Scan 241
Catalogue of the Stearns collection of musical instruments, 1921
10 lines. Read by computer on 17 September 2026. Printed page 205. See the scan on archive.org.
1ing was not so exaggerated as in the modern. The last five types mentioned have large sound-holes, as the strings are plucked and do not run free. All have fretted necks. The Banjo has a round body, a parchment head, gut and over-spun strings, of which one, the "chanterelle," runs from a peg inserted at a point half-way up the side of the neck, which carries frets. The Monochord, as its name implies, has but one string. In shape it is variable and by no means restricted to the early oblong form. The Zither has a flat body, wire strings, some of which run over a flat, fretted finger-board, and is played with a plectrum. In these modern days it has responded to the call for mechanical control, and the elimination of musical knowledge. The Dulcimer has wire strings which run over a resonance body and are responsive to the blows of a hammer, or hammers. In all these types, including those displayed in Case XII, Nos. 1177 to 1222, the many variants display affinities, while the caprice of makers has interjected puzzling problems in classification. The geographical distribution of these types is world-wide; consequently they are, in their ethnological suggestion, equally inclusive.
3This recapitulation covers many types included in Class IV, but, from the purely musical point of view, they are of infinitely less importance than the European bowed-instruments shown in this Case.
5With the exception of the bowed-zither, it may be asserted with confidence that the instruments listed in Case XIII have contributed more to the advancement of musical appreciation than those belonging to any of the preceding types. The stringed instruments legitimately played with a bow have made the orchestra possible. The repertoire of that puissant agency reveals the endless possibilities of creative musical art, while in the realm of chamber-music these instruments have aided in the establishment of some of the most intimate, refined, and satisfying composition-forms known to music.
7While it may be maintained that the improvements already made in key-board instruments predicate future progress in the realization of their possibilities, the same cannot be said of the legitimate bowed types. The many attempts made in the past to improve the violin, and the fact that they were all found to be of no practical value, attests the truth of this sweeping assertion.
9One of these attempts deserves mention. On May 27, 1817, there was exhibited before the French Academy a violin which was absolutely scientific in structure. The form was a departure from the ordinary model; the sound-post was placed back of the bridge, dividing the fibres of the belly into two unequal arcs, one for the lower, the other for the higher tones; the F-holes were straighter than the accepted form and were cut parallel with the fibres, thus obtaining the maximum intensity of vibration, while the whole structure favored elasticity. Although, at a trial of the instrument, none of the jury could distinguish between its tone and that of an old-Italian violin of the best
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