CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



where the phrase Una corde (one string) occurs in 

 the music, and not in every place where the tone 

 is required to be soft, as its frequent use tends to 

 put the instrument out of tune. 



ORCHESTRAL INSTRUMENTS. 



The modern orchestra, complicated as it 

 appears, seldom contains as many as twenty 

 different kinds of instruments. These instru- 

 ments may be divided into three groups : stringed 

 instruments, wind instruments, and instruments 

 of percussion. The stringed instruments of greatest 

 importance are the violin, viola, violoncello, and 

 double-bass ; these form the foundation of every 

 orchestra. The harp and pianoforte are also 

 occasionally employed in orchestral music. Of 

 wind instruments, there are, first, the flutes ; then 

 those with reeds namely, hautboys, bassoons, 

 contra-bassoons, and clarionets ; and, lastly, the 

 brass instruments horns, trumpets, trombones, 

 &c. Of the third class, the kettle-drums are the 

 only instruments which give a definite musical 

 sound (unless such special appliances as the 

 Glockenspiel in the Magic Flute be included) ; 

 the others drum, cymbals, and triangle pro- 

 duce only noise, which is useful in certain circum- 

 stances. 



The Violins in an orchestra are always divided 

 into two sections, first and second violins, playing 

 -distinct parts, analogous to those of the soprano 

 and alto of a chorus. The instru- 

 ment used in both sections is, 

 however, exactly the same. The 

 external shape of the violin is too 

 *J ^- well known to need description. 



It has four strings, tuned a fifth 

 Fig. 26. apart, to the notes shewn in fig. 

 20. By drawing the bow across 

 the strings, these four notes can, of course, be 

 sounded; and by pressing the finger upon the 

 strings, and thus shortening the length of their 

 vibrating part, all the intermediate notes, and 

 those above the E, can also be produced. The 

 compass of the violin, as ordinarily used in 



orchestral music, extends from g to I, three 



octaves ; but good performers can go to the c 

 above this, and great artists even some notes 

 higher still Even in the orchestra, higher notes 

 may be obtained by the use of over-tones instead 

 of fundamental tones. These can be readily 

 produced on the violin by touching the string at a 

 particular place, and drawing the bow as usual 

 across it. The whole string then vibrates, but 

 broken up into sections, the length of which is 

 determined by the point touched with the finger, 

 and the sound produced will be the corresponding 

 over-tone. Over-tones produced in this way upon 

 the violin or other stringed instrument are called 

 harmonics. Any two strings of the violin can be 

 sounded at the same time, and thus a great many 

 double notes can be played. This is called 

 * double- stopping! 



Sometimes, for the sake of attaining a special 

 effect, phrases for the violin are played by plucking 

 the strings with the fingers, instead of setting 

 them in motion with the bow. This is called 

 pizzicato playing. It is evident that it is suitable | 

 only for staccato passages, as the notes cannot ; 

 be sustained. Another special effect is obtained 



702 



from the violins, and also the other stringed 

 instruments, by the use of 'mutes' (in Italian, 

 sordini), little wooden or brass plates which are 

 fixed to the bridge of the instrument, and make 

 its sound soft and mysterious. 



The Viola is an instrument exactly similar to 

 the violin, played and handled in the same way, 

 but its strings are somewhat more than an inch 

 longer, and are tuned a fifth lower than those of 

 the violin. If the first and second violin parts are 

 considered as corresponding to the soprano and 

 alto of a chorus, the viola part may be called its 

 tenor ; the instrument itself is, however, often 

 called the ' alto.' 



The Violoncello forms the bass of the ' string 

 quartette.' Like the instruments just described, 

 it has also four strings ; they are tuned an octave 

 below those of the viola, and its compass, as used 

 in the orchestra, extends about three octaves and a 

 half above the lowest of these notes (C). 



The Double-bass is the real bass instrument of 

 the orchestra, and its part forms in general the 

 groundwork of the harmony. In England, this 

 instrument is generally made with three strings 

 only, tuned sometimes in fifths, as in fig. 27, and 

 sometimes in fourths, as in fig. 28 ; the sounds in 



Fig. 27. 



Fig. 28. 



Fig. 29. 



both cases being an octave lower than the notes 

 we have written. In Germany, the double-basses 

 have frequently four strings, tuned as in fig. 29, and 

 this form of instrument is much to be preferred, 

 the lowest three notes being of great value. The 

 part taken by the double-bass is very frequently 

 just a reduplication in the octave below of the 

 violoncello part. 



The Harp has fallen very much out of use now, 

 having been superseded by the pianoforte ; but 

 before the latter reached its present form and 

 cheapness, the former was very popular as a 

 chamber instrument. It is frequently used in 

 orchestral works to obtain some special effect, or 

 to accompany a particular melody. By the nature 

 of its mechanism, its capacity was formerly very 

 limited ; but in the double-action harp of M. Erard, 

 many of its shortcomings are remedied, and it 

 now has a compass of six octaves and a quarter, 

 with all the included semitones. 



We now come to the wind instruments in the 

 orchestra, of which there are two classes, the wood 

 and the brass instruments. In all wind instru- 

 ments the sound is produced by the vibrations of 

 a column of air, but in most of the wood instru- 

 ments its quality is modified by a reed. The only 

 wood instrument without a reed is the flute, the 

 form of which is too well known to need descrip- 

 tion here. The notes produced by it are very 

 nearly simple sounds. The natural scale of the 

 concert flute that is, the scale which can be 

 played without the use of keys is the scale of 

 D major, and its compass is nearly three octaves. 

 It is sometimes called a C flute because of its 

 possessing the two notes Cjjl and C below its 

 lowest D. The piccolo flute has nearly the same 

 compass as the concert flute, but an octave higher. 





