
Upon
when thou
that
Do
To
Whilst
my
poor
lips,
At
To be
by thee blushing
stand.
would change
their state
And
Cer whom
fingers,
me
thy
lips to kiss."'
so
The
first
book printed
PAETHENIA,
OR
THE MAYDENHEAD
OF THE FIRST MUSICKE THAT EVER
COMPOSED
By
By William Hole
Lond
:
for
privilegio,
and are
to
plates,
same
plates) in
Musick
THE VIRGINAL.
63
This publication was speedily followed by another of a similar kind, without date, with the following
title
:
PAETHENIA IN-YIOLATA,
OR
Mayden Musicke
By Robert Hole,
And
consecrated to
all
true Lovers
and Practisers
thereof.
AH
So
you professors of
strive
To Angell's
As
all
will.
Then
is
When
And
As
there's
w*
Heaven.
Printed at London for John Pyper, and are to be sould at his Shopp at Pauls' gate, next unto Cheapside at the
Crosse Keies.
Cum
privilegio.
Shortly after the restoration, John Playford, the ingenious publisher, put forth,
MUS1CK8 HAND-MAID,
New
VIRGINALS OR HARPSYCHORD.
In his introduction, the author
standard, were
says,
to
the ancient
later
made
to contain
64
THE VIRGINAL*
of Harpsycons and Virginals, dwelleth
Maker
now
A small virginal
Self-acting virginals
were known
license
On
to
the
was granted
make show
make
;
to
show a Looking-glass
and
And
at a later period,
the 5th
it,
he presented in Lincoln's
Inn Fields on
The
virginal
became
so
common
in
Pepys, that entertaining gossip, describing the flight of the inhabitants by water at
the time of the great
that
fire, says,
it."
of
Soho Square,
seventeenth century.
the date 1655.
The
made
X
shortly after the restora-
See also
56,
iii,
St.
Diary
p.
271.
THE VIRGINAL.
65
This instrument continued in general use until the beginning of the eighteenth
century.
One
it
occurs in the
20, 1701
" This
week a most
this
instrument
still
we
have noticed in the course of the preceding pages, we may add that many others may
be found in the nooks and corners of old houses, in various stages of dilapidation.
Sometimes, indeed, these old " crackt " instruments are
still
made
this chapter
to
David Garrick's
theatre,
he
says, " I
was summoned
to
Hampton
to
many
previously written,
by
fits
and
to
starts,
and
had
set
over
but
now we were
go
to
work
in earnest
and
as
without me, for his muse was very often in want of obstetrick assistance as to songs
easily
up
up
meaning
and
virginal,
a prodigious fine antique, which graced Mr. Garrick's beautiful drawing-room, with
much
stove.
about the elegance and embellishment as a spot of rust upon a polished registerI used to tell him, I
it
to the
Antiquarian Society,"
CHAPTER
THE
The
Y.
SPINET.
is
so called
from
spiiia,
a thorn or quill*
the tone of the instrument being produced by a crow's quill inserted in the tongue of
the
little
The
we
made
to
fir
prominences or
as
many
human body
;
and the
what
is
more
valuable,
he adds
thirty
were made of
because
that
was strongest and deepest, and the higher ones, nineteen in number, were of steel
*.
and iron * *
but
if
made
would be
every note.
Even
makers are
careless,
and everything
The
difference
to
have been
this
was always of a triangular shape, and had the wires carried over a bent bridge, which
modified their sounds
;
went
direct
New World
of Words,
Spinetteggiare,
to
1611,
p.
Spina * *
also a paire of
Sarmonicorum,
Paris, 1636;
frequently quoted in
THE
SPINET.
67
from the deepest bass note to the
;
highest treble."
ginals
the same.
The
Marot,
it
not ascertained.
According
to
Clement
country-women, he
tells
and
fill
spinet.
" Et vos doigts sur
les Espinettes,
Pour
Eome, 1722.
at
Venice in
della
known
and Pietro
Music of
his
own
time,
12mo.
f Printed
1763,
torn.
ii.
in the
works
of Battista Doni,
at Florence,
192.
K 2
68
or musical
THE SPINET.
drama performed
at
Rome, took
had a
made
at Venicef.
Burney saw
to
it,
and says
it
England
The
Antwerp
(of
whom we
speak presently), were famous makers of spinets in the seventeenth century, as also
many
years in Paris.
fathers
and
sons,
London, in the
these
little
first
John Hitchcock
still
made
Several specimens
The keys
the
flats
and sharps
narrow
slips of ivory.
Charles Haward, or
Hay ward,
1672,
is
p. 68.
Queen Anne
had,
instruments, a spinet
;
by Hay ward,
the'
Her
Majesty, just before the pleriod of her decease, gave especial direction that this
instrument should go to the master of the children of the -Chapel Royal for the time
being, and that
it
official successors.
Accordingly
it
passed
first
Nares, from
whom
it
Hawes was
it
when
Queen Anne's
spinet,
was consigned
Adelphi Terrace,
where, in
remains.
J In a letter to
Mason
it is
now
in the possession of
Piscetti."
In a subsequent
harpsichord
is
letter,
and enhar-
now
in
London."
monic.
It
was made
"
THE
SPINET.
69
The
later
makers of
spinets, of eminence,
Baudin, &c.
A fine specimen of
:
the latter
maker
and
its
general appearance
says,
"As
the spinet
rivalled the virginal, the small piano-forte has supplanted the spinet in public favour;
and we believe that very few have been made since the middle of the
last century."
* This maker
nometer, 1725, p.
tones.
is
f Kees's Cyclopedia, in v.
Spinet.
7, as
CHAPTER
YI.
THE HARPSICHORD.
The form
pianoforte.
it
of the harpsichord
is
precisely the
same
as that of the
grand horizontal
Its origin
its
received
name.
him
Du Cange, derive
the
its
name
first
who
inventors.
Menage
derives the
word from the Latin, harpa, and that from the German, herp or herfff; others
bring
it
it
fingers.
same thing
the
first
Galileif in his Dialogo della Musica Antica e Moderna, Firenze, 1581, has a
we
Among
now used
in Italy,
we
have, in the
first place,
which
is
in fact nothing
but the ancient cithara, with a great number of strings, differing somewhat in form, but that chiefly owing to the taste
of the
artists
number
of strings
and
"Trom
it is
"The Roman
the former
German
race,
or its superstitions, to
which the
Inflamed with a
were devoted
and eager
make
Roman and
softer
British civility.
of the crwth
:
The
were
this
petual,
of
and
harmony
general use
its
Norman
instrument was banished to Wales, Cornwall, and Armorica; in the last country, Venantius found
century.
it
Memoirs of
t
-A-
the Irish
Bards, Appendix,
in the 6th
Florentine
; ;
THE HARPSICHOED.
comprising upwards Of three octaves.
71
to
number
of
centuries;
its
being also the particular badge of the kingdom, and, as such, frequently painted and
it,
sculptured on their public edifices and coins, the people alleging, as the cause of
are
much
mounted with
strings
some
same kind
The
both their hands grow to a considerable length, trimming them with great care in the manner
we
see
The number
and as
far as
60 ; whereas we
read,
that
among
the Jews, the dthara, ot psalterion of the Prophet, had only 10 strings.
The
one of these harps (which I obtained a few months ago, by means of a very obliging gentleman of Ireland), I found, on
careful
examination, to be the same as that of the harp with a double row of strings, which was a few years ago
;
although some (without a shadow of reason) assert that they have lately invented
it,
it,
endeavouring
persuade the vulgar that none but themselves can play upon
it to
or understand
its
many
in spite of
whom, however, I
who may
desire
it.
The 38
strings,
which are mounted on the harp, contain four octaves and one tone
not major or minor, as some have imagined, but of the measure which I have above said to be contained in a key'd
instrument.
alt:
The lowest
flat,
is
double
is
D in
when they
flat,
left
nature of the
the unison of
common
we may
The 15
on the
mode
of the
16 lower
ones,
left side.
now
may be
If then you
want
to
play in
flat
;
and tuned
and
left.
of the fingers of both hands, particularly in massing diminutions, and lengthening sounds.
We
find thus
among
of
the
said strings
five
flat,
and four
natural.
Four unisons
D,
four unisons of A.
Four sharps
of
c,
flats of
number
of
58
strings.
But
there are wanting, for the perfection of the diversity of harmony, the four sharps of d, and
a;
for
which, in those modes, or melodies, where these strings occur, their unisions which are among
;
facility in the
diminutions, as appears
which
facility is the
is
so similar to the
may
be one of them
* In the
ferred to
plate,
left-hand row.
by
Galilei, it
;
as occasion required
them
that
;
is,
D at top,
top,
and
DD at bottom, in
CC
at bottom,
the
right-hand row
and C at
and
in the
72
nor do I think he would be
THE HAEPSICHORD.
much
mistaken,
who
should maintain, that the strings were tuned in the same manner and
till
proportion in the one as in the other instrument, seeing that these instruments were not introduced
to play in
I
after
they began
consonant parts
is
modem
name, of the form, and of the number, disposition and matter of the
they have invented it;) from the harp, most probably, the harpsichord
had
its
is
nothing
and from
it,
may be derived
The harpsichord
a large-sizpd spinet.
virginal,
for
was,
in
fact,
only
each tone
we have
We
The mechanism
same in
virginals
this
instrument
spinets*.
first
the
older
of
and
Hans Ruckers
maker who
effected
other.
He gave
ruttinoi-""' = of crow-quill ^
vas passed
''
to
when
what was
called
in action."
THE HARPSICHORD.
nected tone, by joining to
finer strings,
tlie
73
of shorter and
at
two
tuned
to the
He
mounted
his harpsichords
which was
In
fine,
to allow three
he extended the
to four
to C),
by adding four
Hans
liuckers
began
This
artist
sons,
Jean and
their
Andreas,
who
which
says
it
is
worth while
extract.
Speaking of the
city of
there
and the father of the other two, was John Ruckers, who flourished
last century.
beginning of the
and fulness of
On
the
left
hand of the
initial
may be
seen a large
H, the
of
work by an
A in the sound-hole.
;
His
lai'ge
harpsichords are
much esteemed
his instruments
may be known by
The
j
he
was a Hessian.
At
present there
is
a good
workman
at
* 2nd
edit. vol.
i,
p. 47.
74
Bull,
THE HARPSICHORD.
apprentice, and
who
sells his
cases,
the
work
too of
Vanden
but, in
made here
after the
thin, feeble
and much
makers in England."f
left
Handel possessed a
and amanuensis, Smith.
by
Handel's original MSS., which Smith presented to King George III, adds,
"The
and on which,
as has
music
to
Windsor
Castle. "J
The
to
Messrs.
Broadwood
its
however, a
Ruckers,
It is inscribed, "
Antwerpia, 1651."
The
and
The sound-board
is
ornamented
also, to
of
its
sonority.
Upon
among which
half
The
lid is inscribed
surface,
which
often to be
met with
upon
spinets
On
opened,
is
*
Ifeys
A single
was, in
Many
still
effect,
double
occasionally
met with
in
old mansions.
Mr. Twining,
name
by
bust of Handel
is
still
preserved
at
pounds each;
Windsor
^
M.
Victor
of Handel,
lately published,
THE HARPSICHORD.
'
75
virginals, harpsichords,
It
to
An ancient
now
in the
writer's
upon
its
upper
surface
" I once was livinge in the woods,
But now I am
cut
downe
By
But
yet to
my renowne
spake nought
else
For while I
liv'd, I
But what
Compel'd
my murmuringe
I please y"
minde
singe,
And
me
So pleasant
my
musickes ringe."
Among
of
inlaid with
we may
Mary Queen
made
of oak,
cedar,
The
which are
fresh
and undecayed.
On
lid is a
whom
The
exquisite
An
painting,
to
play the
said to have
The
story too of
to
how he
Why,"
it is
shall
again."
lid,
A
On
bet was
which not
one end
L 2
76
THE HARPSICHORD.
Both these pictures
church of
of Notre
Dame and
much
is
M.
Balbastre invited
inside
me
and
out with as
at Paris.
On
the outside
the birth of
Venus
and on the
;
earth, hell,
in elysium, sitting
that celebrated
Rameau
in 1764.
is
The tone
of
instrument
is
more
;
always weak."-|-
Andrea Cornaro,
" There
after dinner
fifers
be found in Rome.
Excellent
played
;
continually
them
lutes
The author
title
of II
London,
when
it
late
The instrument, 6|
octaves,
bv
When
it to
Zeitter took
be made into
room
At
the sale of
me
fecit
This box
is
by
Christie
now
%
."
Magnificent Grand
sides beautifully painted
inside,
J.
A.
Pianoforte Case:
with
the top
and
classical subjects,
by Boucher: the
with a
THE HARPSICHORD.
Desiderio, mentioning
says,
77
Ferrari,
Don
had
sia;
He
instrument rendered
latter reason,
it
very
difficult to tune,
and more
so to play
and
nevertheless,
he
who
it is
understood and been familiar with the instrument, was able to play on
ful skill."
with wonder-
He
cembalo
and that
model of
it,
the one at
Rome, by
order of the Cardinal of Ferrari ; and the other at Milan, under the direction* of the
inventor.
