Re: whither the zither

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

Seth Austen <seth (at) sethausten(dot)com> wrote:

> > classical and martial music, plus others identified with itinerant
> > beggars (dulcimers, hurdy-gurdys [there is an illustration of a
> > Jewish hurdy-gurdy player playing in an 18th-century wedding
> > procession]). 
> 
> Could you tell whether it was a Hungarian hurdy-gurdy or French?
...
> Gypsy hurdy gurdy music, I've often wondered about whether there is any
> tradition of klezmer using it. Your mention of this picture leads me to
> think so...
> 
Don't recall for certain where I saw it...maybe in Walter Salmen's 
_Denn die Fiedel macht das Fest_ (1991), or maybe in Liebe's 
_Judentum in der deutsche Vergangenheit_ (1903?). But it shows a woman
playing one in a wedding procession, along with other instruments. It 
was probably German---certainly not Hungarian or French. I don't 
think there's any Gypsy practice of using the hurdy-gurdy. On the 
other hand, there were professional Ukrainian players of the "lira," 
blind minstrels. This is why I called it a "professional" instrument. 
Incidentally, the usual English name for it in the 17th century was 
"cymbal," which connects it to a "professional" instrument of another 
sort.

Paul Gifford

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