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Scan 125
The New Encyclopedia Of Music And Musicians, 1929
16 lines. Read by computer on 18 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1which is coiled a fine silver or copper wire, so as to increase their weight or mass and lower their pitch; also called covered. G.
3Such strings are used for many of the lower strings of the piano, for the lowest string of the violin, for the lowest two of the viola and the 'cello, for usually three of the guitar, for variable numbers in the zither, etc.
5Overstringing. In piano-making, an arrangement of the strings in two sets, one crossing the other obliquely, an arrangement that is more compact and brings the strains into better opposition than setting all side by side. G.
7Overstringing seems to have been first tried in 1835 by Theobald Boehm, but its invention is claimed for others. It is sometimes called cross-stringing.
9Overture. The technical name for an orchestral prelude or introduction to an opera, oratorio or similar complex vocal and instrumental work; originally called sinfonia or even toccata, now sometimes prelude or vorspiel.
11The earliest Italian operas had but brief and unimportant introductions. The first formal overtures to acquire influence were those of Lully in France (from about 1670), who adopted the plan of three movements, the first slow and stately, the second a rapid and dashing fugato and the third usually a minuet or similar slow dance. This type was soon widely accepted in Germany (Kusser and Keiser) and in England (Purcell and Handel), though the English treatment was free and original in details. On the other hand, Alessandro Scarlatti in Italy (from about 1690) chose to use another form, also in three movements, but the first a bright and figured allegro, the second a slow melodic number and the third a rapid presto or similar quick movement. This was not generally followed outside of Italy. In both the French and the Italian types the influence is seen of the prevailing interest of the time in sets of pieces analogous to the dance-suite. It was from the overture and the suite taken together that the sonata and the symphony derived their general movement-plan (from about 1750).
13With Gluck and Mozart the overture begins to assume its more modern aspect, being now usually in one movement, though often more or less divided into contrasted sections. Sometimes it has adopted the sonata-form in developing two subjects in contrasted keys. Sometimes it has been more contrapuntal. Sometimes it has sought to introduce a series of the airs later to be used in the main work. Sometimes it has contented itself with furnishing a general emotional setting either for the play to follow or for its opening scene. In value it has varied greatly, sometimes rising to great eloquence and sometimes falling to the level of a noisy and vapid theatrical medley.
15From the time of Weber the independent interest of the overture began to be appreciated, so that overtures were detached for concert-production from the works to which they belong. In time this gave rise to the concert-overture, written with a play or dramatic subject in mind, but not as part of an opera. This type has now become widely recognized, taking as its basis of suggestion the themes of stage-plays or imaginative poems or individual characters in history or literature. The concert-overture, then, affiliates itself with the symphonic poem and, like the latter, has no fixed plan of treatment. Its elasticity and the value of its mental basis in a title or program of feeling have made it favorite form for orchestral creation.
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