Eome, 1722,
may be used
separately,
artifice," as
the
monk calls
it,
and
went
this
morning
to visit the
famous Podini
gallery, in the
Verospi
;
palace.
as
it is
Rome
or,
one's self,
fit
more than
these accounts.
The instruments
in question cannot
have been
many
years
but,
when
it is
There
is
a very fine
harpsichord, to look
it
with an organ in the same room, and with two spinets and a virginal
is
movement
upon
on the
to
explain
Moderna
78
in his time,
THE HARPSICHORD.
and in describing a grand concert that was made by the nuns of a convent
on occasion of a double wedding between Philip the Third, King
at Ferrara, in 1598,
Queen of
sister,
Among these
and
the harpsichord
to its construction
use.
Ottavio Einuccini's drama of Eurydice was set to music by Jacopo Peri, and
Henry
tells
us that " behind the scenes. Signer Jacopo Corsi played the harpsichord
;
Don
Rome,
Mantua
in 1607,
we
The "orchestra"
of this period
is
well exhibited in
copied from a scarce work entitled, Festa,fatta in Roma, Alii 25 di Febraio 1634,
data in luce da Vitale Mascardi.
Eome,
4to, 1634.
The
one of those magnificent entertainments in which the cardinals and other dignitaries
to display the
The group
of
The
by the
which
is
He is
by two instrumentalists
one of
whom
playing upon the viol da gamba, the other upon a large lute, or perhaps the " lira
grande."
* Hogarth, in
io\.
i,
his
Memoirs of
the Musical
Drama,
p. 37, edit.
Th
accompanied
THE HARPSICHORD.
79
to
M.
made
in the harpsichord,
and continued
The
best
named
Zanetti, Crotone,
and
Farini.
The
mounting
his
harpsichords entirely with catgut strings instead of wire, which gave them a more
mellow and
therium
soft
quality.
To
this
the name
example was
German makers.
taking the idea from the earlier clavicymbal, which has since been imitated in a variety
of the pianoforte.
period, Richard, a
French
artist,
acquired great
first
He
was the
who
conceived the idea of substituting small slips of cloth in the place of the quill, for
by
this
means he succeeded
in obtaining tones
more agreeable,
artists,
who
80
THE HARPSICHORD.
The need
constructed with more than twenty different modifications, to imitate the tones of the
harp, the lute, the mandolin, the bassoon, the fiageolet, oboe, violin, and other instru-
ments.
The sounds
with
new and
fantastic
good
from the
" "
original,
mechanism
effects it
sufficiently simple,
all
connoisseurs, on
account of the
first
produces, and
its
additional improvements.
The very
artists,
voyage here, from the Royal Society, and the most eminent
to give
and
offer it as
a tribute of gratitude to
this nation,
whose suffrages he
will be ever
deserve.
He may
be heard every day in the week, Sundays excepted, from twelve until three o'clock.
street,
To begin on this
Charing-cross.
He is in possession
testifies,
The
German
Guitar, Italian
Mandoline, Hautboy, Tabor and Pipe, Tabor and Galoubet of Provence, Sistrum, Bassoon, Clarinets, Martial Kettle
Drums, and
sound
to
celestial
Harmony.
The
latter
its
grateful
" The
may
be seen, and an English translation of the same to be had of the inventor, as above."
In order
to
effects,
new rows
which
softest kind,
to expression.
sometimes, in order to
And
yet,
with
all this
complication, the grand secret, the real shading of the piano and
still
;
forte,
was wanting
THE HARPSICHORD.
81
the sound, than to put in motion different rows of jacks, so as to withdraw them from,
or approximate
them
to,
The
result of these various experiments led to the invention of the stops, as they
:
the soft stop, which partly stopped the vibration of the strings
and the
huff stop, which interposed a layer of cloth or soft buff leather between the jacks and
the strings.
in the
the harpsichord, and particularly in the key-board, to which they gave a lightness
unknown
in foriper instruments.
Paschal Tasquin, " keeper of the musical instruments to the King of France,"
the celebrated pupil and successor of Blanchet,
for quill, in the year 1768.
first
He
mechanism
may be
seen in the
inventor of a harpsichord with a double bottom, in which was placed, above the
first
These
strings
by a range of
pedals.
* The family
remembered
rran9ois Etienne
f M. Trouflant, canon and organist of the cathedral at Nevers, addressed a letter to the Journal de Musigue,
1773, on the inventions of
M.
Paschal Tasquin.
See also
1763) succeeded
to his business,
The
thereportofBarondeDietricktotheAcademiedes Sciences,
cited in the
still
occupy a prominent
Clavecin,
82
THE HARPSICHORD.
Wiegleb, " an organ and musical instrument maker
" of Berlin,
made harpsichords
and spinets in 1724, in which the strings were sounded by brass or metal tongues,
instead of the bristles or crow-quills
commonly used.*
few years
Paris.
later, in
1788, by a maker
string at
its
half length,
the
This instru-
ment was
by
its its
There was
named
each of
inventor,
extremities
was furnished with a key-board, by which means two persons could play
at the
same
time.
But, perhaps, the most extraordinary invention of the time was that of Louis
This worthy
monk whose
Physical Si/stem
ranks among the best philosophical works of the early part of the
last century,
and
is still
understanding, he confounded the eye with the ear, and associated the harmony of
tints
Ocular Harpsichord, which was strung with coloured tapes instead of wires, and being
placed in a dark room,
when
became
visible
which
to the
impression
made on the
harmony
*
and raven
to
means were
tried
by which
by a
to
be more durable.
As
the
upon shew
to the Public.
elastic substances
Am.
at
lost in spirit."
London
Printed
for
S.
Burney, in
iJees' C^cZop<e(iia.
Gay's Head,
the
Strand,
MDCCLVII
THE HARPSICHORD.
83
Varieties of the harpsichord were multiplied as fancy suggested, but the result of
many
made
on the pianoforte
The Spanish
reputation,
eighteenth
century acquired
considerable
visit
by judges,
to Farinelli
words
still
on the
dif-
favouirte
is
made
letters,
Rafael
time
(U
Urbino,
his
Guido, &c.
He
is
played a considerable
upon
delicacy,
The next
in favour
Queen
of Spain,
who was
Scarlatti's scholar,
it
was
made
his
two
first
this harpsichord,
which was made in Spain, has more tone than any of the
is
His third
favourite
it
has
Count Taxis
can transpose
Of
flats
they are
the
wood
is
second case."
to give
made
for the
Queen
title
Don
Domenico
Scai'latti,
Prencipessa delle
no date or imprint.
is
The shape
84
THE HARPSICHORD.
We
see,
as such.
the
King
of Prussia in 1760.
that
by drawing
hammers
by which means a
flat
composition
may be
third lower at
to
it
was then
and the
folio
John Playford,
in the second
book of his
Select
new
virginals
and
may be
furnished at reasonable
is
worthy Thomas Mace, " one of the clerks of Trinity College, Cambridge."
ing his " musical furniture " which he wishes to dispose
of,
In describ" There
is
he adds
more than 20
varieties,
most of them
to
come
and
also a single
harpsicon."
is
very particular in
extract
it
The passage
much
better, to
is
so curious, that
we
of London, a
for
a consort, and
THE HARPSICHORD.
far
far
85
;
beyond beyond
all
mean
is
it for
" Concerning
with the
foot), I shall
bestow
in regard
it is
not very
commonly used
or
well,
and
fewer will go to the price of them, twenty pounds being the ordinary price of one
time. Sir Eobert
to initiate in this
had two
is
it differs
in the order of
it,
thus, viz.
There
is
made
right underneath the keys near the ground, a kind of cubbord, a box, which opens with a
sets
little
pair of doors, in
both his
feet,
resting
;
them upon
which
is after
manner,
viz.
four
pummels
which by the
weight of his foot drives a spring, and so causeth the whole instrument
choose to tread any of them
down
for
of the
same
to
so that
;
by treading
his foot
and
if he clap
down
his foot
is
stops,
and by the
like order
foot,
foot,
he-can
before-mentioned, he did.
may perceive
all
" And by
made wonderfully
and humour,
so that doubtless
it
excels
all
When
was played
that the
at the
seems probable
stage.
is
band was
is
The
following
"
The front
of the stage
opened,
between the
and the
stage."
The
still
occasionally to
^l^audin
and John
the last-named was the son of the celebrated organ-builder, Renatus Harris
86
THE HARPSICHORD.
distinction of
first
"improvement"
clearly described in
Chetham
James O.
" Tho' many of the Quality and Gentry, &c. read the News Papers,
Advertisements
little
;
Eew
Expence
to
them,
'tis
of
Service to
him
Papers are humbly presented, will be pleased to read them, their Benefit being designed by
Their most obedient humble Servant,
JOHN HARRIS.
" His Majesty has been graciously pleas'd to grant to John Harris, his Letters Patent, for the making of an Harpsichord with two Sets of Strings, on which
together
;
may be
performed, either
One Unison,
or
Two
or
an Octave
:
may be
And
double Basses
may
may
Thumb and
little
Thumb and
shall
little
Finger together.
of these Instruments, or in
make any
their extraordinary
Per-
formances, shall be prosecuted according to Law, and whoever will discover any one that (without
so, shall,
my
License) shall do
now made
in Perfection
will (at
double basses, to either single, or double key'd Harpsichords, which are already
a Fulness and Nobleness
to the Instrument, that the best of other Harpsichords
for the Parts are expressed in a double
made by
;
have not
and
is
please.
This Performance
it
Tone or Sound
of
any instrument
nor make
would do
without
it,
will
be very good when the double Basses are used, and also when they are not.
lives
Red Lyon
Holborn, London."
is
for
"new
improve the
of harpsichords and spinnets, which will improve the tone of the said
THE HARPSICHORD.
instruments, and last
87
raven's quills, of
many
years without
which they are now made, requiring frequent change and trouble
in repairing."
Chetham
With
many
years
Purpose which with Six other visible improvements are made by Virtue of His Majesty's Royal Letters Patent
By the
Inventor only,
Rutoerus Plenius
Who
He,
all
and Encouragers
to y" highest
after
Ten years
tho'
many
their
of
them
hand
good
Effect.
And He humbly
sound, as
well as distinct Expression of every Single Tone, free from y Confus'd jumble of Sounds often heard in
chords, will most agreeably touch y'
many Harpsi-
Ear
of every Auditor, in
it
of
Musick
to
England
The Truth
He
is
ready, at
all
Hours,
make appear
to y' Curious,
who
"
By
his Majesty's
For
Use
&
Benefit of a
;
New
Which
imitates a Violin,
&
Double Bass
&
Piano
as also of swelling
:
(or
many
But what
is
&
indeed
incredible if not seen (yet plainly demonstrable to every one) its strings never go out of Tune, as long as y' constituent
&
desir'd,
&
in all Ages,
'till
now,
by every
&
others,
That y'
aforesaid
Ten
&
And
Gentlemen
&
Ladies,
who
will do
&
of seeing
&
hearing
it,
will
&
at y'
of y'
Instrument
it
being esteem'd
&
approv'd by
particularly
of
Musick
in England,
who
of.
allow
it
to
be y" most
curious Piece of
Workmanship
&
The
Price of seeing
&
hearing
it
&
Four
o'Clock,
is
at y'
Inventor's
is
House
(y'
King's Arms
88
" N.B.
THE HARPSICHOHD.
The above
described Lyrichord
intirely
is
not (as
World
Two
years ago.
at least
But a Complete
New
who has
That by
a hundred Degrees."
A
papers
;
few years afterwards, Plenius's Lyrichord was thus advertised in the public
'till SOLDj
at the
two
in the afternoon,
for half
Sundays excepted,
Church-Yard,
which
money and
now brought
to
when played
soft,
It
swelling any
single note, or
if
many
notes together,
by the
But what
is
every one)
it's
strings never go out of tune, as long as the constituent materials of the instrument
remain entire
"Note.
tiser,
June
The
last notice
we have
;
in the following
manner
Mr. Christie,
Royal Academy, in Pall Mall,
Room,
late the
being the stock in trade of Prederick Naubauer, Harpsichord- maker, together with a Lyrichord, a capital melodious
To be viewed
this day.
Catalogues
may be had
as above."
One
named
Tabel.
Nothing seems
to be
known
of his
history
considerable
Burckhardt
tell
to this country
The
THE HARPSICHORD*
89
at the
to
Court of London as
an eminent clavier-maker.
many
King
of Prussia.
He
was married
Tschudi
for
where he died
to the
an
Burney
delicate,
says, "
neat,
;
and
his tone
new
but
who added
horizontal
organs to
many
their perfection,
by
his
there, in
removed
to a cold or
damp room,
the
wood
;
movements
accidents which
we never remember
to
have
happened
to
of his
Broadwood."
The same
" instruments in the Palace at Potsdam, thus alludes to the " ingenious harpsichord
above mentioned
is
of tortoiseshell
this instrument, to
which
cost
to
Hamburg by
was
told,
sea,
had injured
so
much, that
however,
it
it is
it,
and that
has
fair
for I never
number
East and
in a I
West
much damage
as this
is
said to have
done
much
shorter passage.
And now
am upon
they do in
if
we may judge by
;
the harpsichords of
;
the pianO'
fortes of Backers
which
my
90
THE HARPSICHORD.
To
we may
Founder of
King
of
Kirkraan, whose sign of the king's arms in Broad Street, Golden Square,
we are told,
was
as well
known
to the nobility
and gentry
Charing Cross, was esteemed perhaps the most eminent harpsichord-maker of his day.
