tsimbls in Amsterdam in the 17th century

[Cor van Sliedregt <sliedreg...>]

With greetings to all tsimblers
Cornelius

JEWISH HAMMERED DULCIMERS
in the 17th century in Amsterdam

The ethnomusicologist D.F.Scheurleer wrote an article in the magazine
Journal of the Association for the Dutch Music History (³Tijdschrift van de
Vereniging van Nederlandse Muziek Geschiedenis² in the twenties) about two
small books from the 17th century with details about the musical life at
that time.

The first book ³Le Putanisme d¹Amsterdam² was published in Amsterdam (1681)
and Bruxelles (1683), in a Dutch and French edition.
It contains the report of a businessman who wants to find  ³speelhuizen²
(playhouses). A ³speelhuis² was a kind of pub/bar with live musicians
playing. 
After three days searching in vain he went to bed early.
He was woken up by ³the supreme commander of the underworld ghosts² in
service of Pluto. This commander showed him the ³speelhuizen² of Amsterdam.
After some frivolous establishments they visited some upper class ones and
in the end they arrived at a ³speelhuis² for sailors.
Quote: ³Music was played from four in the afternoon till eleven at night. In
another pub three musicians were playing the violin, the hammered dulcimer
(hakkebord) and the double bass. He was amazed by their striking long
beards. They were ³Smouzen of Hoogduitse Joden² (Ashkenazic Jews). They were
rambling from one pub to another to earn a little money.
They couldn¹t get a permanent appointment, because they couldn¹t play on
Friday evenings and Saturdays. Occasional replacement by christian musicians
was too difficult. Despite the fact that Jews were cheaper, any
wellrespected landlord rather spent some more pennies on musicians who were
available to him at any time.²

In the little book ³Den Berg Patras² (1689) (Mount Patras), a description of
Apollo and Mercury walking around in Amsterdam, you will find an interesting
musical remark.

³On their way home they accepted Mercury¹s proposal to visit a wellknown pub
³The Big Wine Cask² (speelhuis ²Het Grote Wijnvat²)
where ³smousen² (jews) were heard on violin and hammered dulcimers, but that
was so much against Apollo¹s taste, that he left²

These fragments show that the hammered dulcimer was known in that period,
but also that it was played by Jewish musicians as the famous etching of the
Jewish Wedding in Amsterdam shows.
In the last quote it is interesting that there were several hammered
dulcimers (tsimbls). Also the music seemed not to be very much appreciated
by non-jews, for Apollo left the pub..
Only two or three other sources are known where the hammered dulcimer is
shown in a picture or described in words in The Netherlands. These remarks
are very important to get an idea of the development of this instrument and
of the Jewish music in the Netherlands.

Cor van Sliedregt
with thanks to Jan Waas for his assistence to translate.

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