CELLO, a contraction of Violoncello.
CEMBAL D'AMORE translated is 'harpsichord of love,' but according to Adlung ('Musica Mechanica') this instrument did not belong to the clavicembalo or harpsichord genus, but to that of the clavichord. The strings, he states, were as long again as in the ordinary clavichord, and the tangents which produced the tone from the strings, instead of touching them near to their left-hand terminations, made the impact exactly in the middle of their whole length between the bridges, of which there were two instead of one as in the clavichord, and two soundboards of unequal forms and dimensions. Both halves of the strings were thus set in vibration simultaneously, which necessitated the use of a different damping contrivance to the simple one of the clavichord. In the cembal d'amore the strings lay upon the damping cloth, instead of its being woven between them, and small wooden uprights supported it. The strings were therefore damped when at rest; when raised upwards by the tangents they were free to vibrate, and remained so as long as the keys were pressed down. The form of a cembal d'amore was that of an English spinet with the keyboard to the right hand of the player instead of the left, thus reversing the extension of the instrument laterally. Adlung attributed to it more tone than the ordinary clavichord, and more capability of bebend effect by the gently reiterated movement of the key. But too much pressure on the key would affect the intonation as in a clavichord. In estimating its dynamic power he places the cembal d'amore far behind the pianoforte, though beyond the clavichord. Mattheson (Critica Musica) refers to it and to a parallel between the Florentine (pianoforte) and Freiberg (cembal d'amore) in a bantering tone. Gottfried Silbermann of Freiberg (1683–1753) invented it, and Hähnel of Meissen attempted to improve it by adding a 'Celestine' register. Others, as Oppelmann and Hasse of Hamburg, made the instrument.
Through the even series of overtones being banished by the contact with the first, or node at the half length of the string, the quality of tone or timbre must have tended towards that of the clarinet. The Rev. J. R. Cotter, of Donoughmore Rectory, Cork, between the years 1840 and 1865 endeavoured to obtain this effect from a pianoforte which he had constructed in Messrs. Broadwoods' workshops, by making a 'striking place' at the middle of the vibrating length of string. In this, the Lyrachord, as he named it, the clarinet quality was a prominent characteristic. [App. p.584 adds that "the instrument should be regarded as a double clavichord, the two instruments being separated by the tangents."]
[ A. J. H. ]
CEMBALO or Cimbalo (Italian), a dulcimer, an old European name of which, with unimportant phonetic variations, was Cymbal. According to Mr. Carl Engel this ancient instrument is at the present day called cymbaly by the Poles, and cymbalom by the Magyars. The derivation of cembalo is from the Greek κύμβη (Latin cymba), a hollow vessel; and with the Greeks κύμβαλα were small cymbals, a larger form of this ringing instrument being well known in modern military bands. These cymbals and bells in the middle ages were regarded as closely allied, and rows of bells of different sizes, tintinnabula or glockenspiel, were also called cymbala. Virdung (1511) names zymbeln and glocken (cymbals and bells) together. It was most likely the bell-like tone of the wire strings struck by the hammers of the dulcimer that attracted to it the name of cymbal or cembalo. It is explained here, however, not only for the meaning dulcimer, but for the frequent use of the word 'cembalo' by composers who wrote figured basses, and its employment by them as an abbreviation of clavicembalo. The dulcimer, or cembalo, with keys added, became the clavicembalo. In course of time the first two syllables being, for convenience or from idleness in speaking or writing, dropped, 'cembalo' also was used to designate the keyed instrument, that is, the clavicembalo or harpsichord—just as cello in the present day frequently stands for violoncello. In the famous Passacaille of J. S. Bach, 'cembalo' occurs where we should now write ' manual,' there being a separate pedal part. [See Pedal.] But we know from Forkel that Bach used a double 'flügel' or clavicembalo, having two keyboards and obbligato pedals, as well as the organ with pedals. There is a story in the Decamerone of Boccaccio of one Dion, who being asked to sing, said he would if he had a cembalo. The early date of this quotation (1352–3) has led to much difference of opinion among musical authorities as to the instrument that was meant. Burney leans to a tambour de basque, a tambourine, which by some caprice had been designated, some time or other, cembalo. Dr. Rimbault (Pianoforte, p. 36) maintains that it was a small clavichord, but for this explanation the date is almost too early. The opinion of Fétis, that it was a dulcimer, is probably the true one. [Harpsichord.]
[ A. J. H. ]
CENERENTOLA, LA, opera on the story of Cinderella, by Rossini, libretto by Feretti; produced at the Teatro Valle in Rome at the carnival, 1817, at the King's Theatre, London, (much mutilated), Jan. 8, 1820, and at the Théatre des Italiens, Paris, June 8, 1822. Its favourite numbers are 'Miei rampolli,' 'Un segreto d'importanza,' and 'Non piu mesta.'
'Cinderella … with the music by Rossini' was produced in English at Covent Garden, April 13, 1830; but it was a mere pasticcio, the music being made up from 'Cenerentola,' 'Armida,' 'Maometto,' and 'William Tell.' No better adaptation has yet been made.
[ G. ]
CERONE, Domenico Pietro, priest, born at Bergamo, 1566, migrated to Spain in 1592, and entered the chapel of Philip II in 1593. In 1608 he left Spain for Naples, where he belonged to the Chapel Royal, and was living in 1613. His claim to mention is his treatise 'El Melopeo,' a folio volume, in Spanish, of 22 books and 1160 pages of small print (Naples, 1613), a work, according to the account of Fétis, valuable in some respects, but tedious, confused, and unequal to an astonishing degree. It is founded on the
