The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-05-13
oles. Wiener. speaking of this class OF


are. without contradiction. the flutes Of tn
tibia or other bones Of birds. many time
covered with designs (incised)." Two in
teresting specimens exist in the collection
albeit much damaged. OF pan-pipes made
Of hollow reeds. They were obtained BY
Ensign W. E. Stafford. U. S. Navy, from
ancient burial places near africa. Peru
The reeds are Of graduated lengths. dashed
together by threads. and held in place by
piece OF split reed fastened transversely
to their length. These pipes are now SO
crushed and mutilated that positive sound
cannot be obtained from them. That In
struments Of this kind are of ancient ORR
gin and were in use by the Peruvians be-
fore the Spanish conquest is shown by the
| account of the historian, GarcilassO de Ia
| Vega. who said:
I'm music they 1.-THE Peruvians) arrived
to certain harmony, in which the Indi-
| ans of Cola did more particularly excel,
| having been the inventors OF a certain pipe
made Of canes glued together, every one
OF which having a different note Of higher
and lower. in the manner OF organs, made a
| pleasing music by the dissonancy OF
| sounds. the treble. tenor. and bass exact
| ly corresponding and answering to eacn
other; with these pipes they often played
in concert. and made tolerable music.
though they wanted the quavers. semi
quavers airs, and many voices which per-
feet the harmony among US. They had.
also, other pipes which were flutes with
four or FIVE stops, like the pipes OF skep-
herds
Prehistoric musical instruments made OF
wood are extremely rare" said Mr. Up
ham. "A material which decays so easily
cannot resist the influences of time ex-
cept under favorable conditions which re-
tard it's destruction The wooden objects
in the collection, elassed as prehistoric,
were all obtained from burial places, eth
er in caves or graves"
AS Aztec culture was entirely removed
from that of other peoples. reaching each
stage of progress from the widest bar
barism to at least standardization through
its own internal growth, it follows that tile
origin of music among primitive man can
be as advantageously studied in the col
lection OF the Smithsonian Institution Us
anywhere else in the world.
The Origin of Music.
Mr.. Upham. who has made life study
OF musical history. says: 1.-THE question
OF the origin of music he's been the sub
ject of controversy between many philoso-
piers and scientists. but has only resulted
in mere speculations. Didero and others
contend that the cry of an animal in pas
sion was the fundamental principle of mu-
sic. 1t is true that birds have. / believe,
the power of music without language. and
it has ever been claimed that they can ex-
press BIZ this music the same sentiments
OF passion as does man. Their songs are
not infrequently reproduced in modern
musical works. Listen to the nightin
gale is an Illustration, which. however,
only serves to show the superiority of the
bird over his brother animal. man. The
lark, the blackbird, tie thrush, all have
their distinctive songs, which, repeated
again and again, are recognizable and
known of all men. while the canary the
mocking bird and the catb'rd sing not only
their natural songs, but can be taught to
sing many variations, II not to execute en- |
tirely new melodies. 1t would seem pos- |
sibie, therefore. that the bird is, indeed, |
the music master of the human race,
while others contend that the cry Of the |
human infant is the source of melody. The |
latter conclusion may appear somewhat |
odd, but it is a fact that the sounds ut |
tered by child crying. when placed in the |
form Of notes on the staff, give a certain |
musical harmony.
"Rossini, in his opera OF 'Semiramide.' !
has introduced into one OF the choruses, |
with great effect, the cries and sQueals Of |
a party of children.
''It has been asserted that the origin Of |
vocal music was coeval with that Of Ian
guage, and that the construction of mu
steal instruments dates with the earliest |
inventions suggested by human ingenuity.
Those who make these assertions do so
simply upon theory, and when pressed for
their authority would be compelled to adj
NIT that actual knowledge or information
upon the subject does not exist. What can
be affirmed is that sound made by the pre-
historic man Of the earliest epoch might
have been rhythmic and SO posse ssed one OF
the elements of music. Certain it is that
We cannot trace the origin OF vocal E'usic
any more than we can recall the echo Of
sound uttered many thousands OF years
ago. and so We are driven to an exclusive
of musical instruments. II |
evidence.
Miss Fletcher, in her work on Indian
Music says: AS to the birth of musical |
l cannot even touch UPON the |
raison d'etre of their invention. but l ray
call attention to their controlling influence
they have become at length master of the
man who made them. There is no race CT
people possessing a theory Of music who
have not been indebted to musical instru-
nents for the means by which their theory
.as been worked out. Before tie
instrument had been evolved. and man
could listen effectively to his music. dur
ing the long period when his voice was his
only mode OF expression. his mind was not
stimulated to make observations upon the
relations of one note to the other. He may
be said to have possessed no conscious
method and to have followed no known or
accepted artificial rules of composition in
his song
This relates entirely to prehistoric
lines. and its author accepts musical in
as the only means Of peTpetu-
lting musical sounds so they can be
reproduced and studied.
.'It is strange that an art. the principles
II which depend upon mathematical for
nula, should be the subject Of such va
aries Of theory concerning its nature and
,rigin. There have been some students,
wen some professors. who, wiser than {
heir own generation. declare music to be
manifestation of an innate principle in {
nan. While the proposition may be true. {
ct the statement Is valueless, because it {
5 only the assertion of these gentlemen. {
he truth OF which they do not know. As
matter OF fact almost all natural sounds
an be reduced to musical notation.
rho Drum. the Pipe, and the Tyre.
The following are some examples depict =
d by A. T. Camden Pratt in recent mag I
zine article: c
.Rowbotham. in his History of Music, i
ivides musical instruments into three y
lasses. of which his representative types v
re the drum. the pipe. and the Tyre. In
er the first head fall rattles. gonss. tri- I
ngleS. tamtamS, CaStanetS. tambourineS, |
ymbals. all instruments of percussion l
nder the second head fall fageolets, a
utes, hautboys, clarinets. bassoons, bu- /
les. all wind instruments; under the
bird head fall all stringed instruments.
lie makes these types representatives Of
hree distinct stages of development. 1