Violin

History.

The immediate ancestors of the violins were the viols, which were the principal bowed instruments in use from the end of the 15th to the end of the i7th century, during the latter part of which period they were gradually supplanted by the vio lins; but the bass viol did not go out of use finally until towards the later part of the 18th century, when the general adoption of the larger pattern of violoncello drove the viol from the field which it had occupied so long. The sole survivor of the viol type of instrument, although not itself an original member of the fam ily, is the double bass of the modern orchestra, which retains many of the characteristic features of the viol, notably the flat back, with an oblique slope at the shoulders. the high bridge and deep ribs.

Excepting the marine trumpet or bowed monochord, we find in Europe no trace of any large bowed instruments before the ap pearance of the viols, the bowed instruments of the middle ages being all small enough to be rested on or against the shoulder dur ing performance. The viols probably owe their origin directly to the minnesinger fiddles, which possessed several of the typical fea tures of the violin, as distinct from the guitar family, and were sounded by a bow. These in their turn may be traced to the "gui tar fiddle" (q.v.), a bowed instrument of the 13th century.

The parentage of the fiddle family may safely be ascribed to the rebec, a bowed instrument of the early middle ages, with two or three strings stretched over a low bridge, and a pear-shaped body pierced with sound-holes, having no separate neck, but nar rowed at the upper end to provide a finger-board, and (judging by pictorial representations, for no actual example is known) sur mounted by a carved head holding the pegs, in a manner similar to that of the violin. The bow, which was short and clumsy, had a considerable curvature.

So far it is justifiable to trace back the descent of the violin in a direct line ; but the earlier ancestry of this family is largely a matter of speculation. The best authorities are agreed that stringed instruments in general are mainly of Asiatic origin, and there is evidence of the mention of bowed instruments in Sanskrit documents of great antiquity. Too much genealogical importance has been attached by some writers to similarities in form and con struction between the bowed and plucked instruments of ancient times. They probably developed to a great extent independently,

and the bow is of too great and undoubted antiquity to be regarded as a development of the plectrum or other devices for agitating the plucked string. The two classes of instrument no doubt were under mutual obligations from time to time in their development.

From Viol to Violin.

The viol was made in three main kinds, similar to the cantus, medius and bassus of vocal music. Each of these three kinds admitted of some variation in dimen sions, especially the bass, of which three distinct sizes ultimately came to be made—(1) the largest, called the concert bass viol; (2) the division or solo bass viol, usually known by its Italian name of viola da gamba ; and (3) the Lyra or tablature bass viol. The earliest use of the viols was to double the parts of vocal con certed music ; they were next employed in special compositions for the viol trio written in the same compass; and finally they were employed as solo instruments, the methods of composition and execution being based on those of the lute. Most lute music is in fact equally adapted for the bass viol, and vice versa. Subse quently the viols were further developed structurally, such instru ments as the quinton and the viola d'amore resulting.

The chief defect of the viols was their weakness of tone ; this the makers thought to remedy in two ways : first by additional strings in unisons, fifths and octaves ; and secondly by sympathetic strings of fine steel wire, laid under the finger-board as close as possible to the belly, and sounding in sympathy with the notes produced on the bowed strings. This system of reinforcement was applied to all the various sizes of viols.

The improvements which resulted in the production of the violin proceeded on different lines. They consisted in increasing the reso nance of the body of the instrument, by making it lighter and more symmetrical, and by stringing it more lightly. These changes transformed the body of the viol into that of the violin, and the transformation was completed by rejecting the lute tuning with its many strings, and tuning the instrument by fifths, as the fiddle had been tuned. The tenor viol appears to have been the first instru ment in which the change was made, and thus the 'viola or tenor may probably be claimed as the father of the modern violin family.