CORNELLUNIVERSITYLIBRARY

FROM

The Carnegie Corporation

ilC

ML SOO.SsT"Un,VerS"y Ubrary

iiKminiiiSil?,fiy.,.P.f the violin /

3 1924 022""320 18

The Mask Story SeriesEdited by

FREDERICK J. CROWEST.

TheStory of the Violin

Cbe "d&ustc Storg" Series.3/6 net per Volume.

Alreadypublished in this Series.

THE STORY OF ORATORIO. A. Patterson, B.A.,Mus. Doc. With Illustrations. -

STORY OF NOTATION. C. F. AbdvWilliams, M.A., Mus. Bac. With Illustrations.

STORY OF THE ORGAN. C. F. AbbyWilliams, M.A., Mus. Bac. With Illustrations.

STORY OF CHAMBER MUSIC. N. Kilburn,Mus. Bac. With Illustrations.

STORY OF THE VIOLIN. Paul Stoeving.With Illustrations.

,,STORY OF THE HARP. W. H. GeattanFlood, Mus. Doc. With Illustrations.

,,.STORY OF ORGAN MUSIC. C. F. Abdy

Williams, M.A., Mus. Bac. With Illustrations.

STORY OF ENGLISH MUSIC (7604-1904)MUSICIANS' COMPANY LECTURES.

,,STORY OF MINSTRELSY. EdmondstouneDuncan. With Illustrations.

,,STORY OF MUSICAL FORM. ClarenceLucas. With Illustrations.

STORY OF OPERA. E. Markham Lee, M.A.,Mus. Doc. With Illustrations.

,,STORY OF THE CAROL. EdmondstouneDuncan. With Illustrations.

,,STORY OF THE BAGPIPE. W. H. GrattanFlood, Mus. Doc. With Illustrations.

,,STORY OF THE FLUTE. H. MacaulayFitzgibbon, M.A. With Illustrations.

Other Volumes in Preparation.

This Series, in superior leather bindings, may be hado?i application to the Publishers.

[ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.]

DEDICATED

TO

WILLIAM H. CUMMINGS, Esq.,MUS. DOC. DUB., F.S.A., HON. R.A.M.,

AS A MARK 01'

ESTEEM.

Contents

PAGE

Prologue xxiii

PART I.

CHAPTER I.

ORIGIN OF THE VIOLIN.

Origin of the Violin still a puzzleGradual development

A

European growth or an Eastern importationGreeks andRomansAn insight into a highly ingenious system ofmusicEgyptian and Chaldean recordsA vain search for aprehistoric fiddleThe Old TestamentA misleading trans-lation

CHAPTER II.

TRADITION AND THE SCHOLAR (AN INTERLUDE).

Tradition repeats a story and adds further variationsThe ravan-astron

vii

Story of the Violin

CHAPTER III.

A FAMILY LIKENESS.PAGE

Possibly a lowly grandsire of the king of instrumentsThebowClaims more closely examinedSome historians' ob-jectionsTradition and conservatism in Eastern countries

Other bowed instruments in IndiaMuch speculationHaveno other nations known bowed instruments ? . . . 10

CHAPTER IV.

THE OLD NATIONS.

Reason for absence of historical proofAssyrian bas-reliefs

Instruments sanctioned by religious tradition in Egypt

Idiosyncrasies of some nations .....-17

CHAPTER V.

A WANDERING.

The tone of the ravanastronHindoo's love for itIndebted toPersians and ArabsMusic with the swordImprovementsand spreading of musicTradition spinning her eternalthreads ....,.,. .21

CHAPTER VI.

MUSIC IN GENERAL IN THE FIRST CENTURIES A.D.

The first fair flower of the spiritPrimitive beginningsTheearly Christians sangThe third and fourth centuriesThefirst singing-schoolA poor CinderellaGladiators, his-trions, jongleurs, etc. 25

viii

Contents

CHAPTER VII.

FIRST BOWED INSTRUMENTS IN EUROPE.' PAGE

Arabian and European rebabsRebab enters SpainThe familylikenessThe oldest European representativeThe WelshcrvvthClaims discussed ....... 30

CHAPTER VIII.

A MEETING.

Dark period of two centuriesA new kind of bowed instrumentappears Possibly a descendant of the ravanastron Noprevious recordIntroduced to the bow .... 38

CHAPTER IX.

THE MINSTREL AND MUSICIAN IN THE ROMANTIC AGE.

Strong rule had brought safetyNightmare of preceding centuriesTroubadours, Minnesinger, and poor minstrelsPlayingbefore the castleA keen distinctionThe Meister song isborn and rearedThe fiddler draws into the townsAsso-ciations formed . .

-44

CHAPTER X.

A RETROS PECT.

More than six hundred yearsA poor despised drudgeA poorcompensationHow would music have fared?A mummy

A thing of life and beautyHarmonic crimesDemand forinstrumentsFather to ultimate creation of the violin

Choral singing in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries . 52

Story of the Violin

CHAPTER XI.COMPETITORS.

PAGEThe primitive rebecAn unmistakable ancestor of the violThe

constant faithful companion

Jean Charmillon, king ofriboudsFellow-traveller and competitorFra Angelico'ssweet-faced angelThe tone of the rebecChanges of thefiedel

The bowed instrument by preference ... 56

CHAPTER XII.

THE INSTRUMENT OF RESPECTABILITY.

The clever cabinet-maker spurred to extra effortsImprove-ment of the viol formStimulus through the genius of Dufay,Dunstable, etc. Instrumentalists now employed in thechurchesFurther stimulusConstruction of different-sired

' viols Corner blocks inserted Special favourite designspopular in different countries 62

CHAPTER XIII.

THE VIOLIN (PRELUDE).

Were the times really ready ?The Renaissance ... 67

CHAPTER XIV.

TWO GASPAROS.

Question still not satisfactorily answeredTo many a strange andnew nameWho was Gaspar Duiffoprugcar ?Six violinsOther factsContradictious reasons reconcilableLiber-ties taken with labelsModification of his nameInternalevidence for his claimsThrough the bright river of genius

ContentsPAGE

Know no more of Da Salo's youth and apprenticeship thanof Duiffoprugcar'sHis claim irrefutable

QuestionsArethere any traces of development in his work?Two littleFrench violinsGeneral characteristics of his violins . . 70

CHAPTER XV.MAGGINI AND OTHER BRESCIAN MAKERS.

Maggini's workDemand for violinsOther Brescian makers . 84

CHAPTER XVI.THE AMATIS.

CremonaAndrea AmatiThe belief that he was a pupil of DaSaloAmati's original styleThe Amati violin tone

Amati's two sons, Antonio and HieronymusArtistic co-operationSeparationDistinct progress of both

Jerome'sson NicolausHis masterpiecesLarger modelThe GrandAmatisThe acme of perfection in the Amati styleNicolo'stwo sons

Jerome less painstakingMediocrityThe lastAmati .86

CHAPTER XVII.A bird's-eye view.

Amati's individualityReason for to-day's decline in prestige

Fierce battle between a modern orchestral accompanimentand a solo fiddleTime of Rococo 93

CHAPTER XVIIIAMATI SCHOOL.

Spread of fameWorkers in Italy, France, Germany, and Holland 96

Story of the Violin

CHAPTER XIX.THE GUARNERI FAMILY.

TAGETrue heirs of Amati with StradivariusA parallelAndrea

Guarneri and his workHis two sons, Petrus and Joseph

Friendly rivalry

Joseph's workPetrus's violinsA son ofPetrusA third PietroGuiseppe of another constellation . 98

CHAPTER XX.JACOBUS STAINER.

Through long corridors of timeTraditionSome factsSadnessand miseryHis achievementsValue of his violins

Spurious labels . . . 102

CHAPTER XXI.

THE GREATEST OF THEM ALL.

StradivariBegan earlyScrupulously copied his masterFirstinstruments with his own nameThree periods and an inter-ludeChange in workCreates master-worksA com-parison Profound knowledge of wood Most strikingcharacteristicToneVarnishAutumn of lifeHis twosons, Francesco and OmoboniA scene for Rembrandt

His last workStradivari's "home lifeHis influenceHispupils ..........

CHAPTER XXII.GIUSEPPE GUARNERI DEL GESU.

Strongest possible light and shade

Question signsHis early lifeFirst attemptsFact and fancyBad wood and careless

ContentsFACE

workmanshipGems of different form and colourFourthperiodIn prisonThe endGreatest master after StradivariThe first-rank master period ends 128

CHAPTER XXIII.THE ART OF VIOLIN-MAKING IN FRANCE, ENGLAND,

AND GERMANY.

France.No luthiers of renown till laterThe best known

Contribution smallClever imitators.England.English workers of the seventeenth and eighteenth

centuries, and laterSome instances showing originality

Faithful imitators.Germany.A differenceA founderImitatorsDabbling of

cranksSound makersWholesale production . . . 136

CHAPTER XXIV.IS IT A SECRET?

Only three conditions possibleAbout woodAbout ageAboutvarnishAbout workmanship or artConclusion

. . 145

PART II.

VIOLIN-PLAYING AND VIOLIN-PLAYERS.

CHAPTER I.

PRjELUDIUM.

Father and founder of artistic violin-playingA style of com-position for the new instrumentA sure and broad founda-

xiii

Story of the ViolinPAGE

tionPoor Charmillon and many othersNo records ofworldly instrumental music of the timeContrapuntal grop-ings no safe criterionNor illustrations of instruments

Music of the primitive kindFiddle (viol)-playing in thefourteenth and fifteenth centuriesSymbol in the frets

.

157

CHAPTER II.

VIOLIN ART IN ITALY.

Sixteenth century First half of seventeenth centurySecondhalfCorelliThe Roman school of violin-playingArtisticactivities His playing Corelli the teacher Corelli'spupils ..... .... 166

CHAPTER III.

violin art in italy {continued).

