Books › Grove's dictionary of music and musicians, 1904 › scan 60
Scan 60
Grove's dictionary of music and musicians, 1904
24 lines. Read by computer on 6 September 2026. Printed page 43. See the scan on archive.org.
1FINGER-BOARD
3'The Anatomist, or, The Sham Doctor,' and (with D. Purcell) that for N. Lee's 'Rival Queens.' In 1701 he set to music Elkanah Settle's opera, 'The Virgin Prophetess, or, The Siege of Troy.' In the previous year he was awarded the fourth prize for the composition of Congreve's masque, 'The Judgment of Paris,' the others being given to John Weldon, John Eccles, and Daniel Purcell. Finger was so displeased at the ill reception of his composition that he quitted England and returned to Germany, where in 1702 he obtained the appointment of chamber musician to Sophia Charlotte, Queen of Prussia, and lived for some years at Breslau. Whilst at Berlin he composed two German operas, 'Sieg der Schönheit über die Helden' and 'Roxane,' both performed in 1706. [This latter is very possibly by Telemann. See Dict. of Nat. Biog.] In 1717 he became chapel-master at the court of Gotha, [and in March 1718 is mentioned by Walter as part-composer of the opera 'L' amicizia in terzo.' His name occurs in a list of 1723]. Nothing is known of his subsequent career. Besides the above-mentioned compositions Finger wrote instrumental music for the following plays—'The Wives' Excuse,' 1692; 'Love for Love,' 1695; 'The Mourning Bride,' 1697; 'Love at a Loss,' 'Love makes a Man,' 'The Humours of the Age,' and 'Sir Harry Wildair,' 1701. Some concertos and sonatas are mentioned in the Quellen-Lexikon.
5W. H. H.
7FINGER-BOARD. The finger-board is that part of the violin and other stringed instruments over which the strings are stretched, and against which the fingers of the left hand of the player press the strings in order to produce sounds not given by the open string.
9The finger-board of the violin is best made of ebony, as harder and less easily worn out than any other wood. Its surface is somewhat curved—corresponding to the top line of the bridge, but not quite so much—in order to allow the bow to touch each string separately, which would be impossible if bridge and finger-board were flat. On an average-sized violin it measures 10 1/2 inches in length, while its width is about 1 inch nearest to the head of the violin and 1 3/4 inch at the bridge-end. It is glued on to the neck, and extends from the head to about three-fourths of the distance between the neck and the bridge. At the head-end it has a slight rim, called the 'nut,' which supports the strings and keeps them at a distance sufficient to allow them to vibrate without touching the finger-board. This distance varies considerably according to the style of the player. A broad tone and an energetic treatment of the instrument require much room for the greater vibration of the strings, and consequently a high nut. Amateur players, as a rule, prefer a low nut, which makes it easier to press the strings down, but does not allow of the production of a powerful tone.
11The finger-board, getting worn by the constant action of the fingers, must be renewed from time to time. The modern technique of violin-playing requires the neck, and in consequence the finger-board, to be considerably longer than they were at the time of the great Cremona makers. For these reasons we hardly ever find an old instrument with either the original finger-board, bridge, sound-post, or bass-bar, all of which, however, can be made just as well by any good violin-maker now living as by the ancient masters.
13The finger-boards of the Violoncello and Double-bass are made on the same principle as that of the violin, except that the side of the finger-board over which the lowest string is stretched is flattened in order to give sufficient room for its vibration. Spohr adopted a somewhat similar plan on his violin by having a little scooping-out underneath the fourth string, which grew flatter and narrower towards the nut.
15In the instruments of the older viola-, gamba-, and lyra-tribe, the finger-board was provided with frets.
17P. D.
19FINGERING (Ger. Fingersatz, Applicatur; Fr. Doigte), the method which governs the application of the fingers to the keys of any keyed instrument, to the various positions upon stringed instruments, or to the holes and keys of wind instruments, the object of the rules being in all cases to facilitate execution. The word is also applied to the numerals placed above or beneath the notes, by which the particular fingers to be used are indicated.
21(i.) FINGERING OF THE PIANOFORTE (that of the organ, though different in detail, is founded on the same principles, and will not require separate consideration).
23In order to understand the principles upon which the rules of modern fingering are based, it will be well to glance briefly at the history of those rules, and in so doing it must be borne in mind that two causes have operated to influence their development—the construction of the keyboard, and the nature of the music to be performed. It is only in comparatively modern times, in fact since the rise of modern music, that the second of these two causes can have had much influence, for the earliest use of the organ was merely to accompany the simple melodies or plain-songs of the Church, and when in later years instrumental music proper came into existence, which was not until the middle of the 16th century, its style and character closely resembled that of the vocal music of the time. The form and construction of the keyboard, on the other hand, must have affected the development of any system of fingering from the very beginning, and the various changes which took place from time to time are in fact sufficient to account for certain remarkable differences which exist between the earliest rules of fingering and those in force at the present time. Until the latter half of the 16th century there
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