Burney, whose valuable
articles in Rees's Cyclopaedia
memoir of him.
to
England about the year 1740, and worked with the celebrated Tabel,
and
finisher, till the
foreman
Soon
after
ship,
Kirkman married
all
possessed of
Kirkman himself
used
manner
in
He
told her,
determined
to be
asked him to
whom
he was going
to
be married, and
why
The
that,
finisher told
whom
if
she would
at his precipitancy,
but,
he continuing
and
as this abridged
courtship preceded the marriage act, and the nuptials could be performed at the Fleet
or
May
Fair,
'
saved, and two fond hearts were in one united, In the most
just one
summary way
enough
possible,
month
Kirkman
lived long
to stock the
his instruments,
and
to
He
who
had no
children,
Eoman
pontiff.
acquired wealth
by
his
manner, but
also to
bear one of the heaviest public burdens to which an Athenian citizen was
that of furnishing a choir or chorus for his tribe, or ward, at festivals
liable
and
THE HARPSICHOKD.
religious ceremonies.
91
Each
which consisted of
to
who were
:
be hired,
an expense con-
but
much
increased by emulation
among the
richer citizens,
and the
The
fluctuations of trade
and public
favour have rendered the business of boring flutes far less profitable at present, than
it
known
of his
obliging
young
heirs with
money
"
as kindly
and with
as
much
liberality as a
Hebrew.
At a time when
ladies
which musical
were seized
Kirkman
hit
former favour.*
He
double harpsichords of sixty or seventy guineas price sold at auctions for twelve or
fourteen pounds, and the original purchasers turn
them out of
lumber.
perhaps,
our descendants
lute or lyre.
will,
know
we do now of the
Kirk-
man
is
supposed
Jacob Kirkman was succeeded in his business by his son Abraham, who ably
kept up the family name by the manufacture of his instruments^
succeeded by his son Joseph,
He
was
in his turn
who continued
to
make
up
to the
is
related
the
same writer in
Guitar, Rees's
guitar used in
till
old
(See
article.
" The
fits
common
and
to
to ballad singers
About
fifty
years ago
its
ranks
in the streets,
whom
he had taught
accompany them-
and
triplets,
ashamed
of their frivolous
and vulgar
and re-
price, or
exchanged them
for guitars
N 2
92
Joseph Merlin.
THE HARPSICHORD.
This extraordinary
artist
was born
17, 1735.
he came
to
Count de Firentes.
in
He
arrived
here,
May
24, 1760,
and resided
for
Soho Square.
In
1768, he exhibited
many
to
Museum,
in Spring Gardens, of
In 1774, we find
him
when
him
for
compound harpsichord,
a set of hammers of the nature of those used in the kind of harpsichords called
manner
that either
;
may be
and
for
such compound
each note.
Of
and the
third
sounded an
octave higher.
The
left
unison which
the tone equally fuU, and rendered the instrument less susceptible
to atmospheric influences.
May
name
From an
ments
advertisement
now
before us,
it
for
more than
They
are described as
on wheels.
mixed
and
tasteful
Museum
in Princes Street,
Hanover Square.
mind was
commanding
its direction,
he impelled himself
against a mirror, of
more than
five
and execution;
dashed
it
to
One
of his in-
Busby's Concert
Room
p. 137.
TEE HARPSICHORD.
"
93
The
Celestial
Harp, and
all
full
Band
of
Keyed Instruments.
Keyed Instrument
number
of
capable of producing
the effects of a full Orchestra, equal in power to four or six Violins <
may
be added.
By means
of a catgut
worked by
made
to sound.
The performer
is also
mute
to give the
instrument
all
Welsh Harp:
As
spirited speculator,
remains beyond the case and a part of the action ; yet enough remains
The English
Burney has
left
worth extracting.
He
"
To
Throughout
Italy they
have generally
little
feeble, that
more wood
is
The
;
best Italian
harpsichord I met with for touch was that of Signer Grimani at Venice
that of Monsignor Reggio at
and
for tone,
Rome
many pheno-
mena.
Shudi, and
is
at Naples.
who
resided at
Rome when
was
there."
up
all
period to obtain sonority of tone, and to do away with the jarring noise produced by the action of the quill against the string
attained,
;
known
to us all
CHAPTER
YII.
idea
of the
of
Germany.
German
organist,
have hitherto had the advantage of priority of date conceded to them, whilst the claims
of Bartolommeo Cristofali, of Padua, have been almost entirely overlooked.
Cristofali
last century,
who
he
The
to
lanese edition of Carli's works, published in eighteen volumes, 1784-7, contains the
"
From
an
Cristofali),
a Paduan,
mechanism
a
of which
great invention
it
we
we have even
receiving
it
believed
new
thing, bringing
here from
own
Italian lights.
for our
Thus
it is
that
to preserve
own
honour."
The Count's
led to Cristofali's
error,
much
confusion,
and has
discovery
The
Bartolommeo
Cristofali
was born
at
95
to
Duke
of Tuscany."
Nothing seems
be
known
of his career, and but for the curious account of his invention of the pianoforte
in the Giornale de' Litterati d' Italia, Venice, 1711 (tom. v, p. 144), his
name would
The
article in question
and we
feel
and
will,
interest.
NEW
INVENTION OF A HARPSICHORD, WITH THE PIANO AND THE FORTE; ALSO SOME REMARKS UPON MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.
" If the value
of inventions is to be
pregio
delle
invenzioni
measured by the
we
are
now
to give
an
account
is
da gran tempo in
Egli 6 noto a
fonti,
It is
known
one
who
means by which
periti di quest'arte
il
il
segreto di singoe'l
piano,
fortezzo,
sia
ing those
who
listen, is the
proposte e risposte,
sia
quando con
artifiziosa
si
and
little
its
by
to the full
ad un
tratto strepitosamente
il
quale artifizio
power
of the instrument
which
artifice is
frequently used
in the
v.
p.
144),
printed
at
Venice, 1711.
more properly
Cristofori.
He
in
also devotes
by Bartolommeo
Padua,
harpichord-maker, a native of
able article to
this subject
the
Revue Musicale de
Grand Duke
of
Tuscany."
In
Paris, 1834.
this statement
he
is
In his work
called
La Musique
"As
we
find
by the name
of
to
the
Academy
chords, in
strips of
and
name
of its
little
hammers
for the
inventor
wood used
Two
years afterthis
wards
(?),
Cristoforo, a Florentine,
improved upon
t It
is
referred
to correctly in
Forkel's
p.
Allgemeine
;
invention,
first
262
Lichteniv, p.
model
for those
Although
67
"Walther's Musicalisches
192, &c.
into
The
article
is
also said
have been
translated
in V.
Pianoforte.
He
says
" There
is
a minute ac-
p.
335.
96
Eome,
Koma
dell'arte.
Ora
di questa diversity,
ed alterazione di voce,
Now,
of this diversity
and
alteration of tone, in
which
da
bow
and
il
gravecembalo
e sarebbe,
da chi che
il
entirely deprived,
proporre
tutto
make
so that
it
should
di fabbricarlo in
cio,
Con
una
si ardita
meno
felicemente
Bartolommeo
rence,
by Signor Bartolommeo
Padua, harpsi-
Egli ne ha finora
fatti
tre
Tuscany.
He
has already
made
other harpsichords,
da questi znaggiore
forza,
The production
of greater or less
tasti,
regolando la quale,
the
piano, e
il forte,
ma
la
degrada-
nd
diversity of power, as in
un
violoncello.
a violoncello.
vention
all
Some
fatto
a quest'invenzione tutto
the praise
deserves;
how much
quanto ingegno
si
richiedesse a superarne la
overcome the
difficulty,
to adjust it
much
nicety; and,
lavoro
and
less
distinct
than the
first
ma
questo 6 un
le
but this
is
a feeling produced by
im-
mani, per
grave-
argentine degli
si
altri
and becomes
cembali
vi si
adatta I'orecchio, e
charmed with
it,
that
it
never
;
tires,
gratifice piu
gravecembali comuni
e bisogna avvertire,
It has further
been objected
to this
instrument, that
it
To
this
e di
si
grave-
may be
answered,
if
first,
that it has
imagine,
use
it
sappia cavarla,
and, secondly, he
should
premendo U
of
view
for
which
it
was
un
per
un
altro.
Questo
not intended.
" This
is
it is
not
How
which
many instruments
are not esteemed
that, to
among
It
is
certain
accompagnare un
accompany a
singer,
and
to play
succeeds
benche non
sua principale,
ma
although this
is
not
its
97
il
Ma
vera-
But, really,
mente
la
patito
questo
new instrument
nuovo strumento,
il
has encountered,
at first, to play
it
is
;
perchfe
sonar perfetta-
because
it is
not sufiBcient to
know how
ma essendo
strumento
to play perfectly
new
instrument,
it
requires a person
who, understanding
a'
tasti, e la
measure of
it,
force required
effects
of decreasing
massimamente spezzando,
i
for delicacy,
and especially
soggetti
in
piu
the
movement
subject
may be
" Ma venendo
mento,
to the particular
se I'artefice,
If the inventor
to
had known
it
how
to
de-
.descriverlo,
non
arti-
he has
manufacture it,
;
would not be
difficult to
sarebbe malagevole
fizio
iCato
:
fame comprendere
non e in
explain
it to
the reader
it
ma
poichfe egli
il
ho
giudi^-
that, so I
judge
impossible for
me
to represent it so that
impossibile
I'
a due idea
may be formed
invention,
iconcepire
ponga
all'
impresa,
my
esami-
me.
that instead of the
is
first place,
si
a row of
di martelletti, che
vanno a percuotere
hammers
avendo
la cima,
Ogno
che lo
of
rotella,
end inserted
moveable,
le rotelle
infilate.
Vicino alia
principio
ham-
mer, there
is
martello, e lo spjnge a
it to
strike
the string, with whatever measure of impulse, and whatever degree of force
is
mano ;
e quindi
viene
greater or less
at
the
pleasure
molta violenia,
Also,
much
cagione che
il
im-
because the
hammer
blow near
its axis,
and
therefore even
afiect it readily.
hammer under
is
the
Ci^ che dk
il
colpo al
mar-
little
tongue of
is
wood, placed upon a lever that meets the key, and that
raised
player.
This
little
tongue,
raised
ncontro del
tasto, e ch'
is slightly
98
la leva,
alquanto soUevata, e
si
sta infilzata in
effetto
due
for this
Bdt
as
it
was necesshould
fiiftger
ganasce
parte.
sottili,
una per
Ma
martello percossa la
undet the
of the player^
to
abbandonato
che
il
il
tasto
dal sonatore
return to
the blow
its is
place
so connected that
it
moves
suo luogo
dh. il
colpo, 6 mobile,
up and
strikes firmly
ed 6 in
ferma,
lasciato
tal
moves on;
and,
when
ma
il
quando
returns to
hammer.
by a spring of
ancora sotto
artefice con
martello.
Questo
effetto
ha conseguito
1'
brass wire that he has fastened in the lever, and which^ distending
itself,
una moUa
ha fermata nella
punta
sotto
filo d'
By
and by
che
also
ha
per I'imper-
becomes
at
niatura, che
ha
may
back
time,
rest
be required.
falling
pieghevole, secondo
bisogno.
Perchfe
martelli ricae
a second
dendo ddpo
nella corda,
la percossa
si
non
rifavellissero,
ribattessero
riiade to fall
and
upon
di cordoncini di seta,
raccoglie.
Ma
without noise.
But
sound of the
strings,
le spinette il
panno
at the
cime
de' salterelli
1'
and
it
it
new
nuovo strumento
ammorzarlo
e subito
percid
instrument to check
entirely
and suddenly;
a
little
therefore,
tail-piece,
and
un
filare,
on these
from
its
which,
che
dal
loro
ufizio
potrebbero
spegnitoij.
use,
might be
When the
which
keys
is
Quando
con
on
tremolare,
;
sonando
ma com-
but
when
the
presso
il
tasto,
pressed,
is raised,
per conseguenza ad abbassarsi la coda, ed insieme lo spegnitojo, con lasciar libera la corda al suono, che poi
s'
and with
;
it
the damper,
ammorza
lasciato
il
is
quitted,
toccar la corda.
Ma
il
However, in order
of this
imderstand
its
movimento
di questa macchina, e
si
more
clearly every
movement
mechanism, and
disegno, e
si
esso.
99
&
SPIEGAZIONE DEL DISEGNO.
A. Corda.
B. Telajo, o
sia pianta della tastatura.
The kej
or first lever,
which at
its
extremity raises
D.
first
lever
by which
it acts.
E. Seconda
le
is
a jawbone-
little
tongue or hopper.
The
la
martello.
forces the
hammer upwards.
which the hop-
H. Ganasce
sottili, nelle
H. The jawbone-shaped
per
is
pieces between
pivoted.
I.
I.
its place.
L.
MoUa
di
iil
d' ottone,
il filo
and holds
tutti
i
it
is
M.
sono
sequitamente
infilati
behind
it.
marteUetti.
all
rest.
N. Eotella
hammers, which
rests in the
receiver.