Other centresThe churchesTartiniFounder of the Paduanschool" II Trillo del Diavolo"ProductivityTartini asauthorHis playingAs teacherTartini's pupilsOnlynamesViolinists of Piedmontese schoolPupils of Somis

Pupils of Pugnani . 174

CHAPTER IV.

VIOTTI.

Reformer in two directionsCreator of modern violin art in itsbest senseChildhood and youthA surprise to the world

Anti-climaxChased fortune on precarious bywaysA dealerin wine His personality Last great representative ofclassical Italian violin art 187

xiv

Contents

CHAPTER V.SOME MORE NAMES AND ONE FAMOUS ONE

:

THE OLD-TIME VIRTUOSO.PAGE

Some namesAntonio LolliThe glorification of virtuosity

Treading in his tracksLolli's two pupilsHas done moregood than he gets credit forA factor for progressRapidlyand effectually carried into distant parts of the world

A

regular tour deforceNot the same diet for allHas fulfilledhis mission 197

CHAPTER VI,PAGANINI (A STUDY).

The world unpreparedOnly part of the showWas Paganini'sinfluence one for good ?

La casa di PaganiniPaganini inthe makingFull fledgedThe Paganini feverPaganini'sonly pupil 205

CHAPTER VII.VIOLIN ART IN GERMANY.

Italian art carried into the heart of GermanyGerman violin-playing in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuriesTheDresden CourtThe Berlin CourtThe Mannheim Court . 216

CHAPTER VIII.

VIOLIN ART IN GERMANY (continued).

Ludwig SpohrHis youthOn the high road of successSpohrthe manThe composerThe playerHis pupils^-Ferdi-nand DavidHis pupilsSchool of ViennaErnst

JoachimA light-giving fixed star ....... 224

XV

Story of the Violin

CHAPTER IX.

VIOLIN ART IN FRANCE.PAGE

Time of Louis XIV.The cream of the professionCorelli'sfailureThe use of vocal music for instrumentsThenames of first French violinists

Jean Marie LeclairPierreGavinies

....... 235

CHAPTER X.

violin art in France (continued).

Viotti and French violin artIllustrious periodBest-knownpupils of ViottiRodeRode's playingRudolph KreutzerKreutzer's playingHis famous forty studiesBaillot

A

new phase in French violin artA lively tug-of-warTheBelgian schoolBelgian influence in ParisCharacteristicsof the Belgian schoolPolandBohemia, Norway, andSpain

. 241

CHAPTER XI.

VIOLIN ART IN ENGLAND.

Receptive rather than productivePrejudicesForeign artists

English violinistsSeventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenthcenturiesUnknown prompter 251

CHAPTER XII.

THE LADY VIOLINIST.

In her charmsIn her glory ..,,.., 258

Contents

PART III.

AN OUTLINE OF THE EVOLUTION OF VIOLINCOMPOSITION.

CHAPTER I.

IN ITS INFANCY.PAGE

Beginning of seventeenth centuryCarlo Farina and his capricciostravaganteCrude tone picturingImitators in GermanyIn Italy 261

CHAPTER II.

THE REIGN OF THE SONATA.

Sonata da camera and sonata di chiesaCorelli and the sonata

TartiniTartini's influence

Joh. Seb. Bach . . . 265

CHAPTER III.

THE SONATA DI CHIESA YIELDS THE SCEPTRE TOTHE CONCERTO . 271

CHAPTER IV.

THE REIGN OF THE CONCERTO.

TorelliVivaldiViottiThe passageRode and Kreutzer

SpohrMoliqueMozartBach 273

xvii 2

Story of the Violin

CHAPTER V.

A NEW PHASE OF THE CONCERTO.PAGE

The modern virtuoso-concertoPaganiniLipinski and Ernst De Beriot Vieuxtemps Wieniawski David andothers 279

CHAPTER VI.

LATEST PHASES OF THE CONCERTO.

BeethovenMendelssohnMax BruchSaint-SaensLalo andBenj. GodardRaffRubinstein and GoldmarkBrahmsand Tschai'kowsky 283

CHAPTER VII.

DIDACTIC VIOLIN LITERATURE.

A long wayA shorter cut 286

CHAPTER VIII.

A PRODIGAL.

The oldest of them allVery accommodatingThe air vane

The small pieceThe present-day small pieceWhy thissterility?A very uninteresting ageThe last word not yetspoken-'-The Chopin of the violin 288

Postscript 293xviii

Contents

APPENDIX A.

Some remarks on the name "Fiedel" as applied to the early ances-tor of the viol kindMartin AgricolaPrsetorius and Ganassidel Fontego Of the evolution of the bow Parts of aviolin ..........

APPENDIX B.

299

Chronological table showing the descent of violin-playing frommasters to pupils since the founding of the Roman school;also some small independent groups of players . . . 305

APPENDIX C.

Makers of the Brescian schoolPupils and imitators of the AmatischoolPupils and imitators of Stradivari Various otherItalian makersFrench, English, and German makers . 305

APPENDIX D.

Books of Reference to Parts I. and II 312

Index 3 : 5

List of Illustrations

" Saint Cecilia," by Domenichino, from the picture inthe Louvre Collection - - - Frontispiece

FIG.

1. Indian Sarinda - -

2. Omerti

3 and 4. Arabian Rebab and Kemangeh5. Rebab esh-Sha'er (Poet-Fiddle) -

6. Earliest representation of a European Fiddle

7. Anglo-Saxon Fiddler ... .

8. Three-stringed Crwth

9. Mediaeval Orchestra, Eleventh Century

10. Performer on the Marine Trumpet; Type of Dress11. Reinmer the Minnesanger12. Rebek, from an Italian painting of the Thirteenth

Century

13. Vielle of the Thirteenth Century

14. Player of the Fourteenth Century

15. Organistrum ....

16. Viola di Bordone ...

17. Gaspar Duiffoprugcar

18. Viola da Gamba of Duiffoprugcar (made 1547 A.D.)19. Amati Crest .......

xxi

FAGS

13

22

31

33

33

35

3640-41

46

49

58

5960

61

65

72

76

87

Story of the ViolinPIG. PAGE

20. Facsimile Label of Jerome Amati ... 9121. Guarneri Crest - 9922. Facsimile Label of Pietro Guarneri - - - 101

23. Stainer's House at Absam - - 10524. Stradivari Crest - - in25. Stradivari's House and Shop - 11926. Facsimile Label of Antonius Stradivarius 12126 Meister Heinrich Wrowenlob (Frauenlob), Famous

Minnesanger, Thirteenth Century - - - 160

27. Portrait of Corelli - 166

28. Title-page of Corelli's Op. 1, published in Rome, 1685

(from a photograph) 16829. Violin part of Corelli's Seventh Sonata (from a photo-

graph) ... -17030. Portrait of Tartini - 175

3 Facsimile of a Letter by Tartini - - - 176

31. Facsimile of a Manuscript by Tartini - - - 180

32. Portrait of Viotti . - - - - 189

33. Facsimile of a Manuscript by Viotti - 191

34. Portrait of Paganini, after I sola 206

35. Paganini's House at Genoa - - - 210

36. Facsimile of a Manuscript by Paganini - 213

37. Paganini's Violin - - - 214

38. Portrait of Spohr ... 2253 Joachim Quartet - 230

39. Facsimile of a Manuscript by Ernst - - 232

40. One of the " Vingt-quatre du Roi

"

- 236

41. Therese and Marie Milanollo . 24442. Pierre Marie Francois Baillot de Sales - - - 244

xxii

Prologue

The Violinwhat a wonderful thing a violin is

!

Muse over itits tone, its form, its history, and itsposition in the world of art to-dayand you standfacing a miracle. Something miraculous, mysteriouscall it what you will, divine purpose, divine power

seems to lie behind this frail little handiwork of man.Once, in its crude primeval form, in the dim ages

of antiquity, it was perhaps the most despised andneglected of instruments ; then, after cen-turies of slow development, which seemedlike the groping through darkness towards light, itburst upon the world two or three hundred years agoin a perfection which human wit has never since beenable to improve upon.

It was the robin's song in March, ushering in thenew spring; the lovely first-fruit of a new age, a newdispensation, a new spirit on the earth T . .

..... F . . . Its Adventnot only the spirit of modern musical art,but the' spirit of a more . enlightened, spiritualised

humanity, of greater charity and general brotherhood.With gospel-truth rapidity the little miracle of form

and sound has penetrated since to all quarters of thexxiii

Story of the Violin

globe, carrying its sweet influence

joy, comfort, newhope, new faith, and new strength, and all the lovely.

__, , flowers of the soulalike to rich and poor,into the palace and the hut. What would

this world of ours be to-day without its violin ?Both king and lowly servant of the art, what is it not,dear, blessed little instrument! The master-minds ofcomposition drew inspiration from it, sovereign soulof our orchestra ; it holds us spellbound, thrills andmoves us in the artist's hands; it forms part of thescanty luggage of the emigrant to keep him companyon his lonely farm out west when winter evenings arelong and thoughts will wander back to the old hom&-stead far across the sea. How eminently fitted, too,it is for its high mission among men

!

Who will describe it, tone of a Stradivari violin,when the true artist draws it from its hiding-place?

_ That indescribably sweet voicevoice of anangel and yet ringing with the dear familiar

sound of earth, with earthly passions, joys and woesand ecstasies ; intensely human and yet so superhumanthat the soul is seized with hopeless longing to followit, to float with it through realms unknown and infinite)charged, we know not how, with music or with love. 1Yes, indescribably sweet voice, where thou endest themusic of the spheres begins. (Or, is it that perhapswhich rises from the petals of flowers in wondrous ex-halations, half-perfume and half-melody, and, tremblingin the sunlight, draws the bee to the honey?)Was ever form more perfect symbol of the tone, the

Prologue

body of the soul within ? Look at this fine creation ofa famous master here before me on the table: whata delicious play of curves and colours;

the noble sphinx-like head from which it rolls ts orm

down or unfolds itself (just as you look at it), in grace-ful and continuous arabesques;the tender swell andmodelling of the chest and back;that amber colourdeepening to a rich, an almost reddish brown towardsthe centre where the sound-life pulsates strongest,quickest! A corner of a Titian canvas, is it? Yes,or Rembrandt's. And behold the fine fibre of thewood shining through the varnish like the delicateroses through my lady's finger-nails ! What can befiner? No wonder people love a violin like that, andyearn and starve themselves for it, and many a fairmaiden, pretending only to inspect the wood, has erelong (no one seeing) pressed a furtive kiss on such alovely form as this.The enthusiast has had his say. But is that all?

