VALGA See wambee.
VALIHA See marouvane.
VALVED HORN -- See French horn.
VALVED TROMBONE See trombone.
VALVED TRUMPET See trumpet.
VIELLE An original form of the violin. Later the name was applied to the hurdy gurdy by the French.
VINA Plucked Strings. India. A stringed instrument bearing some resemblance to the mandolin or guitar and played with the finger nails. There are seven strings, four passing over frets, and three at the side to mark the time. The neck rests on a gourd near its head. The tone is rather thin but curiously soft and plaintive.
VIOL Bowed Strings. Europe. The treble viol was the immediate predecessor of the violin. It was one of a family of obsolete instruments with which the bow was used. They appear with distinctive qualities about the Fifteenth Century. Previous to that they were in a process of evolution from the rebab or rebec, and had no inherent qualities. They had sloping shoulders and flat backs that were strengthened with heavy cross-pieces that took away much of the power of vibration.
The necks were fretted as are those of the guitar. Sometimes the frets were detachable and the performer put them in place when he desired to use the instrument. The waist of the viols was broad and the inward curves shallow. The bridge was made high in an effort to raise the strings so that the bow would not touch more than one string at a time. When held at an angle necessary to touching some of the strings, it was in danger of rubbing against the side of the body. The sound holes were not ff shaped, but are known as flaming swords, and were merely slanting openings with an irregular outline. Consequently they could not do what the ff holes are designed to do, divide the fibers of the belly into the correct number of long and short parts, as to produce the low and high notes. The frets on the neck did not allow the fingers of the left hand to move quickly in stopping the strings.
The viols were found in different sizes, and to each size was assigned a part of the harmony, such as soprano, alto, or bass. The different sizes were known under many names. The violone was pitched an octave below the bass and reinforced it. The violin was the soprano instrument reduced in size and improved when the ff holes assumed their present shape and the bridge was lowered. A more complete idea of the viol will be gained by referring to the article on the viola.
VIOLA Bowed Strings. Europe. Although referred to as the tenor violin, its pitch is more that of the alto, but the size of the old tenor viol made it less easy to handle than the alto and it fell into disuse. The size of the viola permits it to fit into the crook of the arm when that member is bent at an angle of about 120 degrees. It has been in use as long as the violin, for Gaspar da Salo, who reduced the size of the treble viol to that of the violin, made violas, as did also the Amatis.
The viola has a construction exactly like that of the violin, but is a fifth larger, and is pitched a fifth lower. The French name quinte is derived from this peculiarity. The strings of the viola are heavier than those of the violin. They are of catgut, the lower two being overspun with wire.
The viola does not have a method particularly its own. and the fingering is much like that of the violin, although the greater length of the neck increases the distance between the fingers of the left hand as they stop the strings, and much practise is necessary to assure proficiency. The music for the viola is found in the C clef with the high notes in the G clef.
The tone blends well with the others of the orchestra, and its duty of carrying the third part in the stringed quartet is often laid aside that the viola may double the first or second violins. The upper strings are capable of producing tones of penetrating quality, and the depth of the tones of the lower strings can be almost tragic in effect. Lavignac says that its range of sentiment runs from sad reverie to agonized pathos.
Its voice formerly was more powerful than it is now, and in 1597, in the first piece in which it was scored, one viola was united with six trumpets and a zinken. Wagner has given the violas a bacchanalian passage in Tannhไuser; Gluck in one instance allows them to carry a bass accompaniment to the first violins, and Berlioz, in Harold in Italie, gives the viola the plaintive melody that characterizes the thoughtful hero.
VIOLA BASTARDA, LYRA VIOL Bowed Strings.
Europe. This instrument received its first name from the fact that it was too large for a tenor and too small for a bass in the chest of viols, having in consequence no legitimate part in the music of that day. Some of the older writers refer to it as the " contralto." John Playford (1661) is said to be authority for the statement that one Daniel Farunt was the inventor of the lyra viol by which name the instrument was known in England in the early part of the Seventeenth Century. He also speaks of it as a " viol da gamba " strung with lute strings and wire strings, the one above the other, in other words with sympathetic strings. Even in his day the viola bastarda was falling into disuse, to be replaced by the baryton. See baryton.
