Accession No
6535
Brief Description
2-string, 1-metre monochord for experiments in acoustics, Austrian, c. 1900
Origin
Austria-Hungary [now Austria]; Vienna [attributed based on association with Wh.6534]
Maker
Class
sound; demonstration; physics
Earliest Date
1875
Latest Date
1925
Inscription Date
Material
wood (pine?); metal (brass; steel); ivory?
Dimensions
110cm (l) x 11cm (w) x 17cm (h)
Special Collection
Provenance
Purchased from Dorotheum Auction House, Palais Dorotheum, A-1010 Wien, Dorotheergasse 17, Austria. From Antique Scientific Instruments and Models sale, 11/11/2013, lot no. 186.
Inscription
“AK6-10
Monochord” [Printed on (modern) label on side]
Description Notes
2-string, 1-metre monochord for experiments in acoustics, Austrian, c. 1900.
Hollow pine oblong box on one shaped foot (second foot is missing). Box has two circular holes cut into top plate. Box has two steel pins on steel plate attached to top of box at one end, to which strings would have been attached (one string missing - one steel string present). Affixed to the other end, opposite one pin, is one brass wheel (3cm diameter) held in a clamp that allow it to rotate freely. The wheel is grooved so that it can hold a single string (but it is on this side that the string is missing). Next to the brass wheel, opposite the other pin, is a small brass ring screwed into the side of the box’s end. The remaining string is tied in tension between this ring and the pin opposite it.
Affixed to the top of the box at the same end as the pins is one shaped wooden “bridge” for holding strings in tension - this bridge contains a strip of thin, hard, white material at its apex, which is most likely ivory. There is also a corresponding bridge for the opposite end of the monochord. Also present is a loose shaped wooden “bridge” designed to sit underneath the strings and slide freely along the top surface of the box. This too contains an ivory (?) strip at its apex.
The top surface of the box is graduated with an inscribed scale that divides the length between the two bridges into 36 equally spaced segments (each graduated segment is about 27mm), running from 0 (at pin-bridge end) to 36 (at ring-bridge end) and marked with reference numbers every 3 divisions. Painted in red ink on the side of the monochord is “S9” and written in black ink on top, in the recess that would hold the missing bridge, is “K10” and beneath this, more faintly, “8”. Affixed to the side of the box is a white sticker with “A 12” written on it. This has been stuck on top of an older sticket with obscured German text on it.
Condition: fair (one string and one foot missing).
References
Events
Description
The monochord is an ancient scientific and musical instrument, invented in Greece in c. 500 BC, used for the investigation and demonstration of musical phenomena.
The monochord consists of a metal string stretched over a hollow resonating body. Using a movable bridge the string can be divided into two portions whose lengths may be set at any ratio to give various pitches and musical intervals when plucked. According to tradition, the ancient Greek philosopher Pythagoras (fl. 4th century BC) discovered the correspondence between simple ratios of string length and consonant musical intervals. Dividing the string into sections in the ratios 2:1 or 3:2, for example, yields the intervals of a perfect octave and perfect fifth respectively. Pythagoras and his followers believed that the whole universe could be understood in terms of musical harmonies and simple mathematical ratios. Until at least the 17th century astronomers such as Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) believed that the planets moved in such a way as to produce a kind of cosmic harmony. Astronomy and the study of musical harmony thus went hand in hand and music was considered a proper part of science throughout the medieval and into the early modern period.
The monochord was used as a musical teaching tool in the 11th century by Guido of Arezzo (c. 990-1050), the musician who invented the first useful form of musical notation. By laying out the notes of a scale on a monochord, he was able to teach choir boys how to sing chant and also to detect incorrect chanting. A monochord-like instrument called the Tromba Marina was used for practical music making between the 15th and 18th centuries. The monochord was also used for tuning instruments and was still in use in the 19th century for tuning organs. More commonly, the monochord was, and still is, used for demonstration purposes.
Created by: Torben Rees [adapted from ‘Explore’ article]
FM:47046
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