788 Z I N Z I N or great zincke, with lowest note (iii.). In France the family was composed of the following instruments: (1) lowest note (a) ; SS = ffi n "~^ - S= (2) the haute- (a)* (&> * (0 <9 contre, with lowest note (6) ; (3) the tattle, with lowest note (c); and (4) the basse, with lowest note (d). Numbers (2), (3), and (4) in this last series were sometimes furnished with an open key, which, when the closed tube was length ened, augmented the compass downwards by a note. During the Middle Ages these instruments were in such favour that an important part was given ^ to them in all instrumental combinations. In Germany, in the 18th cen tury, they were used with trombones in the churches to accompany the chorales. There are examples of this em ployment in the sacred cantatas of J. S. Bach. Monte- verde made use of them in his opera Orfeo in 1608, as did Gluck in the opening chorus of his Orfeo, played at Vienna in 1762. The great vogue of the zincke is not to be accounted for by its musical qualities ; for it has a hard, hoarse, piercing sound, and it failed utterly in truth of intonation; and these natural defects could only be modified with great difficulty. It is now hard to under stand Mersenne s eulogium of the dessus, then more em ployed than the other cornets, "because it was used in vocal concerts and to make the treble with the organ, which is ravishing when one knows how to play it to perfection, like the Sieur Quiclet," and, farther on, "as to the property of its tone, it resembles the brilliancy of a sunbeam piercing the darkness, when it is heard among the voices in churches, cathedrals, or chapels." The serpent is another instrument of the cornet family, though not usually classed with it. Its construction and its acoustic principle are the same as those of the old cornet. It is, properly speaking, an enlarged cornet with one hole less, that which is stopped with the thumb. The mouth piece is fixed to the instrument by means of a long brass crook. A detailed account of the serpent and its con geners is given under OPHICLEIDE (vol. xvii. p. 778). The zincke or cornet has now entirely disappeared, and the rare specimens still met with are eagerly sought by collectors. The serpent has lasted longest, and even within the last twenty years has been used in many churches in the south of France. CORNET, CORNET A. PISTONS. At present the names of comet, cornet a pistons, and cornopean are given to an instrument that has no analogy whatever to the medi- teval cornet. It is a transformation of the old post-horn, with a shorter tube than that of the trumpet, and improved to such a de gree that its quality of tone is intermediate between the brightness of the trumpet and the softness of the nugel-horn or bugle with pis tons. The extent of the modern 35- cornet without pistons is com- fr - - b=g:=r*:=: prised within the second and fe -J ^ 1 ^ eighth of the harmonic scale *^ 2 3 4 5 s The seventh, being too flat, owing to a well-known acoustic pheno menon, is rarely used. The cornet a pistons of the highest pitch is in Bjj, and is used for a trumpet in that key. The notes written therefore sound a major second lower than the notation. It is furnished with three pistons, which lower the principal tube by a whole tone (1st piston), a half tone (2d piston), and a tone and a half (3d piston) respectively. It has already been explained under TROMBONE how the different pistons are combined to produce the entire chromatic compass of the instrument from the lowest limit -$- At first the cornet a pistons was S? to the 1~" supplied with a great many crooks, jgt highest 3^ There were crooks for A, Ab, G, F,
- E, Eb, and D ; but it is easy to un
derstand that, if the additional tubes put in communication with the principal column of air by means of the pistons arc adjusted for the key of B% the same additional tubes are too short to fulfil the same office for an instrument lowered to the extent of a minor sixth, as it would be for the key of D. Hence nearly all these crooks have disappeared, only those for Bb, A, and Ab being re tained. The invention of the modern cornet, or more exactly the application of pistons to the post-horn, is German, and dates from the first quarter of the 19th century, almost immediately after the invention of pistons by Stolzel and Blumel. It was introduced into Great Britain and France about 1830. There were at first only two pistons, that of the whole tone and that of the halftone, from which there naturally resulted gaps in the chromatic scale of the instrument. The history of the cornet is that of the improve ment brought about by pistons apart from their successive trans formations, and it has remained to the present time what it was when first invented. The great favour the cornet meets with is due to the facility with which it speaks, to the little fatigue it causes, and to the simplicity of its mechanism. We may, however, regret, from the point of view of art, that its success has been so great, and that it has ended by usurping in brass bands the place of the bugles, the quality of their tone being infinitely preferable as a foundation for an ensemble composed exclusively of brass in struments. Even the symphonic orchestra has not been secure from its intrusion. In fact, the cornet is taking the place of the trumpet nearly everywhere, and, if care is not taken, the latter will in a few years have completely disappeared, to the great detriment of or chestral tone colour ; for the quality of tone of the cornet can never be an adequate substitute for the brilliant and majestic sonorousness so characteristic of the trumpet. (V. M.) ZINZENDORF, NICOLAUS LUDWIG, COUNT OF ZINZEN- DORF AND POTTENDOEF (1700-1760), religious reformer, descended from an ancient family belonging to Lower Austria, was born on 26th May 1700, at Dresden. His family had taken the Protestant side in the Reformation struggle, and in consequence his grandfather, Max Eras mus, had abandoned his Austrian estates to settle near Nuremberg. Max s second son, George Louis, was a member of the Saxon cabinet and a personal friend of the Pietist Spener. George s second wife, Charlotte Justine, the mother of Nicolaus, who was an only son, was a daughter of Nicolas and Catherine von Gersdorf, who were also Pietist. The boy was thus born into a Pietist circle ; and Spener was his godfather. He never knew his father, who died six weeks after he was born. His mother married again when he was four years old, and he was educated under the charge of his pious and gifted grand mother, 1 Catherine von Gersdorf, to whom more than to any other he was indebted for the absorbing and enthusi astic piety which characterized him from childhood. His school days were spent at the ptedagogium at Halle amidst Pietist surroundings, and in 1716 he went to the univer sity of Wittenberg, to study law and fit himself for a diplomatic career. Three years later he was sent to travel in Holland, in France, and in various parts of Germany. These two years of wandering were employed by him in making the personal acquaintance of men distinguished for practical piety and belonging to a variety of churches. On his return he visited the branches of his family settled at Oberbirg and at Castell. During a lengthened visit at Castell he fell in love with his cousin Theodora ; but the widowed countess, her mother, objected to the marriage, and the lady afterwards became the wife of Count Henry of Reuss. Zinzendorf seems to have considered this dis appointment to be a call in providence to betake himself to some special work for God. He had previously, in deference to his family, who wished him to become a diplomatist, rejected the invitation of Francke to take Count Canstein s place in the Halle orphanage ; and he now resolved to settle down as a Christian landowner, spending his life on behalf of a pious tenantry. He bought Berthelsdorf from his grandmother, and selected John Andrew Rothe for pastor and John George Heiz for factor ; he married Erdmute Dorothea, sister of Count Henry of Reuss, and began living on his estate. His intention was to carry out into practice the Pietist ideas of Spener. He did not mean to found a new church or religious organization distinct from the Lutheranism of the land. 116 meant to create a Christian association, the members of which by preaching, by tract 1 A volume of Spiritual Songs, written by Zinzendorfs grandmother
Catherine, was published in 1729 by Anton.