Hurdy-gurdy

Unique chordophones

News

1st July 2008

Change of the gallery

Contact

Jaroslav Netušil
ICQ 170-657-496

The beginning of the hurdy-gurdy is estimated at the 10th century, in the territory of contemporary western Europe, in the area between Spain and France. The oldest extant written reference, referring to a hurdy-gurdy, is a discourse from a clergyman Odo Of Cluny (+942) and the oldest image is located in the renowned Galician holy shrine Santiago de Compostelo for pilgrims. It is said that a hurdy-gurdy was taken by Moors to Europe in the 10th century

Those instruments had larger size and two players were necessary to service them. A hurdy-gurdy was called Organistrum and it had one melodic string and two supporting (skirt). Approximately in the 11th century the musical instrument was reduced and the control of the hurdy-gurdy was managed by just one player. A hurdy-gurdy started to be called S and a pythagoric tuning was changed for a diatonic one.

A hurdy-gurdy was very popular during the Renaissance period. The instrument passes through the line of improvement. In addition to change of the form of corpus which better fulfilled aesthetic and musical demands of that period, the installation of so-called vibrating bridge was the most significant improvement (a vibrating bridge was taken over from „tromba marina“). The famous sarcastic work Hieronym Bosch Garden of Earthly Delights is probably the most famous image of that period. A hurdy-gurdy represents the sign of profligate passion and the Church which was reportedly governed by devil´s seduction couldn´t guard against it.

The form of instrument settled down approximately in the period of early Baroque. Two basic kinds originated. The form of guitar when the appearance of corpus admonishes of about the guitar and the kind of shell with a typical vaulting of the vault which is characteristic for the lute. A hurdy-gurdy becomes a courtly instrument and has to be at every festival of French absolutist, Lewis XIV. The top of the fame for a hurdy-gurdy occurs and for example Antonio Vivaldi. (Il pastor Fido) was fascinated with the tone of the hurdy-gurdy. A hurdy-gurdy from the period of Renaissance and Baroque has already had two melodic strings which were tuned unison and three-four strings (skirt) while one of them was equipped with vibrating bridge. Musical instruments used to be richly ornamentated with inlay and carving. A finger-board is as far as back chromatic.

In the following periods a hurdy-gurdy became a folk instrument and its fame came away. The name h-g arised from this dark period. In Bohemia it was an inclined arch spinning wheel and other rather pejorative names. Home-made hurdy-gurdies don´t have that majestic form, they are plain and sometimes remade from string instruments.

Nowadays a hurdy-gurdy goes through a small rebirth, mostly probably due to folk trends and musical entities which interpret an old music. The biggest meeting of hurdy-gurdy players takes place annually in Saint Chartier.

France is a native place of hurdy-gurdy and this musical instrument was very popular there, even in time when it fell into oblivion in another places. It was expanded from there all around Europe. It used to have a very strong background in Bohemia and Hungary as well. In Bohemia a hurdy-gurdy was called an inclined arch spinning wheel or an Organistrum in Latin. In England it was a hurdy-gurdy, in Poland lyre „korbona“, in Russian lyre and in Germany tulip-shaped Drehleier…

picture gallery

more information

Copyright © 2008 Jaroslav Netušil