Online Encyclopedia

CYMBALS (Fr. cymbales; Ger. Becken; I...

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V07, Page 690 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

CYMBALS (Fr. cymbales; Ger. Becken; Ital. piatti or cinelli)  , a
See also:
modern instrument of percussion of indefinite musical pitch, whereas the small ancient cup-shaped cymbals sounded a definite note . Cymbals consist of two thin round plates of an alloy containing 8 parts of copper to two of tin, each having a handle strap set in the little knob surmounting the, centre of the
See also:
plate . The sound is obtained not by clashing them against each other; but by rubbing their edges together by a sliding
See also:
movement . Sometimes a weird effect is obtained by suspending one of the cymbals by the strap and letting a drummer execute a roll upon it as it swings; or by holding a cymbal in the
See also:
left hand and striking it with the soft stick of the bass drum, which produces a sound akin to that of the tam-tam . All gradations of piano and forte can be obtained on the cymbals . The composer indicates his intention of letting the cymbals vibrate by " Let them vibrate," and the contrary effect by "
See also:
Damp the sound . To stop the vibrations the performer presses the cymbals against his chest, as soon as he has played a note . The duration of the vibration is indicated by the value of the note placed upon the staff; the name signifies nothing, since the pitch of the cymbals is indefinite . The instrument is played from the same
See also:
part of the score as the bass drum, unless otherwise indicated by senza piatti, or piatti soli if the bass drum is to remain silent . Although cymbals are not often required they form part of every orchestra; their chief use is for marking the rhythm and for producing weird, fantastic effects or adding military colour, and their s'hrill notes hold their own against a full orchestra playing fortissimo . Cymbals
See also:
ate specially suited for suggesting frenzy, fury or bacchanalian revels, as in the
See also:
Venus
See also:
music in Wagner's Tannhduser and Grieg's Peer Gynt suite . Damping gives a
See also:
suggestion of impending evil or tragedy .

The' timbre of the ancient cymbals is entirely different, more like that of small handbells or of the notes of the keyed

See also:
harmonica . They are not struck full against each other, but by one of their edges, and the note given out by them is higher in proportion as they are thicker and smaller . Berlioz in Romeo and Juliet scored for two pairs of cymbals, modelled on some ancient Pompeian
See also:
instruments no larger than the hand (some are no larger than bR- a
See also:
crown piece), and tuned to and The origin of the cymbals must be referred to prehistoric times . The ancient
See also:
Egyptian cymbals closely resembled our own . The
See also:
British Museum possesses two pairs, 5i in. in diameter, one of which was found in the coffin of the mummy of Ankhhape, a sacred musician; they are shown in the same case as the mummy, and have been reproduced by Carl Engel.' Those used by the Assyrians were both plate- and cup-shaped . The Greek cymbals were cup-or bell-shaped, and are to be seen in the hands of fauns and satyrs innumerable in sculptures and on painted vases . The word cymbal is derived from Kbgi3i (
See also:
Lat. cymba), a hollow vessel, and Kug$
See also:
aAa= small cymbals . During . the
See also:
middle ages the word cymbal was applied to the Glockenspiel, or peal of small bells, and later to the dulcimer, perhaps on account of the clear bell-like tone produced by the hammers striking the wire strings . After the introduction or invention of the keyed dulcimer or clavichord, and of the spinet, the word clavicymbal was used in the
See also:
Romance
See also:
languages to denote the varieties of spinet and harpsichord . Ancient cymbals are among the instruments played by King David and his musicians in the 9th-century illuminated MS. known as the Bible of Charles the Bald in the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris . (K .

End of Article: CYMBALS (Fr. cymbales; Ger. Becken; Ital. piatti or cinelli)
[back]
CYMA (Gr. Kvaa, wave)
[next]
CYNEGILS (d. 643)

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click and select "copy." Paste it into a website, email, or other HTML document.