The sun., 1903-01-04

the key. When the key was pressed down
the jack moved upward past the string
and caused the spine TO pluck It. No matter
how hard the player struck the key the
elasticity Of the spine remained constant
and consequently 1t always plucked the
string with the same force. Hence me-
chanical devices, such as pedals shifting
the blow from one to two strings. swell
boxes and octave coupers, were introduced
to increase the range OF dynamic effects.
The first mention OF the harpsichord
and clavichor is found In Eberhard Cersne's
.Rulcs of the Alinnesngers, iiOA. The
harpsichord was simply the grand piano.
o. rather the concert instrument. OF Its
fImily. II was built in the trapezoid shape
like a modern grand Other shapes were
square and upright. Bach was familiar
with the harpsichord, but preferred the
clayichord Handel. Domenico Scarlatti.
ard Mozart were all great harpsichord
players.
The most famous builders Of the instru-
ment were Johannes Baffo. Venice. 1874;
Hans Fuckers. Antwerp, 1878; Andreas
Ruckers, his son. 1914. and Tschudi and
Kirkma =. the London builders OF Handers
day. The invention Of the piano hammer
action by Bartolomeo Cristofori. given to
the world in I'LL, sealed the fate OF both
clavichord and harpsichord. Toward the
end OF the eighteenth century the super
iority Of the new instrument had been
established and Beethoven gave It the pres
tige Of his high authority
.
The other archaic Instruments to be
heard are the lutte, viola damore and viola
da gambia The lutte Is an instrument OF
the family whose most familiar modern
representative Ia the guitar. II was buiit
of fine cedar usually and had pear-shap I'd
BODY, often elaborately decorated. II was
strung with strings OF different materials
There were several varieties OF lutte and
the number of strings varied. In some
cases reaching as many as thirteen.
ANY one who uesirrs TO see different
varieties Of lutte has only to visit the Crosby
Brown collection in the Metropolitan Mu-
scum Of Art, where he will frd theorbo.
n chittaronne, an archlute, mandoras,
pandoras. pandiorinas, cavontos, archi-
mandoras and other species OF lutes. The
piano drove the Lutte firmly from its proud
position as the favorite home instrument,
1t should be noted, however. that efforts
are afoot to restore the lutc to use. 1t IL
neither easy to play ncr TO keep in tune. but
doubtless il would be found 10 be infinitely
superior to the twanging Instruments OF the
present time. Even Bach thought well
enough Of il to compose three pieces for It,
French makers are now building new lutes
and it may be that the romantic instru-
ment OF eighteenth-century Europe may
Ecturn TO its own.
The viola d'amore, though an old instru-
ment. has never quite passed out OF Use.
It's beautiful tone ia due to the fact that 1t
is strung with two sets Of strings. one under
the other. The lower set s not touched
in playing, but vibrates in sympathy with
the upper set. This is what gives the in
strurent its peculiarly captivating tone.
Neyerbeer wrote the accompaniment to
RIours romance in the first scene OF Les
Huguenots" for viola d'amore. but 1t is
now usually played on the ordinary viola.
The viola d'amore has seven strings,
tuned TO the chord Of d major. The sym
pathetic string. are made OF fine wire.
Several excellent examples Of this instru-
ment are to be found in the Metropolitan
Museum Of Art.
The viola da gambia IL one OF the old
viol family 0he often mentioned chest
of viols"). But no chest OF reasonable
proportions could ever have contained all
these Instruments. There were scores OF
varieties. The viola da gambia was the
bass OF the family. 1t had six strings.
but in the course Of its history many diff
ferent ways Of tuning II were employed.
II Vas an excellent instrument, but 1t would
hardly repay contemporaneoua cultivation,
because we have q better substitute In the
violoncello.
In the course of the evolution Of instru-
mental music the violin, which Is simply
n little vol, the high soprano Of the family,
came into use a. the queen OF bowed in
striments. The tenor viola da braccia,
which is Italian for arm viol Zone held by
the arm OF the player. became the modern
viola. and the viola da gambia, or leg viol
rave way TO the larger and more sonorous
cello. II held It's own, however. till the
early part Of the eighteenth century.
OF the music to be played at the con-
cert the Charpentier selections are from
numbers written by the composer for lie
Malade Imaginaire. About ten years
ago for a Parisian revival Of the play Camille
Saint -Saens, the eminent French composer,
undertook to rearranse the original music.
COMPOSED over two centuries earlier. He
filed out the harmonies, instrumented the
music for modern orchestra and published
a piano arrangement. The manuscript
score and parts were lent to Mr. Franko
by NJ. Saint -Saens last summer. The cha
come does not belong to the original music,
but was substituted by NJ. Saint -Saens
for another dance air. II is from Charpen-
tiers opera -Medee.
Johann Christian Bach was the youngest
son Of Sebast ian, the great Bach. He
passed the last twenty-three years Of his
life in London. where he composed. taught
and was music master TO Queen Charlotte.
He wrote fifteen or sixteen symphonies,
and that to be heard on Tuesday Is in the col
lection of Dr. Ferdinand Prieger OF Bonn.
who permitted Mr.. Frankie to copy it.
Shakespeare's -Othello." according to
Malone was written in 1904. The willow
song of Dssdemond. however, is older than
the play The text is TO be found in Percy's
-Relques." and various English authorities
have est imated the date of the song as at
least 1900 and others az much earlier,
Ariosti Dominican monk, was a fine
performer on the cello and the viola
IL. Il. L l.. sa.. ~-,ss