Scan 108
The American history and encyclopedia of music, 1908
8 lines. Read by computer on 11 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1sponding viol, and if a voice chanced to be missing, the viol of that pitch carried its part of the harmony alone. Serious men of business and of the church, philosophers, scientists and educators, were proficient in the art, and found time to assist in the music performed by the little orchestra of family and friends.
3An innovation of the Sixteenth Century which lasted until the Nineteenth Century, were the sympathetic strings found upon the violas d’amore. Under the gut strings, near the belly of the viols, and fastened by a tuning plate of its own, were stretched a number of thin wire strings tuned in unison with those of gut, and when the bow caused the heavier strings to vibrate, those of wire vibrated in sympathy, and added a peculiar softness to the tone, from which was derived the idea of the name. Viols of all sizes were furnished with the sympathetic strings, but the instruments were not practicable except for solo work, which is the reason for their short life.
5The Sixteenth Century saw the coming of the violin. The story of Stradivarius and his masterpieces, that have never been excelled, resembles a fairy tale That to one man alone should be given the power to construct a perfect article is indeed marvelous. Gaspar da Sala, the Amatis, the Guarnieri, gradually improved the violin, and paved the way for the great workman.
7Of all instruments, those of the violin tribe are the most difficult to master, owing to the widely different functions of the hands of the performer. Each hand must be equally skilful, and the violinist must give himself entirely to his performance. The right hand is occupied with the bow, while the fingers of the left hand determine the pitch of the tones by varying the length of the vibrating segments of the strings, pressing them against the finger board. Those members of the family now in use in the orchestra are the first and second violins, the viola, the violoncello, or cello, as it is popularly known, and the contra or double bass.
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