Books › A special loan exhibition of musical instruments, manuscripts, books, portraits, and other mementoes of music and musicians, formed to commemorate the tercentenary of the granting by King James I of a charter of incorporation to the Worshipful company of musicians in 1604 .., 1904 › scan 126
Scan 126
A special loan exhibition of musical instruments, manuscripts, books, portraits, and other mementoes of music and musicians, formed to commemorate the tercentenary of the granting by King James I of a charter of incorporation to the Worshipful company of musicians in 1604 .., 1904
6 lines. Read by computer on 1 October 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1Stringed Instruments with a Bow.
3PREFACE.
5THE Violin, a word which may be taken to comprehend all the members of the Violin family, was not the least of the precious possessions inherited from the workers of that most glorious of centuries—the sixteenth. It was not precisely an invention; it did not spring into existence fully equipped, like Minerva from the head of Jove. It was an evolution from instruments which already approached it in character, and could it be interrogated no reply could be devised so apt as the immortal one of Topsy, "Specs I growed," the pity of it being that it has long since ceased to grow. A century and a half ago there was a deadlock in Violin making for which various reasons have been adduced. Fortunately for those who lived at that time the supply of good Violins had outstripped the demand—there was a plethora of them—and the artistically minded craftsman found other fields of work more remunerative. So this noble craft, or, as Longfellow calls it, "the lutist's art," fell into desuetude. Evolution gave way to devolution and there is cause to fear that future generations of violinists and violoncellists will lack instruments to play upon capable of producing tone of the peculiar quality we associate with the word "Italian," a tone which is at once an education to the ear, an incentive to work, and a source of inspiration to the player. Already plethora has given place to famine; there are not enough fine Violins to go round, and exhibitions such as the Musicians' Company has gathered together are of increasing value each year we live. They are of almost painful interest, and it is well that museums and private collections exist for the preservation of old instruments, "lest we forget," and whilst we await the renascence of a lost art.
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