Books › Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 1928 › scan 816
Scan 816
Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 1928
17 lines. Read by computer on 12 September 2026, twice; the two readings disagreed in places. Printed page 748. See the scan on archive.org.
1(2) In bowed instruments the Wolf occurs, owing to defective vibration of one or more notes of the scale. When it occurs, it is often found more or less in every octave and on every string. Different instruments have it in different places: it is most common at or near the fourth above the lowest note on the instrument, in the violin at C, in the violoncello at F. The more sonorous and brilliant the general tone, the more obtrusive it becomes; if the tone be forced, a disagreeable jar is produced. Hence it is idle to attempt to play the wolf down: the player must humour the troublesome note. It is commonly believed that there is a wolf somewhere in all fiddles, and it is certain that it exists in some of the finest. Probably, however, it is always due to some defect in the construction or adjustment. The cause of the wolf is obscure, and probably not uniform: it may result from some excess or defect in the thicknesses, from unequal elasticity in the wood, from bad proportion or imperfect adjustment of the fittings, or from some defect in the proportions of the air chamber. It has also been suggested with a still greater show of probability that the wolf occurs on the note to which the body of the instrument acts as a resonating box, and that the particles of wood, set in vibration by this note, are unable to maintain the stretched string quite evenly. It may be palliated by reducing some of the thicknesses so as to diminish the general vibration, and by careful adjustment of the bar, bridge and sound-post; but in the opinion of violin-makers where it is once established it cannot be radically cured. one of two readings
2(2) In bowed instruments the Wolf occurs, owing to defective vibration of one or more notes of the scale. When it occurs, it is often found more or less in every octave and on every string. Different instruments have it in different places: it is most common at or near the fourth above the lowest note on the instrument, in the violin at C, in the violoncello at F. The more sonorous and brilliant the general tone, the more obtrusive it becomes; if the tone be forced, a disagreeable jar is produced. Hence it is idle to attempt to play the wolf down: the player must humour the troublesome note. It is commonly believed that there is a wolf somewhere in all fiddles, and it is certain that it exists in some of the finest. Probably, however, it is always due to some defect in the construction or adjustment. The cause of the wolf is obscure, and probably not uniform: it may result from some excess or defect in the thicknesses, from unequal elasticity in the wood, from bad proportion or imperfect adjustment of the fittings, or from some defect in the proportions of the air chamber. It has also been suggested with a still greater show of probability that the wolf occurs on the note to which the body of the instrument acts as a resonating box, and that the particles of wood, set in vibration by this note, are unable to maintain the stretched string quite evenly. It may be palliated by reducing some of the thicknesses so as to diminish the general vibration, and by careful adjustment of the bar, bridge and soundpost; but in the opinion of violin-makers where it is once established it cannot be radically cured. one of two readings
4E. J. P.
6WOLF, ERNST WILHELM (b. Grossgehringen, near Gotha, 1735; d. Weimar, Dec. 7, 1792), Konzertmeister at Weimar, 1761, court Kapellmeister in 1768. He was a prolific composer in all branches of music, also author of a theoretical work, Musikalischer Unterricht, and Auch eine Reise, a musical journey. (List of works in Q.-L.)
8WOLF, FERDINAND (b. Vienna, Dec. 8, 1796; d. there, Feb. 18, 1866), court librarian, wrote an important work for the study of mediaeval monody, Über die Lais, Sequenzen und Leiche; also an essay on the music of the Arabs (Mendel; Riemann).
10WOLF, GEORG FRIEDRICH (b. Hainrode, Schwarzburg, c. 1762; d. Werningerode, 1814), Kapellmeister at Stolberg in 1785, and in 1802 at Werningerode. He composed pianoforte sonatas, motets, songs, etc., and wrote instruction books for pianoforte and singing, which appeared in several editions; also a musical dictionary (Mendel; Q.-L.).
12WOLF, HUGO (b. Windischgraz, south Styria, Mar. 13, 1860; d. Vienna, Feb. 22, 1903), the eminent song-writer, was the fourth son of a father of musical tastes, who was in a family leather business, and who intended that the boy should eventually come into it too.
14At an early age, however, Hugo showed that his real interests were in music and literature, and his conduct at the various schools through which he passed, disappointed his parents as much as his teachers. In 1875 the usual struggle over the question of his future career was fought, and ended in his father reluctantly consenting to let him enter the Vienna Conservatorium. One event in this year left a profound impression upon him. This was the visit of Wagner, who came to Vienna to conduct 'Tannhäuser' and 'Lohengrin.' He managed to see the great man for a moment, and although he got nothing for his pains but a more or less kindly snub, he became from this moment, and remained all his life, an ardent disciple. For the Conservatorium he had no more enthusiasm than he had for the schools, and he was expelled at the end of two years, which he had spent mainly in breaking the rules laid down for discipline and counterpoint. He was now thrown almost entirely on his own resources, for his father was able to do little for him, having had his business ruined by a fire. He eked out a living in his lodgings at Vienna by giving piano and violin lessons, but he could barely make enough to afford himself a meal a day, and the drudgery was so intolerable to him that he nearly emigrated to America. At this critical moment he was offered the post of second Kapellmeister at Salzburg, mainly through the influence of the composer Adalbert von Goldschmidt, who, with Mottl and the two Schalks, was kind to him in these Vienna days, lending him music and helping him to obtain pupils. But though he took the post he was back again in Vienna in two months' time, composing songs and sketching out his symphonic poem 'Penthesilea.' Some of his early work, consisting of miscellaneous piano and orchestral music, as well as of songs, was found amongst his papers after his death, some of it he seems to have destroyed.
16The twelve 'Lieder aus der Jugendzeit' were written in 1877-78, and the collection of six 'Lieder für eine Frauenstimme' also dates from this period. But in these early years most of his time was given to reading rather than composing music. Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Gluck and the other classics he devoured eagerly; he worked hard at the songs of Schubert and Schumann, and for Berlioz and the French school he showed all his life such a predilection that he used to say in later years he must have had a few drops of Latin blood in his veins. He was able to make capital out of his strong musical tastes, for in 1886 he accepted the post of musical critic to the Vienna Salonblatt, and wrote for it for four years. He wrote, as well as felt, strongly, and while championing the cause of the older composers
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