Waterbury evening Democrat., 1893-09-30

A Lute That Is One Hundred and Twelve
 Years OId-A Tyre That Has Existed
 Nearly as Long-HIstory of Various
 String Instruments.
 William V. Pezzoni has on exhibition in a window in Brooklyn lute that is 112 years old. It is said to be the only one of its kind in existence. From printed strip of paper in the interior of the instrument it is learned that it was made by Renault 6 Chatelain of Braque street, Paris, in 17s1.
 The lute is as old as the hills. It is mentioned several times in the Bible. Jubal, said by historians to have been the first musician. was the inventor of it, as he was of the organ and all string instruments He flourished about ], 500 years before the deluge and was the first to observe that strings of different sizes or lengths when stretched produced va rious sounds.
 In the earliest ages of Egypt instru- ments having the same general form as the harp, Tyre and guitar of modern times were common, as the discoveries of trav- elers in that country have proved. The ancients had many other stringed instru- ments, but these three classes were the principal ones.
 The Tyre is supposed to be more ancient than the harp. A very old painting at Beni- -Hassan in Egypt represents the ar rival of some foreigners in that country supposed to be Joseph's brethren. One of them holds a Tyre having four strings.
 The guitar is an improvement on the Tyre. Ibis seldom found sculptured in the monuments of Greece and Rome, as the people did not consider the in strument sufficiently dignifed to so symbolize it, which accounts for it's not appearing in the ruins of those proud cities. It was, however, one of the most ancient musical instruments of Egypt.
 Some historians are of the opinion that Hermes, one of the Egyptian councillors, invented the three striIIged Tyre. These strings gave forth three sounds-grave, mean and acute-representing respect ively winter, spring and summer. The Egyptians and the Greeks, as is well known, divided the year only into three seasons,
 The lute was adopted by the Arabs from Persia and reached the west about the time of the crusaders. In the psalms of David it is spoken of as the mahha- lath, and it is said to have been used by the children of Israel in their rejoicings after the overthrow of Pharaoh's host. The modern Egyptian lute is a direct descendant of the Arabic lute. It has seven pairs of strings and is played by a plectrum. When frets are employed, they are disposed of according to the Arabic scale of r intervals in the oc- tave, consisting of 12 hmmas-an in terval rather less than a semitone. There are also five commas, which are very small, but quite recognizable as regards difference of pitch.
 The large double necked lute has two sets of tuning pegs, the lower set for the finger board and the higher for the diapa- son strings. This style lute was known us the theorbo. Its height varied from feet G inches to feet. Very deep notes | were produced from it. Another luts somewhat differently formed was known as the archlute. Both have, however, long since given away to the violoncello and double bass. Handel wrote part for theorbo in 1720. After this date the lute appears no moro in orchestral scores. It remained, however, in private use until the close of the century.
 Venere of Padua, celebrated as a maker of lutes, fiourished in 1880. His instru ments were highly ornamental and were admired for their beauty, ivory, mother of pearl and tortoise shell being used i'll decorating them. The present direction of musical taste and composition is ad- verse to the cultivation of such tenderly sensitive timber as the lute possessed. The instrument has now become an ob- ject of research for collections and mu- serims It was a favorite instrument of music in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, but declined in the eighteenth century. The great J. s. Bach wrote s partita for it, which still remains in manuscript. The latest engraved publi cation for the lute is 17eo.
 Mir. Pezzoni was placed in the posses sion of the lute a short time ago by Signor Giuseppe Vitals, a prominent Brooklyn musician, who obtained it at pawnbroker's sale. It is Q very valuable instrument, although it was sadly in need of repair when it came into Mir. Peg zoni's hands. He has been offered sums for it varying from s to 500, but it is not for sale.
 The lute is q handsome one. The body is pear shaped. It is beautifully inlaid with ivory and pearl. The neck is 2s inches long. The fingcrboard, containing F frets, is l3l inches long, and the body, with d three inch sound hole, is t5i inches long, The base of the instrument is 44 inches deep, while at the neck it is inches It has 10 strings, 8 of which are designed for the bass. The head, or nut, is divided into two sections and con tains the pegs, or keys. One of these sections is F inches long and the other .11 inches. The latter Is used for the open bass strings, which are above and independent of the fngerboard. Four of the middle strings are double and are formed from very fine wire. The re- maining strings are of silk wound with copper wire.-New York World.