P. Incrociatura
I'aste
di cordoncini di
seta,
fra'
quali posano
P. The strings of
silk,
de martelli.
si
shanks, of the
abbassi
nell' alzarsi la
hammers
by
di salterelli, o spegnitoi, che,
-la
R. Rsgistro
si
premuto
il
tasto,
corda, tornando
suono.
o 2
100
Dopo
dove
si
da avvertire, che
il
p&ncone,
After
this, it is to
piantano
the iron pins are fixed that hold the strings, and which,
in harpsichords, is
le corde,
dorenegli
i
is
above in
this,
qui 6 sopra, e
attaccano
space
in
the
macchina
della tastatura.
il
Le
corde sono
bass
action.
The
fondo, non
alto.
sono
raccomadate ad esso,
ma
alquanto piu
tutti
i
may
In
si
tutti i contatti,
luoghi,
somewhat higher.
In
all
points
it
dove
is
prevented
holes
by
leather
and by
cloth,
especially
is
in
the
ha per
placed
Quest' invenzione h
ad
effetto
un
altro
con diiferente, e
stata piu
made anothei
alquanto piu
struttura,
ma
nondimeno h
applaudita la prima.
This ingenious man, being also excellent in the manufacture of ordinary harpsichords, deserves notice, because
coi
moderni
artefici, chi
ma
for the
casso.
Non
un
si
gran
foro,
most
part,
come erano
tuno
il
nS che
stimi oppor-
centre,
Not
that he thinks
it
necessary to
polvere,
sia nel
ma
due
piccoli
make
desirable to
make
it is
exposed to dust
front, so that
but
un
fondo devemuoversi,
when
e cedere
e chi
il
tremare che
farS.
and protected
quando
altri
suona ;
1'
ma
il
se
il
corpo
from
it.
He
non
avrjl foro
alcuno,
non potendo
aria ch' 6
dentro
si
some part
when played
it
on, the
so, is
cedere e uscire,
ma
il
fondo non
sounding-board ought
and that
does
place
muove,
quindi
known by
it
may
upon
un
buco, vedrai
but,
if
air,
maggior voce,
altri
quando
questo
main
When, however, a
proposito
non vogliamo
lasciar di
dire,
che ricavandosi,
come 6
indagare
fonte
moto
un
di
close
grandissimo, benche
finora
affatto sconosciuto,
the aforesaid
opening,
air.
you may
I
feel
the
vibration
of the
may
of
of
by the
investigations
natural
fiir
philosophy into
esaminando
la fab-
101
amount
of
difetto, e
da che
se ne alteri la costituzione
come, a
by
musical instruments
tions,
by examining
whence
the form of
its
vibra-
quelli
da
arco, se
and
reflecting
im-
questa
un
pocolino
muove
di
sito;
divenendone teste
;
and how
I'alterazione, e
gli
strumenti dalle
dall'
the
gravecembali
essere
also,
Non
6 anche da trala-
sound in
different
sicords,
imperfetti
must not be
for-
pretende questo
artefice,
che
new
harpsi-
chords are always imperfect, and that they acquire perfection only
non meno
AiFerma
egli,
che
il
non
by
he can
dsilla
virtu
make them
in such a
manner
as to be immediately as
asserts that the
tempo conservano
la
spouda incur-
He
for
want
of
vata, ed
il
ponte;
new instruments
wood, that
arises principally
from the
sides
che per6
elasticity of the
that, until
if
this elasticity
onde
il
Pesaro
granai di Venezia, e di
he finds by experience.
;
The good
lo
quality of the
wood
wherefore Pesaro
made use
sara,
si
Non
alcuna cosa
si trovai
pure in Firenze in
mano
music
is
to
lodatissimo di Cappella.
Ha
tasti,
in
mente
e si
Maestro di Cappella.
five
This has
five
key-boards
that
is,
onde, che
i
si
pud
tuoni senza
may be
accompagnamenti
perfetti,
come
fa sentire
il
suo possedi-
all
the
cembali,
come
tutti gli
sono
companiment
perfect,
as
may
it,
be experienced by hearing
displays
it to
le voci divise
who
all
perfection.
b molli
il
equal in
fectly
all
many keys
spinette si vedono,
massimamente
tuned
non comprendono
key
for a
to avoid
which
102
are
some old
of
per
modo
d'
b moUe
down
A la-mi-T6
v'
differenza,
is truly
Ma
nasce
dall'
imperfezione
non
si
pu6 intera-
sharp and
flat,
there
is
violino, benchfe
sonando in con-
However, owing
to the
before-named imperfection, a
non se
n'
avvegga
si
e ne nasce parimente,
si
harpsichord or a theorbo
like
che ne
piii
de' neri
non
compone, e solo vi
va con
a violin
although,
when used
;
riserva, e
alia parola
and hence
ben conviene
falso, e
'1
Questa
cagiona
volte,
number by
ex-
che hanno
tasti
che
il
nell'
udir sonare
s'
accorgeremo molte
il
quando
dialetto
by
riorentino, o
come
dice
la lingua
comune, trasportato
the voice.
when
the accom-
falsity
del
suono offende
1'
orecchio.
tasti,
Non
paniment
is
non avendo
pud trovar
the ear.
It will not so
violin
-
because,
in
gravecembalo adunque,
perfetto
may be sounded
diletto
del
suono,
pu6 esser
;
a molte
nh
credesse che
troppo
facile,
difiicile fosse la
may be
;
useful in
it
many
more
;
attesochfe precede
gli
perfette
Ik
nor should
be sup-
dove ne
di
tuning
easy, in consequence of
the
fifths
necessary to pay
and major
Marius,* the French manufacturer, the next competitor for the invention of the
pianoforte, submitted his instruments for examination to the
in
the
month
of February, 1716.
Machines approuvees
by
716,
we
find, in
Nos. 172, 173, and 174, engraved plans of Marius's four clavecins d
maillets,
This
artist
to
* Fetis maker
in
name of this
wretched
article
upon the
pianoforte,
speaks of Cristofali
It is
BiograpMe
it
Universelle
article
des Musidens,
although he refers to
last edition of the
under the
Ckistopori. The
much
to be
is
works intended
103
The
clavecins
and ability.
They consisted
common
The
differed
that each tone of the instrument was furnished with three strings,
As
carried directly
aid,
movement.
still
By
this
them
in their
course, impelled
string,
after striking
the
By
different
below the
strings.
His third
clavecin
a maillets was a
verticail
impelled a rod, furnished with the hammer, directly upon the string.
invelitioh, as
we
have^ stated, united the two principa,ls of the jack and the
hammer.
et
The
own
descriptions
Inflections approuvees
jusqu'd present
Tome
104
CLAVECIN A MAILLETS.
INTENT^ PAR
M. MARIUS.
^xjL
Cette methode de
tirer le
3.
This method
of producing the
Le
cette
hammers
The
case
it
corps
du
Ab
:
is
here represented
its
by the
centre;
caisse porte
un fonds k
la
moitie de sa hauteur
c'est
sur
A b;
by
this case
has a sounding-board in
is
ce fonds que sent tendues des cordes fixees par des pointes
k I'extremite
c,
vis
k I'extremite
d.
and by screws
to the
ex-
tremity D.
The
m n o
k
I o,
p, sont
des bords
on
fait
placed a
of
le centre
de
bar,
T,
under which
;
is
movement
en
the keys, e f
On
L'on
voit
maillets
we
hammers
et doivent toujours
them
up.
At
the spot i l, is a
row
A I'endroit i
them
in their
c'est
autour
et
key should
rise
and
fall.
d'un etrier
s'abaisser.
le
tel
hammer
it
is
On
may
seen
reste
string.
is
The
direction
promptement
L'on
voit
le
chemin
et le
by the
the
hammer
it
of this
key
le
belongs.
105
cette construction,
It is thought that
by employing
Ton voudra.executer.
Voici sur cette theorie differentes maniferes d'employer
les maillets et
we wish
to perform.
According to this theory, there are different modes of employing the hammers, and of giving them
positions.
all
possible
1^
*-iJ?*'-
AB
sont
ici
est
une
sur cette
AB
are here
to strike
is
on
caisse sont
c d, e p.
Les maillets
f.
The hammers
is to say,
shown
that
;
some
places pour
deux
Par exau
mer G
emple,
le
maiUet g
la touehe
moyen de
mobile au point
le petit
montant k
marteau
is
hammer g
to
est attache
G, ce
k la touehe h, et sert k
3.
faire ffapper le
strike; the
hammer being
1'endroit l par
un
petit etrier
band of
iron,
around which
moves
freely.
de
fer,
se
meut librement.
L'on peut
of the harpsichord
faire regner le
que
MN,
Le maiUet o
aux
ce
The hammer o
strikes
on the row
of strings
this
p par un
etrier
semblable
hammer
others,
is
iS also attached at
it
p by a band, w, similar
to the
ft
se peut mouvoir, de
s.
meme que
la
around which
When we
rises
;
touehe Q, I'extremite
b du
extremity of the
hammer r
the
hammer o
It
strikes
II faudra observer
the sound.
must be ob-
106
that
les tStes,
hammers
afin
que
le maillet
aprfes
hammer,
after
meme et ne laisse point de tons faux. La deuxifeme figure est pour faire voir comment
etaUir un
clavier,
may
on peut
rise of
itself,
and leave no
to
false tones.
k maillets pour
tirer le
son en-dessous.
Le
x mobile
The hammer t
moveable at t
:
is
en T
en ce cas
il
du
hammer
*|N^S8a.^j
Ce qu'U y a de
sautereau
particulier
dans ce clavecin
est,
que
le
This harpsichord
that the jack
differs
comme A b
a B has a
peg, c,
which
cordes en-dessous, de
decrits
meme
que
les maillets
que Ton a
hammers which
precedemment.
we have
At
a par-
d'etoffe
comme
ticular spot
is
on
le
pratique
aux
autres clavecins.
L'extremite
A du
touche E r G, dont
le centre
de mouvement est en
f.
II
at
f.
THE CLAIMANTS
est necessaire
"TO
107
que ce centre
It is necessary that the centre should be as near as possible to the extremity G, in order that the jack should fall
par ce
by
this
plus net.
L'on
eux
means a
L'avantage d'un clavecin construit de sautereaus semblables est, que la sujetion de les remplumer, se trouve
The advantage
of a harpsichord constructed
upon
this
supprimee.
AND
JACKS.
M.
BABIUS,
INVENTED BY
MABIUS.
Aprfes que
substitua
3,
M. Marius
il
les
la
en donnant k ces
vient d'etre dit sur
le
them
by giving
to
comme
il
hammers
different positions, as
shown
means
in the preof
planches precedents
il
trouva aussi
moyen de
placer
les
ceding plate.
He
placing
clavecin, en y employant
hammers and
jacks,
p 2
108
c'est-a-dire,
les
ham-
ce
which
is
AB
est
un
k.
le clavier in-
AB
is
the lower
ferieur c
clavier superieur
g h
fait joiier la
rangee de maillets J
the third
la troisieme rangee,
memes
maillets, et garnis
de
hammers have
The
jacks
N N
grooves, in
which
move
horizontally
(ac-
by means
of the
du
clavecin,
au moyen de
la pifece
p q mobile au point
k,
p Q moveable
at
a manner
pifece
that, in
moving
to
this piece
by
its
Ton
fait
are
made
son
et
When
draw towards
you the piece; the keys on which they rest are large enough
to allow this
movement.
of the
ham-
quel est
le
s'en servir, et
mers,
of suppressing them.
pour
les
supprimer.
Le
sur
The hammer
on
a
stirrup, t,
is
fixed on the
un
tremities of
to
turn
cette traverse
Ton
fixe
une
pifece
qui s'^tend
h,
chaque
coin
;
un
les
maiUets ensemble
c'est-
lower
all
the
left
hammers
together
that
is to say,
que
si
on
laisse la
the cross-piece is
hammers
use them,
les
les
Ton voudra
supprimer, on poussera
lors les
le
coin
et
sous la piece x, et
pour
maiUets braisseront
cordes.
Le
du
The jack z
distance
construit, et
il
hammer
this
du coup,
soit
pret k
such a manner
should be ready
the blow
is
struck,
it
damp
the sound.
This eminent
artist
10,
Bohemia.
His
father,
rudiments of the science, in which he progressed so rapidly, that at the age of seven
109
Under the
able tuition of
his musical
theorist,
he completed
theology at Leipzig;
his
inclination,
he
took
Once more
visiting
he became acquainted with the celebrated composer, Antonio he accepted the post of
secretary.
Lotti, in
whose
service
improved his
style
when
to
England
this
opened
it,
new
fields
He now
the science of music, which he had commenced under the able direction of Schmidt
and Behnisch
his first
his professional
solici-
brethren.
he obtained, without
;
church at Minden
which appointment he
resigned, in
ill
He
died
at the
Holy Cross
testified his
approbation
of the invention, Schroter received neither honour nor reward, and the
new instrument
remained in abeyance.
Many
p.
464,
rules
on temperament
for the
instrument makers
:
who
are
who
my
inventions,
have given
it
out
as their own.
In 1717, I constructed;,
Dresden, after
much
consideration, the
110
model of a new
upon which
According
was simple.
length,
The hammer
pin with a leather head, screwed into the further end of the finger key
that,
when
hammer came
but,
when
smartly struck, the hammer, by the rapid motion communicated, was thrown
give the string a blow, and, instantly recoiling,
left
fell
up
to
for it
the
after
over the strings; but the inventor himself considered this device
impracticable, " because the metal springs which should bring back the
striking, did not promise to
It is
hammer
be durable."
singular that these three ingenious men, Cristofali, Marius, and Schrciter,
should have conceived the same idea, within a few years of each other, and without
collision.
