Scan 581
Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians Volume 2, 1927
46 lines. Read by computer on 10 September 2026. Printed page 523. See the scan on archive.org.
1length) portion of this stop is usually middle c', having a nominal length of 2 feet, but yielding the pitch of the twelve-inch c''. The tenor and bass are carried down in (true length) metal, and (half length) stopped wood pipes, a singular sequence of pipe lengths in the same stop. The Harmonic Piccolo is the corresponding stop in 2-foot pitch.
3The tubes of the harmonic portions of reed stops are likewise of double length, and generally have a hole pierced midway. (See HARMONIC STOPS.) T. E.
5HARMONICHORD, a keyed instrument invented in 1810 by Friedrich Kaufmann, the celebrated musical instrument maker of Dresden. In its form it resembled a small square piano; but the sound was obtained not by striking the wires with hammers, but by the friction against them of a revolving cylinder (as in the ordinary hurdy-gurdy), covered with leather, and rosined. This cylinder, which in the effect it produced somewhat resembled the bow of a violin, was set in motion by a pedal worked by the foot of the player. All gradations of tone, as well as the power of swelling or diminishing the sound upon a sustained note, were produced by the pressure of the finger. For this instrument Weber composed in the year 1811 a very interesting adagio and rondo, with orchestral accompaniment, published by Peters, of Leipzig. Weber wrote concerning this composition—
7'It was an infernal piece of work to write for an instrument whose tone is so peculiar and strange that one has to call to one's aid the liveliest imagination to bring it suitably forward in combination with other instruments. It is a cousin of the harmonica, and has this peculiarity, that with every sustained note its octave is prominently heard.'
9On the printed title-page it is said to be 'for Harmonichord or Harmonium.' This, however, is an addition of the publisher; as not only are the two instruments totally distinct, but the physharmonica, the predecessor of the harmonium, was not invented till about fifteen years later. (See SOSTINENTE PIANOFORTE.)
11E. P.
13HARMONIC INSTITUTION, ROYAL, see ARGYLL ROOMS.
15HARMONIC MINOR is the name applied to that version of the minor scale which contains the minor sixth together with the major seventh, and in which no alteration is made in ascending and descending. Its introduction as a substitute for the melodic or 'arbitrary' minor scale was strongly advocated by Dr. DAY (q.v.) and others, and in the latter half of the 19th century it was very generally adopted. It is true that its use is calculated to impress the learner with a sense of the real characteristics of the minor mode, but its merits are counterbalanced by the awkwardness arising from the augmented second between the sixth and seventh notes, while it is difficult to regard it as a diatonic scale at all, in spite of its theoretical correctness.
17M.
19HARMONIC PICCOLO, see HARMONIC FLUTE.
21HARMONICS. When a pipe or string is made to sound one of its PARTIALS (q.v.) in place of its fundamental, the resulting note is called an Harmonic.
23All WIND INSTRUMENTS (q.v.) use harmonics in the normal production of their scales, and the term is therefore applied more especially to stringed instruments, which use harmonics for the sake of their peculiar tone and intonation (cf. Ex. 3). For the theory of partial tones see ACOUSTICS, subsection HARMONIC SERIES.
25On stringed instruments (violin family and harp) harmonics are obtained by lightly touching the string at a nodal point. Only the first harmonic (producing the octave by the touch of the string half-way through its speaking-length) is used on the harp. The method of obtaining both natural and artificial harmonics on the violin is described under FINGERING (Violin), and the same method, with, however, limitations¹ on the larger instruments, is applied to other members of the family.
27The method of notation for natural harmonics (that is those derived from the open strings) consists of writing the notes actually sounded with a small circle over each. Thus:
291.
31Another method sometimes used consists of writing diamond-headed notes indicating the nodal point to be touched, by means of the notes which would be sounded if the string were stopped.
33'Ma Mère L'Oye.'
352. Double Bass. Sounding. RAVEL.
37This is a case of the 7th harmonic on the E string followed by the third harmonic on the A string. The transposition of the instrument must be borne in mind.
39In the case of the harp the usual practice is to write the fundamental note (i.e. an octave lower than the note sounded) with the circle above it. Thus:
413. (Ibid.) Sounding. (Har.)
43The method of notation for the artificial harmonics of the violin family (that is, those derived from stopped notes) is to write the passage as stopped with a diamond-headed note a perfect fourth above it to indicate the position of the finger by which the harmonic is
45¹ Cecil Forsyth's Orchestration describes the exact capabilities of each instrument.
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