ANCIENT MUSIC.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 144132, 30 June 1913, Page 6

ANCIENT MUSIC.

ADDRESS BY MR. W. F. GORDON ON NEBUCHADNEZZAR’S BAND There was a good attendance at the meeting of the Brotherhood on Sunday afternoon. Tho chair was taken by Mr. R. N. Remind, and an address was given by Mr. W. F. Gordon on “Nebuchadnezzar’s Band.” Four members of -the 11th Regiment Band, who gave their services out of compliment to Mr. Gordon, who is, ono of the oldest volunteer bandsmen in the Dominion, rendered the quartette “Town and Country” in a very effective manner, which was very much appreciated. During his address Mr. Gordon played “The Death of Andreas Hofcr” on tho E-flat alto horn, and as an encore gave “Ye Banks and Braes.” His address was illustrated by some excellent diagrams of ancient musical instruments.

Mr. Gordon’s address was as No doubt somo of you have wffnhored what Nebuchadnezzar’s band sounded like. I have done so myself; therefore this afternoon a few words upon the instruments contained in that ancient musical organisation and other matters relative to ancient musical instruments, etc., will, I trust, be of interest. The old saying that there is nothing new under tho sun Holds good as regards a band being engaged to play at a function or entertainment to make it go off with eclat, for we have it laid down in Scripture than 600 years before Christ such an event took place. Reference is made to tho dedication of the golden imago by Nebuchnezzar, whereat he had a very large band engaged, for wo arq told that ho issued an order to tho effect that when tho people hoard tho band strike iin they were to fall clown and " worship the golden imago that ho had set up. Otherwise, in common parlance, he would make it warm for them. We know that there wore three men who had tho courage of their convictions and who refused to do his bidding, and how well they came out of it. In tho third chapter of Daniel there is a verse that is repeated several times, in which six instruments are named, namely: “At such time when you hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, yc shall fall down and worship tho golden imago,” etc. I think there is a great charm in the study of the ancient mqsical instrument, an “inborn charm that wraps tho mystic whole.” Indeed, it is a fascinating study to trace the whakapapa—to use a good Maori word—of, say, that ancient instrument the harp, famous for its Biblical association, and with its fine lines of beauty and ornamentation, hack through its different stages to tho monochord, or, to put it more plainly, a string to a bow, from which no doubt it evolved.' Tho bowman would discover that by plucking the string it gave out a sound; then ho would add another string, and perhaps bo tho first man to have two strings to his bow. In time other strings would bo added, and a rude kind of triangular harp would bo tho result. This would bo very long ago, for wo know that in Genesis, tho fourth chanter, Jnbal is mentioned as being the father of nil who handle the harp and the organ. The triangular harp is mentioned in Psalm 92, verse 3. Somo writers think it was such a harp that David performed upon. The. grand organ has evolved from tho primitive Pandean pipes, which wore probably the ilgah of tho Hebrews mentioned in tho Old Testament; then a kind of bagpipe would ho the next stage, and so on down to tho king of instruments, Tho ancestor of the trumpet whore there were neither cattle nor sheep, no doubt, was the conch shell. Primitive man would find out that by making a porforation in the end for a mouthpiece, by blowing, a good sound could be got oiit of it, and tho inhabitants of tho South Sea Islands and of parts of Africa have used those shells as war trumpets, etc., for generations. Among tho Hebrews, where there were cattle and sheep, bullocks’ and rams’ horns were first used as trumpets. The shofar. for instance, nikide of a ram’s horn, with very little alteration in shape, is still blown IJy the priest at synagogue, as in the olden time at tho Now Year’s festival according to the command of Moses in Numbers, chap. 30, verse 1: “It is a day of blowing of trumpets unto you.” Talking of evolution, how somo things have evolved is to all intents and purposes a sealed book to us, and likely to remain so, but there is no sealed book about the evolution of musical instruments. In the Old Testament we read of tho tabor and the pipe and of shawms, and wo naturally wonder what they were like. This matter will be explained further on by illustrations, some taken from ancient instruments in the South Kensington Museum. Tho knowledge of ancient musical instruments was very limited at the time of the translation of the authorised version of the Scriptures, and the translators when puzzled as to the meaning attempted to give tho idea of the thing, rather than the correct rendering. This is the case with their translation of Nebuchadnezzar’s hand, and tho modern revisers have wisely left it untouched. Wo must therefore distinguish between the actual Chaldean instruments and the instruments mentioned by the translators in the sixteenth century. To give an idea of a good and complete band they put down the names of instruments familiar to their readers. "When we read of tho cornet, flute, harp' and sackbut or trombone our minds naturally revert to those well-known instruments of the modern orchestra, and yet none of these instruments ns we know them were used in the Chaldean band under review. The actual instrument in use at the dedication of the image 600 years 8.0. which was translated cornet, was probably a simple tube of horn or metal. In the Donay Bible (that used by our Roman Catholic friends) it is translated trumpet. Translated flute, an instrument like I flageolet and not the transverse flute. Translated harp, tho lyre. Translated sackbut, the trigou or triangular harp. Translated psaltery, an instrument like a dulcimer. Translated dulcimer, the bag-pipes. In the Donay Bible this is translated symphony. So Nebuchadnezzar could not run his band without the aid of bag-pipes. "We are told that Tam O’Shanter saw the Deil playing the bag-pipes during his famous ride over tho Brig o’ Doon, and who knows but that his Majesty played them in Nebuchadnezzar’s band ?