But the
now
fully established.
The
object of centuries
was
at length accomplished.
The
small
hammer
had the
first
idea of
it
J. C. Schroder, of Dresden,
He had
it
a model
made
of
nious invention."
Why
and presented
to the
Court of Dresden
tain the true date of the Giornale de' Litterati d' Italia?
The hammers
'Some time
recoiled,
In Thalberg's
with
leather.
after,
Mr. G. Silbermann, a
p.
326, the
name
of Schrdter is
to
a tolerable degree of
great pianoforte-player's
brief
whether
Ill
and evoke a
clear, precise,
it "
and
delicate tone,
unheard
The The
was doomed
to a lingering
remained
for later
now "
world-
CHAPTER
YIII.
upon
its
is
first
introduction,
was not
successful.
;
Nor can we
at this
the pubhc
" besides," as
M.
keys required a greater delicacy of treatment than those of the harpsichord word,
it
in a
became necessary
for musicians
and amateurs
to
change their
style of playing,
Of
Cristofali
their inventions
seem
to
have been
countrymen.
and
it is
to these
alludes, in the
passage
He is sometimes
the
first,
from his
and
Whether
Marius, or Schroter,
we have
not
means of ascertaining
is
certain
it
is
generally attributed to
approval to the
who
is
113
Struck with the justness of this remark, Silbermatin withdrew his instruthis serious defect.
After repeated
to
to present a this
new instrument
From
first
moment
was accomplished.*
"We must
this period, as
Great, about
"
The
Bach was
at this
This made
him
artist.
At
first
he distantly hinted
Philip Emanuel, at that time in the service of Frederick) his wish that his father
to
Potsdam.
him
directly
why
come %
;
prepared to take this journey, in company with his eldest son, William Friedemann.
At
this
time the
flute.
One
and
his musicians
arrived.
were assembled, an
his flute in his
ofiicer
list
of
the strangers
who had
With
list,
but
art.
It has
Bach
it is
evident
its
touch has
enabled
him
to give the
ment
effects of
full orchestra
The
early sonatas of
and since
displayed
its
-Haydn
also bear
marks
its
Haydn
himself."
p.
Saydn and
Mozart, 8vo.
The
1817, Note,
106.
114
'
is
The
flute
was now
laid aside
had alighted
to the palace.
me
this story,
it.
At
that time
S.
it
was the
make
The
first
appearance of J.
Bach before
so great a king,
who
him time
to
many
apologies.
I will not
here dwell on those apologies, but merely observe, that in William Friedemann's mouth
they
made
King and
the apologist.
But what
is
more
important than
the
King gave up
and invited
Bach, then already called old Bach, to try his fortepianos made by Silbermann, which
stood in several rooms of the palace.
to
try
and
to play
unpremeditated com-
King
to give
him a
The
;
King admired
and probably
the learned
manner
in
art
which
to see
But
as
is
fit
for
such
full
to the astonishment
manner
as
King.
therefore.
SiVoermann's fortepianos.
added several
title
artificial
passages
canon
to
it,
and had
it
it
of Musikalisches Opfer
Bach,
is
After informing us that Bach used " two clavichords and the pedal, or a
:
harpsichord with two sets of keys, provided with a pedal," the writer adds
liked best to play
"
He
him
; ;
115
much
in
its
infancy, and
still
much
He
therefore considered the clavichord as the best instrument for study, and, in general,
He
found
it
of his
ment, which
is,
Nobody
could adjust the quill-plectrums of his harpsichord to his satisfaction ; he always did
it
himself.
He
also
But
then,
modes were in
his
power
and as
He
easily
He knew
were as
his
soft
and flowing
as if
now
published,
I here state."
Stein, of
John Andrew
Augsburg, by the
S'ilvery
and
brilliant tone
which he
gave his pianos, tended greatly to increase the popularity of the new instrument.
He
was born
Paris,
at Heidelstein in 1728,
for
In 1758, he visited
where he worked
many
and brought
his abilities as a
maker of pianos
In the
was directed by
Andrew, and
his daughter
letters.
In
called the
Poly-
Tor a
see
list
may
be seen in
C. F. Becker's Systematisch-Chronologische
4:to.
Dars-
Leipzig, 1836.
Q 2
116
pretty pieces
I thanked
so,
him
and promised
to return in
two hours.
I accordingly did
and then
whom
Though
my name might
Mr.
Stein,
'
to say to
piano.'
Munich.
Stein
made a
negative
movement
1
'
said,
'
May
Mozart
'
Oh
no,'
My name is
to
He
try
was about
open
it
him
time.
'
Why
wiU
letter now,' I
'
asked
'
let us
go to your music-room, I
'
your pianos.'
As you
;
please,'
was
his reply,
but I think I
He
the
which were
;
He
he opened
me
in
his arms."
In a
letter,
a few days later, " Augsburgh, October 17th, 1777," he has some
mode
of manufacturing pianos.
" I begin," says the great musician, " with Stein's pianos.
I thought those of Spaett the best
for the key-board is better
;
now
mentioned,
the finger or
it
on the note,
for the
sound
is
is
heard.
it is
neither
it
fails to
never
lets
but one cannot suificiently repay the trouble and zeal which he employs.
:
His
they have
all
the escape-movement
this,
sound.
The hammers
fall
117
When
it
till
it
passages of
all sorts,
not for his pecuniary interest, but for that of the not myself a passionate amateur in music,
He
frequently says
'
If I
were
my patience would
me
His
assists
very lasting.
He
it
When
in,
the
:
air, rain,
sun, snow, in a
word
to
may
split
then by means of
slips firmly
it
glued
he
When
to day.
may be
all accidents.
He
has
now
The
pedals,
any other.
is
palpable,
quality."*
and
as
natural
" Sib,
was a mere
"
child.
The
When
to
in 1762), sat
down
"
Who now
pos-
Is not
Mr.
piano,
which
the
minister, Count
von
Wagenseil here ?
the thing.'
We must send
by
for
him, he understands
Eantzau,
is
for
I wrote Count
Kuno von
Rantzau, of
up
Sir,'
said
whom
Mozart
to the composer,
am
concertos,
Hitherto,
honour
"
of
communicating
I
to
you."
seemed
to exclude
How much
to
am
any
other.
But
far
"in answer
month,
your communication
Lives
in our
A correspondence
by
my
uncle,
The
the
latter's
widow, who
life
on a
pages,
which we think
my family.
118
The mechanism
first
instance,
more
for
it
hammer, suspended
its centre.
still
when he
name
of
this piece of
little
expense, the
curve,
hammer
falls
the
moment
the
its elliptical
strings to vibrate at
At
five octaves,
were
iron springs, ornamented with copper knobs, in that part of the chest nearest to the bass,
estates,
Count Conrad of
Requiem was
certainly
was succeeded by
my father.
In order
sale
still
re-echo on the
^by
was ordered
by the superior
soul of every
German
possessed of feeling
order of
my
various art-treasures,
collected
dear father,
who
catalogues were printed and sent out at the time, and adver-
music
to
tisements inserted in
all
now, since
my father's
death, together
have been
my
brother, Friedrich
the
"I
during
the
above
and
following years,
at present, as
it
managed
father,
my
dear
at
Breitenburg, in
my
presence.
for paintings, and,
sir, to
may use
it, if
you
please,
were realised
for
"BEHEEND,
" Cfrevermiihle in the
M.D."
Truly indignant
Grand Duchy of
German
119
it
left
making them
to act
by means of knobs
A rough idea
may be formed
Potsdam.
The
may be
thus enumerated.
John
Adam
was a celebrated
He
was born
at Eatisbon, in
which
city
he
He
died, at
was born
at
Merona
in Saxony, in 1712.
He
is
said to have
made
the
first
square pianoforte.
He
life
and
repute.
He
died in 1779.
An
account of some of
may be
John Godfrey Hildebrand, the son of Zacaria Hildebrand, the eminent organbuilder,
maker
of keyedrstringed instruments.
120
hammers being
this
plan as early as
as
impracticable.
was
left
for Streicher of
;
practicability of this
arrangement
M. Pape
to
bring
it
to perfection.
much sought
Godfrey Silbermann.
He
1790.
Francis Ignace
Seufffert,
He
His two
at
sons,
John
Philip,
were
Vienna.
John Andrew
musician.
born
at
In
his visits to
his daughter.
ments in their mechanism, and improved the principle of placing the hammers above
the strings.
He
died
May
25th, 1833.
which show
its
At Potsdam, he
went
*
new
palace [dasneue
*
there
*
is
The apartments
are fitted
up with the
taste
Amelia, and of
is
room dedicated
to music, furnished
and
other
and with
of Paris
;
the whole furniture and ornaments of this room are in the most refined and
exquisite taste.
There
is
a piano-forte,
made by Silbermann
of Neuberg, beautifully
121
and a
;
tortoise-shell
silver
New
Palace, and a book of manuscript solfeggi, as his Majesty calls them, or preludes,
composed of
difficult divisions
and passages
the music
At Vienna,
went
to
Doctor says
"
From hence
M.
years old,
whom
The
he had mentioned
to
me
before,
difficult
lessons of Scarlatti,
pianoforte.
wi^
three or four by
M. Becke, upon a
much
surprise me,
though uncommon,
attended to
;
and there was such shading of some passages, and force given and
sensibility could
'
produce.
who
attended her,
'
upon what
on the clavichord.'
me
upon
Lady
is
whom
he
visited at Berlin,
same
tour,
he says
"
He
played, at
my
request,
his fugues
and church music, which are very learned and curious; he likewise prewith a copy of his musical
institutes,
sented
me
and a short
dissertation
upon tempera-
He
first
in
;
his
Art
of
Pure CoDiposition
in Berlin.
He
Harmony (Grund
the art
mode
He
him
for
the
first
of
harmony,
by teaching."
122
me
to the
;
pianofortes in Berlin
here
M. Kirnberger
played
modulation."
We have now
It does
not
appear that Marius's invention was ever adopted, or that he made any disciples by his
discovery of the hammers.
success in France,
Fetis, indeed, says,
is
where custom
what
is
new."
Blanchet, however,
whom we
81 ante), manufactured, in
1776, small square pianos in "imitation of the English;" but they were not well
received.
In
fact,
down
and England
kind
nearly
all
The
from
this
state
of dependence,
The
At
was
devising
its
own means
of resolving
them.
was
to his early
success.
His
father,
having married
an age at which
As
his native
afibrd
him
He
arrived
123
workmanship.
unable to
every-
know
upon
to
something beyond, his mere every-day routine, and finding himself not a
puzzled
how
to
answer the unusual demand, sought out young Erard, whose reputation was
him
to
sum
whom
it
had been
originally
bespoke to
but,
affix his
it
name
to
it.
when
was
the mechanism ; the nominal maker was forced to refer to his assistant.
circles of Paris,
still
and drew
who
shortly after
made himself
further
known
by
M. de
Blancherie.
in the Journal
Almanack of Luneau-de-
when
his reputation
was
so
whoever wished
to
have any
new
He was
of,
a protectress of
artists,
and,
above
all,
passionately fond
to
The
engagement
idea of a visit to England, he declined the offer, consenting, however, to stay with
the Duchess
time,
till
command
R 2
of
124
his
own movements.
still
of
Madame
It
Villeroi,
and express the gratitude with which she had inspired him.
was
made
This instrument
still little
many
used in
to
have
Madame
a piano 1
He
was
he
it
set
first,
taste
and invention.
artists
It
the distinguished
nobility
to
him by the
but finding
to
it
his brother,
Villeroi,
Jean Baptiste,
come
to Paris
he founded
Eue de Bourbon,
Faubourg
St.
Germain
efforts of the
The
Luthiers, or
new
commerce
they
made
a seizure in
it,
under the pretext that the brothers Erard were not memSebastian
friends,
This
document
is
we
transfer
it
to our pages
fifth
monies
like
hundred and
eighty-five, the
King being
at Versailles in-
useful
and agreeable
arts,
method
a forte-piano
over those
and wherever
it
good, forte-pianos
made in England,
and
to
Mr. Erard
and
to give
him
125
And
me
turbed
by
the
guards,
syndics,
and
adjutants
of the
for
the aforesaid
to
corporations
and committees
of arts
and trades
any
brevet,
own
by the
said
to the regulations
Lpuis.
of
into
Le Bakon be
Beetbtjil."
his workshops
new
inventions and
;
with two key-boards, one for the piano and the other for the organ.
The
success
to
be made for
her own use, and in the construction of it Erard introduced several novel contrivances,
which, at that time, awakened
much
interest.
compass, and almost every piece was too high for her,
of his
so that
by changing
strings, a composition
for instance,
would
It
strike
natural above
its
proper string.
was
this
first
and
this
he afterwards carried
Gretry, in his
on a large
scale, in
an organ built
for the
King's chapel.
Essais sur la Musique, particularly pointed out this invention to the notice of professors
and
to the attention of
government.
out in France, and Sebastian Erard determined on
The
removing
to which,
revolution
to
now broke
;
England
patent for improvements in harps and pianofortes, and his instruments soon became
fashionable.
