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Tho DanJo'M Sncccjpor.Women lira worse than the ancient Athenians in their lovo for a now thiDg. What they love an'I swear by ono season thov will abandon the next, and nothing that is old, from a bonnet to a coqict, finds favor in their eyes. There is tho banjo. Three years ago every other girl in tho country had one strung by a yellow ribbon about her neck and was thrumming tho strings and singing darky melodies with all her might and main. Most of them never learned to ploy at all; they took u lesson or two, learned tho scales and fragments of about three tunes, and then it languished until they would read in tho Loudon lettr/3 of- how Notica Yznnga saved a dullevening and delighted tho Princo of Wales by throwing horself into tho breach with her banjo, and then tho young women took to earnest study again for about three weeks. But it has gono to bopolci* limbo ut last, beyond mvival. Its successor is a mandolin.No self respecting girl is without one. With bluet or copper colored ribbons, instead of yellow, it is a dainty tiling, all shell end pearl Sue studies assiduously under the tutelage of tho picturesque, dark eyed Italian, Signor Ricca, and learns from him how tograsp and manipulate the littlo oval bit of tortoiso slid!, with which the strings are swept. To lw thoroughly good form, the young woman musical has to arm horself with a viuuccia, which means an instrument , manufactured by the mandolin maker in 1 ordinary to her majesty the queen of Italy, and these toys como high, some of the more * luxurious ones costing several hundred dollars. Tho mandolin is melon shaped and has eight strings, or rather four couples, and tuned in fifths. Tho music is made by sweeping these strings with a bit of shell held between the thumb and two first fingers of tho right hand. It requires an exquisite lightness anil smoothness of touch, and a firm, supple wrist to brush tho strings so that the music will bo both soft and even, but when it is well played the music is charming, and it is an instrument with far greater capacity than tho banjo.Mrs. Willie Astor is a good performer on the mandolin, having learned it while her busbnnd was minister in Home. The queen of Italy, too, is an expert and has a suborb vinuceia bearing her monogram and a crown in diamonds. With the reign of the mandolin has como a fancy for folk songs and music, and the airs tho Neapolitan Ushers and Venetian gondoliers are fond of nro hoard in New York drawing rooms, or the wild, half barbaric themes of tho Spanish gypsies.—New York World.
Newspaper Details
Richmond Enquirer
Richmond, Virginia, US
Thu, Jan 14, 1841
Page 4
Full Page
Clipped by
Jack E.
USA 18 May 2019
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