A MUSICIAN DISCOURSES

Evening Star, Issue 14226, 27 November 1909, Page 5

A MUSICIAN DISCOURSES

ON FORGOTTEN INSTRUMENTS. Mr Henry Saint George, examiner for the Trinity College of Music, played to a noagor audience in Stuart Hall last night on instruments 300 years old at least, whose rich, sweet tones, coaxed hy the fingers of some Exquisite of the seventeenth century, have doubtless floated through many an open window behind which a fair lady hid her blushing pleasure. Viole (Tumour the French with ready chivalry called it, the viol of love ; the Italian is even more sonorous—viola di amore. This instrument was invented by Farrant, and has seven .strings, and underneath them seven steel strings, which, tuned to the same pitch, vibrate sympathetically when the upper strings are touched, adding a richness to the lone. Mr Saint George told his audience that the idea of “ sympathetic ” strings was known to the Hindus, who have a sort of fiddle fitted \vith such strings. “To our ears,” ho added, “’ the effect is anything but sympathetic.” The speaker went on to explain that the reason there were so many strings was to make the instrument as self-supporting as possible, independent of accompaniment. In those days the violin was considered to be an instrument fit only for strolling mountebanks; it was described as “the lusty screaming violin.” Hut every gentleman had his set of violas, the tenor viol, viola da Gamba, and the rest, and the guests used their host’s instruments. No man was a musician who did not play every instrument indifferently. “No doubt,” commented Mr Saint George', “they did that, some of them.” 'While be spoke of these instruments he would occasionally interrupt himself and play some of those old shapely and complete melodies beside which much of onr modern music appears noisy, complex, insincere, uninspired. oven (if the word may bo used) verbose. Mr Saint George played finely, and bis musicianship enabled him to interpret these curious formal works r,i as to make them perspicuous, even convincing, at first hearing. This was not the easiest matter, though he was helped hy the eagerness of an audience who had come to hear and to he interested, and who needed no arousing. He would play an old French gavotte, and then (to show how suitable bis instrument was to modern music) a little berceuse by a modern composer; again, it was an Avo Maria of 10-10, and again a reverie by Vienxtemps. Some be played unaccompanied, in others be was assisted by Mrs H. CJ. Campbell, an accompanist of discernment. Then, viol under arm, he stopped to talk again. In those days musicians had 110 conception of uniform pitch. The first string was tuned as high as it would bear without breaking. And the strings were tuned differently for each piece or improvisation, with the consequence that they could not keep the pitch for ten minutes. An an example of this ho quoted from ‘ Pepys’s Diary,’ where it is recorded that a whole evening was spent in tuning the instruments.

Finally Mr Saint George responded readily to a request that he should play something of Beethoven Is on the piano, which he did, admirably again. Earjior in the evening he had warned pupils (who were present in groat numbers) that they could not hope to interpret ,n Beethoven Sonata without some knowledge of all that great composer’s works.