Look at this frail thing made of woodonly wood; ithas withstood the stress of two whole cen-turies. I say the stress, for it has not been bititvstored away in a glass case like a relic or apicture only to be looked at. No, it has been used

used almost daily ! and how used ! With every touchof the friendly bow every fibre of its delicate body hasquivered and trembled like the heart of a maiden underthe first kiss of her lover. In agony have been born

those thousand million tones which in two hundred

years have issued from this body to delight man. Andxxv

Story of the Violin

this is not all: imagine this frail and shaken bodywhich weighs no more than about 8 oz. avoirdupois,supportingby a marvellous adjustment of its parts(by which resistance and elasticity of structure are heldin perfect equilibrium)supporting, I say, a. tension,longitudinally, of about 88 lb. , and a pressure, vertically,of 26 lb., or altogether a weight of over 100 lb. on itschest. A herculean task ! Where, under such hardusage, would be the strongest engine ever devised byman ? Worn out, disabled in a few years, the mightysteel bars would be tottering in their sockets.

Consider now what seems almost the crowningglory of' this little miracle. The stamp of greatness

is simplicity: we have it here. Some one* has said you can construct a violin with a

penknife as your only tool. That may bepossible, be it little satisfactory. At all

events it demonstrates the great simplicity of construc-tion of an organism, the perfection of which has everfilled the thoughtful mind with awe and admiration.Wood and again wood, and fish-glue to hold the boardsand blocks together, and the strings, besides this thevarnish, that is all.What can be simpler? Yet simplicity of fabric

is here the outcome of the grandest complex labourof invention. Alter one item and you. mar, if not de-stroy the whole. Change the position of the ff holesor the form of bridge, leave out the sound-post, and youtake away the tone. As in the human body every parthas respect to the whole and the whole to the parts, so

Prologue

in this wondrous, sounding; organism. We get in thetone the sum of all the conditions and activities whichhave their origin and raison d'&tre in this simplicity

besides fulfilling the demand for that enormous strengthand durability.

It is this simplicity of construction, together with theconvenient shapeviz., portability, which has helpedto secure for the violin its phenomenalpopularity. It made cheapness possible,has made it the instrument for the poor aswell as the rich, as once the ideal pattern given, in-ferior wood and workmanship could not annihilatethe elementary virtues of the organism.

Yes, what a wonderful thing is a violin ! While inevery branch of human knowledge and activity everyyear marks new discoveries, and the apparent miracleto-day becomes the common thing to-morrow, theviolin stands where it stood three hundred years ago,and every attempt at altering its form or any smallestpart of it has been a dismal failure. Is it not as if foronce human wit had reached its goal, as if the idealhid in the heart of God had for once been grasped byman?

xxvu

Story of the Violin.

PART I.

CHAPTER I.

ORIGIN OF THE VIOLIN.

The origin of the violin, it seems, is still a puzzle toour musical historians and archaeologists. True, theyknow that the first real violin made its > appearanceon the musical horizon about the middle of thesixteenth century. They know, too, it did not springinto existenceto use a familiar phraselike Minerva,armour-clad and beautiful, out of the head of Jupiter.Its gradual development from inferior forms of bow-instruments is proved beyond doubt, andhas been traced, more or less clearly, for ^***awal

centuries back, with the help of representa- p"

tions of such instruments on monuments,bas-reliefs, wood carvings, miniatures, etc., andoccasional allusions to them in contemporaryliteratureall collected by the untiring zeal ofthe antiquarian on the highways and byways of

i B

Story of the Violin

mediaeval Europe. But herethat is, about the ninthcentury of our eraall evidence, documentary andotherwise, for the existence of bow-instruments ceases,

and we are left to drift on a sea of con-Are they a

jecture as to their earlier whereabouts.European Are they a European growth at all, orro_

orare Aey an Eastern importation? Is the

an Eastern r . , .., ,

j time of their wanderings on earth to be

tion' measured by centuries only, or by thousandsof years ? Such are the questions which

musical historians are still endeavouring to answersatisfactorily.

The two great nations of antiquity to whom we areindebted, directly and indirectly, for so many of our most

treasured possessions in philosophy, poetry,ree an

^^ ar^ anj tQ wjlom we would naturallyturn first for information on the subjectthe

Greeks and Romans

give us no clue. We gain aninsight into a highly ingenious system of music; we

find descriptions of their popular instruments,An Insight representations on bas-reliefs and terra-cottainto a

vases of harps, lyres, citharas, flutes, etc.

,

^ J but no sign of an instrument which~ . even the most determined and imaginativeSystem

.

&

of Music enthusiast could conscientiously construeinto one likely to have been played with

a bow, much less a sign of such a contrivance asthe bow itself. Equally unfruitful hitherto , havebeen researches in Egyptian and Chaldean records ofantiquities. While carrying us back thousands of

Origin of the Violin

years, to the very morning, one might say, of creation,they reveal a state of civilisation in those mostancient nations simply astonishing, and thisfact alone would permit us to draw signifi- Egyptiancant conclusions as to the cultivation of

,.

a

,, ~,, . . ,,Chaldean

music among: them. there is also the ,, , ,

. . . . ,,

Recordsunmistakable proof for it in the shapeof representations of their musical instruments. Wefind them in considerable numbers and variety-played by men and women (whole musical parties andprocessions) ; single and in groups ; crude anddeveloped; and recognising among them plainly theancestors of many of our own modern instruments,we might not unreasonably look in their companyalso for some sort of prehistoric fiddlebut in vain.The nearest approach to the form of a violin is aninstrument, somewhat resembling a lute, provided witha finger-board and one or two strings. Burney 1 dis-covered such a one on an obelisk in Rome, andrepresentations of similar ones have since been foundin Egypt, dating back to 1500-2000 B.C.; also onAssyrian monuments, where they appearunder conditions which make it probable Vainthat they were a foreign importation

aearcn

perhaps from Egypt. But these instruments, _ ,.though suggestive of the bowed kind, will Fiddlehardly be taken seriously as belonging tothem. Doubtless their strings were twanged likethose of the harp, lyre, cithara, etc. If the old Egyptians

1 Burney, History ofMusic, vol. i. p. 204.

3

Story of the Violin

and Assyrians had intended to represent a bow instru-ment they would hardly have left out its most essentialcharacteristicthe bow.

Turning- last to the Old Testament, it would appearfrom certain passages in Daniel, where the designation

"viol" occurs in connection with other_ instruments, that the Hebrews at thoseTestament

. ... ... r, .timesviz., during and alter the Baby-

Ionian captivity were familiar with some kindof instrument resembling the viol of our fore-fathers (the immediate predecessor of the violin, aswe shall see). But although this is by no meansimpossible, there is nothing in the original text towarrant the belief that the inspired scribes meantreally an instrument played with a bow. It is moreprobable that the name of "viol" was applied by thetranslators to an instrument shaped somewhat like thosementioned above, the strings of which were twanged.

A curious instance in this connection is__.

f,.

Luther's version of the passage in_. , .. Genesis iv. 21: "Tubal: he was the fatherTranslation J

of all such as handle the harp and organ "

(probably pandean pipes) ; he translated the Hebrewtext into German as : " Jubal von dem sind hergekommendie Geiger and Pfeifer," meaning literally in English:"Jubal, from whom have come the fiddlersand pipers." Taken unconditionally and verbally,this passage should have long satisfied the Germanmusical historians as to the origin of the violin.Doubtless the great Reformerhimself an enthusiastic

Origin of the Violin

and accomplished musical amateurby adopting thenames of the two prototypes of the musical professionin the Middle Ages, fiddlers and pipers, wished simplyto convey the idea which is also expressed in theEnglish versionviz., that Jubal was the father ofmusicians generally, or of players on string andwind instruments as typifying the highest forms ofinstrumental music. Nevertheless, would it really beso impossible for this or some other prehistoric Jubalto have also been the inventor of bow-instrumentsthe"father of fiddlers"?

CHAPTER II.

TRADITION AND THE SCHOLAR (AN INTERLUDE).

A certain scholar, 1 when he had pleaded long enoughwith Dame Evidence to reveal to him the origin of bow-instruments without being able to make her agreeable tohis wishes, cast his eyes about for that other daughterof old King Time, that fairer one, with the eyes halfsphinx's and half child's, and the voice like distantwaters: Tradition.

There are few countries in the world now where shemay be found. Ages ago she left the once sacred valleyof the Nile, from which the shades even of the gods,her former friends, had flown, and where only thepyramids rise now into a blue and cloudless sky likedeath's eternal exclamation signs. She also left long,long ago the desolated plains and hills which buryBabylon and Nineveh and Ur ; and China she avoids forreasons of her own. But there is one land where sheabides yet; and there our scholar found her in her bowerof roses and immortelles.

India! Thousand-and-one-night-land of the world;

1 I believe F. J. F&is was the first who drew attention to India as theprobable cradle of bow instruments, although Sonnerat's Voyage auxJndes may have given him the initiative.

6

Tradition and the Scholar

land of fairies, land of wonders, lying in the deep, darkocean of time like a green sunlit island ; where the veryair is charged with perfume and with poetry, where thetrees sing, they say, and where

" Die Lotosblume angstigtSich vor der Sonne Pracht."

Heine.