VIOLA DA BRACCIO Bowed Strings. Europe. An alto or small tenor viol. It was called an arm viol because of the manner of playing, although this title is sometimes restricted to the violin form of the bowed instruments. This viol is often confused with the viola da spalla. It had six strings as a usual thing, but in the Eighteenth Century the sixth string was discarded, this being a step toward the tenor violin. See viol.
VIOLA DA GAMBA Bowed Strings. Europe. The name means leg viol and refers to the fact that owing to the size of the instrument, it was held between the knees while being played. Until the Seventeenth Century it had six strings, when a seventh was added probably by Marais, a Frenchman, who also caused the lowest three strings to be overspun with wire. These changes, however, were not adopted by all makers.
The viola da gamba was very popular in England during the Elizabethan period, but began to decline in favor with the beginning of the Eighteenth Century. To play upon it was an accomplishment of fashionable Seventeenth Century ladies. Mrs. Sara Ottey in 1723 and Miss Ford in 1760 were public performers upon it. The last celebrated player, Carl Frederick Abel, died in 1784. John Sebastian Bach introduced it in his Passion music and M. de Caix d'Herveloix (1710) wrote several viola da gamba " suites." It was the bass of the chest of viols and the predecessor of the violoncello. The instrument was used in various ways, as in solos, in orchestral music and in obbligato accompaniment in singing.
John Playford in 1654 gives the following rules for tuning the viola da gamba : " When you begin to tune, raise your treble or smallest string as high as conveniently it will bear without breaking; then stop only your second or small mean in F and tune it till it agree in unison with your treble open; then stop your third in F and make it agree with your second open; then stop your fourth in E and make it agree with your third open ; then stop your fifth in F and make it agree with your fourth open; and lastly stop your sixth in F, and make it agree with your fifth open. This being done you will find your viol in tune, according to the rule of the Gamut (scale)."
VIOLA D'AMOUR - Bowed Strings. Europe. A tenor viol with sympathetic strings. Its seven catgut strings were tuned in thirds and fourths and gave the chord of D major, while the sympathetic strings of wire passed under the finger-board and through small holes drilled in the lower part of the bridge. The wire strings were tuned in unison with the others and vibrated sympathetically when the instrument was played. Meyerbeer wrote a solo part for the viola d'amour in Les Huguenots. The softening of the tone by the sympathetic strings and the manner of their vibrations suggested the name. It is now practically obsolete.
Leopold Mozart refers to the viola d'amour as the English violet, as does Albrechtsberger also. It was the tenor size of a series of instruments with sympathetic strings which were only useful in solos, which fact is the secret of their short life. They were the latest development of the viols and date from the Sixteenth Century. See viol.
VIOLA DA SPALLA Bowed Strings. Europe. The large and lower tenor viol. The name spalla was due to the fact that the instrument was played upon the knee, the head being placed over the left shoulder. The strings were six in number. It was smaller than a viola da gamba and gradually changed into the viola. The viola da spalla flourished about the beginning of the Eighteenth Century. See viol.
VIOLA DI BORDONE See baryton.
VIOLA POMPOSA Bowed Strings. Europe. The name given by Bach to a five stringed viol of large size. It is now entirely obsolete, although compositions for it by Bach are extant. See viol.
VIOLA-ZITHER Bowed Strings. Europe. In shape this still more resembles the violin than the philomele to which it is very similar. In tone also it is like the violin. See philomele.
VIOLIN Bowed Strings. Europe. From the Sixteenth Century, Italy was rich in violin makers. In Brescia and Cremona were long lines of masters, pupils acquiring the knowledge of teachers. Gaspar da Salo, Mariani, and Bente made Brescia prominent for nearly a century. In consequence, violin composition comes into evidence about 1630 and violin playing attained prominence during the same century. Then the art of playing this instrument was as generally understood as pianoforte playing is today, and the composer of that time had the fiddle ever at his hand much as those of the present have the pianoforte.
