TANCREDI. An opera seria in 2 acts; the libretto by Rossi, after Voltaire, music by Rossini. Produced at the Teatro Fenice, Venice, Feb. 6, 1813. In Italian at the Théâtre des Italiens, Paris; and in French (Castil Blaze) at the Odeon. In England, in Italian, at King's Theatre, May 4, 1820. Revived in 1837, Pasta; 1841, Viardot; 1848, Alboni; and July 22, 29, 1856, for Johanna Wagner. Tancredi contains the famous air 'Di tanti palpiti.'
[ G. ]
TANGENT, in a clavichord, is a thick pin of brass wire an inch or more high, flattened out towards the top into a head one-eighth of an inch or so in diameter. It is inserted in the back end of the key, and being pushed up so as to strike the pair of strings above it, forms at once a hammer for them and a temporary bridge, from which they vibrate up to the soundboard bridge. In the clavichord no other means beyond this very primitive contrivance is used for producing the tone, which is in consequence very feeble, although sweet. The common damper to all the strings, a strip of cloth interwoven behind the row of tangents, has the tendency to increase this characteristic of feebleness, by permitting no sympathetic reinforcement.
In all clavichords made anterior to about 1725 there was a fretted (or gebunden) system, by which the keys that struck, what from analogy with other stringed instruments may be called open strings, were in each octave F, G, A, B♭, C, D, E♭. With the exception of A and D (which were always independent), the semitones were obtained by the tangents of the neighbouring keys, which fretted or stopped the open strings at shorter distance, and produced F♯, G♯, B♮, C♯, and E♮. Owing to this contrivance it was not possible, for example, to sound F and F♯ together by putting down the two contiguous keys; since the F♯ alone would then sound. We have reason to believe that the independence of A and D is as old as the chromatic keyboard itself, which we know for certain was in use in 1426. Old authorities may be quoted for the fretting of more tangents than one; and Adlung, who died in 1762, speaks of another fretted division which left E♮ and B independent, an evident recognition of the natural major scale which proves the late introduction of this system.
The tangent acts upon the strings in the same way that the bridging or fretting does upon the simple monochord, sharpening the measured distances which theory demands by adding tension. Pressing the key too much therefore makes the note sound intolerably out of tune. An unskilful player would naturally err in this direction, and Emanuel Bach cautions against it. In his famous essay[1] on playing he describes an effect special to the tangent, unattainable by either jack or hammer, viz. the Beben or Bebung, which was a tremolo or vibrato obtained by a tremulous pressure upon the key with the fleshy end of the finger. It was marked with a line and dots like the modern mezzo staccato, but being upon a single note, was, of course, entirely different.
The article Clavichord is to be corrected by the foregoing observations.
[ A. J. H. ]
TANNHÄUSER UND DER SÄNGERKRIEG AUF WARTBURG. An opera in 3 acts; words and music by Wagner. Produced at Dresden, Oct. 20 [App. p.798 "Oct. 19"], 1845. At Cassel, by Spohr, after much resistance from the Elector, early in 1853. At the Grand Opera, Paris (French translation by Ch. Nuitter), March 13, 1861. It had three representations only.[2] At Covent Garden, in Italian, May 6, 1876. The overture was first performed in England by the Philharmonic Society (Wagner conducting), May 14, 1855. Schumann saw it Aug. 7, 1847, and mentions it in his 'Theaterbüchlein' as 'an opera which cannot be spoken of briefly. It certainly has an appearance of genius. Were he but as melodious as he is clever he would be the man of the day.'
[ G. ]
TANS'UR, William, who is variously stated to have been born at Barnes, Surrey, in 1699, and at Dunchurch, Warwickshire, in 1700, and who was successively organist at Barnes, Ewell, Leicester, and St. Neot's, compiled and edited several collections of psalm tunes, and was author of some theoretical works. The principal of his several publications are 'The Melody of the Heart,' 1737; 'A Compleat Melody, or, The Harmony of Sion,' 1735 and 1738; 'Heaven on Earth, or, The Beauty of Holiness,' 1738; 'A New Musical Grammar,' 1746; in which he styles himself, 'William Tans'ur Musico Theorico'; 'The Royal Melody compleat, or, The New Harmony of Zion,' 1754 and 1755; 'The Royal Psalmodist compleat' (no date); 'The Psalm Singer's Jewel,' 1760; 'Melodia Sacra,' 1772; and 'The Elements of Musick displayed,' 1772. He died at St. Neot's, Oct. 7, 1783. He had a son who was a chorister at Trinity College, Cambridge. [App. p.798 "Add that he was the son of Edward and Joan Tanzer of Dunchurch, and was baptized Nov. 6, 1706."]
[ W. H. H. ]
TAN-TA-RA. A word which occurs in English hunting songs, and is evidently intended to imitate the note of the horn. One of the earliest instances is in 'The hunt is up,' a song ascribed by Chappell to Henry VIII's time:—
The horses snort to be at the sport,
The dogs are running free,
The woods rejoice at the merry noise
Of hey tantara tee ree!
Another is 'News from Hide Park,' of Charles II's time:—
One evening a little before it was dark,
Sing tan-ta-ra-ra-ra tan-ti-vee, etc.
- ↑ 'Versuch über die wahre Art Klavier zu spielen,' 1753, another edition, 1780, and republished by Schelling, 1857.
- ↑ For the extraordinary uproar which it created see Prosper Merimée's 'Lettres à une Inconnue,' ii. 151–3. One of the jokes was 'qu'on s'ennuie aux récitatifs, et qu'on se tanne aux airs.' Even a man of sense like Merimée says that he 'could write something as good after hearing his cat walk up and down over the keys of the piano.' Berlioz writes about it in a style which is equally discreditable to his taste and his penetration (Correspondance inedite, Nos. ciii to cvi).
