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Fig. 93—Viola da gamba.
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Fig. 94.—Orchestral or 'French' Horns.
17th century, its members being slowly perfected
out of the earlier viols and gradually supplanting
them. The double-bass alone retained the old viol
contour. Violins were used perhaps before 1600,
certainly by Monteverdi in 1608. Tenors doubtless
followed soon, but were commonly combined
with the basses till about 1750. The violoncello
seems not to have been recognized till after 1700,
and not specially esteemed till towards 1800.
(b) The transverse flute was used by Lully in
1677, but not brought into wide acceptance till
about 1720. The oboe was the gradual derivative
of several forms of double-reed instruments that
were common in the Middle Ages, especially the
schalmey, but its mechanism was improved early
in the 17th century.
The cor anglais (possibly
a corruption of cor anglé)
was similarly
evolved from the tenor
pommer of olden time,
and the bassoon from
the bomhart. (The invention
of the bassoon
is doubtfully attributed
to Afranio of Ferrara
before 1539.) The clarinet,
with but one reed,
was invented by J. C.
Denner of Nuremberg
(d. 1707) just before
1700, but did not make
its way into the orchestra
till after 1750 and
was not common till
about 1775. Its mediæval
prototypes are obscure,
though one of them, the chalumeau, persisted
in use till the time of Gluck. (c) The horn is the
descendant of the mediæval hunting horn; its orchestral
use began early in the 18th century against
some opposition on account of its alleged harshness!
The trumpet, which differs from the horn
in mouthpiece and tube, is a military instrument
which came into orchestral use without much
change. The trombone, as its name implies, is a
big trumpet (tromba). The kettledrums or timpani
have an ancient pedigree, largely military.