an organ stop which causes the fifth above a given note to sound as well as the note belonging to the key which is pressed down. From the note and its fifth there arises a differential tone an octave below the note. By this mixture an organ with 16-ft. pipes can be made to sound as if with 32-ft. pipes ; th a t is the pitch of the lowest note, but with far less energy than if properly produced with a 32-ft. pipe. T. E.
Archive | Q
QUARTETASSOCIATION, THE(1852-1855)
A Society for the performance of chamber music, started in 1852 by Sainton, Cooper, Hill and Piatti, with such eminent artists as Sterndale Bennett, Mile. Clauss, Mme. Pleyel, Arabella Goddard, Pauer, Halle, etc., a t the pianoforte. They gave six concerts each season a t Willis's Rooms, but ended with the third season. The programmes were selected with much freedom, embracing English composers-Bennett, Ellerton, Loder, Macfarren, Mellon, etc. ; foreign musicians then but seldom heard-Schumann, Cherubini, Hummel, etc., and Beethoven's posthumous quartets. The pieces were analysed by G. A. Macfarren. O.
QUINTAFALSA
(False fifth). The forbiddon interval between Mi in the Hexachordon durum, and Fa in the Hexachordon naturale- the diminished fifth of modern music. (See Mi c o n t r a F a .) w . s. r .
QUASI
as if-i.e. an approach to. ' Andante quasi allegretto ' or ' Allegretto quasi vivace ' means a little quicker than the one and not so quick as the other-answering to poco allogretto, or piu tosto allegro. o.
QUINTE
the name given in France, during the 17th and part of the 18th centuries, to the now obsolete five-stringed tenor viol, and also to one of the members of the violin family, ' Quinte,' or ' taille de violon,' the modern socalled ' alto ' (English, viola). The origin of the word ' Quinte ' may be traced to the fact th a t its strings were tuned a fifth lower than those of the violin, or, more probably, it originated with the instrumental writing in 5 parts, then usual. When 4-part writing came into use, the word ' Quinte ' was retained, whilst 'taille,' became obsolete. The instrument retained its old name in France until the beginning of the 19th century, when it was replaced by the Italian ' alto.' Five-stringed viols were amongst the earliest in use. Praetorius (Organographia, 1619) says they were employed in ancient times, and Agricola (Musica instrumentalis, 1532) gives the tuning of the five-stringed viols then in vogue. Although composers of vocal musio during the 16th century not infrequently called their tenor pa rt ' Quinte ' or ' Quintus,' viols of th a t denomination remained under the title of tenor until a later period ; and probably the first instance where ' Quintus ' designates a musical instrument occurs in the overture to Monteverdi's ' Orfeo ' (Venice, 1609-13). L'Etat de France, in 1683, gives the name of ' Fossart,' who played the ' Quinte de violon ' in the Queen's band, and in 1712-13 the Paris opera orchestra included two ' Quintes ' amongst tho instruments. In 1773 there wero four ' Quintes ' amongst the musicians of tho ' Grande Chapelle,' and ' Quintes ' were employed in all the orchestras. Je an -Jacque s Rousseau (Dictionnaire de musique, Paris, 1708) gives a good deal of information concerning the ' Quinte.' Under ' Viole ' he says th a t in France the ' Quinte ' and the ' Taille ' (a large six-stringed tenor viol), contrary to the Italian custom, played the same part, and under ' Partie ' mentions th a t the 1 Quinte ' and ' Taille ' were united under the name ' Viole.' The highest and lowest notes of these instruments, according to the same writer, were- & W ^ Quinte or Viola. Taille. from which it is to be inferred th a t the tuning was the same as th a t given by Agricola in 1532, i.e. Q>) l i Alto an d Tenor. In England the two tenor viols which formed a pa rt of the ' Chests of six Viols,' so much in vogue during the 17th and beginning of tho 18th centuries, were probably identical with the ' Quinte ' and ' Taille ' ; but the French title was never adopted in this country. Tho bulky size of the ' Quinte ' rendered it such an awkward instrument to play upon th a t its dimensions gradually diminished from century to century, and when the violin came into more general use, it melted into the ' Haute Contre ' (alto viol). In the second half of the 18th century it developed into a tenor violin with four strings, and adopted the C clef on tho third line which was formerly the clef of the 'Haute Contre' or alto viol. (See V iol F ami ly.) B i b l .-A q r i c o l a (Martinus), Musica instrumentalis', P r a e t o r i u s , 0 rganoqraphia ; J . - J . R o u s s e a u , Dictionnaire de musique ; L a B o r d e , Essai su r la musique" L a u r e n t G r i l l e t , Les Ancetres du loUm; 1U H T, T U Violin. E A . f t d d n _ M > L . p .
QUATREFILSAYMON, LES
operacomique ; words by Leuven and Brunswick, music by Balfe. Produced Opera-Comique, Paris, July 15, 1844; Princess's Theatre, London, as ' The Castle of Aymon, or The Four Brothers,' in 3 acts, Nov. 20, 1844. o.
