Books › The Instruments of the Modern Orchestra and Early Records of the Precursors of the Violin Family, in Two Volumes, Vol. I- Modern Orchestral Instruments, 1910 › scan 147
Scan 147
The Instruments of the Modern Orchestra and Early Records of the Precursors of the Violin Family, in Two Volumes, Vol. I- Modern Orchestral Instruments, 1910
10 lines. Read by computer on 18 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1(with reservations) shakes, grace notes, sustained notes diminuendo and crescendo, leaps, etc. Varied effects are produced by (1) the Tremolo, a rapid vibrating repetition of the same note by a rapid movement of the bow; (2) the Pizzicato when the strings, instead of being vibrated by the bow, are plucked by the fingers, as in playing the guitar, which produces dry, short notes without resonance. Both these devices, the tremolo and the pizzicato, were invented by Monteverde at the beginning of the 17th century for dramatic effect in his opera Tancredi e Clorinda (3) The Mute or Sordino (indicated by "con" with or "senza" without "sordino") a little wooden or brass implement like a tiny comb placed on the bridge, acts as a damper and produces a muffled, veiled softness peculiarly penetrating.
3Origin of the Violin Family. Two principal and diametrically opposed opinions prevail as to the ancestry of the violin; the first derives it from the Greek lyre through the intermediary of the monochord and its successors, the tromba-marina, the crwth, crowd, rebeck, gigue, and viol, leaving the Moorish rebab out of the question altogether.
5The second derives the violin from the East through the rebab, introduced into Spain by the Arabs in the 8th century, and gives it the Ravanastron of the Hindoos for a progenitor.
7It is with diffidence that I venture to set forth the conclusions at which I have arrived, after careful investigation of the point.
9In determining the ancestry of the violin, I leave the bow out of the question; firstly, because even less is known of its history than of that of the violin; secondly, because it was applied equally to most stringed instruments, with a resonating body and bridge, which before had been twanged by the fingers or plectrum.
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