Antique Musical Instruments and Their Players: 152 Plates from Bonanni's 18th-Century "Gabinetto Armonico"

Introduction and captions by Frank Ll. Harrison and Joan Rimmer.

Filippo Bonanni's great "Gabinetto Armonico", published in its final form in 1723, is in many ways the culmination of Renaissance research into the history and development of musical instruments -the science of organology. It summarized an unmatched collection of data and illustrated contemporary and ancient instruments in a series of 152 engravings. Modern scholarship has turned up errors in Bonanni's text, as might be expected, but his remarkable plates remain a monument to both art and music.

Here, all 152 engravings (by Arnold van Westerhout) from the 1723 edition are beautifully reproduced in their first reprinting in nearly 250 years. A wide range of Western and non-Western instruments, both "serious" and folk, are included, from standard orchestral instruments to such unusual ones as the Neapolitan tricche-ballache, the zampogna, the tromba marina, the tié zú (cup-shaped cymbals), beggar's clappers, a number of different rattles, the Indian vina, a buzzer, panpipes, instruments of the ancient Classical world, and a dozen of other horns, drums, gongs, bells, and stringed instruments. Printed only one to a page these plates constitute a very beautiful collection as well as an irreplaceable musicological document. Each plate shows the instrument being played, so you see not only what it looked like, but how it was held, its relative size, and so on.

Accompanying the places, on facing pages, are brand new captions specially prepared by Frank Ll. Harrison and Joan Rimmer. These identify the instrument and place it historically, and provide information on origin, distribution, sound, mode of playing, and so on. Lots of valuable new material, the product of the latest reseach, is incorporated into this text, making it as important to scholars and student as it is fascinating to musical laymen.

CONTENIDO:

Introduction
List of plates

Plates

Index