Page 40 - All About History - Issue 28-15

Through History

MUSICALINSTRUMENTS

The sitar is still
People have been taught to players in
its home nations
but the one thing

SISTRUM 2500 BCE

This percussion instrument
was first used by the Ancient
Egyptians in religious
ceremonies, particularly
in the worship of the cow
goddess Hathor, whose head
and horns it was meant to
resemble. Its name derives
from the Greek ‘seistron’,
The banjo
meaning ‘to shake’, and helped develop
lot further down the timeline. Originally
when doing so the small the bluegrass
developed from the lute, sitars are usually style of music BANJO 13TH CENTURY
rings or loops of metal on its
around four feet in length and can possess as
movable crossbars produced Historians have credited the banjo
many as 20 strings, some for plucking, some
anything from a soft clank as first originating in sub-Saharan
to accentuate ambient notes. It’s an unusual
to a loud jingling sound. As Africainthe13thcentury,andwas
yet iconic instrument with a truly unique
well as worship, the sistrum broughttotheWestbyslaveswhen
sound that is instantly recognisable. In many
was used in dances, to avert theNewWorldcametofruition.
cultures and musical movements, the sitar
flooding and to ward off Witness accounts describe the banjo
still thrives today and is taught in specialist
evil spirits. Sistra are still beingplayedinaduowitha
schools in Southern Asia.
used today in the Ethiopian fiddle in 1847, cementing the
Orthodox Church. beginnings of what we
knowasatraditional
Bartolomeo bluegrass band that,
di Francesco for many, epitomises
Cristofori
The traditional 1655-1732, ITALIAN the sound of the
cello is a key Cristofori invented the piano while Deep South of
figure in any working as a harpsichord maker. As with North America.
string quartet many of his ilk, his invention wasn’t
or orchestral particularly widely acknowledged The instrument
arrangement during his lifetime, although grew in popularity
its influence is plain to see among black and
throughout history. white communities in
the years preceding the
civilwar,andintheyears
after continued to develop in both
The goddess The clarinet caught
Isis was often the eye of Mozart design and tone, with later models
depicted holding a in 1791 – he was adding a fifth, shorter string.
sistrum the first composer
to include it CLARINET 1690
in a concerto The modern clarinet was invented by
arrangement a manufacturer of woodwind and reed
CELLO 1520 instruments named Johann Christoph
Although initially referred to as the bass violin, Denner, who was based in Nuremberg.
the cello began to find fame in 17th-century He and his son developed the clarinet
Italy, reputedly featuring for the first time as the from an earlier single-reed instrument
‘violoncello’ in the sonatas of Italian composer called a chalumeau, and its popularity
Giulio Cesare Arresti. In the many years since then, soon grew among composers of the
the cello has been featured in timeless works by 18th century. Mozart was the first
Bach, Brahms and Haydn, forming one fourth of composer to utilise the clarinet in
the traditional string quartet and enjoying frequent a concerto arrangement in 1791 and
use in modern solo compositions that require a since then it has become a staple of
more sombre, ambient feel. many a modern composition.
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