Evening star., 1896-12-18
PLAYING ON THE JEws-HARr.
Resources of the Ancicnt IEstruMen N
Origin OF the Name.

Resources of the Ancient IEstruMent
Origin OF the Name.
From the London Evening 81 aDtiari
Jewish historians diSclaim all knowledge
of the curious JeGs-harp, which every
school boy at least fondly believes to be
the fayorite, If not the sacred. instrument
of the Hebrews The origin OF the name
and the instrument has exercised the at
tention of antiouarians end inquiries for
nearly two centuries, and we are JUS:
wise as when the first ouerist wanted
| know you know" The present orthosra-
ply seems to be corruption of the French
| jeu-trrmp. a trump to play with. and in
the Belgick, or low Dutch, from whence
come many of our toys (sic}. a tromp IS a
rattle for children. Sometimes they will
call II a Jews-harp; and another etymon
given of 1t Is jaws-narp. because the place
where 1t is played upon is between the
jaws.
1t is very certain that. whatever the de-
rivation may be. it has little or no special
affinity to the Jewish race. though it is OF
extremely ancient date. Its Introduction
into England cannot be traced. but the
term is clearly corrupted form of Tic
Frerch jeu-trompe. literally to a 10y
Jews Is evidently of good age. Bacon
called 1t jeu-trrmpe." while ''jeu-trump'
is used by Beaumont and Fletcher. In all
probability the French origin of the term is
been the matter of fact name invented by
| the country folk among whom 1t c:rc culated.
| may he through the efforts of the chapman
and the packman.
Brewer is very brief on the subject; he
confines himself to the statement that 1.-THE
| best players on this instrument have been
Koch, Prussian soldier under Frederick
the Great; Kunert, AmStein and some 9TH
ers. He makes no mention of E.ulenStein,
who may be said to have been the master
| of all players. The celebrated Stephaine
Felicite, Countess de Geniis, in her Me
moirS, tells us great deal about Koch,
| the German player. which is wor h record
ing. This soldier. who is desc oribed
musician was in the service of Fre1er-
| lex the Great. and being fond of relieving
the tediGm of sentry go, he used to practice
on the Jews-harp with considerable skill.
One night Frederick, who was an amateur
musician, heard what he thought was
distinct orchestra under his window. when
he discovered that the sounds came from
one of his privates Surprised on learning
that such wonderful effects could he pro-
dLced by a single man with two Jews
harps, he ordered the player into his pres
ence. He was duly presented to the king
the following morning, and performed to
the delight and satisfaction of his majesty,
who rewarded Koch with so, and gave him
his DISC barge that he might devote his time
and attention to the advance of his talent,
Koch had not the slightest knowledge of
music, but owed his ability 10 natural taste
and il stinct. He made quite a fortune
and private, and retired TO Vienna, where
he lived until long past the age of eighty.
He died about 1890. He used two harps al
once, in 1.-THE same manner as the peasants
of the Tyrol," and produced without doubt
the harmony of two notes struck at the
same moment, which was considered by
the musically curious somewhat extra
OF dinary, when the limited powers of the
instrument were remembered. Herr Koch
had a fine idea of theatrical effect, for IL
was his custom to require that all the
lights should be eXtiGguished in order that
the illusion produced by his playing might
he increased.
Another German. a peasant and a herds
man named Eulenstein. about the beginning
of this century devoted his attention to the
cultivation of the JewS-harp SofteninS and
enriching the tone OF this "twanSing in
strument into almost perfect harmony. In
deed, Eulenstein acquired a musical repu-
tation from the way he manipulated this
meager and not over agreeable inStru-
ment. The Jews-harp, usually despised and
ignored. possesses three different tones: the
| bass tones of the first octave have some
| resemblance to these of the flute and clar
ionet; those of the middle and high TO the
voX humana of some organs; lastly, the
harmonical sounds are exactly like those
of the EarmoniCa. 1t is conceived that this
diversity of tones, quotes ,he Mirror QS2O,
affords already a great variety in the exc
cution, which is always looked upon as
| being feeble and trifiing on account of the
smallness of the instrument. 1t was not
from any attempt which could he made to
conquer the difficulties of SO limited an
instrument, because, in the extent of three
octaves, there were a number Of spaces
which could not be filed up by the talent
of the player. Besides, the most simple
modulation is impossible. Herr Eulenstein
remedied the Inconvenience by joining six
| teen Jews -harps, which he tuned in his own
special way, and SO performed his selec
ton by exchanging the harps with extreme
rapidity, always keeping one harp in ad-
varce, so as not to interrupt the measure.
He became proficient that he was able
to execute, with grace and ease running
over four cctaves, many quite difficult Ital-
ian. French and German pieces. He was
induced by the Duke of Gordon. in 1928.
who was delighted with his performances,
to tour in Scotland, where the Jews-harp is
still rather popular. Eulenstein also visited
the chief towns of England and drew
crowds to hear his novel entertainment IN
London. 1t Is presumed that he returned
to his own country about 1882 Since then
the Jews-harp seems to have fallen into
disrepute, and its position a serious
meals of musical enjoyment Is no longer
admitted