Scan 88
Grove's dictionary of music and musicians;, 1904
18 lines. Read by computer on 7 September 2026. Printed page 77. See the scan on archive.org.
1RESULTANT TONES
3to treat at some length of the nature of beats, and the reader is therefore referred to the article BEATS, for this side of the question. The later mathematical theory given by Helmholtz is too abstruse to admit of popular exposition.
5It was also part of Young's theory that the differential tone was produced in the ear alone, and not in the external air. But Helmholtz found that stretched membranes and resonators responded very clearly to differentials produced by the siren or the harmonium. This he considers to prove the existence of vibrations in the external air corresponding to the differential tones. But when the two generating tones were produced by separate instruments, the differential, though powerfully audible, hardly set the resonator in vibration at all. Hence Helmholtz concludes that the differential tone is for the most part generated in the ear itself. He further points out that certain features in the construction of the ear easily permit the action of the law which he has stated. The unsymmetrical form of the drum-skin of the ear, and the loose attachment of the ossicles are, he thinks, peculiarly favourable to the production of resultant tones. [A practical use of resultant tones is shown in the article ORGAN, vol. iii. p. 552a.]
7As a consequence of his theory, Helmholtz deduced a different series of resultant tones, which he calls summational tones, because their number of vibrations is the sum of those of the generators. The existence of the summational tones which Helmholtz believed he verified experimentally, has recently been called in question by Dr. Preyer. He points out that in some intervals, as, for instance, 1 : 2, 1 : 3, 1 : 5, there will be a partial tone present of the same pitch as the presumed summational tone, and these cases therefore prove nothing. Again, if we take 2 : 3, the note 5 is not necessarily a summational tone, but may be the differential of 4 and 9, which are the 2nd partial of 2 and the 3rd of 3 respectively. Dr. Preyer was unable to find any trace of the summational tones when care had been taken to exclude the upper partials. But to do this he could only use sounds of tuning-forks gently bowed, which were far too weak to produce any resultant tones in the air. The question, however, is one of theoretic interest merely.
9Not only the origin, but also the discovery of differential tones has been disputed. The earliest publication of the discovery was made by a German organist named Sorge in 1745. Then came Romieu, a French savant, in 1751. Lastly, the great Italian violinist, Tartini, made the phenomenon the basis of his treatise on Harmony in 1754. But Tartini explicitly claims priority in these words:—'In the year 1714, when about twenty-two years of age, he discovered this phenomenon by chance on the violin at Ancona, where many witnesses who remember the fact are still living. He communicated it at once, without reserve, to professors of the violin. He made it the fundamental rule of perfect tuning for the pupils in his school at Padua, which was commenced in 1728 and which still exists; and thus the phenomenon became known throughout Europe.'1
11Tartini in some cases mistook the pitch of the differential tone; but there does not appear to be any reason for taking from him the credit of the discovery which has so long been associated with his name.
13J. L.
15RESZKE, DE, EDOUARD, born at Warsaw, Dec. 23, 1855, was taught singing by his brother Jean, Ciaffei, Steller, and Coletti, and made his début April 22, 1876, as the King in 'Aïda,' on its production at the Italiens, Paris. He sang there with success for two seasons, and afterwards went to Italy, where, in 1880, at Turin, he made a success in two new parts—the King in Catalani's 'Elda,' Jan. 31, and Charles V. in Marchetti's 'Don Giovanni d'Austria,' March 11, and appeared at Milan on the production of Ponchielli's 'Figliuol Prodigio,' Dec. 26. From 1880 to 1884, he was engaged with the Royal Italian Opera, until its collapse. He made his début on April 13, 1880, as Indra ('Roi de Lahore'), but his success as a foremost lyric artist was established by his admirable performances of St. Bris, the Count in 'Sonnambula,' Basilio, and later as Walter ('Tell'), Peter the Great, Prince Gudal ('Demonio'), June 21, 1881; Sénon (Lenepveu's 'Velleda'), July 4, 1882; Almaviva; Mephistopheles; Alvise, on production of 'La Gioconda,' May 31, 1883; Hagen, on production of Reyer's 'Sigurd,' July 15, 1884, etc. In 1883-84 he reappeared in Paris at the Italian Opera (Théâtre des Nations), with great success, in 'Simone Boccanegra'; in Massenet's 'Herodiade,' on its production in Paris; in Dubois' 'Aben Hamet,' Dec. 16, 1884, and in other operas. He was engaged at the French Opéra, where he first appeared April 13, 1885, as Mephistopheles, a part he sang subsequently in the 500th performance of 'Faust.' He appeared as Leporello in the centenary performance of 'Don Juan,' Nov. 4, 1887, and has sung in 'Le Cid' and 'Patrie.' He played at the Italian Opera at Drury Lane in 1887 the part of Ramfis in 'Aïda,' and sang during the season as Basilio, St. Bris, Mephistopheles, and Henry the Fowler ('Lohengrin'). From 1888 to 1900 he sang every season (except 1899), and added to his repertory the parts of Almaviva, Marcel, the Mefistofele of Boïto, and the Wagnerian parts of Hans Sachs, King Mark, Hunding, and Hagen. From 1890, for many seasons, he sang in America with his brother, with the greatest success. He sang at the Mozart (concert) Festival at the Nouveau Théâtre in Paris in the spring of 1906, under the direction of M. Reynaldo Hahn. In Feb. 1907 he advertised.
171 De Principiis dell' Armonia, Padova, 1767, p. 36.
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