A CASE STUDY IN ICONOGRAPHIC RESEARCH

Source: RIdIM/RCMI Newsletter , January, 1979, Vol. 4, No. 1 (January, 1979), pp. 3-12
Published by: Research Center for Music Iconography, The Graduate Center, City
University of New York

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 RIdIM /RCMI Newsletter IV /I

SUMMARY OF THE DISCUSSION A CASE STUDY IN ICONOGRAPHIC RESEARCH

Ideally, computerized and stored RIdIM data should Claude LaPointe (Montreal, Canada): Measuring the
have two facets: a) the catalogued information should Evolution of an Instrument and Reconstituting its
be available for retrieval on a dial-up basis, and Major Prototypes .
b) the picture itself should be stored, perhaps through
a method similar to that of television, producing an MEASURING THE EVOLUTION OF AN INSTRUMENT
imperfect reproduction on the screen for identifi-
cation. A better copy can be made, if desired, from I. Building an iconographie file, and preliminary
microform files. Through the latter approach, observations
materials could be made available in areas that do not
have sophisticated computer facilities. The
Some three and a half years ago, after having built
cataloguing aspect of computerization has already
been tested; the real problem is in joining it to the some spinets, I became interested in reconstituting a
display of stored visual materials.
psaltery. I then began a search for factual infor-
mation but, after six months, I soon realized that I
had collected at best some 30-35 pages of superficial,
repetitious, often contradictory material. Since my
interest was primarily focused on reconstituting one
psaltery and since I had very little factual data, I
then searched for some interesting pictorial repre-
COURSES IN MUSICAL ICONOGRAPHY
sentations. The first one that I found was a post-
card displaying a poorly legible psaltery from a
The State University of New York at Buffalo
painting by Memling [Illustration 1]. This reproduc-
tion enabled me to begin. I scaled the dimensions,
For several years now, introductory courses in musical
iconography have been offered to both graduate and
prepared some drawings, discussed the design with
undergraduate students at SUNY/Buf falo . The courses harpsichord, violin and lute makers, each of whom
have all been conducted by Professor James McKinnon
strongly suggested adapting their own individual tech-
and have been geared to demonstrate the importance
niques to the building of the psaltery. In view of
the serious lack of factual data, and the mounting
of methodology.
confusion, I decided to concentrate my efforts on two
fronts: 1) build one prototype as best I could from
Most recently, an undergraduate senior seminar has
the Memling reproduction; and 2) start collecting
generated a number of interesting student projects.
In advance of the semester, filmstrips were obtained
reproductions of the psaltery which display meaningful
information.
from the Bodleian Library, Oxford, comprising about
1,000 frames from about forty manuscripts represent-
ing five subject areas of potential interest to the
students. The five subject areas were l) ferial
psalter illuminations, 2) 13th - 15th century
illuminations of the Roman de la Rose , 3) Medieval
and Renaissance illustrations of the Apocalypse,
k) illuminated Books of Hours and 5) late Medieval
marginalia. After choosing one of these to investi-
gate, each student prepared slides from the filmstrips,
basing the final class presentation primarily on this
material. The slides will eventually be added to the
Baird Music Library collection, and the iconographical
content of each will be reported to RIdIM.

An example of the work done by the students is the

paper prepared on the first of the subjects listed:
ferial psalter illuminations, by Elizabeth Teviotdale.
Basing her study on the contents of some twenty com-
plete manuscripts from the 13th and ikth centuries,
Ms. Teviotdale sought to interpret the musical refer-
ences in this large and virtually unexplored icono-
graphical repertory by charting the visual motives
against the background of regional and chronological
trends. A similar regard for questions of context
characterized the preparation of the other papers as
well, and it may justifiably be supposed that each
student acquired through this work a new appreciation
for the problems and challenges attending studies in
Illustration 1
musical iconography.
Hans Memling: Shrine of St. Cecilia,
-Roger Larsson (SUNY at Buffalo) Bruges. (Detail)

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 A Case Study

The purpose of this first task was to gather first-hand

practical experience by facing the problem of actually
building a psaltery. Using my engineering training,
I began by laying out the string arrangement as best
as I could read from the illustration, calculating the
structural size of the frame to minimize deflections
which would least affect the tuning. Then I turned to
the acoustics problem by studying the constructional
details of the harpsichord, spinet, clavichord,
dulcimer, guitar, violin and lute. I then prepared a
set of drawings for a cabinet maker, leaving for myself
the more delicate operations of assembly such as
gluing the members and the soundboard. While the
instrument was being built, I attacked the problem of
decorating the instrument, utilizing the assistance and
knowledge of my wife, who is an expert in art repro-
ductions. We conducted a search on motifs, design and
color schemes typical of MemlingTs Flemish culture,
and, after a thorough study of medieval techniques,
decided to carve and engrave the frame, paint the
soundboard and carve four roses. The finished model
took more than one year to complete.