To Gaspar da Salo is attributed the work of reducing the size of the viola to that of the violin. That he was a good maker is attested by the fact that although Ole Bull had an Amati and a da Salo, he preferred the latter.
Andrea Amati, born in 1520, stands as the first of the Cremona school. His sons Anthony and Jerome ("Antonius et Hieronimus," as their labels read) were great among their kind, and each generation had a beneficial secret to add to the accumulating treasure of the craft. The brothers Amati made violins distinguished for their comparative frugality of adornment. To Nicholas, son of Jerome, must be given the glory. He was the teacher of Stradivarius, and his instruments were but little inferior to those of his celebrated pupil. After Stradivarius came Jacob Stainer, Frances Ruggieri, and Joseph Guarnerius. The products of the last named find favor in high places. Paganini's favorite violin was of this make and was held so dear by the virtuoso that when he died he bequeathed it to his native city, Genoa, that it might not be desecrated in alien hands.
The fruitless efforts of violin makers of today to repeat the work of the Cremona masters suggests many questions. If the secret died with the last of the Cremonese, will not violin music three hundred years later be a lost art, since time destroys and the Cremona instruments will gradually drop from existence? Or does the secret of their excellence lie in their age, and will they eventually wear out while the products of recent years which have been received with disdain will age into prominence?
When it first sought favor the violin's small size and the high tension of the strings rendered its tone too shrill for unaccustomed ears. Mace (1676) makes reference to the " scolding violins," also he says : " You may add to your Press, a pair of violins to be in readiness for any Extraordinary Jolly or Jocund Consort-Occasion; but never use him but with this proviso, viz., be sure you make an Equal Provision for Them by the Addition and Strength of Basses so that they do not outcry the Rest of the Musick to Which That Implement is Not naturally Proper."
Heron-Allen, an English violin maker, in the following words tersely describes the violin as the eye sees it : "A hollow box from thirteen to fourteen inches in length; at the widest part eight and a half inches, and at the narrowest four and one-half inches broad. It is about two and one-half inches deep at the deepest part, and weighs about eight and one-half ounces. Beyond this we have a neck terminating in a scroll, which, with pegs, finger-board and tailpiece of ebony bring the weight up to about twenty ounces. The wondrous capacities and wonderful equilibrium of all the parts may be summed up in one short sentence. It supports a tension on the strings of sixty-eight pounds and a vertical pressure on the bridge of twenty-six pounds."
A structure so unpretentious scarcely bespeaks intricacies and yet a well wrought violin consists of seventy parts, each cunningly and painstakingly prepared. In every detail, small though it may be, the makers of today and of all days since the Seventeenth Century, have followed where their king, Stradivarius, led. He learned the secrets of each of the parts, and carved and glued them into a con-genial whole, so that they would not engage in harsh dispute when the bow touched the strings.
A violin must be hand made, for, other than the sides which are bent into conformity, each piece must be carved and fitted into shape. The violin may differ slightly in size from its illustrious model, but there must be perfect harmony in all its measurements. A model is the first requisite. The maker often takes an old violin apart and placing the back and the top, or more properly called the belly, upon a sheet of heavy paper or of wood, traces their outline, cutting around with a sharp knife, thus making the pattern.
The back and belly are usually of two pieces each, joined in the center. The back is of maple as a rule, and the belly of deal or some other soft wood. The wood must be selected with great care as to grain and seasoning. The grain must run smoothly or the entire plan is ruined. Knots or irregularities of any kind will interfere with the vibrations. Green wood is never used and entirely sapless wood is useless. It should contain enough moisture to be elastic and capable of conforming to the strain which use will bring to bear. A back and belly must be found that will vibrate in accordance with each other. If the tone of one resonance board conflicts with that of the other no real music can ever be produced. The Cremona makers seem to have had in their finger tips a genius for this delicate selection. Others following have tried to duplicate the Stradivarius violins, but after a period of use the best effects will disappear and the instrument will take its place among the failures.
