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Scan 88
Grove's Dictionary of music and musicians, 1910
27 lines. Read by computer on 12 September 2026. Printed page 60. See the scan on archive.org.
1FANTOCCINI
2Dancing and music.
4Overture, Haydn.
5A comedy in one act, 'Arlequin valet.'
6Overture, Piccini.
7The favourite opera (5th time)
8'La buona Figliuola,' the music by Piccini, Gior-dani and Sarti.
10Leader of the band: Mr. Mountain.
11First hautboy: Sgr. Patria.
12To begin at 8; the doors open at 7 o'clock.
13The theatre is well aired and illuminated with wax.
14Refreshments to be had at the Rooms of the theatre. Boxes, 5/. Pit, 3/.
16A critic in The Gazetteer says:—'So well did the motion of the puppets agree with the voice and tone of the prompters, that, after the eye had been accustomed to them for a few minutes, it was difficult to remember that they were puppets.'
18Fantoccini are by no means to be despised even in these days. They give opportunity for 'many a true word to be spoken in jest'; they show up the bad habits of actors, and form a mirror in which adults may see a picture of life none the less true for a little distortion. [The vogue of the marionette-theatre lasted longer in Italy (where it was generally managed by English performers) than elsewhere; they are occasionally still to be seen there and elsewhere, but the performances of regular plays is now rarer than exhibitions of single dancing dolls. At the 'Théâtre Guignol' the same kind of entertainment maintained its popularity for many years in the Champs Elysées, Paris.] C. F. P.
20MARITANA. Opera in three acts, founded on Don César de Bazan; words by Fitzball, music by W. V. Wallace. Produced at Drury Lane by Bunn, Nov. 15, 1845. G.
22MARKNEUKIRCHEN. A small town in the kingdom of Saxony, which like Mittenwald in Bavaria, and Mirecourt in Lorraine, is one of the principal centres for the manufacture of cheap modern bow and other instruments. The corner-stone of the present flourishing trade was laid by the formation of a Guild, or Incorporated Society of Violin-makers in 1677, which was on a par, in its exclusiveness and discipline, with the ancient 'Meistersingers' and their prototypes the 'Minnesingers.' Just as the foundation of the Mittenwald industry was laid by Mathias Klotz in 1684, so the renown and prosperity which characterise the Markneukirchen of to-day have undoubtedly sprung from this old Guild. A record of the names of the original 'Masters' of the art together with those subsequently admitted, is to be found in The Arts and Crafts book of the Worshipful Guild of Violinmakers of Markneukirchen which extends from 1677 to 1772, and has been translated into English. It opens with the words: 'In the name of the Holy Trinity, Amen!' and then proceeds to give the twelve names of the religious exiles, principally from Graslitz, who, rather than renounce their worship of God in the reformed Lutheran manner, left their homes and the perplexities of sectarian bigotry, and as 'Fundatores,' or Pioneers, settled in Markneukirchen, 'under the direction and inspiration of God.' The list opens with the name of Christian Reichel, whose family boasted more 'Master-workers' in the space of 100 years than any other. In the present day this name appears less prominently than formerly, a circumstance due to the great fire of 1840, which drove the principal branches of the family to remove themselves and their capital to other lands. But though far from home, they still preserved a faithful attachment to their fellow-countrymen, and were instrumental in enlarging the trade connection of their native town with foreign countries. In 1851 the brothers Reichel won the gold medal in Tilsit for their gut strings manufactured there, and exhibited in London at the first International Exhibition. Besides Christian Reichel the 'Fundatores' were his brother Johann Caspar Reichel, and Caspar Schönfelder, Caspar Hopf, Johann Gottfried Bopel, Johann Adam Bopel, David Rudest, Johann Georg Poller, Johann Schönfelder, Johann Adam Kurzendorffer, Johann Georg Schönfeld, and David Schönfeld. The two Reichels, H. G. Poller, C. Schönfelder, and C. Hopf acted as Head Masters of the Guild.
24After this follow records of admissions down to 1772 of some seventy 'Masters' belonging to some thirty-one families, among whom one notices Adam Voigt in 1699, Christoph Adam Richter in 1708, ten Reichels, eight Schönfelders and so on. A Master was bound to own a house, in which his banquet, given on his admission to the Guild, took place at which all existing Masters and their wives were present. The records are often quaint. On the admission of Johann Adam Nurnberger in 1761, it is recorded that 'he had half a mind to marry the youngest daughter of Master Johann Reichel the elder. On this consideration the fees on admission to mastership were reduced to 10 thalers, 16 groschen. In the event of his neither marrying the lady under consideration, nor any other Master's daughter, the sum of 31 thalers was assessed upon him as a deferred payment.' Vested interests were uppermost in the considerations of this patriarchal Guild.
26The earliest instruments made by the Guild were constructed according to the fundamental rules which had been laid down by Tieffenbrugger, or Duiffoprugcar, who flourished in the year 1510. But later, as the Society grew in wealth and power, and the apprentices could travel and see the chief centres of instrument manufacture in Italy, new methods and ideas were brought to the home workmen, who gathered them up and used them to strengthen each his own individuality. They became
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