The decision to collect informative reproductions of

the psaltery involved a much longer span of time.
Initially, I leafed through books on the history of
music and on medieval instruments. Some six months
later, I had 38 photocopies, arranged by centuries and
annotated as to their sources. Then I extended my
search to cover a wider range of libraries and to
books on the history of music of various nations. Af-
ter another six months, the count was 65. Then, I
visited the libraries of various art museums, sys-
tematically covering Western European art from the 5th
century to the 19th century, including each national
art, and the developments of architecture, sculpture,
stained-glass windows, manuscripts, tapestries, etc.
until now, some two and a half years later, the count
exceeds 250 reproductions. [Ed. note: This total was
in 1977; it now exceeds 350.]
However, during this laborious search, as the icono-
graphie file was building up, I noticed one very im-
portant fact: reproductions always tended to group.
For instance, out of 10 reproductions, one reproduc-
tion would come from the 11th or 12th century, four
from the 13th and 14th centuries, four from the 15th
and 16th centuries and perhaps on from the 17th or 18th
century. Initially, I held this distribution to be
accidental, until the sampling became statistically
significant and these distributions could be plotted
on a graph, yielding the so-called "bell-shape" and
the s-curve distributions [Illustration 2]
The left-hand graph has a line representing the
actual number of reproductions per century (vertical
axis) in relation to the centuries (horizontal axis);
the right-hand graph represents the cumulative number
of reproductions in relation to the centuries.
The rationale for these graphs may be explained by
the following analogy: If someone in the year 2200
were attempting to retrace the evolution of the auto-
mobile, he could conceivably measure it by counting
the ads, the photographs or the number of accidents
and so on. Indeed, today, we use similar sampling
techniques in predicting the outcome of an election,
the popularity of a brand name or a TV rating. In the
same manner, a historical graphic representation of
the psaltery may bear some relationship to the popu-
larity (or population) of psalteries since someone, in
the midst of his visual experiences, had taken the
trouble of recording the event. Therefore the frequen-
cy of these representations, as described by the bell-
shape distribution, could possibly help to retrace the
evolution of the instrument. As a countercheck to a
possible chance result, and since, in parallel to the
psaltery survey, I had also conducted a similar icono-
graphie search on the portative. The same procedure
was followed in relation to the portative, which again
showed a similar bell-shape distribution. Further, to
insure a quick mathematical check on these distribu-
tions, I used the so-called "probability paper."
The vertical scale of this paper is so drawn that a
theoretical cumulative distribution becomes a straight
line. This curve for the psaltery is shown in the
graph [Illustration 2- left]. As can be observed,
there is a very strong agreement between the theoreti-
cal s-curve distribution and the actual distribution
of the psaltery which means that the grouping of the
reproductions of both instruments is not accidental
but follows closely some mathematical laws - a matter
which requires some explanation.