Grossman, a scientist of Berlin, has recently declared that he has solved the problem of tuning the back and belly correctly. Time alone can prove the truth of his claim. A new violin, whose voice is almost perfect, is in danger of being like the too godly youth, for its days are numbered. As the wood further dries and settles into place, the tone must change. On the other hand, a voice a trifle unpleasant at the beginning in no wise denotes failure as the drying and settling may bring a happier result. No exact rule of dimensions can be followed as to the thickness of .the back and the belly, that indeed lying entirely with the maker, but the back is always a trifle thicker than the belly.
The sides or ribs are of maple and great care must be exercised that they are neither too thin, nor too high. If not of correct thickness they will not properly transmit the vibrations from the belly to the neck, and if of disproportionate height will afford an improper space for the volume of air within the sound-box. They consist of six pieces of wood dipped in water before being curved with a hot bending iron, a delicate process, and one in which failures are many.
When the sides have been glued to the back, six corner blocks are fixed into their places with a drop of glue. These blocks arg small pieces of pine or willow carved to fit exactly into the corners formed by the center bouts or curves, and into the top and bottom curves. They aid a little in transmitting the vibrations and add firmness to the structure. The side linings are thin strips of wood which line the ribs between the blocks, making the instrument more substantial.
The purfling consists of three parallel strips of plane tree wood glued together. Finished, it is about one sixteenth of an inch in diameter and is placed about three-sixteenths of an inch from the outer edge of the belly to prevent the wood from splitting. Stradivarius made of its neat application a work of art. It is a remnant of the former superabundance of decoration, and is applied sparingly, although in some of the best instruments it appears in designs upon their backs. Leopold Mozart well says in his " Violin School " that " to choose a fiddle for its outward symmetry and varnish is Iike choosing a song bird for its fine feathers."
The bridge is the tongue of the violin, and is as vital a part as the tongue of a woman is reputed to be. The modern maker finds it impossible to change the bridge in the least degree from the precedent of Stradivarius, without ruining the tone. It is of birdseye maple of horizontal grain and neither too hard nor too soft. At the top where there are four shallow notches for the strings it is just one-half as thick as at the base. Unless the feet are exactly arched to fit the arch of the belly the tone will be hollow and dull. The arched top brings each string to a different level so that the bow will not be in danger of rubbing more than one at a time. The height is regulated by that of the finger-board and is such that the strings may be on a correct slant. If the slant is too decided, the tone is dull and sluggish; if too gradual a harsh and piercing tone results. The bridge stands between the two necks of the ff holes with its right foot over the bass bar, and its left near the sound-post.
The soul of the violin is a simple thing apparently. Its practical name is sound-post and it is a carefully carved round stick one-fourth of an inch in diameter extending from the back to the belly. But if it is too short, too tall, too thick, or too slender, it will be a worrying soul. It is carved from even grain pine and its whole duty is to transmit the vibrations from the belly to the back, which will be impossible unless it is of the right height. As it is not glued into place it can only be adjusted through the right f hole, and long hours are employed in the task. It should be placed as near correctly as possible for each change means readjustment in the delicate equilibrium of the violin. Care must also be taken or the f hole is marred. Generally speaking, the position is one-fourth of an inch behind the right foot of the bridge, but an increase in the arch of the belly necessitates a position nearer the bridge.
The bass or sound bar is the violin's nervous system. It is a strip of soft, even grained pine about ten and one-half inches long, running somewhat obliquely under the left foot of the bridge. It strengthens the belly and counteracts the difference of pitch caused by the severing of the fibers of the wood by the ff holes. The angle at which it lies is small, the bar deviating no more than one-tenth of an inch in its entire length and must be carved and placed to suit the individual instrument. Unless it is perfect it breeds the " wolf," that nerve rending growl which makes many instruments worthless. The edge, which is glued to the body is carved to follow the curve of the belly, and the opposite edge is rounding and undulating. The Cremona makers cut and fitted their bars to accommodate the lower pitch prevailing in their day, but the higher pitch of the present requires new ones, so that even the best of the old fiddles have modern sound bars.