Should India be the cradle of the violin? What didTradition tell our scholar?Of course she is getting so old that she sometimes

forgets or mixes up things. Who would not in repeatingthe same stories a million times, trying each time tomake them new and interesting? One must also notexpect her to be too particular about details ; some in-accuracies in matters of place and time, a mistake of athousand years or so, must be taken gracefully into thebargain. She likes it best if you forget over her lovelyeyes and still more lovely voice aught else.Our scholar, knowing that, tried not to think too

deeply while he sat listening at her feet.So she told him: "Seven thousand years or so ago

[he winced a little here, he couldn't help it] there livedin the island of Ceylon, the ancient Leuka, aking. His name was Ravana. He was a Tradition

great king, but he was also as great a singer repeats

and musician, for with the charm and power ,.J

of his music he was even able to move the furthergreat and fearful god Siva, who loves the Variationsdarkness as much as Brahma the light.This king and musician, Ravana, invented an instrument

7

Story of the Violin

played with a bow which after him was called theravanastron. " Here our scholar showed surprise andwanted to interrupt, but Tradition tapped him lightlywith her fan, and, smiling triumphantly though sweetly,she drew from the folds of her mantle a strange-lookingobject and said: "This, oh scholar, is the ravanastron,behold it well ; you may hear it played by many of my

humble servants in the land; seek out the

e beggars and pandarons j1 and now, good-bye,,

''"'"

'

begfone. " Our scholar would have liked totron b

ask another question or two about that kingRavana, but he knew it was of no avail. Tradition nevertells what you ask, but what she chooses. So he bowedsilently and went.

In the ethnographical department at the BritishMuseum, among the exhibits from the hill tribes ofEastern Assam, you may see an instrument which talliesexactly with the description of the ravanastron given byF^tis in his work Stradivarius? A small hollow cylin-der of sycamore wood, open on one side, on the othercovered with a piece of boa skin (the latter forming thesound-board), is traversed by a long rod of dealflaton top and rounded underneathwhich serves as neckand finger-board, and is slightly bent towards the endwhere the pegs are inserted. Two strings are fastenedat the lower end and stretched over a tiny bridge, whichrests on the sound-board, and is cut sloping on top. A

1 A kind of wandering hermit.2 Notice of Stradivarius, by F. J. Fetis ; translated by John Bishop.

London, 1864.

8

Tradition and the Scholar

bow made of bamboothe hair roughly attached onone end with a knot, on the other with rush string

completes the outfit.It is a ravanastron there can be no doubt, although

among the exhibits it figures simply under the name of" fiddle and bow."

CHAPTER III.

A FAMILY LIKENESS.

In India then is found to the present day a somethingin the shape of a bow instrument which might possibly

be the lowly grandsire of the king of instru-Possifaly ments. It would not be the first time thata Lowly

tj,e mos t humble attained eventually to the"a

n*

emost exalted position, though in this case it

of the King . v . .' & .,

, . requires some credulityor, let us say, some

ments ready fancy to discover even a faint relationbetween a modern violin and this extremely

primitive and miserable-looking affair, the ravanastron. yYet both share the one feature which distinguishes themfrom all other instruments of the ancients, as far as wecan judge of themviz., the bow. That wonderful

contrivance, that right hand of the fiddle,The Bow without which even a "Strad." is all but use-

less, for which we have vainly looked on ;Grecian, Egyptian, and Chaldean bas-reliefs, here, in ;/India, we find it. It is the unmistakable family likenesswhich links together the old and the new, the crude andthe perfect, the ravanastron and the sovereign Strad.

Let us now look a little more closely into the claim ofthis supposed ancestor of bow instruments.

10

Family Likeness

Same musical historians have rejected it on theground that the instrument In question was notproved to be of ancient originthat is, primitive in thetrue sensenor is the existence of primitiveinstruments of the bowed kind confined Someto-day to India. Many Asiatic and East

Qb'ecttofsEuropean tribes use similar musical con-trivances, and might perhaps with equal right claim forthem originality and antiquity.

Tradition in Eastern countries is - a factor to bereckoned with to an extent of which Western people havehardly any conception. In the West, change,constant, relentless, uncompromising change, Traditionis the watchword; change which destroys a

Story of the Violin

live orally among the people for untold generationswithout losing much of its original characteristicsinsuch a country an instrument like the ravanastron,which, tradition says, was invented very long ago,would, under certain conditions, stand the same chanceof retaining its original primitive identity to the presentday. At the same time, other instruments of the samekind may have been developed out of the original oneand taken their place beside it in the affections of thepeople, or have driven it gradually into an inferiorposition.

There are many instruments of the bowed kind inIndia to-day which show a great ad-

ervance on the ravanastron. Some of these,

T'

^ no doubt, are importations, 1 but othersInstruments ' r ...in India are not an" mav nave existed for ages

side by side with their more primitiveancestor or elder brother (see Fig. i).

Granted, then, that this ravanastron of the Indianbeggar and pandarons of to-day may be the ravanas-tron of long ago, the next question would be, how

1 The influence of Arabia and Mohammedanism generally, which is soevident everywhere in India, has been urged as a proof in support ofthe theory that India received all or most of her bow instruments fromWest Asiatic and North-East African nations on the occasions of theMussulman conquests in India in the seventh century of our era ; butthat such is not the case can be demonstrated by the structuralpeculiarities of some of the Hindoo instruments. Besides, traditionreceives here the corroborating testimony of certain Sanscrit allusions tothe fiddle-bow, dating from-a time long prior to the conquest of Indiaby Mohammedans.

Family Likeness

long ago, or who could have been this Ravana, King ofLeuka?

Tradition says, five thousand years before our erahe invented his instrument. This is a startlingly longtime. Even if we were disposed to discount a liberalportion as compound interest on a small initial mistakemade in the counting by the descendants of thisCeylonian king, it would launch us into the dimmestdim of prehistoric timesas regards India at least.Unlike her two great sister nations in antiquity, Egypt

FIG. I.INDIAN SAE1NDA.

and Chaldea (which had then already raised and buriedseveral civilisations), India has no documentary recordof herself as a nation prior to about 2000 B.C., whenthe hymns of the Rig Veda, the oldest ofthe four sacred books of the Brahmins, are . "c

supposed to have been composed. To specu-late, therefore, , on a king who lived, say, some threethousand years before Christ, not to mention sucha period as five thousand years, would seem uselesslabour.

It appears to me significant, however, that tradition

13

Story of the Violin

should have made,this Ravana a King of Ceylon. 1 Now,it is well known that the Hindoo nation came ages agofrom the country lying between Persia and the Indus,south of the province of Bactria, and occupied for anindefinitely long time the region south of the Himalayas,which to this day is called the Punjab. When grownin size too large to be accommodated there, they spreadfarther east and south to the Ganges and beyond,pressing on and conquering the aboriginal tribes whichopposed their onward march.From these facts it would appear that this King

Ravana was not of Hindoo origin at all, but be-longed to some aboriginal people, the history andeven memory of which is buried in antediluvianmystery. Perhaps he was of Sumerian or Accadiandescent, hailing from that supposed first cradle of thehuman race, the fertile valley of the Euphrates; orfrom the Asiatic high plains which lie north-east of it. 2

Or why not go still a step farther with the hand offancy, and see in him (Ravana) the very Jubal of theBible, the father of musicians, the inventor of stringand wind instruments, whom tradition in the courseof ages has transformedname and allfirst into amythical personage, a demi-god, and then into a king? 3

1 So many ancient myths and traditions point to an insular origin Oiheroes, gods, lawgivers, etc.

2 The Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea surely served at an early periodas a medium of immigration.

3 It is well known how many Eastern myths attribute the origin ofmusic and musical instruments to superhuman agencies. The stories of

14

Family Likeness

Naywho knows?

perhaps the mean-looking ravanas-tron is but the degenerate descendant from instrumentstoo far from us removed in time to even think out ; apiece of antediluvian wreckage which slipped out ofthe arms of oblivion ; a fragment of earliest civilisa-tions ; a lost ray from the dawn of the world when manyet walked with God.Enough, when the Hindoos occupied India and

brought with them the vina, their national favouriteinstrument (which tradition also says they receivedfrom Nared, the son of Saraswinta, Brahma's wife),it would not be unreasonable to suppose that theravanastron and its brothers of the bowed kind (ifthere were any then) had to take a second place as alegacy of a conquered and despised people. Eventu-ally it sunk still further in the esteem of a victoriousrace until it became relegated to the hut of the lowlyand poor in the land, who alone kept up its useand kingly memories. So much of speculation onthis supposed inventor of the ravanastron. Be itsstory and age now what it may, it is certainly a veryprimitive invention, and as a musical instrument wouldhardly deserve the attention it gets from the musical

the Chinese Emperor Fuhi, of the Egyptian god Thoth, and the Apolloof the Greeks, etc., what are they but variations of the same thought?music leaving its eternal abode in heaven, and descending to earththrough the instrumentality of gods and super-men. A strange co-incidence, by the way, this mythical high birth of our art, with thebiblical testimony to the high birth of manwhich our materialists aretrying their best to gainsay.

15

Story of the Violin

historian but for that one feature of it, the,bow. It isthe bow first and the bow last, as every violinist knows

;

and yet the bow eventhat magic wand in the handof a Paganini which opens wondrous worlds of sound

how easy an invention it really seems here, in its firstcrude form: the simple principle of producing soundsfrom strings by friction, that is all. What could bemore natural than that the same bow, which menlearned almost from the first to employ as a meansof subsistence and as a weapon, nay, from which he

probably derived the design for his firstHave no harpshould have by accident or reflectionother

revealed to him the possibility of sounding,

strings otherwise than by picking with the

Bowed In- fin&ers or a plectrum.1 But that brings us

struments? to the interesting question: Have really nonations of antiquity, other than the Hindoos,

known bowed instruments? This seems hardly pos-.sible.

1 A small piece of horn or bone with which to pick the strings.

16

CHAPTER IV.

THE OLD NATIONS.