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II. The Metrology of Music
A. The diffusion process, the s-curve, and the
bell-shape distribution
Let us first examine the process of diffusion. To
illustrate the mechanics of this process, we will
describe how a disease spreads. Let us assume that
100 inhabitants live isolated on an island and that
one inhabitant becomes infected with a bacteria
whose virulence is of such a level that one carrier
will transmit the bacteria to two persons, and that
the latent period of this bacteria is one week. Thus,
after one week, the initial carrier has infected two
other persons who, in turn, ater another week will
infect four others who, in turn, infect 8 persons,
etc... Clearly then, for every week, there would be
1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, etc. carriers
(or mathematically, 2X"^ infected carriers,called
wherethe s-curve,
X is equal to the number of weeks), for a total
infected population of 1, 3, 7, 15, 31, 63, 127,
255, etc. persons (or mathematically a total popu-
lation of 2X-1. Clearly, this is an exponential
growth and its graph is shown as a dotted line
[Illustration 3]. Such an unchecked growth assumes
that we have an infinite population available which
the bacteria can contaminate.
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Rid IM/ RC MI Newsletter IV /I
In our example, this is not the case since we have a
limited population of 100 inhabitants, and as the
disease spreads there are fewer and fewer candidates
available as potential carriers. In other words,
the bacteria progressively begins to strike more and
more people who have already contracted the disease
and are therefore immune to it. The explosive growth
becomes checked: after an initial exponential growth,
there will follow a gradual slowdown, at first re-
presented by the linear part of the growth, until
progressively fewer and fewer people are left un-
touched and eventually there will be none. The spread
of the disease has saturated and after the linear
growth we have a negative exponential growth until
finally the entire population has been infected.
This pattern which, on account of its shape, is
is shown at the top of the graph
and describes the total (or cumulative) population
which has contracted the disease. Say, for example,
after approximately six weeks, 20% of the population
has already been infected, and 12 weeks later 50%,
then 18 weeks later 80% until after 24 weeks the
entire population has been contaminated. At the
bottom of the graph is another curve which describes
the number of people infected at one specific time.
For instance, during the 6th week, 12 person may be
sick, during the 12th week about 25, and during the
18th week only 12 persons. This curve is called a
"bell-shape" distribution curve. As can be seen
from these curves the maximum number of people sick
at one time is when 50% of the population has already
contracted the disease.
B. The lifecycle curve
These are well-known, generalized curves which find
many applications. For instance, they can describe
the diffusion of automobiles, computers, TV sets or
jet airplanes and so on. These curves are well known
to marketing specialists who use them to predict the
useful lifetime and future demand of their products.
Let us examine more closely the curve depicted in
Illustration 4. Initially, there is always an idea,
an invention, an innovation or a technical breakthrough
(i.e. the telephone, putting an internal combustion
engine on wings to get the airplane, or developing the
transistor to arrive at the computer) which is followed
by an "incubation" period: a period of intense research
and development where many prototypes emerge in the
attempt to arrive at a good performance at a reasonable
cost. At this point, market forces will take over:
consumer demands will generate the exponential growth,
until after a certain period of time, most consumers
have acquired the product and sales begin to slow down.
The market begins to mature and, finally, to saturate.
Eventually, through obsolescence or displacement by a
better product, demand begins to decline and to
eventually disappear: jet airplanes displace propeller
airplanes; color TV displaces black and white; the
pianoforte displaces the harpsichord; the harpsichord
displaces the psaltery and so on.
Such a lifecycle pattern can be applied to a musical
instrument. For instance, once metal wires became
readily available after the mechanization of the wire-
A Case Study

According to the right-hand graph, the psaltery began to

appear around the tenth century. This agrees with the
historical fact that Al-Farabi (d. 950) invented the
qânun, the ancestor of the psaltery, in order to adopt
the Kanon, or rule of the Greeks. The purpose of
Al-Farabi f s qânun was to demonstrate the Pythagorean
relationship wetween the various ratios of the free
vibrating lengths of a string. Graph A shows that
the psaltery reached its apogee around 1375 (when it
began to be displaced by the newly-emerging keyboard
instruments, such as the harpsichord). This date of
1375 accords with this historical data. We see by the
graph that, for all practical purposes, the psaltery
had disappeared by the 18th century. This is also
well documented in the literature, where it is
mentioned that by that time only women were playing
the instrument and that it (or its derivates) was
becoming part of folk music.

Or to put it differently, using the right-hand graph,

we can say that:
a) by 1200, about 20% of all psalteries had already
appeared;
b) by 1375, about 50% of all psalteries had already
appeared;
c) by 1500, about 80% of all psalteries had appeared.
Or, again, if we arbitrarily define the Golden Age of
an instrument as the period which contains 50% of the
entire population of this instrument, we can claim the
Golden Age of the psaltery covered from 1250 to 1450,
approximately .

