The Eolian Harp may be best included in this class; though it cannot, in every particular, be arranged therewith. It con sists of a long bqx, in which four or more strings are stretched for its whole ledgth, and tuned to the component parts of any common chord, such as C, E, G, C, E, 6, &c. : opposite the line of the strings which stand over a slanting sounding board, are two slits, one on each, side, renning parallel with the entire strings. This instrument being plated opposite to a window, opened only an inch or two, the air will rush through the slits, and vibrating upon the strings,• in its passage through the box, will cause a kind of tre mulous murmuring repetition of the va rious notes. The EaIlan harp is by no Means a disagreeable companion when perfectly in tune. game idea of its notes may be formed by stretching a thin violin string over the narrow eit between the up per and under compartments of a sash window : these, being generally rather open, allow the wind to pass, and will cause the string to keep perpetually humming that note it yields when plec trated or touched by a bow.
The Trumpet, with all its tribe, now comes under consideration. This most audible instrument is made of metal ; thole of silver are by far the softest in tone ; but brass is in general used. The modern trumpet is very short and porta ble, compared with the old form of the instrument ; its tone or pitch is varied by means of additional pieces called crooks, by which it may be made to accord with any given key-note It has a mouth piece, which is about an inch in diame ter, concaved fur the lips to act within, and closing into a very narrow tube, through which the wind passes, with con siderable force, into the neck of the in strument. ' The trumpet is a treble instru ment ; but, excepting from C in the mid dle of the stave to its octave above, can only perform the three under notes G, E, C, and G in the bass ; in the above octave it can only deviate from the key C, by a sharp fourth leading into the key of 0. In saying this we speak of the instrument unaided by the hand; for by various modes of fingering within the bell, or mouth, the trumpet can be made to yield a great variety of semitones. Trumpets with slides, which suddenly lower to raise the pitch one or two notes, are capable of great execution, and may be made to yield every note and semitone within their whole compass, so as to go through all the intricate passages of solo-concertos; but to perform in such style, and, indeed, to manage the slides with tolerable accuracy, requires a faith ful hand, and the greatest promptness. We have heard that some performers can reach to Gin alt ; and, by a peculiar mode of forming the mouth-piece, perform duets ; playing two distinct parts. We have heard this done upon a French horn, with surprising distinctions and perfect intonation. Within these few years a new instrument of the trumpet species has been introduced into full bands; this is the trombone, of which there are various intonations, Ma. the bass, the tenor, and the alto. They all have their appropriate uses, and in some passages produce a very grand effect ; especially in serious pantomime, and such passages as demand the greatest exertion on the part of the band. We are, nevertheless, obliged to acknowledge, ;hat in too many instances we have heard the too forcible notes of the trombone too powerfully and too in discriminately uttered. Composers should consider this instrument as the Ultima Thule of those grave sounds, which seem to be travelling towards the lowest abyss of musical profundity. They should also.
recollect, that the performers on this potent tube 'rarely take it up, except to give the utmost emphasis to some strong marked passage whence they conclude it necessary to out-Stcntor Stentor, and absolutely "to split the ears of the groundlings." It does not appear possi ble, that the trombone can, like the trum pet, be played with a sweet soft tone, not louder than a flute ; from all we have heard, it is, even when in the best hands, harsh, and almost unmusical.
We have various sizes of trumpets, some intended for concerts, and of bourse furnished with crooks ; others are in use in our cavalry, made short and compact, and invariably pitched to one key ; it is. not unpleasant, though rather uncommon, to hear the trumpets of a cavalry corps sounding their several calls in parts ; though the harmony is not varied, there is yet a somethingin.it that reconciles us. to its narrow limits, and indeed to the imperfectness of many reputed concords ; few of which can be sounded correctly on trumpets. The sackbut, formerly in use among the Hebrews, and which is so often mentioned in scripture, was the basis of the modern trumpet ; and, like it, could be lengthened at pleasure, so as to accord with other instruments. The clarion was a small trumpet. The He brews called their. sacred trumpets ker anim.
The next in this class is the French. Horn; of which we have various sizes and descriptions. Those intended for con certs have, like the trumpet, various crooks, and a slide, whereby they may be brought to accord with the most scru pulous exactness. The horn always has its music written in the key of C, and, acquires any other key at pleasure, by the addition of such crooks as may brinr it to the proper pitch : the more crooks. are affixed, the deeper will be the intone tion. There is a very strong affinity be tween the horn and the trumpet, in re gard to their capability of producing par ticular notes ; what has already been said of the latter, in that respect, applies equally to the former. The finest notes of this instrument lie near the middle of the treble stave, or at furthest between G and C ; though its low notes, when pro perly sounded, are very full and mellow. In skilful hands the born is a most pleas ing instrument ; but when consigned to the learner, it, as well as the trumpet, is intolerable. Properly speaking, horns are tenor instruments, their tones being an octave below those of the trumpet ; we have, however, tenor_ancf bass horns ; though the former are rather nricommon the latter are very powerful, and have a fine effect in military bands. The mouth. piece for this instrument is generally co nical, the formation of the notes allowing more freedom, and requiring greater re laxation for all below the key-note, than the trumpet, which demands a peculiar constriction of the lips to blow with clear ness, and in tune. Formerly the hunting horn was very large, so that it could be carried like a belt over one shoulder, and under the other ; but of late years the practice has been to substitute a small crooked copper horn, which the hunts man fastens to a stirrup leather, or a sling : hence the old hunting music is nearly obsolete, for the small instrument now in use, and which is likewise borne by many of the guards to the mail-coach es, &c. is incapable of sounding many notes: the modern hunting calls are there fore monotonous.