Consider other nationsthe Egyptians, who built uptheir marvellous civilisation seemingly independent ofoutside influence ; or the Greeks, who to a large extentfocussed the achievements of older civilisations, andreflected them through the bright mirror of their ownnational individualitydoes it seem credible that theyshould not have found out even the principle of frictionof the string for themselves, or that it should not havebeen transmitted to them somehow or other, at sometime or other, from the country where it was known ?

India, after she had once, against her will, enteredthe ring of historical nations, was involved in many wars.Assyrians (already 1200 B.C.), Persians, Greeks con-quered her and enriched themselves with her treasures.She entertained commercial relations withother parts Phoenicia, Arabiaand was Reason forstill more sought by them as a kind fthe Absence

earthly paradise and wonderland. Should ,

,

a

not also the knowledge of the bow, or bowed p finstruments, have found its way across herborders ? Surely. Here, in our opinion, seems tolie the real reason for the absence of all historical

17

Story of the Violin

proof of their existence. Did such instruments, wheninvented by or imported to other nations, find a sym-pathetic echo in the musical soul of those nations : werethey popular and a success ?

If we look about among the nations of that ancientworld, what do we find ? Take the old Assyrians andChaldeans. From what our scientists tell us aboutthem, they must have been in general a practical,industrious, and ambitious people. And their music ?Doubtless music was held in great esteem, but itappears to have been largely in the hands of the upperclasses. It was the aristocrats of Babylon some 5000years ago who, with much ceremony and display, went,to the rhythm and tune of musical instruments, to thetemples of their national gods to worship. They played

themselves ; no hired bands then. We seessynan Qn Assyrian bas-reliefs men and women

jisrelict scarrying harps, lyres, psalteries; and from

the cut of their clothes and the embroidery, etc., dis-played on them, our learned Assyriologists have drawnthe above ingenious conclusions as to the social rankof these musicians. Imagine such an Assyrian gentle-man making a public spectacle of himself with asort of ravanastron and bow in his hands, trying toplay it while he walked in a solemn procession. Why,the idea would have been preposterous. As for thepopulace, if we may draw conclusions from theirnational characteristics, they would have preferredthe shrill tones of a clarionet or flute, a drum, atambourine, or some twanged instruments, to the

18

Old Nations

thin and unexciting-, plaintive sounds of' a bowedinstrument.

In Egypt, again, music lay mostly in the hands ofwomen of the upper classes, and this fact almost speaksfor itself. Considering what in our own days even oldSpohr thought of women playing the violin, there was noroom in Egyptian parlours for a ravanastron or omerti.A harp or a lyre was a different thing. Notonly was its use sanctioned by religious Instrumentstradition from time immemorial, but the sanctoned

way of handling it was natural, graceful,_,

f,

,

y

inviting to the Egyptian maiden. It could Traditionbe played in walking, standing, or lounging, in Egyptand pretty hands and rings and roundedarms could be displayed (and when did woman everdespise such means of attraction ?). Lastly and aboveall, the bright, tinkling tones of their twanged instru-ments suited admirably the ears and musical tastes ofthese bright, light-hearted Southerners, just as they doyet in most Oriental countries.

It is first and last the idiosyncrasies of a people,nurtured by custom and tradition, which will give thedirection to its musical activities. How much hadreligious sanction to do with the employment of musicalinstruments in those ancient days ? Music and religionwere inseparable. We find the proof of that in therecords of all ancient nations. Every instrument whichwas not conformable, assimilable to the cult, not sanc-tioned by tradition, had to be rejected, cast out sooneror later. What place could a primitive bowed instru-

*9

Story of the Violin

ment have found in the Egyptian or Assyrian temples,in the divine, symbolic services of the Hebrews or theGreek Hellenic and Corinthian plays ?

If, then, bowed instruments were altogether hetero-geneous to the idiosyncrasies of some nations, were not

R to be infused into their national, social, and

Instruments re^ous ^e > ^ut ^e^ m contemPt or aver-Hetero- sion, can we expect that their sculptors andgeneous to artists should have wished to perpetuatethe Idiosyn- their memory and use in works of art? Thecrasies of answer is obvious. Turning to India withsome

^is idea before us, it may become clear whyNations bowed instruments should have found herean abiding home at least, if not an exalted position likethe vina.

20

CHAPTER V.

A WANDERING.

In India it seems music was never confined to one classor caste in particular ; it permeated the whole social body,from the priests, who claimed to have received it fromthe gods, down to the miserable, half-naked outcast ofsociety. Add to this condition, which must have beenconducive to the spreading of the divine art in everyconceivable form, a highly sensitive and naturallypoetical disposition of the people, an inclination also toimmaterialise, or spiritualise life, and a profound rever-ence for the old, the traditional, and the necessaryelements for the existence of the ravanastron and its likein earliest times was given. It was, as it is yet, theinstrument of the dreamer, the mystic, the poet, thewandering hermit, and the Buddhist monk; the dejectedbeggar, who to its soft, unpretentious tones, could pourout his supplications and prayers.Speaking from personal knowledge, I may add that

the tone of this ravanastron is by_no meansso bad as the miserable outward appearance -1 on

Story of the Violin

rather than emotion; or be it purified emotion, such asthe pious Hindoo might feel when he sees the sun riseover the sacred waters of the Ganges ? It is not a tonewhich, with voluptuous ring, will hold back the thoughtin its flight to Nirvana, 1 back to this lovely, wicked earth,but rather one which gives it wings to get away. Youcannot play Paganini's "Witches' Dance" on it, or even

"Home, Sweet Home"; but you cansing within your soul to its accompani-ment, and your lips can mutter prayerswhile you draw the artless bow overits two or three low-tuned strings.Therefore also your Hindoo beggar(and philosopher) loves it, and he willlove it in spite of your Cre-monas, which since havefound their way out to himand challenged comparison with it. Hewill love his ravanastron, his sarinda,his omerti (see Fig. 2), when our ownadmired violin may be forgotten. 2Although to India may justly be-

long the distinction of having givenbirth to bowed instruments, and to have sheltered andcherished them in their prehistoric childhood when othergreater nations^ closed their doors against them, or de-

1 See Sir William Jones, On the Music ofthe Hindoos.2 For particulars on Indian and other Oriental bowed instruments,

their construction, etc., see Carl Engel's Researches into the EarlyHistory ofthe Violin Family.

22

Hindoos'Love for it

FIG. 2.OMERTI.

A Wanderingspised and suppressed them, we are hardly so much in-debted to her for their manifold improvements and theirultimate appearance in Western Europe asto two other ancient nations: the Persians Indebted

and the Arabs. The Persians, it seems, were _,\ Persians

a brother race of the old Aryans or Hindoos, . Arabsboth living- amicably together west of theIndus, until for some reason or other (probably over-population) they separatedone nation, the Hindoos,going east and south ; the other, the Persiansandprobably most of the present European nations

goingwest or staying (Persians) where they were. ThePersians, then, related to the Hindoos by blood andlanguage, features and white skin, although theysubsequently conquered and oppressed their old allies,must have loved music with a similar great fondness.While India was like a shy, beautiful maiden, who

liked to hide her beauty and her blushes beforestrangers and stay at homeand her music with her,Persia was a strong young eagle, a warrior __

t, * u a a ? 4- c U4- vu Music withwho went abroad and got into fights with ,, ,other nations, and was as often beaten ashe emerged conqueror. But he carried music alongwith the sword, and music benefited in the changeand turmoil of the camp. It is to Persia,therefore, that most of jthe improvements improve-

and the spreading of music in ancient ,.Spreadingtimes are due, and some little share of

2VTsicthis Persian care for music and musicalinstruments fell doubtless also to bowed instruments,

33

Story of the Violin

Now, when our ugly old friends the ravanastrons andsarindas, etc., and their crude companion, the bow,began their wanderings, and how theyafter manyvicissitudes and much alteredfound their weary wayalong the winding path of time, through Persia toArabia, until the musical historian sights them throughhis telescope and pilots them safely farther, we cannottell; but there is little doubt that a certain bowedinstrument, the rebab, ultimately migrated from Persiaand Arabia into South-western Europe on its way tokingship and to glory.

To sum up once more : in whatever light we try toview the subject of the origin and early history of the

violin family, we cannot see clearly. It istradition jj^ stancjing on a high mount trying to, - distinguish objects in the valleys and plains

Threads below over which evening has already rolledthe thick white feather-beds for the night.

Here and there a glimpse through the foga lightedwindow far, far away, where Tradition sits spinningher eternal threads, and that is all.

24

CHAPTER VI.

MUSIC IN GENERAL IN THE FIRST CENTURIES A.D.

Music had shared in the general quickening' of lifewhich followed the establishment of Christ's kingdomon earth. It was, shall we say. the first fairflower of the spirit pushing its way through "

,

yet wintry darkness to proclaim to the world _.,

the new spring ; the primula verts bloomingt^e Spirit

by the open grave of a doomed and dyingpagan civilisation. Kiesewetter, in his History ofEuropean Music, tells how this new Christian music (ifso it may be called even in its primitive beginnings)was born unnoticed in huts and out-of-the- _

.

, . , , , Primitiveway places, in caves and catacombs where _, ,

i r-i. I u, a tu Beginningsearly Christians were assembled. They werebut poor and simple folk for the most part, who knewnothing of a Greek music system, enharmonic andchromatic. Their hearts were full of hope and joy,and when a heart is so full that it cannot contain itsfulness any longer, it flows over in tears or in melodies,

this is the beginning of all true music.The early Christians sang. May be it was at first

only a simple la la of the soul, joined to a psalm, aprayer, or an Alleluia, Amen; extemporaneous, with*

*5

Story of the Violin

out time, and without form and rule; a rising andfalling of the voices (unison) to the rhythm of the

syllables, as the bird swings on his branchThe Early tQ the rhythm of the breeze. But gradually_

" certain accents, certain turns and cadenceswere retained, and through frequent re-

petitions these primitive melodies became . fixed inthe Christian communities, and were handed down tosucceeding generations.