D. The Evolutionary trend.

At this juncture, let us return to the lifecycle
curve. As we have mentioned above, many technical
Illustration 4
solutions are proposed during the early phase of the
life cycle curve. During this incubation stage of an
instrument, many prototypes emerge of which only a few
will survive under the selective pressures of music.
drawing process by Rudolf of Nuremberg in Southern These few leading configurations, now embodying all
Germany, ca. 1350, in combination with the invention past experience in the art of making this instrument,
of the jack which could mechanically pluck the string and responding closely to the constant demands of
under the depression of a key (the keyboard being music (the "push-pull effect") are therefore progres-
already developed), the harpsichord came into existence ,
sively improved and refined until a point is eventually
ca. 1375. Intensive prototype development followed and reached where any further improvements remain near
under the strong "market pressure" of Baroque musical impossible for all practical purposes. At this point,
style and sonority the harpsichord became predominant. we have reached the "near perfect" or "ideal"
Technically, this is a clear case of the push-pull configuration embodying the best "world of sound" of
effect of a potential instrument and the demand for a the instrument from the standpoint of instrument-
specific style of music. making and the demands of music. However, as soon as
this perfection of sound is reached, located at some
point during the maturity or saturation phase, the
instrument, just like the dinosaur, is doomed. Through
C. Application to the psaltery: correlating the its perfection, the instrument has now become static
statistical curve with historical evidence.
and really forewarns us of its coming displacement,
Referring to Illustration 2, we see that the dis- since it cannot adapt anymore.
tributions of the iconographie survey file correspond
to the diffusion pattern discussed above and described The instrument lifecycle curve allows us to follow
by the s-curve and the bell-shape distribution curve. the way in which the instrument evolved to fulfill the
We can say that at a certain date the psaltery was requirements of music. We can now pinpoint the lead-
invented and under the demand of the music style of ing prototypes of an instrument and follow the dynamic
the era, grew into predominance to eventually be evolution toward a static, perfect configuration and
displaced by another instrument. This date can be how, even after its displacement, further df forts of
verified historically and will provide us with further adaptation to salvage an already doomed instrument
checks on the validity of the iconographie survey take place. In other words, we can develop the
curve.
genealogy of the instrument.
6

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 RIdlM/RCMI Newsletter IV/1

As an additional feature, the iconographie survey

allows us to trace chronological contour lines
describing the diffusion of the instrument into Western
Europe [Illustation 5]. Note that these contours are
only illustrative and are not drawn to scale .

Illustration 6
Anonymous: MS Illustration, Cantigas de Santa Maria ,
Madrid: Library of the Escorial.

Illustration 5
Diffusion of the Psaltery in Europe

RECONSTITUTING SOME IMPORTANT CONFIGURATIONS

Actually, the lifecycle curve is a composite curve

which includes all the various configurations of the
psaltery, just like the lifecycle curve of the auto- A. The Cantigas de Santa Maria model
mobile would include sedans, coupes, sports cars, This model was selected because it is an early re-
station wagons and so on. And, in turn, each one of production (ca. 1270) closely affiliate to the Arab
these configurations would have its own specific qânun. Note that the player above on the left holds an
lifecycle curve. The lifecycle curve of the psaltery instrument with 11 strings and plucks an octave
can be separated into two major configurations: the whereas the player on the right holds an instrument
Mediterranean and the Gothic. with 10 strings and plucks a third. For these sounds
to be concordant, one player may be plucking the base
note and its octave and the other its third and fifth.
1. The Mediterranean configuration
The reconstitution measures 12" in width and 9 5/8 in
This type is characterized by the trapezoidal shape
depth and has 11 nylon strings. The frame was made of
typical of the qânun. Two reconstructions have been
made: one, an early Spanish model copied from the mahogany with cross-cut cedar boards. Acoustically,
this model remains primitive, not having any bridge,
manuscript of the Cantigas de Santa Maria [Illustration
6] and two, a later Northern Italian model copiedand is probably representative of the monochord
from
a painting by Jacopo da Cione [Illustration 7]* construction; its sound is soft and veiled.
7

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A Case Study

Illustration 7 (above, left)

Jacopo da Cione (second half of 14th century) :
Painting,Winterthur , Switzerland: Collection
Reinhart . (Detail) .

Illustration 8 (above, right)

Paolo and Giovanni Veneziano: Painting, Coronation
of the Virgin (ca. 1358), New York: The Frick Collec-
tion (Detail) .

Illustration 9 (at left)

Niccoib Ger ini: Painting, Coronation of the Virgin,
(ca. 1390), Montreal: Museum of Fine Arts (Detail).

