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The Yale Collection of Musical Instruments

he Yale Collection of Musical Instruments was
established in 1900, when Morris Steinert, an
Tentrepreneurial figure who played an important Italian Bass Viol made
role in shaping New Haven’s music scene, gave by Giovanni Battista
his private musical instrument collection to Ciciliano in Venice,
Yale, consisting primarily of keyboard ca. 1550. The flat back
on this bass viol have a
instruments, seeding the Collection. measurable effect on the
The acquisition of the Belle Skinner tone and volume of a
Collection (1960) and the Emil Herrmann bass. Acoustical testing
Collection (1962) established the Yale has demonstrated
Collection of Musical Instruments as one of flat-back basses produce
the world’s most important such repositories. somewhat more decibels
It was once called a “collection of superlatives” below 150Hz, though the
by an enthusiastic admirer of the Skinner frequency response above
Collection. 150Hz becomes uneven.
In 1961, the Collection was moved from its In short, flat-back basses
original location under the dome of Woolsey do have a tendency to
Hall to its present location in a Richardsonian powerful sound,
Early 19th century English Romanesque building at 15 Hillhouse Avenue, particularly in the
Glasschord by Chappell & New Haven, CT. low register.
Sons. According to
Wikipedia, the glasschord The Growth of the Collection
is a crystallphone that uses
keyboard-driven hammers Since 1970, the Collection has nearly
to strike glass bars instead tripled in size after acquiring the Robyna
of metal bars. Neilson Ketchum Collection of bells (1972)
photo: Yale School of Music and the Andrew F. Petryn Collection of string
instruments and bows (2013).
Today, the Collection is comprised of nearly Bugle in G made in the
1,000 instruments and focuses on western early 19th century.
European and North American art-music traditions, yet its holdings from During the War of 1812,
musical cultures all over the world, including Asia, Africa, and Latin there was a variety of
America, are continually growing. Many of the instruments in the shapes and sizes of the
Collection have been restored and are maintained in playing condition, bugle. Typical shapes
included the coiled,
allowing for their use in performances, demonstrations, and lectures, half-moon, and the
and on tour. elongated coil similar to
the one shown. During
Stringed Instruments the war, the bugle
The art of the luthier is showcased in the Collection’s selection of string was included in the
instruments from the Italian, German, French, and English schools of the major U.S. military
17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. Many of the violin family instruments in music ensembles.
the Collection are in playing condition, as are some of the viols and photo: Yale School of Music

plucked-string instruments. Some highlights of the string instru-
ment collection include violins by Nicolò Amati, Andrea
Guarneri, Antonio Stradivari, and Jakob Steiner, a viola by
Lorenzo Storioni, a viola d’amore by Joseph Gagliano, viols by
Pietro Guarneri of Mantua and Richard Meares, a lute by
Sebastian Schelle, and guitars by Joachim Tielke and Antonio
de Torres.
Early English and Irish settlers introduced rhythm bones into North America. They were
used primarily as an accompaniment to jigs and reels to keep the beat steady by
duplicating the rhythm of the music. Rhythm bones gradually became associated with Wind Instruments
the music of African-Americans, and grew to be a cornerstone of the music of blackface The Collection’s holdings also include many 19th-century
minstrel shows, which were hugely successful and popularized the bones during the American wind instruments, in addition to a core collection of
Nineteenth and early Twentieth Centuries. In this image: American 19th century instruments built by important 18th and 19th-century
minstrel bones circa 1860, maker unknown, engraved. photo: Yale School of Music European makers. Highlights include a Deutsche schalmei by

28 Journal of Antiques and Collectibles continued on page 30