The sound holes vary a trifle with the various makers, but in outline they must be nearly the same or they will not do their assigned work. They must divide the fibers of the wood into long and short lengths so that there will be enough of the short to sound the high notes, and enough of the long to sound the low. Without them the belly would not vibrate sufficiently, and to them the violin owes much of its symmetry and grace.
The four strings are tuned in fifths, and when open, they sound G below middle C, D, A, and E. Their preparation is very complicated. The lowest is wound with wire which adds to its weight. Although denominated catgut, sheep, or goatgut, has been used for numberless years. The process of making is long and the raw material must be soaked in many solutions and scraped and cleaned diligently before it is in a condition to be divided into shreds, which are then spun into strings. The number of fibers varies from three to eighty-five according to the use to which the strings will be put. Silk strings have been introduced from the Orient, but are of little account, the great fault being that they do not remain tuned. The best for use and wear are the gut strings before they are polished. When purchasing, size, quality and substance must be well considered as must also the instrument and the style of the player.
The neck, with the scroll as its head, is carved from a block of maple about ten inches long, by two inches deep, and one and five-eighths inches wide. It must be substantial, for upon it rests the entire strain of the strings, and the wood must be carefully selected as to grain, in order to do its work in the transmission of vibrations. As its name indicates, the scroll is carved to represent a spiral and much of the symmetry of the instrument depends upon it. Just below the scroll is that part of the neck through which the pegs pass, and which is known as the peg-box. The pegs are made of box-wood, ebony, or rose-wood and fit firmly into their holes. The continued turning soon wears the holes too large, when they are plugged and bored again.
The finger-board is a strip of ebony of the same width as the neck, about three-sixteenths of an inch thick, and a little over ten inches long. It is glued to the upper surface of the neck, and extends along the belly to a point about two and one-half inches from the bridge. It cannot have too smooth a surface. On the finger-boards of the old viols were gut frets as on the guitar, but to interpret the exquisite compositions of later days the fingers must be able to glide from position to position without the least hesitancy. The thumb is held under the neck and the fingers can assume eleven positions. Only seven are used by most players.
The nut is a small piece of ebony an inch in height and is cut with small grooves for the strings. It is situated between the peg-box and the finger-board, and its office is to raise the strings a trifle above the finger-board.
At the lower end of the violin is the tail-piece to which the strings are fastened. It is a concave piece of ebony pierced along the upper edge by holes, through which the strings pass before they are carried over the bridge. The tail-piece is not screwed or glued to the violin, but is furnished with a loop of gut string which is held in place by the tail-pin, a peg of ebony firmly embedded in the bottom block. The tension of the strings supports the tail-piece in a position just clear of the edge of the body. The tail-pin requires very careful fitting as this tension is entirely brought to bear upon it.
Softened tones on the violin are produced by the use of the mute, a piece of wood or metal furnished with three prongs that clamp the bridge in such a manner as to prevent its vibration. Consequently the vibrations of the strings are not transmitted to the body and the tone is muffled. In violin music rests are found to allow the performer time to attach and remove the mute.
Notwithstanding the fact that so much skill and patience are required in the making of violins and other members of the stringed quartet, most marvelous things have been done in the way of repairing. The wood may be splintered into a hundred bits, but a skilful maker can. glue them into place again. Here and there a new piece must be added but care must be taken or the association of too much new wood will ruin the old. The disembodiment which has been caused by the need of replacing the sound bars, has brought to light many impositions. Stradivarius and the others of Cremona varnished as carefully within as without and the interior finish is one of the best proofs of true worth.