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 RIdlM/RCMI Newsletter IV/1

B. The Jacopo da Cione model

A total of 32 reproductions from Spain, Troubador

France and Northern Italy [see Illustrations 7, 8,
and 9] provided a wealth of data for the reconstruc-
tion of this model. Outline, dimensions, number of
strings varied within some limits and no specific
standard configuration seemed to have been retained.
The reconstitution measures 16 5/32" in width and
12 3/16" in depth and has 15 triple nylon strings.
The frame is mahogany with cross-cut cedar boards.
Acoustically, the model is still primitive, not having
any bridges; the sound is deeper, richer and more
voluminous than with the Cantigas model.

2. The Gothic configuration

[This type is characterized by the "Instrumento di
Porco" shape and its origin is directly related to the
historical development of the material used in making
the strings.] It is exemplified by three prototypes
whose overall configuration suggests the use of metal
strings. These are: a German copy from a stained-
glass window of the Burgkirche, now in the Sankt Annen
Museum in Lübeck [Illustration 10], an Italian copy
from the Cantoria, in the Opera del Duomo, Florence,
by Lucca della Robbia [Illustration 11] and the
Flemish model copied from the painting by Memling in
Bruges, Belgium [Illustration 1].

A. The Burgkirche model [See 111. 10]

This model, derived from a stained-glass window,
dated 1420, is interesting in that its long extended
width clearly points to an adaptation of the "ideal
psaltery configuration." It represents an attempt to
extend the lower register of the psaltery now
competing with the emerging keyboard instrument. This
configuration is a proof that the psaltery is now on
the decline.

The prototype measures 32 15/16" in width and 13 5/16"

in depth and has 16 double steel strings (which,
historically, were probably brass strings). The frame
is mahogany with cros-cut cedar sound-board and maple
bottom board; the two bridges are of maple. The
sound is very pleasant, rich, velvety and deep.

B. The Lucca della Robbia model [See 111. 11]

This model is derived from a relief dated 1435. Al-
though it is copied from a piece of early Renaissance
art from Northern Italy in which five psalteries are
clearly displayed, this particular prototype represents
the "ideal psaltery configuration" which already had
then a long history.

Illustration 10 (above)
Anonymous: Stained-glass window, or ig. from the
Burgkirche, now in Lübeck: Sankt Annen Museum
(Detail) .

Illustration 11 (below)
Lucca della Robbia: Relief from the Cantoria,
Florence: Opera del Duomo (Detail) .