In
made his
fi!rst
126
first
of the
formerly accompanied
all
similar instruments
and hammers.
The
new
invention
and
it
was
for this
much
study and
many
another
new
to the general
ease.
concerts
given in the Odeon by Eode, Baillot, and Laraarre, on their return from Russia.
Amateurs and
still
professsors
were alike
;
satisfied
On
is
his return
from London,
at a later period,
we
him
its
mechanism of
susceptible.
to
more
by
double-movement harp.
to neglect the
The
success of this
immense
Nevertheless, in
France,
;
are
At
and
;
thrice
one of his
in short,
The model
1823
;
The
in the
same instrument
all
hammer which
is
127
suffered
by
disease
and
at
La
His funeral
The founder
This
artist
was born
in
He
Ignace birth.
the
wedded
state,
by
his age.
German
at the
custom, his
own
tongue, the
dis-
same time.
His natural
;
him Vanhall
as a master
and at
he lived
the age of fifteen he was placed under the instruction of Haydn, with
five years, at
whom
sum
at that period,
which
was defrayed by the Count Erdoedy, a wealthy Hungarian nobleman, who, struck by
the talents and manners of the youth, took
him under
his protection.
In
777, his
visit Italy
and
at
for instrumental
music
was evinced in a
melody which
In
is
set of quartets, in
which were
all his
the characteristic of
Italy, Pleyel
made
what was
and
the
and
Paisiello
his taste
violinist,
singers.
Nardini,
vigour.
was
still
living,
all his
With such
much
that
he had
failed to learn
under Haydn, who, though the greatest composer of his age, was by
:
indeed,
it
may be
laid
down
French
critic
from
whom we
At
duced to the King, who received him with much kindness, and desired him to compose an
128
opera.
was
in consequence produced,
but
it
was the
and
last
work
In 1793, Pleyel was appointed chapel master of the Cathedral of Strasburg, and
all
From
Europe
had
to,
created.
compose symphonies
managers of a
rival institution,
named
He
but, in
this
high
class of composition,
he had no chance.
failed,
The
concert,
and
Pleyel did not add to his reputation by the part he had taken in
though he was a
estate
pecuniary gainer
near Strasburg.
to the
but was
He was
severely interrogated,
and protested
his civism,
though
for the
drama
to return
much satisfaction
politics
to the Strasburgers that the author never after at all adverse to the
government.
had put on
all his
family,
and manufacturer of
The
his son,
129
more
profitable
and
satisfactory pursuit.*
After a laborious career, Pleyel retired to enjoy an estate, not far distant from Paris,
purchased by the
ture.
His happiness seemed complete, vrhen the revolution of July alarmed a mind
his fears for the security of his property a,gitated a
ill,
he became
months
Italy, the
it
we have no
we
feel
assured that
to
was not
neglected.
have carried
will
be remembered, was a
prove the
its
made
at Florence in
1730
* According
menced
to Professor Fischoff,
f These particulars, concerning Pleyel, are chiefly derived from a notice which appeared in 1832 in the
and pianoforte-
Revue
maker, in 1805.
In 1824, CamiUe
(his son)
and Kalk-
Musicale.
J Described in Burney's
roMriwKaZy (see
anite, p.
83).
hundred and
fifty
The firm
is
now
and Co.
CHAPTEE
IX.
was made by
Crisp, Esq.
sold to
it
Samuel
instrument was
Philip Sydney,
Fulke Greville, a descendant of the friend of Sir and known as the author of Characters,
at the middle of the last as the
finest
upon
gentleman
about town.
in
all
"He
excelled," says
Madame D'Arblay,
manner, and habits, he was one of the most refined characters of the latter half of the last century.
Madame
;
for
pre-eminence not
of
the
clearest
acumen
possessing,
with equal
ardour
for
superiority in personal
and
for the
in
music
Herbert of Cherbury."
even princely;
horses,
He
was
and painting."
He was
and
liveries,
He
;
visited Italy
French horn
and these
tinent in
1757
Hampton
where
when
he fitted
He
life.
died, April
twenty-fourth,
1783,
aged
Burney
of their
seventy-six,
deeply
regretted
by
all
interview, at the
him during
Surrey,
harpsichord-maker,
may
Madame
d'Arblay's
p. 26, et seq.
131
all
who heard
it
no
virginal, spinet,
or harpsichord,
tone.
The hammer
harpsichord (for
and
of
for-te.
known
London
Mr.
Greville's pianoforte."
and inventor of the lyrichord (whom we have before mentioned), obtained permission
of the proprietor to
make
a copy of
it
but his
efforts
do not appear
to
have been
At
couiitry
many
ingenious
German mechanics
left their
;
and came
to
as pianoforte-makers
this
impetus.
this
circumstance, the
A
German
resident in
He
in the
but
it
does not
the public.
to the instru-
An
ment, and awoke the ingenuity, as well as the ambition, of the chief performers and
manufacturers in England.
arrived in this country, and
familiar
organist, pianist,
and composer,
first
which
f.
made
*"The
is
still
in
Bach, was for some time a scholar of his eldest brother, the
celebrated Charles Phil.
London, 1776."
in tie
i was ^}' where his chief study vocal music, assured me he that during the composition of
is
quitting
to Italy,
Mm^ial
InstrurMnts
great Industrial
^^y
^^^^
^^^^^ ^^
^^^ ytjig
for or
Exhibitim of 1851).
t " Mr, J. C. Bach, having very early in
life
^^^^
compose
accompany a
voice.
When
so
he
been de-
style of playing
was
much
many
hand had
"
132
all
new
instrument.
The most
in the
successful
of some small pianofortes (similar in shape and size to their progenitors, the clavichord
virginal),
whereof the tone was peculiarly sweet, the touch good, and the price
all
sufficiently
those
who had
hitherto
kingdom, where a stringed instrument had admission, but was supplied with one of
ZumpS's England
for
;
pianofortes, for
as great a
demand
in
France as in
fondness
make them
fast
enough
them.*"
;
Zumpe
afterwards with
Buntebart f and
after realising
sustained
by
disuse,
;
seen,
and
often
but I
am
not belong to
it
in a harpsichord state,
little
and the
when
is at
is
first
made
it
had
its
present
construction.
pieces
for
the
display
of great
execution.
On which
This
front
The
superscription in
much
of their effect
'
Joannes Zumpe,
fecit,
1766,
'
on the harpsichord
iv,
part,
is
never discovered."
arrived in
In a subsequent page
482.
Bach
England
in 1763, and established his concerts, conjointly with Abel, in the year following.
made by Zumpe
in
is
for full
mon
twenty years,
which appears
to
* Capel Loft,
Monthly Magaxine
He
in 1778,
and in
That
My
friend,
has a charming
little
Zumpe
et
Meyer, 1778;
Sir George
; ; ;
133
we
well-filled pipe,
German
Contemporary with Zumpe was John Pohlman, who, although his pianofortes
were of inferior tone, made a fortune by supplying those who could not obtain the
instruments of his more skilful countryman*.
its
limits
it
now
which records
its first
public announcement :
"
By particular
"
desire
"
On
Lochit,
by Mr. Dunstall
;
by Mr. Gardner
Beggar, by
Mat
o'
the Mint,
by Mr. Baker
by the Characters
in the Opera.
1,
Miss Brickler
new
Murden
had of Mr.
may
be taken."
Charles Dibdin,
who has
first
on the pianoforte in
this country,
His mother
pianoforte
made by Pohlman
is
little
more than
threads,
thus described
by Thalberg
feet in
consisted of a few piles of leather over the head of a horizontal jack working on a hinge."
feet
Report of
the Juries,
&c.
134
IN
ENGLAND,
He
was
educated at Winchester for the clerical profession, but his love of music predominated,
first
instructions
At
title
of The Shepherd's
As an
actor he
first
Mungo
the Mill.
In 1778, he
became composer
pounds a week.
About
managed
four years.
title
of The
Whim
of
the
Moment.
In
this
'
finally sold.
with an enter-
In
175), says
As
this
pretty
theatre
the recitation and songs, composed the music to them, and sang, and accompanied
his
own
till
invention."
Here he continued
his
own
he
retired in 1805,
for the
when he
disposed of
sum
of 1,800.
St.
This great genius died in 1814, and his remains were deposited in
Martin's
Burying-ground,
Camden Town.
is
improvements from
Before, however,
By some,
indeed, he
considered
its
inventor.
we
his father, a
clergyman of great
Holy
Trinity, in
Of the
little is
known.
135
to
he took his
first
degree in 1745
Pembroke
The degree
afterwards,
when he
first
Ode on
Duke
of
New-
as Chancellor
Isis,
One
productions was
his noble
poem
entitled The
in
deavoured to rescue his favorite place of residence from the imputations cast upon
by
Mason's fame was, however, speedily secured by the publicaElfrida, in the year 1752;
this
tion of his
interval,
drama of
was followed,
after a short
In the year 1754, he took holy orders, and was fortunate enough
who procured
for
him the
appoint-
ment
rectory of
Aston, in Yorkshire.
attention of the poet
Mason had
attracted the
;
Gray by
his imitations of
and
dispositions, a friendship
latter in 1771.
was speedily
This circum-
warmth and
characterized
Mason through
life
And upon
office
for publication.*
to
have attained
Cathedral of York.
For the
was peculiarly
he
felt
qualified,
it,
warm
affection
towards
* Gray bequeathed
to
him
MSS.
136
Of
poem
work
in
which
and beauty of
versification,
Mason married
of Kingston
a most amiable
whom
She died
his
at the early
age of twenty-eight.
The poet
produced a mortification.
He
died in the
in the seventy-second
name
to posterity not
skill
and excellence as a
writer.
A
is
monument
was, in the
memory
in the Poet's
Corner of
she
deploring.
The
inscription
commemorates
little
more than
his
name and
the day
of his death.
Mason's love of music prompted him to turn his attention to the defects of the
pianoforte
;
but the precise date at which he devoted his talent to the subject
is
not
known.
It
after his
German
tour in 1755.
"
I bought
Hamburgh
It is a harpsichord too of
is
two unisons,
cleverest
played,
by the
mechanism imaginable,
"*
The
because
it is
said to be
Mason.
Mr. Mason had seen some attempts that were made by the Germans
make
;
keyed dulcimers, which were in some measure susceptible of the forte and piano
* The Correspondence of Thomas Gray and William Mason, edited by the Bsv.
J.
IN ENGLAND.
137
acquisition,
it
for
harpsichord
as they
were
was by no means
removed
all
Mr. Mason
those imperfections, by detaching the mallet entirely from the key, and
It is
by
this
distinguished from
all others.
fully understood
The key
ABK
F
and a pin
6,
in its place.
The
dot
ED
is
is
the the
which
it
is
At
The mallet
lies in
row
of mallets.
The key
AR
has a
pin C,
with a
cork or buckskin.
This reaches
to
The
distance
e is
When
raises
of the
key
is
pressed
down on
the mallet,
by means
E
G
jr
but
it
cannot be so
much
pressed
down
as to
make
the
At
the
the mallet
by means
little
lifts off
damper
fixed on
the end of a
wooden pin
I,
Gg
H, which has
R.
a vellum hinge at
H.
damper
of the
is
which
touch
key
acts
As
it
centre of motion,
a considerable arch
D d.
and very
light, it is
d,
and
it strikes
now
at liberty to
vibrate up
Having made
down
again,
it
Were
would
have so
much
force, after
For
it
key
is,
at this time,
little
room
Lessening the
momentum
by making
it
very light,
138
very
soft,
all
only securities against the disagreeable rattling which these rebounds would occasion.
precision of
In respect
to the solidity
and
workmanship, the British instruments are unrivalled, and vast numbers of them have been sent
to all parts
of the Continent.
"
As
the
blow
wire,
it
to enfeeble the
producing
is
it
makes
it
almost impossible to give any considerable extent to the belly or sound hoard of the instrument.
it
There
to
than what occupies the space between the turning pins and the bridge.
This
is
the more
notes
this
be regretted, because the basses are commonly covered strings, that they
may be
of moderate length.
The bass
steel
Yet even
not enough.
The
much
too slack,
still
must be
want
of length.
and distinctness of the tone, and frequently makes the very lowest notes hardly appreciable.
about the middle of the instrument
the
steel,
is
one for
But
still
much
The mechanism
whom we
p. 92).
Many
stories, of his
ingenuity are
still
In the well-known
Palace,
by
Gainsborouglj^,
is
name
board of which
is
MerUn
Fecit."
is
The
following extracts from the reminiscences of two well-known veterans in the art
William Gardiner, of
days, in his pleasant
Leicester,
book of
gossip, entitled
p.
12}
"
My
mother bought
me
a pianoforte of
Upon
this I
Again
he says:
"About
years old.
He was
broilght
first
to
he
sat
upon
At
or three
pianofortes in the
town or neighbourhood
IN
ENGLAND.
139
John Pohlman, I suppose in Germany, and before any were made in England.* Upon
this
instrument Crotch
first
i,
p. 21),
"
As good
scarce everywhere
of the
first
London makers."
;
his travels
and he remarks
(vol.
ii,
before the production of Pisarro (to which Kelly wrote the music), adds
" I had
Duke
of Queensbery had
given me, and which he had been accustomed to take with him in his carriage
when
he
travelled."