QUINTET
(Fr. quintette; Ger. Quintett; Ital. quintetto), a composition for five instruments or voices. The ideal instrumental quintet is th a t for strings alone. I t generally consists of two violins, two violas and violoncello. As the tone of the violoncello is far more powerful than th a t of the viola, this combination is considered superior to th a t in which the numbers of viola and violoncello are reversed, as in the notable work of Schubert. A double-bass has been tried in the 34 quintets of Onslow; here, however, one begins to get outside the domain of true chamber-music and to approach th a t of the small orchestra. Dvorak's op. 77 is for this combination. Beethoven left one quintet (two violas) and Brahms two. The quintets of Parry, Schillings and Vaughan Williams may also be mentioned. The addition of the pianoforte to the string qua rte t dates from the ' romantics,' and the rich effect of combining two distinct tonecolourings, each one capable of harmonic independence, has been widely exploited since the famous example of Schumann appeared. This form of quintet is very popular, and many composers have written them. The list includes Bax, Brahms, Dohnanyi, Dvorak, Elgar, Faure, Franck, Goossens, Hindemith, Pfitzner, Reger, Scott, Stanford, Tovey and Turina. Schubert's ' Trout ' quintet is for piano, violin, viola, violoncello and double-bass. Other combinations have been employed. There are quintets for clarinet and strings of Mozart, Brahms, Holbrooke, Howells, Reger and Weber, and one for horn and strings of M ozart; Weingartncr has written for clarinet, strings and pianoforte, and for two oboes, two violins and violoncello ; there are harp and strings quintets of Bax and Harrison, pianoforte strings and horn of Draeseke, pianoforte and wind of Beethoven (or for pianoforte and strings), Mozart, Rubinstein and Spohr, and for wind alone of Fibich and Hindemith. (See C h a m b e r M u s i c .) The addition of another p a r t to the vocal qua rte t has a singularly rich effect, the nature of th a t p a r t in opera necessarily depending upon the characters assembled a t the moment where such an ensemble becomes possible. There are two quintets in Mozart's ' Die Zauberflote,' for example, in which three women's voices are supported by a tenor and b a s s ; the same arrangement occurs in Spohr's ' Azor and Zemira,' while in Wagner's ' Die Meistersinger ' there are two tenors. Compare songs of four and five parts in the E n g l i s h M a d r i g a l S c h o o l . n . c . g .
QUAVER
(Fr. croche; Ger. Achtelnote, whence the American term, Eighth note ; Ital. croma) : half the value of a crotchet, and the eighth part of a semibreve. I t is written, when single J*, when joined I ts rest is -|.
QUINTON
a five-stringed T r e b l e V iol. (See P L A T E L X X X V I I . No. 6; also V iol, T r e b l e 3.)
QUADRILLE
(Ger. Kontretanz), a dance executed by an equal number of couples drawn up in a square. The name (which is derived from the Ital. squadra) was originally not solely applied to dances, but was used to denote a small company or squadron of horsemen, from three to fifteen in number, magnificently mounted and caparisoned to take pa rt in a tournament or carousal.1 The name was next given to four, six, eight or twelve dancers, dressed alike, who danced in one or more companies in the elaborate French ballets 2 of the 18th century. The introduction of ' contredanses ' into the ballet, which first took place in the fifth act of Rousseau's ' Fetes de Polymnie ' (1745), and the consequent popularity of these dances, are the origin of the dance which, a t first known as the ' Quadrille de contredanses,' was soon abbreviated into ' quadrille.' The quadrille was settled in its present shape a t the beginning of the 19th century, and it has undergone but little change, save in the simplification of its steps. I t was very popular in Paris during the Consulate and the first Empire, and after the fall of Napoleon was brought to England by Lady Jersey, who in 1815 danced it for the first time a t Almack's 3 with Lady Harriet Butler, Lady Susan Ryde, Miss Montgomery, Count St. Aldegonde, Montgomery, Montague and Standish. The English took it up with the same eagerness which they displayed with regard to the polka in 1845, | and the caricatures of the period abound with I amusing illustrations of the quadrille mania. I t became popular in Berlin in 1821. The quadrille consists of five distinct parts, which bear the name of the ' contredanses ' to which they owe their origin. No. 1 is ' Le Pantalon,' the name of which is derived from a song which began as follows : ' Le pantalon De Madelon N'a pas de fond,* and was adapted to the dance. The music consists of 32 bars in 6 -8 time. No. 2 is * L'Ete ,' the name of a very difficult and graceful ' contredanse ' popular in the year 1800 ; it consists of 32 bars in 2-4 time. No. 3 is ' La Poule ' (32 bars in 6 -8 time) which dates from the year 1802. For No. 4 (32 bars in 2 4 time) two figures are danced, ' La Trenise,' named after the celebrated dancer Trenitz, and ' La Pastourelle,' perhaps a survival of the old ' Pastorale.' No. 5 - ' Finale ' - consists of three parts repeated four times. In all these i Compare th e use of th e Spanish equivalent, euadrilla, for th e p a r ty of four banderilleros associated witn each torero in a bull-tight, and the familiar name of a card-game once very popular. * The Ballets were divided into five acts, each a c t into three, six, nine, or twelve * entr ie s ,' and each ' entree ' was performed by one or more ' quadrilles ' of dancers. 3 See Captain Gronow'e Reminticencet (1861), figures (except the Finale, which sometimes ends with a coda) the dance begins a t the ninth bar of the music, tho first eight bars being repeated a t the end by way of conclusion. The music of quadrilles is scarcely ever original; operatic and popular tunes are strung together, and even the works of the great composers are sometimes made use of.1 Tho quadrilles of Musard, with some by Strauss, are almost the only exceptions. w. b. s. The ' Quadrille des Lanciers ' was invented in 1856 a t Paris by the dancer Laborde. I t is composed of five figures : ' les tiroirs,' ' les lignes,' 'lesmoulinets,' 'les visites,' 'les lanciers,' tho latter giving its name to the whole quadrille. Each figure consists of 24 bars, except the third one with only 16. M. L. p.