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 A Case Study
The reconstitution measures 16 11/16" in width and
13 3/4" in depth and has 21 double steel strings
(which, historically, were probably brass). The frame
is mahogany with cross-cut cedar boards. Acoustically,
this model, with its elegant dimensions and its two
bridges, embodies the epitome of the Gothic psaltery
sound: clear, transparent, long and carrying, with a
wonderful rich ring.
C. The Memling model [See 111. 1]
This Flemish model, dated 1490, is copied from a
painting by Memling. It probably embodies the richness
of the Flemish polyphony with its sharp, detailed,
crystal-clear sonority.
This reconstitution measures 18 3/16" in width and
19 6/32" in depth and has 25 double steel strings.
The frame is mahogany with a spruce sound-board and
there is one maple bridge.
SOCIAL HISTORY AND FUNCTIONS OF THE PSALTERY
Let us now return to our distinction between the catgut
string Mediterranean configuration and the metal-string
Gothic configuration. The sound emitted by these two
instruments is markedly different. Whereas the catgut-
string psaltery has a warm, mellow thumpy sound of,
perhaps, a short duration, the metal-string psaltery
has a cold, dematerialized, metallic sound of a long
duration. The first type of sound can be illustrated
best by the guitar, the lute and, perhaps, the violin,
the other type by the spinet, the harpsichord and,
perhaps, the grand piano. One may, in fact, think of
two radically different worlds of sound, two basically
different worlds of music, derived from two basically
different human concepts.
A. The Mediterranean configuration
If one recalls the role of the mandoline in Neapolitan
songs, of the lute in Italian madrigals, of the
Spanish guitar in Flamenco music, of the Portuguese
guitar in Fado music, or, for that matter, of the
Arabic qânun in Arab music, one may imagine the role
that the trapezoidal, catgut-string psaltery may have
played in the medieval music of Spain, Provence
[Troubadour France] and Italy. These instruments were
popular around Mediterranean lands from about 950 to
the early decades of the 15th century. During this
period, it appeared through the Arab lands, in the
Mozarabic Spain of the Cantigas de Santa Maria , in the
France of the Troubadours and the Northern Italy of the
Ars Nova.
The use of the psaltery is mentioned on two occasions
in the Tales of the Thousand and One Nights (Nights
49 and 169) which were written in the 10th century.
By the year 1200, the instrument had become the chief
musical instrument of Al-Andalus. At the court of
Alfonso X (1252-1284), there are numerous mentions of
qânun players in the records, also depicted in the
manuscript of the Cantigas de Santa Maria . In his
Decameron , written between 1349 and 1353, Boccaccio
refers to certain specific songs which are apparently
played on the psaltery (The evening of the Fifth Day).Northern Italy.
10
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In the 12th century, especially in Andalucia, Arab
vocal music had reached a high degree of development
along its horizontal line, its rhythmic patterns and
melodic embroidery. Similarly, up to the end of the
13th century, Troubadour music emphasized the poised,
slightly accented singing delivery of human speech.
The Italian Ars Nova of the Trecento, highly influenced
by the Troubadour experience and the cultural attrac-
tion of Avignon, stressed a vocal style with flowery
melismas and instrumental dance music.
The social function of music was also the
same in these areas. The art of the Troubadours
emphasized music as an independent, secular art,
cultivated by the leisured classes, a setting very
close to that of music in the Arab lands and Spain.
Similarly, in the Northern Italy of the Trecento,
music was an integral part of social life performed
not only by professionals but by amateurs as well.
Boccaccio describes in the Decameron this social
function of music where people sing to their instru-
ments and dance to this singing.
The evidence seems to suggest that the Mediterranean
type played the role of support to a music often
highly melismatic and rhythmic, a music which had a
precise social function among a leisured class. If the
present traditional Arab practice is a valid indica-
tion, the psaltery may have been used in a short
prelude to introduce the modal and rhythmic structure
of the vocal piece. The easy flow of the melody could
then have been backed up by what Dante calls "a drone
incessant." Often the literature of the era alludes
to high voices singing against a bass.
Many reproductions of the Mediterranean type show the
instrument plucked with a plectrum in the upper regis-
ter while the other hand plucks the lower register,
which would have the effect of making the higher
melodic part more sonorous and emphatic against a
more subdued lower part serving as bass and giving
rhythmic interest.
B. The Gothic configuration
In contrast to the almost "folk-like" applications of
the catgut-string instruments, metal-string instruments
seem to have a more formalized function. The term
"Instrumento di Porco" attached to this metal-string
configuration by the Italians of the Mediterranean
world may well have been one of contempt - and not of
resemblance - for and instrument that was popular
with the Gothic barbarian. The cold, metallic, de-
materialized, formal sound of the metal string is com-
pletely different to that of the catgut string.
The characteristically flared outline of this config-
uration may have appeared as early as the latter part
of the 12th century in Northern France and was certain-
ly already wide- spread in Northern France and England
by 1250 when we see it often in the hands of the 24
elders of the Apocalypse, depicted in psalters, in
sculptures and in stained-glass windows of the Gothic
cathedrals. In 1300 it had at least reached Ireland
and, by 1350, it was known in Spain, Germany and
Czechoslovakia. In 1375, it has also appeared in
 RIdlM/RCMI Newsletter IV/ 1

