Re: Jews with tsimbls in Greece -forward -Reply

[Peter Rushefsky <rushefsky_p...>]

Here's Zev Feldman $.02 on the Greek tsimbl connection.

>>> <WZFeldman (at) aol(dot)com> 09/10/99 06:22pm >>>
Hi Pete,

Before we get into the New Year I thought I would dash off a reply. You may 
forward it to anyone you like.

About Jews, Romanians and Greek santuris I think I would state the case in 
the following way:

I have little doubt that both Anatolian and mainland Greeks had played the 
Ottoman santur, which was an important urban instrument for many 
centuries--and it was itself possibly of Byzantine origin. The issue at hand 
is how they came to play the modern instrument, with its chromatic tuning 
which is generally almost identical to the Romanian tambal mic. The case for 
Ashkenazic klezmorim having introduced the cimbal to Moldavia and Wallachia 
is quite strong, and has been made long ago by several Romanian 
musicologists. And here it was probably not simply a replacement of the 
Ottoman santur, which was probably never very widespread in the Regat 
("Kingdom") portion of Romania. Of course the cimbal/cimbalom was already 
known in Hungary and Transylvania, but that does not seem to have been the 
determining factor for the Regat. The move from Bucharest or Iasi to Istanbul 
and Greece was an easy one. And once again, when Hilmi Bey adopted a new 
dulcimer in Istanbul (from "Wallachia" as it is generally acknowledged) he 
was almost certainly picking up a Jewish cimbal because there was no Romanian 
tambal mic in his time. The yearly tours of klezmorim in Istanbul is 
well-documented from Hilmi's generation. There is no need to introduce 
Guzikow into these spread of the cromatic tuning question, as he was a lot 
less known (=unknown) in Istanbul, whereas Jewish cimbalists were common 
knowledge. The only reasonable explanation for the near identity of shape and 
tunings for the Jewish cimbal, Romanian tambal, Greek santuri and Turkish 
santur is the diffusion of an already existing Jewish instrument and tuning 
system in the early 19th century. The cimbal was already in Romania half a 
century earlier, and perhaps considerably earlier, as Ashkenazim were already 
numerous in Moldavia in the mid-to late 17th century. We should probably look 
into the diffusion of the modern santuri=cimbal in the Greek islands. here 
seems to be a movement from East to West, as the santuri is unknown or was 
never widely accepted in some of the more central or westerly islands, like 
Crete. This question needs more careful research.

A Shono Toyve to all

Zev Feldman

---------------------- jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org ---------------------+