The relative gravity and acuteness of sounds were, as we have said, first ar ranged into a systematic point of view by John de Murio. He abolished the ob scure and indefinite punctuations, &c. of his predecessors, and contrived the grand musical scale now in use, and which, not withstanding the wonderful advances made in the science since his time, but especially within the last century, re mains exactly as he first ushered it into the world. This we may presume to be the surest proof both of its excellence, and of his genius, for Murio was original in his invention, which does not appear to be, in any shape, built upon the devices of his seniors in the art. The following description, aided by reference to the plate, will, we trust, convey to the reader the fullest idea of the inventor's merit, and, at the same moment afford so com plete an insight into the succession of sounds, and to the allotments of parts marked with different clefs, as must give the utmost satisfaction.
Fig. 1, Plate Mosic, exhibits the grand musical scale of John de Murio, consist ing of eleven lines. The five uppermost are distinguished by a figure something like that which serves as an abbreviation for the word Sc. It was for merly meant for a written G, and is sup posed to stand on the second line of the five included in the treble stave, i. e. the eighth of the whole stave, reckoning, as is the invariable rule in music, from the bottom upwards. This figure is called the G clef, and purports that the music The order, and the names of the notes appertaining thereto, are severally shewn, commencing with that G which stands un der these ledger lines, and rising to D in alt, which will suffice to exemplify the extent of five octaves, and the manner in which the ledger lines are used to such notes as do not come within the compass of the stave.
The five lowest lines in the stave ap pertain to the bass clef, which is distin guished by an inverted C standing to the fourth line, on each side of which is a large dot, close to the back of the C. The presence of this sign denotes that the mu sic appertains to that class of voices, or of instruments, whose deep tones rank them among the bass, or lowest species. The le-. ger lines appropriate to the basses all stand below the first line of their stave, in con tradistinction to the treble ledgers, which stand above : this is necessary to be well understood, because, whenever ledgers are added above the bass stave, the mu sic, in reality,has changed its subordinate station, and has ascended into the class of tenors and sopranos, as will be seen. Nor can ledgers be added under the treble stave, without causing the music to par take of those tones which are also appro priate to the tenors. For the treble clef G, and the bass elef F, cannot be chang ed from the lines on which they are placed, and to which they respectively give name; the second of the treble be ing called the G line, and the fourth of the bass being called the F line.
The sixth, or middle line, which, for the sake of distinction, is made much thicker than the other ten, is called the C, or tenor line. Its characteristic sign is made by three perpendicular lines, ex tending to a depth corresponding with the thickness of the whole stave, i. e. of five lines, and terminated by a K; the two middle perpendiculars are joined by two short, thick, horizontal lines, equidis tant from their centres. This sign is call ed the C, or tenor clef; it is moveable, but on whatever line its centre stands, the notes upon that line all become C, and the whole nomenclature of the notes on the stave changes in conformity there to. The tenor clef governs the stave it is on, and occasions those who sing or per form its music to be called tenors; but of different degrees, according as the stave is found. This requires particular de scription: the tenor clef may remain on the C line, and taking two lines from the base, and two from the treble, complete its stave: in such case it is called the alto, and is always prefixed to every line of the music intended to be played on the tenor violin, or alto, or quinte, as it is va riously designated. It also applies to such voices as answer that particular pitch. But as the greatest variety of voices lie between the treble and the bass parts, it was found necessary to move the tenor clef higher or lower, for the purpose of accommodating to those many and various compasses, which were found to be the greatest supports to the harmo ny, they connecting the extremes, i. e. of treble and bass, and sustaining the great body of the chorus, &c.. To effect this, instead of confining the tenor stave to the C line, added to the two adjoining upper lines of the bass, and to the two lower of the treble, liberty was given to take, at pleasure, one, two, three, or even four lines from the treble, adding them above the C line : thus requiring only one, two, or three lines to be taken from the bass stave to complete the tenor stave to five lines. Hence we see, that instead of tak ing two lines from the bass, and two from the treble, as is done at A, fig. 1, to form the complement of its stave ; at B it takes only one from the treble, and adds three from the bass to form a stave, which sinks the whole of the music a fifth, i. e. five notes. Again, at C, it borrows none from the bass, but takes four lines from the treble ; this is called the soprano-te nor-clef, which depresses the music one third, that is, three notes ; it is usually applicable to such voices as are rather above the common pitch of the tenor and counter tenor, and of course rank as se conds, in choruses, glees, &c.