" Prison Josephs " have been a popular imposition. Joseph Guarnerius del Gesu made instruments more rugged in appearance than those of others of the Cremona school. This lack of polish proved a temptation to makers of forgeries, and as an explanation of especially rough violins a romantic story has been manufactured. The tale rests upon an imprisonment which Joseph is said to have suffered, although even this fact cannot be proved satisfactorily. It it said that for the sake of amusement Joseph made love to the jailor's pretty daughter, who loved him in return, and through her efforts the prisoner was furnished with inferior materials and inferior tools which he used in constructing crude instruments. The story has effected many sales and the uninitiated often points with pride to his " Prison Joseph."
Many indignities have been practised upon the violin. A cane has served as the foundation of an instrument described as the cane violin. One designed for use by travelers has been so constructed as to fold upon itself, and is called the traveler's violin. One freak is known as trapezoidal. Even the sanctity of a Stradivarius violin was invaded by an Englishman who took away the sides and substituted a central rib with a complicated mechanism in which a steel spring figured.
Nothing is more pitiable than the attempted playing of one who does not understand and never can. "A fiddler is, when he plays well, a delight for those that have their hearing, but is, when he plays ill a delight only for those who have not their hearing," says J. Stevens in his Essays and Characters, Ironical and Instructive (1615). In former times it was considered most unseemly for a woman's hand to touch the violin. W. Parke in his Musical Memoirs speaks of Minerva dashing her flute to pieces because of the horrifying reflection in the water, of her face while playing, and goes on to say, "Although I would not recommend any one playing on a Cremona fiddle to follow the example of the goddess, yet it strikes me that, if she is desirous of enrapturing her audience, she should display her talent in a situation where there is just enough ` light to make darkness visible.' " However, today there is not an orchestral instrument, unless it be the harp, in the playing of which more grace can be exhibited.
The violin is the most wonderful instrument in the orchestra. Its versatility and its powers of expression are greatest and the performer has unlimited control over it. There are but four fixed notes on a violin, the fundamentals of the strings as they lie open, but tones and semitones can be produced infinitely. In fact, this quality makes the violin rank next to the human voice in flexibility and it out-ranks the voice in range. It can produce two notes at once and by a quick sweep of the bow over the strings a chord of several notes is possible, the tones sounding almost simultaneously. The violin and its music hardly bears description. It is an instrument that charms all people. Its voice sympathizes with wealth and dignity or with grief and affliction. The greatest virtuoso was Paganini, born during the last part of the Eighteenth Century. He played so wonderfully that the public could not believe that the charm lay entirely within human powers, but imaginative minds could see the devil as he guided the hand. holding the bow. But is it not paying the devil too great a compliment to even hint that he could have any connection with the joy and the sadness, the quiet and the passion that the violinist can depict?
VIOLIN HORN Bowed and Cup Mouthpiece. Europe. This is of the usual violin form, but has many folds of slightly conical brass tubing concealed within the body. The upper end of the tube passes through the neck and issues at the back of the scroll where a mouthpiece of French horn or trumpet shape is inserted. The other end of the tube widens within the body into a flattened rectangular bell, which takes the place of the usual block at the bottom of the violin. When the violin is held vertically on the knee and played in violoncello fashion, the horn can be sounded at the same time. It was patented in 1854 in Germany by Ferdinand Hill and in England by W. C. Newton.
VIOLONCELLO Or BASS VIOL Bowed Strings. Europe. This instrument is the bass of the stringed quartet. Its name, which is frequently abbreviated into " cello," is a diminutive of the Italian " violone," meaning contrabass, and is given to this instrument by virtue of being smaller than the double bass. It originated in the latter part of the Seventeenth Century, and the viola da gamba, which it superseded, gave way before it only after a struggle. The gambists in Germany went as far as to protest formally in a paper appearing in 1757 against what they considered to be an infringement upon their rights. The violoncello gained recognition in England about the time of the Restoration, and in reality supplanted the viola da gamba as an orchestral instrument in the middle of the Eighteenth Century. The violoncello has several undeniable advantages over the viola da gamba, a prominent one being the more convex form of the bridge. The flat upper edge of the bridge of the viola da gamba made the avoidance of a strong tone necessary as the other strings were liable to be sympathetically affected.
