Books › the history of the violin, 1864 › scan 189
Scan 189
the history of the violin, 1864
4 lines. Read by computer on 28 September 2026. Printed page 167. See the scan on archive.org.
1very near the bottom of the instrument; the bow is short and like that of the double-bass. Bonanni says, that by moving the thumb of the left hand in various places, tones are produced like those of a trumpet (probably harmonic notes) and that it was frequently used at sea to prevent the trouble of blowing, and hence was called the tromba marina. The violino represented by him is like a large clumsy tenor; he says the Latins called it cheles, or viola, and the Italians, viola, violino, or violone, &c., according to the size. The viola, or violino d'amore, is much of the same make and style, but larger. The violino Turchesco, used by the Turks, has a very long neck with frets, and only two strings; the body is nearly round and hollowed, and covered with parchment, it has neither bridge or sound-holes, but a long foot to support it on the ground. The Persians had a similar instrument they called Kamaantsich, in the Arab tongue Chemena. The violino Persiano is mentioned by Kempfer; it has four strings but no sound-holes, bridge, finger-board, or tail-piece. The violino de' Cafri has a small round body with a long neck, and only one string; without bridge, finger-board, or sound-holes, and played on with a short curved bow. An instrument of the same sort is found among the negroes and Indians, but not usually confined to one string. The representations of musical instruments in this work bear a very liberal interpretation, as he includes the whistle, the brass pan for bees, the rattle, the comb, and even the postilion's whip, with others equally simple.
3Laborde, whose "Essai sur la Musique" was published in 1780, is very fanciful in many of his representations, introducing most poetical illustrations of some of the instruments in the hands of full-dressed ladies and gentlemen; but this is of far less consequence than the play of
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