The origin of this configuration is directly related
to the materials used in making the strings. Therefore,
it becomes important to find out if, indeed, wire was
available and if so, what metals could have been used,
where and when.
Wire-drawing dies dated from the 3rd century A.D. have
been found in Central France and also in a Viking
grave around 700 A.D.. Gold wire dating back from the
5th to the 7th century is exhibited in Nuremberg.
Around 1000, the German monk Theophilus described the
process of tin wire-drawing and case-hardening. From
the time of Theophilus on, there are many references
to wire and by the 13th and 14th centuries, wire-
drawers were well established in France. It is re-
corded that around 1260, cold-drawn wire was commer-
cially available in France and later in England. With
the development of the textile industries in Flanders
and in Northern Italy - also in the 13th century -
brass wire was used for carding wool; gold and silver
wire had long been used in threading embroideries,
such as the religious garments used in church services
and, later, in the tapestries. Wire also had various
household applications such as pins, buckles, etc...
Wire-drawing is an extremely strenuous hand operation
whose output remains limited. With the growing de-
mand of the textile industries, the need for mecha-
nizing the process was felt and, in 1350, Rudolf of
Nuremberg made a breakthrough by substituting water
power as drawing power. From then on, brass, iron and
steel wire became readily available in Western Europe.
The impact of Rudolf's technological breakthrough was
to be of capital importance to the further development
of Western music. Gut strings could now be replaced
by metal strings which have unique characteristics: as
an example, they can be struck with hammers to produce
a reasonable, though intimate, volume. This character-
istic was to lead to the development of the dulcimer -
which was widespread in France, England and Germany
by 1450. Further, since these strings were strong
enough to absorb and radiate energy, other applica-
tions followed. They could be plucked mechanically -
either with tangents of jacks - and when the keyboard
was added a new family of instruments emerged: the
clavichord, the spinet and the harpsichord.
The use of different metals, iron, steel and brass,
would depend upon ready availability. Regarding the
availability of steel, the Catalan forge began to
appear in Spain in the 13th century, which produced
wrought iron sufficiently ductile and suitable for
wire-making. Also, soft iron could be converted to
high-tensile steel by the case-hardening process.
Thus, we can make the assumption that during the 13thwere actually used where and when? Since they affect
century, at least in Spain and possibly in France and considerably the timbre of an instrument, what were
Germany as well, iron wire and even steel wire were
available as string materials for the psaltery.
In the Middle Ages, brass was also called latten or
lattin, derived from the French word "laiton," meaning
brass, which in turn was derived from the Arab word
"latun" meaning copper, suggesting again some possible
Arab influence. By the 13th century, many brass work-
shops had already concentrated in Flanders (around
Liège and Dinant - from which is derived the French
word "dinanderie" for brass articles) and also in
Southern Germany. Again, we can surmise that if the
metal-string psaltery had already appeared in Northern
France by 1250, it was in all likelihood strung in
brass which was locally available, in preference to
the more remote steel from Spain. This seems to
agree with tradition which claims that, as late as the
18th century, psalteries and dulcimers were generally
strung with brass wire only.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The purpose of this section is to list questions that
have come to mind as a result of this project which
combined iconography with construction engineering.
1. The impact and extent of Arab influence on Western
music
In view of 1) the invention of the qanun by Al-Farabi
around 900, the rapid diffusion of the instrument
throughout the Arab lands and the importance that it
reached in Andalucía around 1200; 2) the attraction of
students from Mozarabic Spain, France, Germany, England
and Italy to universities in Moorish Spain, such as the
Faculty of Music at the University of Cordoba (the
first university to offer courses on music), and to the
presence of important cultural centers; 3) the high
development of Arabic music played at that time in
Moorish Spain and the presence of important centers
such as Seville, which were engaged in the manufacture
and diffusion of musical instruments, such as the
rebec, the qânun and the lute. What then was the true
influence of Arab civilization upon the cultural area
comprising Mozarabic Spain, Troubadour France and
Northern Italy? Should a new assessment be conducted?
2. The Mediterranean and Gothic configurations: the
catgut and metal-string psalteries
What was the precise role of the catgut psaltery in
Spain, Troubadour France and Ars Nova Italy, in re-
lation to vocal music? What was the exact role of the
metal-string psaltery in Gothic Europe, in relation to
the developing polyphonic music, and to the trouvère
and minnesinger music? What were the actual methods
of playing the instrument?
3. The strings: materials, diameters, registers,
tuning and modes
What type of strings - catgut, brass, iron and steel -
the physical characteristics and diameters of these
strings? What were the actual registers of the re-
constituted instruments? What was the exact tuning -
strictly Pythagorean or any possible Arab influence
(quarter-, half- and three-quarter tones)? Or instru-
ments with double and triple strings, were these
strings tuned in unison, or in bass, fifth and
octave? In relation to the Arab modes and to the
hexachordal system, what importance was given to the
number and layout of the strings?