CORNET,

Tho most ancient instruments of the trumpet kind were made from large conch shells, or from the horn of an animal, as already described. Tho cornetto, or ziuk, is a very old instrument. It consisted of a wooden tube covered with leather having six holes for the fingers and one for the thumb on the other side, and the tone was produced by a mouthpiece like that of an ordinary trumpet. About the fifteenth century cornets were very important instruments in the wind bands, which consisted chiefly of these and

trombones and sackbnts, and such Vincis were greatly in favour both for public and religious ceremonials. FLUTE. The origin of the flute is lost in antiquity. Representations of tho Nay Egyptian flute are found on the monuments there. Hebrew; Chalil, a pipe. Tho pipe and tabor were the ancestors of tho fife and drum. The pipe was blown at the end like a whistle, and was played by the left hand. The tabor was a small drum slung by a cord to the left arm, and tapped with a small drum-stick, and these instruments were played at rustic dances in the 16th century. The flageolet is a whistle-headed’ flute, and was once the favourite instrument with ladies who performed upon it. The recorder mentioned by Shalicspcarc in “Hamlet” was the flute-a-bec or beaked flute. They were of various sizes—treble, alto, tenor and baas. The latter was so long that a bent tube similar to that’ of a basoon was fixed to the mouthhole in order to enable the player to roach tho finger-holes. Tho recorder was supplanted by the transverse or German flute. The instrument translated flute was no doubt one resembling the flageolet in shape, the khalil of the Hebrews. HARP. This splendid instrument, with its Biblical association, is of great antiquity. From the monochord a gradual progression took place till the development of one of the most famous musical instruments in history. There is no other instrument in tho orchestra that can supply the place of the harp for its unique quality of tone. There is something imposing in its symmetry and adornment. The illustration represents the triangular harp. Paintings of this instrument have been discovered on tho walls at Thebes, supposed to bo as old as the thirteenth century before Christ. The lyre, well known by its oruaniental shape, is supposed to have originated from an instrument formed of rams’ horns, SACKBUT. A very ancient instrument known to ns now as the trombone, and which has boon in existence for over 2000 years. I do not thinl; that wo have any warrant for believing that the Chaldeans knew of the slide principle. Tho later Greeks did, and I believe ono made of bronze with a mouthpiece ornamented with gold was found in tho ruins of Pompeii and presented to George IV. PSALTERY. A very ancient instrument resembling a dulcimer, with this difference that the wires of tho latter were struck and those of tho psaltery were plucked with a plectrum in the same manner as a mandoline. The psaltery was the ancestor of tho harpsichord. THE BAGPIPE is ono of tho oldest instruments in the world, and is represented on one of tho ancient terra cottas excavated in Tarsus in Asia Minor some time since, and considered to be 2000 years old. They were known to tho Romans and said to be a favourite instrument of the Emperor Ncro.‘ In Scotland and Ireland it is a very old national instrument, and was once popular in England. .Shakespeare alludes to it in Henry IV., part I. The chalumean, or shawm, from a reed pipe; from the Latin, calamus, a reed. The lower notes of the clarionet are called the chalumean register. The Persian zamr was a doiible-reed instrument, the ancestor no doubt of tho shawm, which was tho ancestor of the hauthois or waight. Long ago the night-watchmen used these instruments wben on their rounds, and Mter playing a few bars would call out the time, etc. Mr Gordon then wont on to describe somo of the more modern developments of the old instruments.