A question for Jackrail’s Italianists: what would you call in Italian an instrument such as the famous “Queen Elizabeth Virginal”, and what would it have been called at the time? Spinetta, arpicordo, virginale, other?
The VAM site makes this distinction between vriginal and spinet (in English, of course):
A spinet is a small harpsichord with oblique strings. When placed in a box, without legs, it is known as a virginal.
Grazie!
Hi Dennis,
Usually today we Italians call that type of instrument “virginale ppoligonale” or “spinetta poligonale”, interchangeably. The “poligonale” bit is added to distinguish from the wing-shaped or square versions.
I think Baffo would have called it simply “spinetta” o “arpicordo”, as I don’t think the XVI-century Italians would have used the word “virginale”.
D
By the way, I’m puzzled by the description:
“ A spinet is a small harpsichord with oblique strings. When placed in a box, without legs, it is known as a virginal.”
The name of the thing changes if it’s placed in a box as opposed to the same thing put on legs? Or am I misunderstanding?
Is this an accepted definition?
Le 29/01/2022 10:15, Domenico Statuto via The Jackrail écrit :
By the way, I’m puzzled by the description:
“ A spinet is a small harpsichord with oblique strings. When placed in
a box, without legs, it is known as a virginal.”The name of the thing changes if it’s placed in a box as opposed to
the same thing put on legs? Or am I misunderstanding?
Is this an accepted definition?
I was also surprised by this, which is why I thought it was worth quoting.
I’d be interested in hearing other opinions on these two terms.
Le 29/01/2022 09:58, Domenico Statuto via The Jackrail écrit :
https://jackrail.space/u/domenico.statuto
Hi Dennis,
Usually today we Italians call that type of instrument “virginale
ppoligonale” or “spinetta poligonale”, interchangeably. The
“poligonale” bit is added to distinguish from the wing-shaped or
square versions.
I think Baffo would have called it simply “spinetta” o “arpicordo”, as
I don’t think the XVI-century Italians would have used the word
“virginale”.
Many thanks, Domenico. So it seems that the “safest” word would be
spinetta, since it covers both grounds.
In his encyclopedia of the arts (ca. 1460), Paulus Paulirinus (Paul Zidek) of Prague gives a very interesting list of musical instruments, where along with other intriguing instruments he mentions the virginal as a clavichord-shaped instrument producing what we would now call a muselaar-type sound. The virginal is the last keyboard instrument mentioned, so it may have been a more recent innovation. According to Grove this is the earliest reference to the virginal. Legs are not mentioned for any of the instruments described.
Here’s the passage in Latin: Virginale est instrumentum habens formam in modum clavicordii habens cordas metallinas facientes sonoritatem clavicimbali habens choros chordarum triginta duos percussione digittorum in clavos pereminentes et in tonos et semitonia resonans suaviter virginale dictum quod uti virgo dulcorat mitibus et suavissimis vocibus
Paulus distinguishes between the clavichord (a small box oblong in shape; two strings per note, a very good practice and learning instrument), clavicymbalum (shape not mentioned, defined by its plucking of metal strings, similar in sound to a clavichord but louder and sweeter), dulce melos (oblong in shape; has a cavity across which strings pass, possibly this is created by an upper soundboard which clavichords don’t yet have; sound produced by pieces of wood or hardened quill), various types of harps and lyre (arfa, cithara, sistrum/smiczocz, wing harp), then organ and portative organ before getting to the virginal.
Paraphrasing the Latin passage quoted above, a virginal is an oblong box like the clavichord, with 32 metal strings “played by fingers via projecting chromatic keys” and a specially sweet clavicymbalum-type sound - and is called virginal because "like a maiden, it “sweetens” [the ear] “with delicate and most sweet sounds”.
I have the impression that clavicymbali/harpsichords didn’t have their legs yet in 1460, but were played eg. while sitting at a table. As they got longer to include more notes, harpsichords would have needed legs first because of their shape, while a virginal, clavicytherium or spinet could still be rested on a table. Unfortunately Paulus doesn’t mention plucking points on his sweet virginal, but the delicate tone seems to be an important part of the definition.
PS, on the distinction between “spinet” and “virginal”: the Frisian musician Claas Douwes used Spinett for the brighter-sounding virginals. Those plucking closer to the nut (with the keyboard on the left) he called “spinett” and the darker-sounding centrally plucked ones (with the keyboard to the right) “muselar”. (source: Grove entry s.v. “Spinett”). Douwes’ book, printed and reprinted in 1699, 1722 and 1773, seems to be the only surviving source for the term “muselar”.
I wonder if there might be any conceivable link between this distinction and Paulirinus’ contrast between the sounds of clavicymbalum and virginale, even though the texts are 240 years apart and the muselar we know had not yet evolved in 1460. The word moeselar “bagpipe” might suggest a set of associations quite different from the fluting of a young girl’s voice, but bagpipes too can be sweet.