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 A Case Study
CONCLUSIONS
This project has covered three major areas:
1. An iconographie collection which accumulated more
than 250 reproductions of the psaltery from the 8th to
the 19th centuries, providing the basic source of in-
formation for the reconstitutional work.
2. Five reconstituted psalteries illustrating major
types in the evolution of the instrument: 1) Spain
1270; 2) Northern Italy 1370; 3) Germany 1420; 4) Nor-
thern Italy 1435; and 5) Flanders 1490.
3. Research into the history of technology which pro-
vided many of the answers to the questions raised
during the reconstitutional work.
These results are no doubt interesting and valuable in
themselves. However, it seems to us that the most sig-
nificant contribution of this project may not lie in
these areas but rather in a purely serendipitous
result: the metrology of music.
Through the tat is tical approach, which we briefly
outlined above, we have made available a methodology
which will measure in a reasonalby accurate fashion the
evolution of a musical instrument. This approach
allows us to date the entry of an instrument, define
its periods of incubation, of growth, of maturity, of
saturation and of displacement. With this knowledge,
we can follow the evolution of the main configurations
under the constant demands of music. We are now
capable of measuring fairly precisely the Golden Age
of an instrument, its geographical diffusion and its
genealogy. And since instruments concretize the sounds
of music, we are now capable of measuring how instru-
ments, through their growth and development, relate to
the development of musical style.
If, so far, the first application of this approach has
been to the lifecycle of an instrument, other areas
where statistical modelling will be ben ficial, will
soon emerge. lor instance, a similar approach may be
used to measure the lifecycle of the Italian Madrigal«
This mav be done by a chronological sampling of
madrigal works and reconstituting the evolution of the
Italian Madrigal. Also, the evolution curve of the
lute could be retraced and the degree of cross-corre-
lation between the madrigal and the lute could be es-
tablished. It is possible that by establishing such
curves for, e.g. the motets, and trouvère and minne-
singer songs, we might cross-relate the use of the
psaltery in various musical forms.
We reiterate here that the results of this project are
still preliminary. The main reason for these re-
sults still being at the preliminary stage is the lack
of excellent photographic reproductions. Most of the
reproductions of the survey are photocopies, many of
which are difficult to read. Also, each reproduction
must be counter-checked as to date and place of origin.
This information has been difficult to obtain.
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Initially, the reconstitution work was circumscribed
by the lack of factual information, but as the project
developed, important data was collected either from
the iconographie survey or from the research work which
was conducted in parallel. Pressed by the deadlines
imposed by the reconstitution work, fast, practical
answers regarding configuration, dimensions, size of
structural members, constructional details, selection
of materials, nature, number, spacing and diameter of
strings all had to be determined. Genuineness depends
upon the amount of knowledge one posesses - which, in
our case, was constantly being built up. Also, re-
constituting remains a continuous compromise. With
today's tools - electrical saws, drills, planers -
available materials such as glues, varnishes, paints,
and close tolerances - physical and chemical - of items
such as strings, it may be presumptuous to believe in
genuine reconstitutions. Our world is simply too far
apart.
However, it is probably a fair statement to say that
our instruments probably sound reasonably close to
their ancestors and perhaps sound even somewhat better
than their primitive forefathers, hand -hewn, with
glues, strings of a varying if not occasionally
doubtful, quality, with the idiosyncracies, and prob-
ably limited knowledge of each local builder.
In view of the considerable time spent in researching,
collecting, collating, interpreting the data, in de-
signing, assembling, producing, testing and decorating
these instruments, in addition to the inevitable trials
and errors, we believe that the knowledge and experi-
ence that we have acquired should be readily dissemi-
nated and that the reconstituted instruments be made
available as much as possible. And in order that this
perspective and enjoyment of music be extended, not
only to professionals but to amateurs as well, we have
available all the construction and decoration plans of
the instruments that we have displayed at this meeting.
Further, the instruments themselves are also available
in kits, or assembled, or decorated with or without
roses.
To finalize this project, good photographic material
has to be collected, organized and studied, statistical
calculations have to be carried out, and results have
to be documented. Also, since we have collected an
iconographie survey of the portative, it is hoped that
a similar treatment will be carried out on this other
instrument.
[Editor's note: This article is taken from a paper
given in summary at the Workshop on Musical Iconography,
12th Congress of the IMS, Berkeley, 1977, accompanied
by slide illustrations. We invite the opinions and
comments of our readers, which may be printed whole or
in part in a future issue at the discretion of the
Editor. Those who submit replies have the right to
request that they not be printed.]