The orchestra and its instruments . ation. Although they were called the Twenty-Four Violins,the whole violin family was represented. There wereviolins, altos, tenors, basses and double-bass viols;and they played in four-part, or five-part harmony. All these parts sounding together, wrote Mer-senne, make a symphony so precise and agreeablethat whoever hears the * Twenty-Four Violins ofthe King play all kinds of airs and dances, confesseswillingly that he never heard such suave and deli-cious harmonies before. Mersenne also remarked that the deeper instru-ments, particularly the basses, were mu
The orchestra and its instruments . ation. Although they were called the Twenty-Four Violins,the whole violin family was represented. There wereviolins, altos, tenors, basses and double-bass viols;and they played in four-part, or five-part harmony. All these parts sounding together, wrote Mer-senne, make a symphony so precise and agreeablethat whoever hears the * Twenty-Four Violins ofthe King play all kinds of airs and dances, confesseswillingly that he never heard such suave and deli-cious harmonies before. Mersenne also remarked that the deeper instru-ments, particularly the basses, were much more sono-rous and stronger in tone than the violins. We know of some of their names. There wasConstantin; there was Lazarin; there was Bocan;lthere was Foucard; and there was Leger. What could be more elegant than Constantinsplaying? cries Mersenne. What could be warmerand more fiery than Bocans style? What could bemore ingenious and delicate than the diminutions ofLazarin and Foucard? And if you add Legers bass 1 See page
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectmusicalinstruments
