Re: Cimbalom

[Paul M. Gifford <PGIFFORD...>]

Aaron Bousel <apbousel (at) valinet(dot)com> wrote:

> Can anyone give me some information on the cimbalom?  I've certainly heard
> it plenty on recordings but I only have a vague idea of what it looks like,
> mostly from pictures on CDs.  Is there a specific design that is used in
> klezmer?  Is anyone making them?  Are there used ones available?

OK.  Here's a quick rundown.  _Cimbalom_ is the Hungarian name for 
the instrument which is called dulcimer in English, Hackbrett or 
Cymbal in German, tsimbaly in Ukrainian, tsimbl in Yiddish, etc.  
This instrument was probably developed in Burgundy, roughly around 
1400, at the same time as the clavichord and harpsichord, and called 
_dulce melos_.  In German-speaking areas, it was played by itinerant 
musicians already by 1500, and klezmorim probably picked it up during
that century.  By 1629, a Jewish _cymbalista_ was in Lvov.  In 
Prague, c.1650, the klezmorim played it as a continuo instrument in 
place of the harpsichord.  The standard instrumentation was 2 
violins, cymbal, and a portable bass.

>From Prague the style spread gradually.  By 1700 there were Jewish 
musicians in Hungary who played it, and about 1750, Gypsy musicians 
adopted the instrumentation from the Jews, although Jews continued as 
"Gypsy" musicians until this century.   In Bohemia/south 
Germany/Moravia/Hungary, by 1800, the cymbal/cimbalom had developed 
into a larger instrument, with a bass bridge on the lower left.  In 
Poland, it was almost an exclusively Jewish instrument, but retained 
the older design.  The earliest record of a gentile playing it in 
eastern Europe is in 1652, by a Ukrainian player at the court of 
Bogdan Chmielnicki.  However, it appears that peasants in western 
Ukraine (Hutsuls) adopted it in the 18th century.  In the later 19th 
century it was adopted by peasants in Belarus, Lithuania, and by 
Gypsies in Romania.

There was no specific "Jewish" design.  At the beginning of this 
century, Jewish players probably played whatever design of instrument 
was used in the region they lived.  In fact, all of varieties (really 
two:  a Hungarian design and a "Polish" design, subdivided into 
"Lithuanian," "Galician," and Moldavian varieties) can be considered 
"Jewish."  Joseph Moskowitz was from Moldavia and undoubtedly learned 
on the _t,ambal mic_, but was in Budapest and probably got a large 
Hungarian cimbalom and made the necessary adjustments to learn that.

The Hungarian cimbalom was manufactured by J. V. Schunda, who made 
some with dampers, from the 1870s to 1921 or so.  A lot of Hungarian 
immigrants made them in the U.S., but the quality varies.  Other turn-
of-the-century makers in Hungary include Armin Sternberg & Brother, 
Mogyorossy, and Lajos Bohak, who was dominant from the 1920s; the 
factory was nationalized but it continued to make them.  Since the 
'20s, these have been replacing the small ones in Romania.

Some older Belarusian instruments have seven courses over the treble  
bridge and six courses on the bass bridge on the right.  This is 
probably the oldest style, and the "original" tuning.  

There are advantages and disadvantages to both instruments----the 
Hungarian cimbalom stays in tune for a long time and has pedals, but 
the small one is portable.

You can probably find used ones in the New York City region if you 
look long enough.  In areas with large Hungarian communities, it is 
possible to find one, but they usually need a lot of work.  My father 
bought one second-hand in the Lower East Side in the '30s, which 
probably came from Moldavia.  Don't know what the current situation 
there is, though.

Paul Gifford