In the third and fourth centuries, when the spread-ing of the Christian faith had made mere oral trans-

mission of the melodies more and more im-t, possible, and yet the necessity of uniformityj-, . in the singing only more urgent in propor-

tion, some learned and able bishops likeAmbrosius (333-397) began to collect and sift thescattered material and, with some knowledge of theancient Greek systems, commit it to writing. Stilllater, Gregory the Great gave it its final shape in themodes and chants which ever since have been identifiedwith his name and church music generally, and whichlie at the root of our glorious modern musical art.

The same great Pope also established inTTfip Thirst

_

e,

* Rome the first singing school, 1 whereinging

talented boys were instructed by an acknow-ledged master. From it eventually sprang

similar institutions in other Christian lands, ableteachers having been sent there from Rome to pro-

1 Some writers put the foundation of the first singing school in Romeat an earlier date.

26

Music in the First Centuries a.d.

pagate under Rome's auspices the only true and perfectart of Christian singing. At the same time, in theseclusion of the newly-founded cloisters, men beganto wrestle with the theoretical problems of the newartviz., to lay the foundations of polyphpnic writing,that pearl of great price for which they had vainlysearched in the musical legacy of the Greeks.

But while thus it fared comparatively well with sing-ing and musical theoryboth lying at the warm bosomof a Church which, in times, convulsed with changes,stood firm and grew ever more powerful

instrumental music poor Cinderella ! r . .r

was not so fortunate. The very fact thatalmost nothing is known about her in the early centuriesof the Christian era, and very little in succeeding ones,is proof of her miserable condition compared to thatof her two sisters of the art. Did instruments exist ?Of course, Greek and Roman instruments endured wellinto the later Middle Ages. The new Christian art,however, being essentially vocal in its nature and im-portwhile we may presume that this or that Biblicalinstrument like the harp, the psalter, etc., continuedan honourable existence, if not in connection withreligious ceremonies, at least in the better Christianhomes 1the majority of instruments, those former com-panions at pagan feasts and revelries, were very likelyshunned at first by the Christians, and then gradually

1 We must also mention the organ, which from the ninth centurywas employed in the churches to accompany the singing, and themonochord, which served for teaching purposes,

27

Story of the Violin

by the irresistible centrifugal force of prejudicialChurch influence driven, together with the instrument-alists, to the periphery of social life. Here lived, andindeed was very much alive, the large community of

gladiators, histrions, jongleurs, buffoons,Gladiators,

sh wmen, rope-walkers, dancers, and all.

' such as catered to man's worldly lusts and

Toneleurs appetites, and fed on the rough lawlessnessof the times. They were a remnant of

ancient Roman corporations, swelled by new promis-cuous elements: a motley, homeless, wretched crowdof semi-vagabonds, who had preserved their identitythrough centuries of barbarian invasions and devasta-tions, and carried it from their former haunts of thedevil, Rome, into the Roman provinces and amongbarbarian tribes. First in Gaul and Spain, theygradually spread north and east and west, beyondthe Danube and the Rhine, and many a little bandmay have, on Norman vessels, reached the BritishIsles long before King Alfred went as minstrel x- tothe Danes. Cursed by the Church, despised andloathed and feared, and yet the not unwelcome guestsat many a pagan and Christian court or camp,with the great and small, with good and bad, theyroamed about the land in large and in small bands, withwomen, children, dogs, and carts, in search of a hard-earned livelihood. There was nothing in the way ofcheap amusement that these Barnums of the road

1 The designation minstrel in this connection is to be understood assinger or bard, a class quite distinct from the one here referred to.

28

Music in the First Centuries a.d.

had not among their stock-in-trade, from a punch-and-judy show, a monkey, trained dogs, bears, and pigs,to a pretty woman from the East who knew how topaint her face and roll her eyes and throw her limbsabout to the wild rhythm of a Roman bacchanal. Toattract attention, to amuse at any price was the firstconsideration ; music, such as it was, was only anaccessory. In this worst of company we shall next meetthe ancestor of our violin.

29

CHAPTER VII.

FIRST BOWED INSTRUMENTS IN EUROPE.

We left the'rebab and its bow (presumably) in keeping"of the Persian and the Arab.

It is a matter of general history how, in the year 622a.d., the Arab turned Mohammedan and conqueror ofthe faith ; how he carried his victorious arms from Syriato India; and how presently (711 a.d.) a mighty cloudof dark-skinned fanatics rolled over Egypt into Spain,threatening to bury Western Europe and a youngChristianity. The danger was averted by the timelyvictory of Carl Martell, 1 and only in Spain the Moorsretained a hold for several centuries more. But it isinteresting in connection with our subject that verysoon after this historical event, the Mussulman conquestof Spain (or rather, after Ahderrahmany driven fromPersia, founded, in 756, the Caliphate of Cordova in

Spain), bow instruments appear for the firstKebab time in Spain and Southern Europe, andn e

.

rmusical historians have from this fact drawnthe not illogical conclusion that that modest

escutcheon of peace, the fiddle-bow, came to us fromits Eastern home on the wings of war

1 Baltic of Tours and Poitiers, 732 A.Di

First Bowed Instruments in EuropeJWhat was the first Europeah rebab like? We do not

know exactly; but the Arabs to this day use an instru-ment played with a bow which they call rebab 1 (see

two andthree stringsfourths,and

EuropeanRebafas

Figs. 3, 4). It is pear-shaped, hassometimes

- 'tuned inand is oftencarved andwith two half-

moon shaped sound-holes in the belly. Asimilar instrument prob-ably served as the pat-tern for the instrumentor instruments whichall through the MiddleAges figured in Europeunder the names of

rubebe, rabel, rebec,and gigue in French;robel, robis, and arrabisin Portuguese; rubeba,rebeba, rebecca in

elaboratelyornamented

FtG. 3. Flu. 4.

REBAB AND KEMANGEH (ALSO SOMETIMESCALLED A REBAB).

From the descriptive catalogue, SouthKensington Museum.

1 A name probably derived from the Persian revahvathat is, emit-ting melancholy sounds; see Carl Engel's Researches into the EarlyHistory of the Violin Family. This author is of the opinion thatthe Arabs received the instrument from the Persians at the time 01the conquest of Persia, because music there was then in -a. higherstate of cultivation than with the Arabs ; but this fact alone wouldhardly warrant the assumption that the rebab became only then knownto the Arabs.

31

Story of the Violin

Italian; rebec, rebelani, and Geige ohne Biinde 1 (with-out frets) in German; and rubible, rebec, and alsocrowd in English. The latter designation suggestsrather forcibly the Welsh crwth, an instrument ofwhich I shall speak presently.The oldest representation of such a transplanted re-

bab was extracted by the Abbot Martin Gerbert 2 from amanuscript dating fromthe beginning of theninth

,cen-

tury. Com-paring it

I (Fig. 6) withthe Arabianprototype (Fig. 3) thefamily likeness (apartf r 0*1 thebow) is un-mistakable,although itis called by Gerbert" lira." At the sametime, its form resembles

somewhat the ancient chelis (a small variety of thelute), a fact which is not surprising when it is re-

1 Geige and gigue mean evidently the same instrument, both wordsbeing probably derived from the French gigot= leg of mutton (onaccount of the similarity of the form). See Ruehlmann: Ceschichte derBogen-instrumcnte ; Brunswick, 1882.

2 De Cantu et Musica Sacra ; pub. 1774.

32

The oldestEuropean

Repre-sentative

TheFamily

LikenessFIG. 5.REBAB KSH-SHA'eR (pOET-FIDDLE).Used in the coffee-houses of Cairo to accom-

pany recitations ; after each . verse the poet-musician plays a little interlude, (See Engel'sdescriptive catalogue.)

First Bowed Instruments in Europemembered that some little time must have elapsedbetween the presumed first introduction of the rebaband the above-mentioned representation given by-Martin Gerbert in his De Cantu et Musica. New

(other pre-and the de-a handier,needs haveoriginalshape indepicted inthe firstof the ru-

Sjurroundings, circumstancesexisting forms of instruments),sire for greater practicability, formore graceful form, mustwrought changes from thethat eventually led to the finalwhich we mostly find the rebecsucceeding centuries. 1 Fromthat we have any recordbebe or rebec and allthrough the Middle Agesthe bow appears as partand parcel of the instru-

1 As to the one string onGerbert's rubebe compared tothe two on the ordinary Arabianrebab, it is explainable one wayor another. Branzoli in hisManuale Storico del Violimstaspeaks of a species of Orientalrebab which has only one string;moreover, there is another bowedinstrument known in Egypt as Rebab esh-Sha'er (Fig. 5) which hasonly one string, and is used like a 'cello, with an iron foot stuck in theground. It is possible that the European cousin-ancestor began withone string, and more were added as circumstances called for them.On representations of rebecs in later centuries we invariably find two,and often three strings.

33

FIG. 6.EARLIEST REPRESENTATION OFA EUROPEAN FIDDLE,

Story of the Violin

ment. It is never absent ; and this is of somesignificance, as we shall have occasion to observe.Although this Eastern importation is the one oldest

European representative of the violin family of whichwe possess documentary proof, it is by no

J~& means certain that it really and absolutely_, .

,was the oldest. Not a few historians, indeed,are inclined to bestow this honour (of

ancieniti) on an instrument nearer homeviz., theWelsh crwth. Some readers will no doubt know fromillustrations or descriptions this quaint instrument, nowfallen into disuse and found only here and there incollections of curios, but still in use among Welsh bardsas late as 1776, whenaccording to unimpeachable testi-mony 1a certain bard, John Morgan, on the Isle ofAnglesey, was able to evoke from it its now forgottenmysteries of sound. Its claim for being the oldest bow-

instrument in Europe rests chiefly on theIts Claims interpretation of two lines of an elegiac

Latin poem of one Venantius Fortunatus,Bishop of Poitiers, who lived between 560 and 609 a.d.,thus more than a century prior to the alleged introductionof the Arabian rebab. The verse reads:

" Romanusque lyra plaudat, tibi Barbaras harpa,Grascns achilliaca, chrotta Brittanna canat." 2

1 Archaologia ; or, Miscellaneous Tracts relating to Antiquity,,vol. iii., with a description by Daines Barrington.

2 Translated : Let the Romans applaud thee with the lyre, theBarbarian with the harp, the Greek with the cithara; let the Britishcrwth sing.