The violoncello is constructed much as are the violins and the viola, but is larger, measuring four feet from end to end. Its size is such that the performer must rest it upon the floor, holding it between his knees, while seated in a chair. The strings are naturally long and are tuned in fifths, an octave below the viola. Owing to the greater space to be covered on the neck, the fingering differs materially from that of the violin. The practicable compass of the cello is about three and a half octaves. The music is written in the F and tenor clefs, although in certain cases the G clef is sometimes used.
The tone of the violoncello is rich, full and expressive. It is particularly beautiful in melody playing. Pizzicato effects, obtained by plucking the strings, as also the harmonic tones, are readily and effectively drawn from the instrument. In general its range of expression is very wide and it is one of the most prominent instruments in the orchestra. A familiar example of the use of the cello in a melody is in the bass solo, " Be not afraid," from Mendelssohn's Elijah. Its use in pizzicato is illustrated in H้rold's Le Pr้ aux Clercs.
VIOLONE Bowed Strings. Europe. See contrabass. VIOLONE, CONTRABASS VIOL Bowed Strings. Europe. The largest of the chest of viols and the only one to survive to the present time, when it appears as the contra or double bass. Its name came from its doubling of the part of the viola da gamba. See viol.
VIRGINAL Plucked Strings. Europe. This instrument was so named from the fact that it was the fashion for young girls to play upon it, and not in honor of Queen Elizabeth, as was so long the popular impression. The name was given in England to an instrument identical with the spinet. Hipkins declares that the name was limited to the keyboard instrument with a jack and one string to each note. Attached to the end of the key-lever was a jack or wooden upright. This jack was a centered tongue of holly held in its place usually by a bristle spring placed behind it. The spring was occasionally of steel. A pin or small piece of crow quill projected perpendicularly from the tongue. When the key-lever was depressed the jack would rise and the pin would cause the string to vibrate. As soon as the finger was removed from the key, the jack would resume its position and a piece of cloth fastened to the jack just beyond the quill would come in contact with the string and damp it.
At first virginals were played on tables and were trapezoidal in shape, allowing only room for the length of the strings. Later, an oblong case was introduced and it is claimed and generally accepted that the name spinet was applied from the fact that John Spinitus, a Venetian (1503), was the first to make use of the new shape.
Notwithstanding, the instrument in the oblong case was found in Germany under the old name of virginal. The instruments are found in various forms, heptagonal or pentagonal, in sham cases wing-shaped or transverse, from which the true virginal was withdrawn for use, and the oblong in which the case was non-detachable.
The virginal was popular in spite of its exceedingly weak tone. Pepys, whom all the world so delights in quoting, remarks regarding the efforts of the Londoners to escape from the great fire in 1666: " I observed that hardly one lighter or boat in three that had goods of a house in, but that there was a pair of virginals in it." It may be well to mention in this connection that in those days the expression " pair " was used in many cases where only one article was referred to, as similarly, a " pair of regals."
Queen Elizabeth was proficient on the instrument as was likewise Mary, Queen of Scots. William Byrde, Dr. John Bull and Orlando Gibbons were famous composers of the Seventeenth Century, and the first virginal music published was a collection of their works in a book called Parthenia or the Maydenhead of the first musicke that ever was printed for the Virginalls. Hayward and Hitchcock were famous spinet makers and before them, from 1491 to 1544, was Michael Mercator who was maker to Cardinal Wolsey and Henry VIII. The double spinet seems to have originated in the Netherlands. These instruments were of the usual size, but at one side of the key-board another smaller instrument was fitted into the case and could be played while in this position or could be removed and played separately.
Hipkins gives 1784 as the date at which the active career of the spinet closes. The makers delighted in covering the cases with handsome paintings and pithy inscriptions.
VISSANDSCHI Sonorous Substances. Africa. A zanze of the Bateka tribe. See zanze.
