LUTE (OF. lot, lent, Fr. loth, from Sp. lath', Pert. alande, lute, from Ar. nl tirl, the lute. from the, and '17d, late, wood). An obsolete stringed musical instrument, which has been superseded by the harp and guitar. It consisted of a table of fir; a body or belly, shaped like the back of a mandolin; a neck, or finger-board, of hard wood, on which were 0 (or 10) frets, stops. or divi sions• marked with catgut strings; a head, or cross on which were placed the pegs or screws that tightened or relaxed the strings in tuning; and a bridge, to which the strings were attached at one end, the other end being fastened to a piece of ivory, between the head and neck. The strings varied in number, from 6 to 13. all of them, except the highest or melody string, being doubled. The performer used his left hand to press the stops, and struck the strings with his right. A peculiar description of notation, called toblature, was employed in music written for the lute. The lute is one of the oldest of musi cal instruments, as representations of it are found on ancient Egyptian monuments. cry likely the
Persians adopted the lute from the Egyptians about the fourth century B.C. From the Per sians it passed to the Arabs, with whom it soon became the chief instrument. During the su premacy of the Saracens the lute was intro duced into Spain and Lower Italy, whence it found its way into all European countries dur ing the fourteenth century. From that time on until the end of the seventeenth century the lute was the principal instrument, occupying a position very similar to that of the modern piano. It was also one of the chief instruments in the orchestra. Beginning with the eighteenth century the lute was gradually superseded by the violin in the orchestra, and by the clavichord as a general instrument. in the early operas the lute was used to accompany the recitatives. Valuable information about the lute is found in Wasielewski's Geyehivlitc r Instrnrnentnlrnu.sik itrr 1Gtco •uhrhunJort (Berlin. 1S7S). See TABLA TOTER, and for illustration see MUSICAL INSTRU MENTS.