To class 2 belong the mandolin, guitar and banjo, instruments of a few strings, and the harp and zither, instruments of many strings. Of these the harp is the most important. Of very ancient origin, probably Assyrian, it has been used by the musicians of almost all of the ancient and modern nations. The (minne singers' employed it in combination with the guitar to accompany the songs of the trouba dours. In 1720 Handel introduced harp parts in one of the choruses of the oratorio of 'Esther.' Gluck employed it to play the part of the lyre in the hands of Orpheus. Mozart wrote a concerto for it in combination with the flute, and Wagner introduced eight of them in the closing scene of 'Das Rheingold,) their shimmering music giving an indescribable splen dor to the entrance of the gods into Valhalla. The great musical value of the harp is its sympathetic tone quality and the power of its full-sounding "arpeggios" or sweeping chord effects. Almost all of the music written for the pianoforte can he reproduced effectively on the harp, but it is almost incapable of rendering the chromatic passages. It is the only instru ment of this class that forms a part of a regu lar orchestra, the mandolins and zithers being used only in the orchestration of large com positions. The tones of the guitar are espe cially suitable as an accompaniment for the human voice and are notably used for this purpose by Rossini in Almaviva's air in the 'Barber of Seville.) As previously stated, wind instruments were introduced into the orchestra by Lully merely to double in unison the parts of the stringed instruments; but since then various changes and improvements have been made by eminent flutists and skilful flute-makers, especially those of the 19th century, until their importance is hardly exceeded by that of the stringed in strument.
They may.be divided into two classes, ac cording to the materials of which they are made: (1) wood-wind, and (2) brass instru ments. Many of both classes are of the trans posing type — instruments in which the sounds actually produced are a key either above or below that in which the composition is written. To the wood-wind band belong the flute, pic colo, flute a beck, horn or cor anglais, bas soon, double or contra-bassoon, flageolet and the clarinet. They are usually made of wood, and sometimes of ivory and silver; but their particular tone qualities do not depend so much upon the material of which they are made as upon their form and the elasticity of the sides of the tubes. The flute, which is the most facile of them all, has a full chromatic com pass from middle C to G, two octaves above the treble clef C, a range of three octaves. This compass is partly obtained by altering the pressure of the blowing, all of the notes below D in the treble being produced by the normal pressure, while the harmonics D in the treble clef and A and B above it are attained succes sively by over-blowing. In the orchestra the flute goes with the violins, its pant in the score being written at the top in G clef. It is also used to sustain the long notes of the other wood-wind instruments, and, being the closest approximation of artificial sounds to the human voice, is used effectively in the conversational passages, and enhances the characteristic charm of orchestral music. In the form of the "pic colo," or octave flute, it is more frequently employed to double the melody in the highest octaves and to accentuate brilliant points of effect in the score. It is exactly an octave
higher than the flute proper, and is very shrill in the over-blown notes, so that. unless very carefully played, tends to vulgarize the music. Other forms are the D-flat or minor ninth transposing piccolo; the flute d'amour, a minor third below the ordinary flute; the E-flat or "tierce," and the fife. The last named, in its old cylindrical form, gave low, piercing notes, and was extensively used in military music, but it has been entirely superseded for that purpose at the present time by a small flute, still called a fife, which forms a component part of a mod ern fife and drum corps.
Next in importance to the flutes is the fam ily of oboes, represented during the 16th and 17th centuries by the little schalmey, the distant schalmey, the alto, the tenor and the pommers. The modern oboe was evolved from the distant schalmey, and is a double-tongued reed instru ment. Its fundamental sounds are reproduced an octave higher by over-blowing, its scale be ing thus increased to two partially chromatic octaves, which are made completely chromatic by the use of keys which permit the lengthening of the air column in the lower tones, and the introduction of other partial tones than the first harmonics in the higher notes. Like the flute, it has only the soprano register— B-flat below middle C to F above the treble' clef, about two octaves and 'a fifth. The basis of the scale is D major, and its place in the orchestra is be tween the flute and the clarinet. A modern orchestra employs two oboes — the non-trans posing treble oboe, for which the music is writ ten in G clef, and the "cor anglais," a trans posing instrument, the mournful sounds of which are especially suitable to accentuate the depressing effect of the sad or serious dramatic 'passages.
The bassoon is the bass of the oboe and ful fils that function to the entire wood-wind band. It was evolved from the pommers, bombards. tenors and basses of the 16th century, and possesses advantageous tonal characteristics and adaptability. It has a compass of three oc taves — from B-flat, an octave below that in the bass clef, to B-flat in the treble clef — and is usually played with the violoncello, the united tones of the two instruments being very effec tive. The contra-bassoon is an octave below the violoncello and is the deepest instrument of the orchestra. Its compass extends as far as B-flat, next to the lowest note of the piano forte. It is but rarely used, although its grand sounds, like those of a great organ pipe, may be used effectively, as in the grave-digging scene of Beethoven's and in Handel's anthems, written for the coronation of George II in 1727. Although a wood-wind instrument, it is now also made in brass with a reed mouth piece. The sarrusophones, invented by Sarrus of France, comprise a complete family of this type. They are larger than the corresponding wooden oboes, and are therefore louder in tone and are extensively used in military bands. Other forms of double-reed instruments are the "cormorne," made of wood and cylindrical in shape, with the lower end turned up like a shepherd's crook. The name is derived from the German Krummhorn, and the French call it the dournebout. It has a bleating tone. The familiar Highland bagpipe, and various forms of oboe instruments equipped with reservoir of air and furnished with drones enclosing single reeds, such as the acornernuses," and the "musettes," complete the series.