ORCHESTRAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. 793 



ORCHESTRAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. 



By DA^'IEL SPILLANE. 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF AMERICAN INDUSTRIES SINCE 

 COLUMBUS. XIV. 



THE most profound and intellectual works of the great mas- 

 ters in the symphony and other forms of " instrumental " 

 music — as they are classified in musical nomenclature — are in- 

 terpreted through the orchestra, and through forms partly dra- 

 matic and vocal, such as opera and oratorio, in which the orches- 

 tra and various combinations of orchestral instruments play an 

 important and inseparable part. Orchestral music is also an in- 

 dispensable auxiliary to the proper representation of melodrama 

 and in other departments of dramatic art. 



Within the past forty years, especially since the close of the 

 civil war, the progress of music in America has been most re- 

 markable. This is manifest to-day in the large number of fine 

 orchestras, musical societies and bodies throughout the country, 

 and in the intelligent and generous support given to representa- 

 tions of the best class of music. A great demand has in conse- 

 quence grown up for instruments for orchestral and band pur- 

 poses. Many of these — for instance, the harp, violin, flute, violon- 

 cello, and cornet — being also largely used for private amusement 

 at home and in small musical circles, their production gives em- 

 ployment to a large number of skilled workmen, and maintains a 

 comparatively new and expanding American industry. 



Though bands do not serve the high artistic purposes of or- 

 chestras — some full military bands, such as Gilmore's, Cappa's, 

 and Sousa's, may be excepted — they fill an acknowledged place in 

 the domain of the art. Bands have been associated with popu- 

 lar demonstrations since the earliest times, though originally 

 in crude forms. In the illustrations of ancient Assyrian and 

 Egyptian sculptures, given in the February issue in relation to 

 the article on the piano-forte in this series, may be seen the pre- 

 cursors of modern band musicians marching in procession with 

 lyres, dulcimers, harps, double flutes, and pulsatile instruments 

 to commemorate some notable event, which indicates the fact 

 that the human instinct which finds its expression in the main- 

 tenance of bands at this date is as old as the most remote chap- 

 ter in the history of civilization. As compared with our instru- 

 ments of music, however, these products of the Assyrians, Egyp- 

 tians, and other nations of the far-away past were little more than 

 toys. This remark applies equally to the instruments in use 

 among the Greeks and Romans of a more recent period. 



I fancy that Plato, Aristotle, and other philosophers of those 



VOL. XL. — 53* 



