Scan 70
The heart of music; the story of the violin, 1906
6 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1The Heart of Music
3Indians, Arabs, and others. That of Edward John Payne and many others even as erudite and well informed is that the stringed instrument was carried in very primitive form into Greece by the Phoenicians, who had gotten it from Egypt and, as they had done with the alphabet and many other products and methods, made commercial use of it. To this theory we answer that the imported instrument must have been extraordinarily primitive—if it was imported; for the first stringed instrument known in Greece was the monochord,—a crude affair with one untunable string,—later developed to utilitarian rather than artistic uses. The Egyptians, as we know, had very complete stringed instruments. Nevertheless, since no man knows the truth, we must consider all sides and theories.
5The ravanastron, or revanastron, was an Indian invention, but long before it was achieved the Hindoos had their exquisite vina. It was a long slender tube, with elaborate decoration, many frets, and a gourd or hollow box near each end for resonance. The grace of these instruments was extraordinary, and their tone most lovely. They were famous for their enormous range of chromatic tones. Music was rather complicated and extensive in India in those days.
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