34

First Bowed Instruments in EuropeThe crotta here referred to is supposed to be the ances-tral Welsh crwth, and the word " canat" to imply thatit was an instrument capable of producing a ' ' singingtone," or, in other words,an instrument played witha bow. In oppositionstand the opinions of CarlEngel, the late eminentmusical antiquarian andscholar, and others, whosee in the original Welshcrwth not a bowed instru-ment at all, but simplyone closely resembling thesmall Greek lyre, thestrings of which weretwanged, and to which incourse of time,, whenforeigners had acquaintedthe Welsh players withthe fiddle-bow, the latterwas applied. In conse-

quence, the instrumentassumed some features dagreeable to the use ofthe new contrivance whilestill on the whole the earlier form was retained.Thus, on the crwth of the .eighteenth centuryofwhich alone we possess illustrations representing theinstrument in its last improved stageare yet found

35

FIG. 7.ANGLO-SAXON PIDDLES.

Story of the Violin

four strings played with the bow, while two others,lying lower beside the bridge, were twanged withthe thumb of the left hand. For details of CarlEngel's argument in support of his opinion, we referthe reader to that author's admirable treatise onthe crwth. 1 The perusal hardly leaves room for any

other than the author's convic-tion, and seems almost the lastword that can possibly be saidon the subjectbe this in relationto the structural peculiarities ofthe instrument, which point un-mistakably to the lyre; or theorigin of the word crwth; 2 or theestablished fact that the Anglo-Saxons (Fig. 7) were acquaintedwith and left records of the fiddle(rebec or crowd) long beforethe Welsh bards. Nevertheless,there is this verse by Fortunate.Its significance cannot be denied.'And there is also that well-knownillustration of a three - stringedinstrumentevidently a crwth

taken from a manuscript which formerly belonged tothe Abbey St. Martial de Limoge (now in the ParisNational Library), and dating from the eleventh century

1 Carl Engel : Researches into the Early History ofthe Violin Family,chap. ii.

2 Interesting is Fftis's opinion ; see this author's Stradivari.

36

FIG. 8.THREE-STRINGEDCR&TH.

First Bowed Instruments in Europe

(see Fig. 8). There is further a quaint allusion to thecrwth (dating from the beginning of the tenth century)quoted by Vidal, 1 which points directly to an instru-ment original with the bards and different from harpand pibroch, though not necessarily one of the bowedkind. In short, since the key to unlock the darkchambers of the prehistoric past of these British Islesand Northern Europe is once for all lost, and we canonly form more or less conjectural ideas by peepsthrough the keyhole, as it were, these upholders ofthe crwth theory have no particular reason to give uptheir opinion.

1 Vidal: Les Instruments i Archtt (vol. i.; Paris, 1876-77); under" Deuxieme p^riode du vi.-xvie. siecle."

37

CHAPTER VIII.

A MEETING.

Thus the rebab and its bow had been brought toEurope. As we said it fell on evil times as regardsinstrumental music generally, there was nothing leftfor it but t make its home with the homeless, amongthe outcasts of society, with the " fahrende Leute," asthey were called in Germany : the clown, the punch-and-judy man, the wandering minstrel and musician.How did it find its way to him ?

It would be surprising if a novelty, an object ofcuriosity, like this Eastern emigrantwhich perhaps abronze-faced Moor had first displayed before a chanceaudience at a street corner in Valladolid or Cordova

should not have attracted sooner or later the attentionof the wayfaring man who went everywhere. Withan eye for business he took possession of it at once.In its primitive, native form it cannot, have requiredany particular skill or practice. It was just the thinghe needed, a capital addition to his amusement reper-toire. How the Goth and Frank would open theireyes wide at its strange weird tones ! how very goodalso for training dogs and sustaining the rhythm for theheavy legs of dancing Master Bruin ! From hence-

38

A Meetingforth the future of the Eastern guest in Europe wasassuredbe it that it began at the very bottom of thesocial ladder.

For two whole centuriesthat is, from the beginningof the ninth to well into the middle of the eleventhcenturyit must have been identified withthe darkest period in the career of the

-o jwandering minstrel ; if indeed we may , _already call the poor wretch so who, for q . .mere dear life's sake, had to be half-a-dozen things in one : fiddler as well as clown, dancer,singer, actor, and Heaven knows what else.

After the middle and towards the end of the eleventhcentury, when Western Europe was nearing the greatromantic movement associated with the troubadours.and minnesanger, we meet first on monuments and inthe annals of the times another kind of bowinstrument. It is not, like the rebab, pear- "; Newshaped with bulging back; it resembles i !the form of the guitar. It has a sonorous T

- - r i t . . .. , Instrumentchest, consisting of a back and a belly and

aooearssides or ribs connecting them, it has (moreor less accentuated) curvatures or embouchures at thesides such as were noticeable on the illustration of thecrwth of the eleventh century. In short, adding tothese features the bow, there is no mistaking thisnew instrument for anything else than a predecessorof the viol. With the rebab it shares sometimes theOriental shape of the sound-holes (a C or half-moon),which suggest a possible Eastern origin, or at least a

39

Story of the Violin

FIG. 0.MEDIEVAL ORCHESTRA, ELEVENTH CENTURY.

Bas-relief, Abbey of St. Georges de Boscherville, Normandy.

sojourn in Oriental countries. When and how it cameto Europe, whether before or after the introduction ofthe rebab, we do not know. Some features point to a

relation to the Indian saranguy, a supposedPossibly a COusin of the omerti and sarinda, and de-Descendant

scenciant of the ravanastron; and it is just e possible that two branches of the same

family of Indian bowed instruments existedand developed simultaneously and yet apart

from each other in the course of ages, until theymet in the camp of the wandering minstrel. It isalso possible that its history and relation lay inquite another directionviz., that it was originallysome Asiatic, Persian, Hebrew, Arabic (or Greek, ifyou will) twanged instrument which found its way intoWestern Europe during the great migration of thepeople, for all we know, in the track of the Huns

40

astron

The Fiddle-bow

FIG. 9.MEDIEVAL ORCHESTRA, ELEVENTH CENTURY.Bas-relief, Abbey of St. Georges de Boscherville, Normandy. (Descriptive

Catalogue, South Kensington Museum.)

who invaded Europe in a.d. 375, and for nearly acentury occupied quarters in Hungary under KingAttila, the Etzel of the Nibelungenlied. That we haveno illustrated record of it prior to the eleventh century(see Fig. 9) is no proof that it did not existin Europe long before that time. 1 Perhaps on _ .its way about as twanged nondescript it had R ,met the Greek lyre and taken some pointsfrom it for the improvement of its form ; or exchangedcourtesies with the monochord, with the result ofsecuring for itself a bridge and a real finger-boarduntil, one fine day, somewhere, n * "ce

somehow, it was introduced by the notorious" spielman " to the fiddle-bow, and its fate was sealed.

1 The Benedictine monk, Otfried (780-875), mentions the Fidula inhis Liber Evangcliorum as one of two bowed instruments then inexistence,

4 1

Story of the Violin

This new instrument, when we get sight of it on monu-ments, went in Germany under the name of Fiedel orVedel. 1

From a reference in the famous " Nibelungenlied

"

to Volker, the spielman who is called " spanhenvidelaer," 2 it would almost appear as if this fiedel orpredecessor of the viol was first known in parts ofMiddle and Eastern Europe before it became popular inthe South. For, although this great national Teutonicpoem was composed, or rather compiled, in the twelfthcentury, and is largely a product of fiction, its maincontents, wondrously woven of history and myth, hadprobably been simmering in the minds of the peopleand been narrated and sung by the bards and minstrelsfor centuries before. 3 Moreover, the striking resem-blance which the earliest representations of the fiedelshow with the gaudock of the Russian peasantry and asort of fiddle yet in use in parts of Norway and Iceland(where it is called "fidla") lend additional strength tothe conjecture that the fiedel made its way from the Eastand North to the South, while the rebab (or rather therebec, gigue, geige' spread from the South and South-west to the Northboth through the instrumentality of

1 See Appendix.2 The fine fiedel or fiddle-player " who wielded a fiddle-bowbroad

and long like a sword."3 It is known that Charlemagne collected much of the old folk-lore

which was scattered among conquered heathen nations. Unfortunately,his bigoted son ordered these treasures to be burned, and it is notimpossible that an early version of the ' ' Nibelungenlied," or saga,shared the same fate.

42

Fiedel or Vedel

those great cosmopolitan tramps, the Spielleute. Atall events, from the end of the eleventh century onboth kinds of bowed instruments, the fiedel or earlyviol varieties (with sides and embouchures), and therebec or gigue kind (without either), appear in com-pany of the wandering musician, who therefore nextclaims our attention.

43

CHAPTER IX.

THE MINSTREL AND MUSICIAN IN THE ROMANTIC AGE.

Times had improved. Aside from the general mis-sionary work of the Church, the successive reigns of

Charlemagne, the Carlovingians (843-911),

r f1

? a an^ Salic kings (919-1024) had left theirmarks . on the political face of continental Europe.