The
pianoforte
last
twenty
was appointed
pianist to
Griffith
Kelly,
" Michael
Arne
We
Stodart.
have
now
day
^Messrs.
Broadwood and
John Broadwood
and,
He
and entered the firm of Tschudi, the eminent harpsichord maker, of whom we
p.
88
ante).
Here he
ingratiated himself so
completely with his master that he became his son-in-law, partner, and successor.
earliest notice of
The
is
* The
T 2
140
IN
ENGLAND.
dated 1771
1781*
Great Seal Patent Office contain an entry of a grant (July 18th) " To John Broad-
Street,
is
Golden Square,
"
new
far superior to
made."
This ingenious
artist
advanced age of
eighty-one, being
There
is
an
Say.
known
as John, William,
and
Matthew
Stodart.
The Patent
Office Books,
Wardour
instrument
maker,
swell,
for his
new invented
with an octave
and
to
performer."
grand pianoforte
known
common
action,"
German mechanic,
employ
James Broadwood,
in a letter in the
H. Baccers, a Dutchman,
We
suspect that
Americus Backers, Becker, and H. Baccers, were one and the same person.
Jacob Kirkman, the founder of the eminent firm of Joseph Kirkman and Son,
was succeeded by
pianoforte.
his
made by
this
house as
late,
as
800.
effected a great
improvement in the
It consisted in
is
the placing of an additional lever under that of the hopper hammer, the object of
which was to apply the moving power as near as possible to the pivot of the
hammer,
which,
it is
The end
first
account book of
unfortunately,
lost.
IN
ENGLAND.
141
not unlike, in
and contrivance,
When
the key was struck, the upper end of the grasshopper, which was about the eighth of
an inch in thickness only, was carried past the end of the under
lever,
which rested
on
a
it,
but communicated
its
little
In returning, the
original position.
Improvements
"
p. 601, "
in
any of the
it
it
in its
own country
that
came
into vogue.
In England
it
was
The
elder
Broadwood, by executing
style, first
;
way
and
it
possession of the public taste here, while the musicians of the Continent
clung to
the harpsichord.
" Ever since the pianoforte came into general use, the ingenuity of rival makers
has been exerted to improve the instrument in power and quality of tone, and in the
delicacy
chiefly
and
efiiectiveness
of the touch.
effected
in general,
by extending the
scale
and increasing
The
was from
FF (octave
and
up
The
in altissimo.
Then
down
to
CCC
that
is,
Francis Panormo,
in 1764,
and died
Decem-
those from f to
142
IN ENGLAND.
the proposition.
The
first
made by
Messrs.
We
1767, and
not a
little
viz.
Dr.
Bumey
"
The
pianoforte
this country
when he
(Schroeter)
first
arrived, the
hammer
instruments of a large size were bad, and harpsichord players produced no great effects
said to
first
who brought
into
We
the harpsichord, and thought the tone of the pianoforte spiritless and insipid,
expression and better instruments vanished our prejudices
;
the chiar' oscuro, in performing music expressly composed for that instrument,
made us
the
amends
for the
want of
much
that
we soon found
scratching of the quill in the harpsichord intolerable, compared with the tone produced
by the hammer."
new instrument
He
is^
called,
by Dr.
He
mechanism of the
pianoforte.
for
From
the
named
Germany,
my
first
native of this
Broadwood
it
may
be claimed
first
elegant
compass, superior in
effect to
meant, the
article
must be
two
about 58.
The
maker
of the
Schroeters.
contains,
H.
the mechanism
by which
it
is
distinguished from
the
143
Rome, where
the occupation of a chaser and embosser of silver vases and figures for the church
service.
He
was related
composer at
St. Peter's,
from
whom he
At
he com-
menced
sol-fa-ing
at seven,
Cordicelli,
for instruction in
is
master of the vocal school, and Carpini, the deepest contrapuntist of his age in Eome.
latter,
and
as yet little
old,
young
Clementi wrote, without the knowledge of his master, a mass for four voices, which
was
not
so
much admired by
it
although
much
addicted to bestowing praise, even Carpini could not refuse his tribute of
if
had consulted
it
better."
About
this time,
young dementi's
withstanding his other studies, he had assiduously practised, attracted the notice of
the celebrated Peter Beckford, then on his travels in Italy.
on the parents
England, to his seat in Dorsetshire, where the society and conversation of a family
distinguished by literary habits and taste, as
much
as
contributed in no small degree to inspire that relish for the whole circle of the belles
lettres
his
own
art, to
acquire an
uncommon
The works
of Corelli, Alessandro
instruction,
to his zeal
and
assiduity.
At
contemporaries in execution,
it
taste,
(though
till
three
his
celebrated Opera 2,
144:
and which
though
it is
made
was,
it,
be executed by
own composer,
the Devil.
or
of
all
all difficulties,
was
not, as
many
men
Aware
of the injurious
diet
them
and,
by
to
this plan,
he found
his
and
his
powers of application
commence
where
King's
and
remuneration
contemporaries.
make
talent
he
visited,
he remained
the
summer
of 1781
when he
proceeded, by the
way
to Vienna, enjoying
burst of
in
London. In Vienna
Salieri,
IN ENGLAND.
145
Emperor Joseph
his Consort.
II,
On
Some
by
Emperor decided
calling
on Clementi, who,
some
The Grand
for
Duchess then said that one of her masters had written some pieces
were beyond her powers, but that she should much
her which
;
and
She next
proposed a theme, on which, at her request, the two great masters extemporized,
alternately, to the astonishment
The plan
who
The
result,
whom
existed
and
them
as artistes,
on whose
talents the
In the course of his tour on the Continent, Clementi had written, in Paris, his
operas 5 and 6
;
and
and
10.
On his return
to
England,
he published
his operas 11
and
12.
In the
Autumn
on the pianoforte
Pantheon in Oxford
Street.
In
the same year, J. B. Cramer, then about fourteen or fifteen years old, and
who had
previously received some lessons from Schroeter, and was studying counterpoint under
Abel, became his pupil, and attended him almost daily, until Clementi went again for
a short time to Paris, whence, however, he returned the following year
;
and from
failure of the
to
new
at the
dementi's name
but dedicated
146
demanded by
ments
to
he may be said
have
first
He
W.
Collard.
Thus
In 1802, Clementi visited the Continent for the third time, remaining abroad
about eight years.
regret her loss.
for St.
While
first
wife
Petersburgh
he was soon called by the death of his brother, which rendered his presence in
necessary.
Eome
In 1810, he returned
state.
to
He now
among them
in three.
Harmony,
in four volumes,
Clementi was one of the founders and directors of the Philharmonic Society, to
which he presented two symphonies, and every season conducted one of the concerts
of that Institution.
respect, invited
him
sit
Albion Tavern
prevailed on to
down
to the pianoforte,
it
in a
manner
little
his
powers
of imagination were affected by time, and excited the wonder of a very numerous
company
memorable
occasion.
illness 'of short duration,
though
age.
his
mind had
for
to the attacks of
choirs of
London and
a great
number
The
pianoforte
was now firmly established in the public favour, and the date of
i.
e.
" dementi's successors," says a recent writer, " worthily followed in his
finding
new wants
arise,
from time
to time, they
to
satisfy
them; and thus the player and manufacturer vied with each other in the
advance."
general
IN ENGLAND,
147
will
list
of
London
at the
we are
for
the
Year 1794. *
" Beck, Pia Forte Maker, 10, Broad
St.
Carnaby Market.
7, Princes St.
Hanover Square.
41
Broad
St.
Carnaby Market.
"Done
Carnaby Market.
St.
Westminster.
St.
St.
Carnaby Market.
"
Pia Makers, 26, Cheapside; 13, Haymarket; and Tottenham Court Road.
St. St.
" Shudi and Broadwood, Instrument Makers, Great Pulteney " SroDDART, Pia Forte Maker, Wardour St."
Golden Square.
* This volume
troductory matter.
consists of
84 pages, besides 6
of into
copy to which
we
of the
the
by
J.
Doane.
The
u 2
CHAPTER
X.
IN
THE NINETEENTH
making
rapidly increased
;
in every part of
showing, as
M. Thalberg
ment."
expresses
From
the year 1800 to the present time, scarce a year has passed without the
appearance in England alone of patents for real or imaginary improvements, " countless
experiments being made, most of them totally empirical and unimportant, but some,
especially in the last thirty years, truly scientific, resulting in the enlargement
and
find."
all
nor to do
full justice to
;
those scientific
and
but
we have thought
of patents, chronologically
arranged, from the year 1694 to the year 1851, and carefully extracted from the
We
presenting this
list to
it
corrects
many
" trade" respecting the precise period that gave birth to certain important improve-
of the
They
are four
number.
The
first
number
prefixed.
From
this
149
invention
" a
and exercise
of their
new
to organs, clockys, or
as harpsicord,
same
too
chyme
or playe
by any person,
noe master of
John Habris,
a patent
new
invention of an
harpsichord,
may be
and one
part
may
be well played in a double manner without the thumb and finger together."
for his
1730.
(Dec. 17.)
William Barton,
and
all
improve the use of harpsichords and spinnets, which will improve the tone of the said instruments, and
last
many
years without
amendment
quills, of
which they
are
now made,
requiring
1741.
(Dec. 30.)
Roger Plenius,
for
of meliorating the musical instruments called harpsichords, lyrichords (which are harpsichords strung
Roger Plenius,
his
of St. George,
for the
new
invencion for the great improvement of musical instruments called harpsicords and spinnets."
harpsichord maker, for "his invention of a piece of mechanism or machinery by which
is
1769.
(Dec. 18.)
BuRKAT Shudi,
the harpsichord
very
much improved."
to
1770.
(Dec. 28.)
Thomas Haxbt,
all
of York, musical instrument maker, for " his new invented single harpsichord,
sell for
answer
the
common
1772.
(July 29.)
Adam Walker, of
continued tones from the wire strings of an harpsichord, and thereby remedying the acknowledged defect
of these kinds of instruments, giving
them
;
all
improvement, which he
calls
codestina, to
any
of its stops,
by
it,
of
sole inventor."
catalogue
is
formed:
1st,
an index of subjects,
;
classified
" Inventions and Improvements in the Pianoforte" from such works as were accessible
:
i.
e.
The Repertory of
The
by a
and
vol.
of every
notice or
by
that
number
much more
extensive,
and
to
be relied on
has appeared.
record,
Not, at
first,
We
we
of
brackets
Mr. Woodcroft's.
150
1774.
(Sept. 12.)
IN
Queen Ann
Street,
" his
new
a set of hammers,
used in the kind of harpsichords called piano forte, are introduced in such
be played separately or both together, at the pleasure of the performer
to
;
manner
that either
may
and
for
it
hammers
an harpsichord
of the
common kind
Samuel Gillespt,
of
Brownlow
Street, St.
Giles-in-the-Fields,
new
constructed principle of putting on the quills to strike the strings of a harpsichord with a peddle and
swell,
which
on the
tone,
same time
1777.
Robert Stodart,
of
Wardour
new
invented sort of
(Nov. 21.)
instrument, or of
(A combination
of the harpsichord
and grand
for
pianoforte.)
1783.
(July 18.)
John Broadwood,
of
Great
Pulteney Street,
is far
" his
new
1786.
John Gieb,
of the
(Nov. 9.)
instruments called the pianoforte and harpsichord, by which the same will become perfect and compleat instruments of their kind, which hath never before been discovered, and by which the same can be more
easily
to
alike."
(The grasshopper
action,
which
is still
1787.
John Landreth,
31.)
"his new
guitar,
(March
called
and upon various other musical instruments, by which the same can be more
order and
played upon, and by which the same wiU become perfect and compleat instruments of their kind, which
1787.
Humphrey Walton,
maker,
for
" his
new improvements
(May 25.)
on the musical instrument called the pianoforte, and other instruments, which he believes will render
perfect than
of
Wych
Street,
for
" his
new invented
any hitherto
touch,
German
is
preferable to
1792.
(Feb. 4.)
George Gaeoka,
more
perfect than
1792.
James Davis,
of
builder, for
(June
6.)
and harpsichords."
forte
1790.
James Ball,
of
Duke
Street,
maker,
for
(Nov. 16.)
which
more
perfect than
any
IN
151
" his
Geokgb Buttery,
new
hammers
made use
of."
1794.
(Oct. 17.)
Sebastian Ekakd,
of Great
Marlborough
ments may
1794.
(Oct. 18.)
also
be applied to
late of
all
William Southwell,
Dublin, but
now
of
for
"his new invented improvements in the construction of the musical instrument called a piano forte,
and
perfect,
and the
players playing on such instruments have a power to produce the gradations of tones from piano to forte
with greater
effect
of keys
may be
new
1795.
(Jan. 12.)
"William Stodart,
book
case, the
mechanism
of
of
which
upon an
entire
new
construction."
1797.
(Jan. 31.)
new
invented
431.)
1798.
William Southwell,
Broad Court,
St.
(Nov.
8.)
the action
and construction
of
1799.
(Oct. 3.)
Joseph Smith,
piano fortes,
so as to
instrument of a drum, tabour, or tambourine, with sticks or beaters thereunto belonging, together with
other improvements thereon."
(See
vol. x,
215
xii,
71
XV, 21.5.)
1801.
