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Scan 692
Dictionary of music and musicians, 1908
30 lines. Read by computer on 6 September 2026. Printed page 628. See the scan on archive.org.
1of about a quarter of an inch. As a general rule, when the vibrations of the back of an instrument are sluggish and require to be accelerated before the highest quality of tone of which it is capable can be produced, the sound-post should be brought nearer the bridge; in a contrary condition of things it should be moved farther away; and high-built instruments require the sound-post nearer the bridge than do those of flatter model.
3The interesting series of experiments made in connection with the sound-post by Mons. Savart, and later by Sir William Huggins, have proved the following axioms:—
5(1) That the sound-post conveys the combined vibrations of the belly and sides to the back of the instrument, controlling the action of these parts, and bringing them into unison and equilibrium with the contained mass of air in the body of the instrument.
7(2) That the material of which the sound-post is made influences the tone of the instrument, as was evidenced by Sir W. Huggins's introduction of lead, and of sealing-wax, into the centre of the post, whereby the volume of tone was diminished greatly. A sheet of india-rubber firmly wedged in at the upper and lower end of the sound-post, when in position, influenced the tone in a still more disastrous manner.
9(3) That the sound-post placed directly under the right foot of the bridge diminished the intensity of tone, rendering it as meagre in quality as it is when the sound-post is dispensed with; placed under the left foot of the bridge, on the same side as the bass-bar, similarly unsatisfactory results were produced.
11The object of the sound-post, therefore, is not so much to convey the vibrations of any of the sections of the violin one to another, as to render the vibrations regular and consonant, and experiment has proved that these results are best obtained by placing the sound-post slightly behind the right foot of the bridge. This conclusion has been borne out by the fact that trial has shown the fallacy and inefficacy of all innovations such (to name but a few) as M. Petizeau's hollow glass sound-post (brought before the Academy of Sciences in Paris a few years ago); Haussel's broad, flat, thin sound-post (described in the Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung, 1881 (p. 75); and Mr. P. Davidson's sound-post with drilled holes, together with such patents as David Herring's sound-post made elastic, so as to double the amplitude of the vibrations (No. 18,028); Simoutre's round-legged or oval sound-post (No. 11,936), and others to be found in the Abridgements of Specifications relating to Music and Musical Instruments, published by the Commissioners of Patents.
13Huggins, Sir W., LL.D., F.R.S., On the Function of the Sound-post (1883); Savart, Felix, Mémoire sur la Construction des Instruments à Archet; Migge, Otto, The Secret of the Celebrated Italian Violin-makers; Gallay, J., Les Luthiers Italiens; Maugin, J. C., Manuel de Luthier; Davidson, P., The Violin; Heron-Allen, Violin-making.
15E. H-A.
17SOUPIR (a sigh). The French name for a crotchet rest. A quaver rest is called un demi-soupir; a semiquaver ditto, un quart de soupir, and so on.
19G.
21SOURDINE. An obsolete instrument of wood, with a small cylindrical bore, played with a double reed. The larger instruments of this family had two parallel tubes arranged much in the same way as those of the bassoon, and were furnished with several keys, as well as six finger-holes. [For Sourdine in the sense of Mute see SORDINO.]
23D. J. B.
25SOUSA, JOHN PHILIP, popular bandmaster and composer, especially of marches, was born in Washington, D.C. (U.S.), on Nov. 6, 1856. In 1877 he was a violinist in the orchestra which Offenbach led on his visit to the U.S., and soon after became conductor of travelling troupes. In 1880 he enlisted in the service of the U.S., and was appointed leader of the band of the United States Marine Corps, developing great proficiency among the musicians and laying the foundations for the eninence which he achieved throughout America and in European lands with his own organisation later. He resigned from the service and organised his band in 1892. Facilities which his official post brought him enabled him to compile a useful collection of musical pieces entitled 'National, Patriotic and Typical Airs of All Countries,' which he dedicated to the Secretary of the Navy. He is the composer also of a number of comic operettas, some of which had considerable vogue, though his reputation rests on his marches. H. E. K.
27SPACE. The stave is made up of five lines and four spaces. The spaces in the treble stave, counting upwards, make the word FACE, which is useful as a memoria technica for beginners. G.
29SPAGNOLETTI, P. This violinist, who held the post of leader of the King's Theatre orchestra for nearly thirty years, was born at Cremona in 1768 (not, as the Quellen-Lexikon says, in 1761), and died in London on Sept. 23, 1834. No complete biographical notice of Spagnoletti has apparently appeared hitherto, but according to some MS. notes sent by the late Mr. George Bently—who was acquainted with some of Spagnoletti's relatives—to Dr. T. Lamb Phipson in 1877, this artist's real name was Paolo Diana. At the age of twelve he was introduced to the Director of the Naples Conservatorio as a very promising pupil, whereupon the director placed an elaborate composition before the young aspirant, who, it is said, astonished his auditors by glancing at the printed sheet for a few moments, and then playing the piece through with the music turned upside down before him. About 1802 he was
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