Musical Myths and Facts, Volume 1 (of 2)Engel, Carl
History
Musical Myths and Facts, Volume 1 (of 2)
Engel, Carl
Music -- History and criticism
with a handle, used by the Brahmin priests of Hindustan in religious
ceremonies. Jalar, a pair of large castanets of metal, resembling small
cymbals, from Hindustan. The sound of them is remarkably pure and
sustained.
Rebab; a three-stringed fiddle from Persia. The body, cut out of a
single piece of wood, is rudely ornamented with a pattern which is burnt
on it. The strings are of catgut. They run at the top of the neck
through holes, and are fastened at the back to the tuning-pegs. This
_rebab_ is an exact counterpart of the _rebec_ formerly popular in
Western Europe. Kem‚ngeh a'gouz, with bow; from Egypt; a species of
Eastern violoncello, with two strings made of horsehair. The body
consists of the shell of a cocoa-nut, covered at the top with a bladder
and perforated at the back with a number of sound-holes. Tanbour
Baghlama; the eastern mandoline, strung with four thin wire-strings. Two
specimens from Egypt. Gunibry; a rather primitive two-stringed
instrument of the guitar kind, from Morocco; two specimens. Kuitra, a
kind of guitar from the Barbary States. The body is made of a tortoise.
The _kuitra_, or _kitar_, an instrument of the Persians and Arabs, is
evidently the prototype of our guitar. The present specimen is one of
the small kinds of kuitra; the larger kind has eight strings of sheep's
gut arranged in four pairs.
Three English flageolets, made in the beginning of the present century.
An ivory fl˚te ‡ bec, made by Stanesby, junior, London, 1740. An ivory
flauto piccolo with a silver key; English, eighteenth century. An ivory
flauto traverso with one silver key; English, eighteenth century. This
ivory flute and the two preceding ones are handsome instruments. A fl˚te
‡ bec; English, about 1700; of box-wood and ivory; length, 18 inches;
eight finger-holes, and without any key. An English recorder, of wood
stained black; length, 26 inches; it probably dates from the seventeenth
century. Two tenor flutes, German, made about the year 1600. Length, 2
ft. 9 in. Seven finger-holes and one key. These scarce instruments were
formerly in Signor Mario's museum. An English bass flute, made about the
year 1650. Wood and ivory; with a brass tube for blowing the instrument.
Six finger-holes, and one brass key at the upper side, and one
finger-hole for the thumb at the opposite side. Length, 3 ft. 8 in.
Three double flageolets dating from the beginning of the present
century, two of which are made by Bainbridge in London, and the third is
inscribed "Simpson." A triple flageolet, on which harmony in three parts
can be played; made by Bainbridge in London, in the beginning of the
present century. An English horn (oboe da caccia) made of red cedar, by
Thomas Stanesby, junior, in London, about 1740. An English horn (oboe da
caccia), eighteenth century; probably made in England. Wood, stained
black, and ivory. This is the kind of oboe which J. S. Bach has employed
in his 'Passion of St. Matthew.' A dolciano, a small bassoon.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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