Scan 236
Catalogue of the stearns collection of musical instruments 2nd edition, 1921
23 lines. Read by computer on 29 September 2026. Printed page 202. See the scan on archive.org.
1though this term was given it on account of its weak and characterless tone-quality.
2Length, 136.6 cm.; width, 44.2 cm.; depth, 20 cm.
41318. RABECAO (Port. for Eng. Double Bass; Fr. Contrebasse; Ital. Contra-basso, Violone grosso; Ger. Kontrabass). Typical model ……………………………………… Funchal, Madeira
5Body of noguera wood. Three strings, tuned by cogwheels with thumb-pieces at the back. The tuning is the Italian—G-d-a, the tones sounding an octave lower than the notation. Modern instruments have four strings (E-A-d-g), and the use of five strings is imminent. Many older players prefer the three-stringed type on account of its (to them) greater sonority.
6Length, 191 cm.; width, 66.5 cm.; depth, 25 cm.
7At the side of No. 1318 a violin case of the seventeenth century, carved from two pieces of wood, is displayed. Its length is, 80.3 cm.; width, 23.7 cm.; depth, 14 cm.
8Sub-section I. Bowed wire strings.
101319. STREICHZITHER (Eng. Psaltery-viol) ……………….. Germany
11Kite-shaped body with two wire strings.
12Length, 45.6 cm.; width, 21.4 cm.; depth, 3.3 cm.
13This type combines the form of the violin—frequently with exaggerated details—with the wire strings and frets of the zither. The strings are bowed and, in their position, reverse the usual order. The German form is said to have been invented in 1823, but the English instrument was in existence in the seventeenth century. It cannot be said, that either the Streichzither, or any one of its variants, has greatly extended the frontiers of the realm of music.
14In Jacobi Bessoni's "Theatrum instrumentorum" (1582) Fig. XXIX shows an instrument with viol body, fretted neck, and wire strings. It was played with a bow and may be looked upon as the founder of the family to which Nos. 1319-1327 belong. The full-page illustration, and the detailed description in Latin contained in this work, fully corroborate this statement.7
15Of the following examples, Nos. 1319, 1320, 1323, and 1327 have 25, 27, 30, and 25 frets respectively.
171320. STREICHZITHER. Nineteenth century ……………….. Germany
18Leaf-shaped body, with four wire strings.
19Length, 51 cm.; width, 15.2 cm.; depth, 3.3 cm.
20Signed—"Georg Tiefenbrunner, Munich."
227 "Nova organi musici forma, civivs fides metallicae digitis et plectro pulsatae concentvm edvnt varivm, et iveauvm, modis temperatvm paribvs, qvibvs lvrae et bvccinæ soni qvodammodo refervntvr."
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