Safety Strong rule had brought greater safety tothe ruled; safety had brought stability, and

stability order ; and with order came those othergentler forces or influences : better manners, bettertastes, etc., working on and slowly transforming theminds of the people. Instrumental music, such asit was apart from the Church, surely profited too ina modest way. It is probable that the better classof wandering musicians had then already begun toseparate from the worst, lowest, and roughest elementsof the wayfaring people with which they had been hithertoindissolubly associated. While in a former age ofviolence, insecurity, and barbaric taste, they wouldhave jeopardised their existence if cast adrift from theirviler companions on the road, they could afford now,in some cases at least, to strike out for themselves.At any rate instrumentalists of all kinds, and fiddlers

44

Romantic Age

in particular, must have become quite numerous aboutthe eleventh century, for soon after we find in Germanythe designation of fidaeler (fiddler) and piper appliedto wandering instrumentalists, minstrels, and musiciantramps generally, and not infrequently also to the wholecommunity of the Spielleute collectively.

That great wave of religious and chivalrous en-thusiasm which at the end of the eleventh centuryswept over South-western Europe, and on its crest borethe Crusader to the Holy Sepulchrewhich irresistiblytouched high and low, the beggar and kingalso beatagainst the wandering minstrel's tent. A Christianworld had come of age, and troubadour and knightjoined hands to celebrate the day withpoetry and song and splendid tournaments, JNl f>lltmar

and our minstrel shook the nightmare of _ ... "receding

preceding centuries from him and tuned his Centuriesfiddle and drew near. Yes, poetry andmusic had become the fashion, we would say; thepastime, pleasure of the greatnay more, it was theprecious jewel in their diadem of knightlyvirtues, for even kings esteemed it honour Trouba-

to be reckoned kings of song; 1 and naturally Jf?UrS

'

the little people of the craft benefited fromr Sanger,this change of things. The golden age of and Poortroubadour and knight was also the poor Minstrelsminstrel's harvest time.

1 Richard Lion-heart, Charles of Anjou, Thibaut de Navarre; and inGermany, the Hobenstaufen Emperor Frederick II.

45

Story of the Violin

We see them presently tramping through the land,mostly in little bands, as fiddlers, pipers, trumpeters,and tambours, halting wherever their services were indemand, or seeking (the best of them) the protectionand employment of the great who needed them. We

see the fiddlerfiddle swung acrosshis back, in striking apparel (if hecould afford it, silk and velvet),with peacock or rooster feather inhis cap, short frock, and tightly-fitting breeches, as in Fig. 10.

There was not a tourna-ment or pageant any-where that our fiddling,piping friends did notattend in numbers vary-ing with the occasion

;

no wedding, big orsmall, but they werethere to promote fes-tivity and mirth. Notseldom they went awayrichly rewarded, nextto halt on a village

common, where young and old gathered around themfor a dance. Again they would pass acastle on the way, and, when a kind andopen-handed knight granted permission, per-form in the court with its mossy well and

shady bass-wood tree, while perhaps the sweet-faced

46

FIG. 10.PERFORMER ON THE MARINETRUMPET. TYPE OF DRESS.

Playingbefore theCastle

Romantic Age

children of the knight, half curious and half anxious, atsafe distance watched, open-mouthed, the queer anticsof the fiddle-bow, and my fair lady from the windows ofher bower smiled upon the picturesque scene, and thengave orders to feed the poor fellows well. Or theywould be admitted (if not too many) into the immediatepresence of the master to entertain him when he sat atmeals. Sometimes a noble knight kept in his pay a littleband to follow him on marches and to tournaments. 1By the world in general these wandering minstrels,

or, more properly, musicians, were still held in verylow esteem. Only one step separated themfrom the wayside tramp and miscreant. _ ?"jThe old law-books of Germany declared

Positionthem as " ehr und rechtlos " (without honourand right) ; their children were considered illegitimate

;

they were not allowed to take up a trade, and whenthey died the holy Sacraments were as often as notrefused them by the Church, and whatever propertythey left was confiscated by the magistrate. 2 Yetthe charm of an apparently free and independent life,in days when the spirit of adventure ran high amongall classes, attracted many elements which otherwisewould have kept aloof. Nor were they all poor and

1 From Ulrich von Lichtenstein's Frauendienst (Lachman Ed., 1665)we learn that this noble, in 1227, had in his suite : two trombone-players, two fiddlers and one flutist, on horseback, to charm away withtheir gay music the fatigues of the journey.

2 See the so-called Sachsenspiegel, the law-book for Northern Ger-many in the early Middle Ages (1215-35).

47

Story of the Violin

of low descent. That singular, grotesque mediaevalproduct, the wayfaring scholar, had long been partialto the company of the minstrel.Now it was a friar who got tired of the seclusion,

perhaps too the high living of his cloister, and joined the" forces " and the meagre fare, or went about by himselfmaking a livelihood as best he could with the scantmusical abilities he happened to possess ; or it was areal nobleman who, from love of art and adventure, orthrough straitened circumstances, shattered hopes,or disappointed love, chose the life of a wanderingminstrel. To the latter class belonged the troubadoursand minnesanger.A keen distinction was made between these and the

common wandering singer and musician. The trou-badour, who flourished principally in sunny

p.. ..een

.

Provence or in France and Flandersgenerally, was always of noble birth ; not

seldom he was a knight, who knew as well how tohandle the sword in tournament and battle as tomake verses in honour of the fair ladies in the land.He was the honoured guest at kings' and princes' courts.To him my lady threw the rose from her bosom. Heonly invented the chansonthe poetry and melodyhedid not sing himself; he left that to his minstrel orjongleur. When the latter also supplied the music to thepoetry of his noble lord, as it often happened, theminstrel was called trouveur bastard.Sometimes a troubadour had a number of musicians,

vocal and instrumental, in his service ; men whom he48

Romantic Agehad possibly picked out for their superior abilities andgentlemanly manner from among the common lot ofwandering musicians. The social position of thesejongleurs and trouveurs bastard was then, if not exactlya high one (on account of theirlow birth), at least far superiorto that of their brotherson the road, and aboveall, compara-tively secure

that is, with-out the carefor daily breadand shelterwhich were insepar-able from a life onthe road. 1 This un-

1 More democratic ideasprevailed in Germanyamong the minnesingerabout a century later,when the second Crusadeand the splendour of theHohenstaufen emperorshad drawn the high flood

FIG. IX.REINMER THE MINNESANCER.

After having accompanied the Duke Frederickto the second Crusade, he died at Vienna about1215 a.d.

.

of romance and chivalry from France into a new and wider bed. Someof the minnesingers, it is true, employed also musicians to help themin the interpretation of their poetic creations, but on the whole theydid not think it beneath them to sing and play themselves (see Fig. 1 1),and had no need of fiddlers and pipers. Moreover, high birth was notan absolute, essential qualification for the minnesanger ; we find amongthem some illustrious names of low descent.

49

Story of the Violin

deniable advantage accorded to the few compared tothe great majority, led probably to the founding of thefirst privileged limited company of musicians, La Con-frerie des Mdn&riers, 1 in Paris, a step that not onlycalled forth similar organisations 2 in other countries,but, one may say, foreshadowed a great change whichwas soon to come over the life of the mediaeval fiddlerand piper.

The swan-song of the Minnesanger had scarcely diedaway, slowly over castles, rivers, hills and dales, whenthere came a rude' awakening from the pleasant dreamof romance, love, and chivalry. We next find Germanyin the throes of a reign of terrora kingless time,theinterregnum, as it is called. And next, again herpeople draw behind the walls of strong cities, wherethey feel more secure against the unlawful inroads ofdegenerate knights and highwaymen who infest the

roads and river-sides. Then in consequencel"f of this centralisation of life in the cities,

eis.

these grow in size, power, wealth, and influ-

Born and ence - All manner of trade and handicraft is

Reared stimulated, even poetry and art begin tosprout among the solid burgers. The

Meister song is born and reared. Bakers, shoemakers,tailors, and carpenters form worshipful companies under

1 Founded 1330, patented 1331, under the patron saints St. Genestand St. Julien, and a king, Roi des Minetriers, See Vidal : LesInstruments H Archet, vol. i.

2 In Vienna the Oberspiel-grafen-amt ; also in England at Beverley,in Yorkshire. See Busby : History of Music.

5

Romantic Age

the strong arm of the magistrate and night-watchman.And our fiddling friends of the road ? They also havedrawn closer together for mutual protection, because thelaws of the land withheld it from them. They have like-wise formed associations with laws andregulations of their own. Musicians from T e

all over the land meet at certain intervals in . ' .er

certain places, and settle difficulties among . -r.themselves under a high court of their own.That is not enough. Some indeed continue a roam-ing, dissolute existence in the showman's camp (andhave continued to this day); but the better among themfind a precarious life on the insecure roads less and lessto their taste, and for the most plausible of reasons seekthe towns and settle down. Thus the wanderingminstrel and musician became a thing of the past. Theold times had gone never to return, and a century ortwo later the fiddling tramp d'autrefois sat a respectablecitizen with his friend Thomas, the comfortable townpiper, and his friend Schmidt, master saddler, or baker,or tailor, over the mug of ale, talking of the good oldtimes of his great grandfatheror the bad old times ?Ah, old times are always good !

Si

CHAPTER X.

RETROSPECT.

More than six hundred years of history, of humanprogress, of an astounding musical development inEuropean countries lie between us and the men to whosehands was once principally entrusted the existence ofinstrumental music. It was a babe then, which mighthave died from the inclemency of the times, or ofstarvation by the road-side; but it grew in spite ofall, and now fills the world with its glory. Poorminstrel, poor fiddler, piper and tambour who had the

care of it ! Somehow I have to think ofn

Tj t'ie Poor > despised earth-worm preparing in

espi eSp ring the hard frozen ground in our gardensand fields to receive the seed which is to trans-

form the barren land into beds of flowers and shrubs.What else was he but such a poor, despised drudge ?Some of the roseate light which romance has shed

around the noble troubadour and minnesanger has alsofallen on the memory of their humble brother as aray of the sun falls charitably on the tombstone underwhich some long-forgotten hero sleeps. Yet, what apoor compensationeven in memoriamfor the neglect,the contempt, the hardships, persecutions he had to

52

Retrospect

suffer; and what still poorer compensation for his in-estimable service to our glorious art. He

A Poordid it unconsciously, n