Sebastian Erard,
for
" his
new
(May
16.J
1801.
(Nov.
7.)
to
The
Antonius Bemetzeieder,
(Nov. 10.)
Scott, of Margaret Street, Cavendish Square, musical instrument makers, for " their
new
invented
(See
method
of
making piano
fortes, entirely
The
Edward Etlet,
moveable keys
of
Kingston-upon-HuU, organ
(See
Manufactures, voL
xvi, p. 144.)
""
152
1802. (Mar. 9.)
1803.
for
George Woods,
new
(June 28.)
1807.
(April 8.)
William Southwell,
"his invented
certain
which
is so
constructed as to
now
1808.
(Sept. 24.)
Sebastian Erard,
fortes large
is
of Great
Marlborough
for
By
hammer
of
away from
it,
1809.
(July 26.)
Datid Loeschman,
Newman
maker,
for
musical scale of keyed instruments with fixed tones, such as pianos, organs, &c."
piano, an account of
(The Enharmonic
1810.
Sebastian Erard,
and harps."
of Great
(May
2.)
1811.
William Southwell,
4.)
of Gresse Street,
forte
(March
1811.
Robert Woknum,
26.)
the younger, of Princes Street, Hanover Square, piano forte maker, for "his invented
forte."
(March
1811.
of
for
"his invented
(Sept. 9.)
1816.
William Simmons,
certain
(May
14.)
improvements applicable
or to
any
may, or can be
affixed."
Joseph Kirkman,
of applying
of
Broad
Street, St. James's, piano forte maker, for "his invented improved method to piano fortes."
foot, for
an octave stop
John Day,
of
'
certain
817.
1.)
Isaac
of Brighton,
Method
(Feb.
of producing
from vibrating substances a tone or musical sound, the peculiar powers in the management
forte.'
whereof are entirely new, and which musical instrument he denominates the sostinente piano
1820.
(Jan. 15.)
James Thom,
ditto,
of Castle Street,
piano forte maker, " for their invented or found out 'a certain improvement in piano fortes.'"
(This patent
it
was
for the
Before
this,
however,
compensating, as the metallic tubes possessing the same properties as the strings, extended or
IN
153
820.
Robert Wornum,
ment on piano
of
Wigmore
and
Street,
maker, for
'
(May 13.)
fortes
of
for
(March
and a moveable
damper).
1821.
(April 5.)
William Southwell,
of Gresse Street,
forte
1621.
(Dec. 22.)
Pierre Eraed,
of Great
Marlborough
Street, musical
instrument maker,
is in
"in consequence
'
of
com-
possession of
an invention of
This
is
certain improvements on piano fortes and other keyed instruments.' " (The repetition action
it
most
1823.
(Feb. 18.)
always under the hand ready for the repetition of the stroke.)
for
to piano fortes
1823.
(July 24.)
Henry Smart,
pianofortes."
of Berners Street, piano manufacturer, for " certain improvements in the construction of
1823.
Thomas Todd,
(Dec
4.)
William Wheatstonb,
of
music
seller,
for
of
825.
of communications
made
him by a
(Jan. 5.)
"
now
generally adopted.)
1825.
(Jan. 18.)
Francis Meltillb,
"improved method
from the injuries
commonly
liable
1825.
(Feb. 26.)
professor
of music,
for
"certain
fortes."
1825.
(Oct. 6.)
of
of
the
hammer).
1826. (July
1
Robert Woknum,
&c. for " certain improvements on piano fortes {the action part).
in consequence of communications
827.
made
to
him by
(Feb. 20.)
1
fortes."
827.
Jambs Stewart,
fortes,
forte
(March 22.)
in
which the
was made
to rise at some distance behind the strings actually struck, the head
close
154
was apt
to jar against
them
an
evil
which
this
improvement removed.
This patent
1827.
(July 25.)
1827.
Edward Dodd,
piano fortes."
of 62,
Berwick
Street,
Oxford
Street,
instrument maker,
for
William Dettmar,
fortes
of
forte
maker,
for
(Aug. 30.)
1828.
(July 10.)
1828.
(July 24.)
Robert Woknttm,
1829.
Francis Day,
of a
for
of the
same
place, " in
consequence
(June
1.9,)
communication made
them by
" certain improvements on musical instruments " {adapting sonorous metallic springs to a
piano forte).
1829. (Aug. 11.)
1
an improvement or improvements
829.
2.)
James Stewart,
piano fortes."
forte
maker,
improvements on
against the string.
(Nov.
(A check
to the
under hammer,
to prevent the
rebound
of the
hammer
Simon Thompson,
fortes" {keys
of Great
for
Feb. 27.)
1831.
(Feb. 2.)
and
action part).
of
Regent
maker,
for
William Allen,
fortes."
1832.
(Sept. S.)
communicated
him by a
improvements iu piano
fortes.''
1833.
(Nov.
1.)
of
New
invention of "certain improvements on piano- fortes and other stringed musical instruments."
1835.
(Jan. 15.)
James Stewart,
in the
forte
mechanism
fortes."
(A new
thus
fall
of the
1835.
Frederick Ludwig
2.)
Hahn Danchell,
Marlborough
Street, musical
instrument maker,
for
(March
George Greiner, a
155
Robert Wolf,
2.)
improvement in
pianofortes, consisting in
to
(March
the
new
body applicable
every description
of piano fortes.''
1835.
of Great
Marlborough
Street,
(May
13.)
1835.
(Dec. 31.)
Pierre Eeard,
of Great
Marlborough
maker,
for
piano fortes," being an extension of former Letters Patent granted by His late Majesty George IV.
Joseph Lidel,
of
Arundel
Street,
for
"certain improvements in
John Godwin,
8.)
of
Cumberland
Street,
forte
(March
1836.
making
Charles Gutnemer,
8.)
of Manchester
fortes,
Street,
for
" certain
(March
1836.
improvements in piano
Wheatlet Kirk,
of
Commercial
fortes."
and manufacturer
(May
14.)
improvements in piano
1837.
William Southwell,
improvement in piano
of
No.
5,
Winchester Row,
New
Road,
piar.o
forte
maker,
for
"a
certain
(Aug. 24)
1839.
(Feb. 21.) 1839.
(Feb. 23.)
fortes."
fortes."
of the Friary,
St.
an extension
of
former Letters Patent for " certain improvements in the mechanism and general construction of
piano fortes."
1840.
(Feb. 14.)
Joseph Clark,
piano fortes."
improvements in
1840.
John Hawlet,
watch maker,
for "
(June
1.)
1840.
(Sept. 24.)
Pierre Ebard,
improvements in piano
fortes."
(An
1840.'
Edward Dodd,
piano fortes."
of
improvements in
(Nov.
7.)
1840.
(Dec. 16.)
John Steward,
ment
of Wolverhapipton, in the county of Stafford, esquire, for his invention of " an improve-
in the construction of pianofortes, harpsichords, and other similar stringed musical instruments."
of
1841.
John Godwin,
Cumberland
Street,
Hackney Road,
pianoforte
maker,
for
his invention of
"an
(June 23.)
1841.
(July 7.)
Jambs Steward,
of
" certain
work
1841.
entirely of iron, with the bass strings exposed in the form of a harp.
James Stewart,
of 21,
Osnaburgh
Street, pianoforte
maker,
for
(Nov. 11.)
horizontal pianofortes,"
X 2
156
IN
as also a
new
repetition
moTement
1842.
(Jan. 15.)
Thomas Lambert,
cabinet pianofortes."
1842.
(Feb. 8.)
Golden Square,
for
" an improvement in
commonly
called the
name board."
1842.
(Feb. 15.)
Robert Wornum,
1843.
(Jan. 19.)
Jo.sEPH
KiRKMAN,
jun. of
Soho Square,
pianofortes."
1843.
(Feb. 11.)
Henry du Bochet,
of
of 46, South Mall, in the city of Cork, Ireland, pianoforte tuner, for " a
new method
making
pianofortes."
of
1843.
(April
2.9.)
James Stewart,
of 91,
No.
Thomas Lambert,
Albany
Street, pianoforte
maker,
for
1844.
(July 3.)
"improvements
in pianofortes."
1844.
(Oct. 10.)
1844.
(Dec. 12.)
Sebastien Mekcier, of
1845.
(April 7.)
William Hattbrslet,
of
Regent
Street,
1845.
(Oct. 10.)
of
1845.
(Oct. 27.)
Benjamin Nickels,
of
York
Street,
Lambeth, machinist,
for
1845.
of
Isaac
of
for
"certain improvements in
capable of resisting
much more
durable,
much more
the injurious and destructive effects of the atmosphere (especially of extreme climates), and
the quality of their tone
is
whereby
greatly improved
of
for
much
longer period."
1846.
Baker
(June 16.)
1846.
(July 8.)
Thomas Woolley,
1846.
(July 31.)
of
Rue
officer of artillery in
the service of
professor of sacred music at the University of Berlin, for " improvements in the keys
IN
157
Alexandre Debain,
instruments."
(Aug. 29.)
1847.
(April 29.)
John Speak,
of Gloucester
for
and
1848.
(Jan. 11.)
James MoNTGOMEET,
1849.
of
Lime
" improvements
in the construction of
(May
15.)
1850.
(Sept. 12.)
'
PiEKRE Eraed,
keys.
of Paris, for
pianofortes.'"
The patent
1851.
John Hopkinson,
repetition
(The
(June
3.)
and tremolo
We
to
find, as early as
Joseph Merlin.
This
"newly invented
grand pianoforte."
Street,
maker."
all
unknown men
each
whom
con-
In 1794, we
first
name
of Sebastian Erard;
followed, in the
to
same
year,
by William Southwell, an
is
and
the
instrument
indebted for
many
of
its
greatest improvements.
;
Then comes
Stodart,
The century
is
well closed
action.
The
nineteenth century
is
followed,
Wornum first
an instrument which
he afterwards,
name
artist
158
IN
Many
now
of CoUard
makes
its first
Longman and
Broderip, and afterwards under that of Clementi, was established in the previous
century.
Joseph Kirkman follows, in 1816, with the curious invention (derived from
This
is
the
first
appearance
introduces
as,
name
Adam
"Walker, in 1772.
era in the construction of pianofortes
exhibits a
new
the
i.
e.
for the
introduction of steel tension bars, metal bracings of various kinds, and steel string
plates; all having for their object the strengthening of the instrument, so as to enable
it
to resist the
enormous
strain
of the strings.
A more perfect
known
and
in the
next year (18^1), Erard took out the patent for his beautiful piece of mechanism
as the " repetition action."
to
still
greater
perfection
tition
and tremolo
list.
It
foreign countries
but the task was impossible, from the imperfect manner in which such
cities.
It
maker
the ingenious M. Pape, of Parisenumerates no fewer than 120 patents (more than
all
the
EngUsh
patents put together, from 1694 to 1851) taken out by himself alone!
the pianoforte, are due to the talents of the EngHsh, who, in this particular at least,
far excell all other countries.
IN
159
number
of ingenious inventions
may be
France, Belgium, Austria, the United States, &o. some of the most important of w^hich
will receive attention in the
We may here remark that the " Vienna action" is more simple and less expensive
than our own ; and
being extremely
its
the former
light,
It
Germany
Mechanik" has
we may
;
instance Bessali6,
;
of Breslau
Dorner, of Stuttgart
Seuffert, of
Heitemeyer, of Miinsten
Eiihms, of Altona
Vienna.
In France, we have
artist in
Pfeiffer, Petzold,
;
Lichtenthal
Both these
English action.
In the United States, we have Messrs. Nunns and Clark, Driggs, and Pirsson, of
New York
"
-of
the Chickerings.
The
latter
may
The manufacture
M. Thalberg,
is
in his
excellent remarks
drawn up
of very great
importance, from the superior character of the principal workmen, and the vast
numbers employed,
directly
and
indirectly, in connection
with
it.
In
all
the
cities
of
the civilized world, there are numerous makers of this instrument, with immense
numbers of workmen
small makers
;
while the increase of the number of pianos, compared with the popu-
more rapid
a circumstance which
is
is
This
whereas
business.
now
it fills
his shelves,
and makes
his chief
The number
something wonderful.
Many
who
160
and generous
recommending and
assisting accomplished
women, whose
helpless families
utterly destitute.
is,
The
social
beyond
all
One
of the most
marked changes
amusements.
;
Formerly, nearly
all
now,
at
In the
more fashionable
the piano
is
Many
enjoyment
afforded
by the piano.
" In
many parts
is
and the
solitary.
now
obliged,
thus
home
enjoyments.
"
By
many who
never
visit
This
all classes
and while
considerable towns have often no orchestra, families possess the best possible substitute,
making them
The study
of such
be,
may
and and
ought
to be,
made
the
habits,
reflned
directly dispenses."
Heartily do
forte cannot
we concur
by the great
artist.
The
piano-
pianos with
" transposing pianos pianos patented hard names of unknown derivation of seven octaves compass
become too general
repetition
^pianos
in
all
the
better
still,
little
Quaker-like pianos
161
at the
trade,
to the
the
This
last," says
is
the eloquent
whom we
when
the parish Bible was chained to the reading desk in the middle of the
The
had
their
pianoforte
monopoly
is
now
at
an end.
The
day
and good
classes, are
Men
the
is
visible
aye,
if
his friend!
Shall
we not be
a happier,