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Page 148

 

Sacred Xusie THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG 148 A. Hebrew. I. Stringed Instruments. The Lyre (§ 1). The Harp (§ 2). Other Stringed Instruments (§ 3). II. Wind Instruments. The Flute and the Pipe (§ 1). The Horn and the Trumpet (§ 2). III. Instruments of Percussion. IV. Uses. For Marking Rhythm (§ 1). For Leading Melody (§ 2). V. Effects. VI. Harmony and Rhythm. B. Christian. I. Character, Purpose, and Forms.

A. Hebrew: The forms of musical instruments of the Hebrews are known from imprints of instruments on Jewish coins during the insurrection against the Romans (66-70 A.D.). Moreover, trumpets are represented on the Arch of Titus. Especially valuable are the manifold designs of musical instruments on Egyptian, Babylonian, and Assyrian monuments, since from these can be inferred the form of their Hebrew parallels.

I. Stringed Instruments: In the threefold category of stringed, wind, and percussive or swaying instruments, the stringed instruments (neghinoth, titles of Ps. iv., vi., liv., etc.) rank first in importance in Hebrew music. Their strings (minnim) were made of intestines (of sheep; cf. Homer, Odyssey, xxi. 408), or of twisted cords. It is not known whether a particular kind of wood was used for the framework, but among Solomon's luxuries were instruments of the sandal wood that came from Ethiopia (I Kings x. 12; II Chron. ix. 11). These instruments were played either with the fingers, as by pulling and twitching, or by striking with the plectrum, a small rod of gold, ivory, or metal (naggen, I Sam. xvi. 16, xviii. 10; Isa. xxiii. 16; etc. In the Psalms, zamar is ordinarily used for both playing and singing, Ps. lxxi. 22, exliv. 9; etc.).

Apart from the foreign sabbekha, " s ackbut " (Dan. iii. 5, 7,10), the Greek 8ambyki3, the Old Testament mentions two instruments that are purely Iaraelitish: kinndr, "harp," and nebhel, "psaltery." The Old Testament gives no indications. respecting their form, save that they could be :. The Lyre. carried and played in processions (I Sam. x. 5; II Sam. vi. 5,·- Isa. xxiii. 16). Hence they were relatively small; though greater sizes of the harp, for instance, may have existed collaterally. And it may be assumed that among the Israelites, as among the Egyptians, the forms, in turn, were not always, and at all periods, invariably the same. Possibly even those instruments designated by one name took different shapes. In the Septuagint kinnor is usually rendered kithara (cf. I Cor. xiv. 7; Rev. v. 8); leas frequently (5 times), psalt'erion. It was, therefore, probably an instrument similar to the Greek

SACRED MUSIC. The Use of Instrumental Music Solo Singing (§ b). Congregation and Choir (§ 8). The Churches of the Reformation German Singing Societies (§ 8). II. History. 1. The Liturgical Side. s. The Choral Chant. The Authorised Roman Hymnariee The Gregorian Chant (§ 2). b. The Evangelical Hymn. Developed from the Folk-Song 0 1). The Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries (§ 2). The Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries (§ 3). 2. The Artistic Bide.

Church Song Homophonic till the Year 1000 (§ 1).

Development of Polyphonic Bong

The Reformation. The Motet and Madrigal (§ 3).

Development of the Modern Hymn Tune (§ 4).

New Forms. The Cantata and the Oratorio (¢ 5).

The Period of Rationalism and the Nineteenth Century (§ 0).

3. In England and America. The General Situation Q 1). Character of English Church Music Hymns and the Organ (¢ 3). The Sixteenth Century (§ 4).

Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries (§ 5).

Nineteenth Century (§ 8).

cithara. The Church Fathers find a point of distinction as between this instrument and the nebhel, in the position of the sounding-board. The kinnor has this feature below; being a rotund, hollow body, whose arched surface turns downward. The strings are stretched over the concave portion horizontally. And this arrangement quite correctly describes one class of stringed instruments (lutes, guitars, etc.) in their essential outlines. According to data transmitted by the Church Fathers, the kintxbr, unlike the Greek cithara, is not played in an upright position, but held horizontally. It is therefore quite similar to the generally familiar ancient lyre. Its oldest form is shown in the famous and often copied group of Bedouin immigrants into Egypt, as found in a rock sepulcher of Beni Hassan (150 m. s. of Cairo) dating from the time of the twelfth dynasty (c. 2000 B.C.). The rather bulky instrument which one of these Bedouins carries under his arm consists essentially of a quadrangular board, one foot wide and a foot and a half long, with a square excision at the upper end, or part remote from the body; so that at this end only a narrow frame of wood is left whole. Eight strings are stretched parallel and lengthwise over the board and the opening. The man plays as he walks. He carries the'inatrument under the left upper arm, and resting lengthwise. The perforated portion is also directed forward. The strings are on the right aide. His right hand touches the strings with a plectrum about where they are stretched over the lower part of the board, the part serving as sounding-board. His left hand reaches toward the strings through the excision. The like instrument often recurs in Egyptian designs. Notably from the times of the eighteenthtwentieth dynasties, it assumed finer forms: the upper part, or frame, showing variously waving lines instead of the simple square. The lower part, originally a mere board, developed into a resonant box. The origin of this instrument is Asiatic, and is found in Assyrian and Babylonian designs. The simplest form is shown by a delineation, reproduced by Rawlinson, of three Semitic captives playing this lyre under surveillance of an Assyrian warrior. It fully resembles the lyre of the Semitic Bedouins