Page:A Dictionary of Music and Musicians vol 3.djvu/243

SAUZAY. has now in the press a series of 'Etudes harmoniques' for the violin. [ G. ]

SAVART,, a French philosopher, who distinguished himself by researches in acoustics. He was born at Mézières June 30, 1791, and was the son of a mathematical instrument maker of some repute. He at first practised medicine, but subsequently devoted himself in preference to general philosophical pursuits, obtained the post of professor at the College of France, and was admitted a member of the French Academy of Sciences in November 1827.

Following in the steps of Chladni, whose labours had particularly attracted his attention, he made many investigations in acoustics, which are recorded in the several publications bearing his name. He appears particularly to have thrown light on the nature of that complicated relation between a vibrating body which is the source of sound, and other bodies brought into connexion with it, by virtue of which the original sound is magnified in intensity and modified in quality; well-known examples of such an arrangement being furnished by the soundboards of the violin tribe and the pianoforte.

Savart's name is also connected with an ingenious little device for measuring, in a manner easily appreciable by a lecture-audience, the number of vibrations corresponding to a given musical note. A wheel, caused to rotate quickly by ordinary mechanical contrivances, is furnished on its circumference with teeth or ratchets, against which a tongue of pasteboard or some other elastic substance is brought into contact. The passage of each tooth gives a vibration to the tongue, and if the wheel revolve fast enough, the repetition of these vibrations will produce a musical sound. Hence, as the number of rotations of the wheel in a given time can be easily counted, the number of vibrations corresponding to the note produced can be experimentally ascertained, with tolerable precision. This mode of determining vibration numbers has been since superseded by the more elegant instrument, the, and by other modes known to modern acoustic physicists, but from the simplicity of its demonstrations it is still often used.

Savart also investigated with some attention and success the acoustical laws bearing on wind instruments, and on the production of the voice. He died in March 1841. [ W. P. ]

SAVILE,, a composer of the middle of the 17th century, some of whose songs are included in 'Select Musicall Ayres and Dialogues,' 1653, is now only known by his 4-part song, 'The Waits,' printed in Playford's 'Musical Companion,' which, by long-standing custom is the last piece sung at the meetings of the Madrigal Society and similar bodies. [ W. H. H. ]

SAVOY. [See .]

SAVOY CHAPEL ROYAL. At the present day commonly accepted as one of Her Majesty's Chapels Royal, the Savoy has a constitution differing widely from the chapels of St. James and Whitehall. While these are maintained out of the Civil List, the Savoy Chapel derives its sustenance from Her Majesty's Privy Purse, and thus in one respect has even greater claim to the appellation of Royal. The salient points in the history of the Savoy may be given in few words, which may tend to remove much prevailing misconception on the subject. In 1246 Henry III. made a grant of land on the banks of the Thames to his wife's uncle, Count Peter of Savoy, and a palatial residence was erected on the site. After Peter's death the estate came into the possession of Queen Eleanor, who bestowed it upon her son Edmund of Lancaster, and it remained in the possession of the Lancastrian branch of the royal family until 1381, when, owing to the unpopularity of John of Gaunt, the palace was wrecked by the insurgents under Wat Tyler. Under the provisions of the will of Henry VII., a hospital was founded there, but though richly endowed, it did not flourish, and the foulest abuses prevailed until 1702, when the institution was dissolved. The Chapel had been used from 1564 until 1717 by the parishioners of St. Mary's, but in 1773 George III. issued a patent constituting it a Chapel Royal, and its title is therefore beyond dispute. From time to time the reigning sovereigns contributed towards its maintenance, but the place attracted little general notice until 1864, when it was partially destroyed by fire. Restored from designs by Sir Sidney Smirke, at a cost to Her Majesty of about £7000, the Chapel was reopened for Divine Service on December 3, 1865. The peculiarity of the Services, as at present conducted, calls for some mention in this place. In the absence of any provision for the full choral rendering of the ritual, congregational singing is promoted to the fullest extent. The choir consists of boys only, and the psalms, canticles, hymns, etc., are sung strictly in unison. The chants and tunes are selected from every available source, the most worthy examples of the older school being utilised equally with modern compositions of sufficient melodic beauty to appeal to the vocal capabilities of a mixed congregation. The various Church Offices of Baptism, Confirmation, Matrimony, Burial of the Dead, etc., are never rendered at the Savoy without the musical additions suggested by the rubrics, and strangers to the Chapel who seek its ministrations are frequently surprised at the aid thus spontaneously given. The organ, at present incomplete, is by Willis. [ H. F. F. ]

SAX,, a Belgian musical-instrument maker of the first rank, born at Dinant in Belgium, Feb. 1. 1791, died in Paris, April 26, 1865. He was first a cabinet-maker, then a mechanic in a spinning-machine factory, and then set up in Brussels as a maker of wind-instruments. He had served no apprenticeship to the trade, and his only qualification was that he could play the serpent; he was therefore obliged to investigate for himself the laws concerning the bore of instruments; but as he had great manual dexterity, and a turn for invention, he was soon able to produce serpents and flutes of fair quality. He