Week 34 - Working on Project 1, studying Medieval Instruments: The Hurdy-Gurdy

1. Stuff done this week:

- Stared reading Chapter 2 (Medieval Music) of A History of Western Music and made notes (notebook)
- Listened to a selection of Medieval instruments (Lejeune, 2009).
- Studied this guide on The Harvard Referencing System
- Played mandolin at Strowis, a youth Hostel. Check the footage below:

2. What I learned:

Here are some of my notes on 4 period instruments of the Middle Ages.

The majority of the fundamental instrumental principles were established during the Middle Ages, so states Lejeune (2009, p. 5). Researching the instruments of the period is therefore challenging as there is almost a total lack of any physical examples.

However, what we do have are representations in miniatures, paintings, drawings and sculptures of the period. Some are crude, but some are also rather detailed. Also, we have numerous written sources. More importantly perhaps, we have an important group of popular Western and Eastern instruments that have not evolved much since Medieval times. For instance, the Arabian Ud and Rabab are still manufactured in almost identical fashion as during the time of the Crusades (Lejeune, 2009).

2.1 Hurdy-gurdy (or wheel fiddle)

The hurdy-gurdy can be defined as a manually operated bowed string instrument with a wheel against which strings vibrate; it also has a keybox with keys which operate tangents to shorten one or more gut strings momentarily in order to produce the melody . Thus a diatonic scale could be played, that was enriched by a few semitones (Palmer &Palmer, 1980, p. 17; Lejeune, 2009, p. 45-47). Strings placed beyond the keyboard were usually of greater diameter and each provided a single, sustained note. Musically speaking it can also be described as a "drone instrument" (Lejeune, 2009).

Munrow (1986) claims that it is in fact the first stringed instrument to which the keyboard principle was applied. In France the the hurdy-gurdy was called vielle à roue, which is translates to "wheel fiddle". This explains the essence of how the instrument operates. The strings were bowed by the rotation of a wheel cranked by a handle. The wheel, the outer rim of which was coated with a resin, resonated all strings at once, providing continuous sounds that could double singers as they held notes of polyphonic music of the period. Much like the bag of the bagpipe facilitates a continuous flow of air, so the wheel of the hurdy-gurdy maintains continuity of bowing.

A moving bridge allows one of the drone strings to mark the rhythm with short increases in speed that the player applies to the crank. This way a driving "buzzing" beat can be produced, making it easy to imagine that the instrument would be ideally suited for dances ( Dan Snow's History Hit, 2008).

Hurdy-gurdy (Wikipedia, 2016)

Throughout its long history and in many countries, the hurdy-gurdy has in fact been known by various names, such as: organistrum, organica lyra, armonie, symphonie or chifonie. One explanation for chifonie regards it as a derivation of chiffon, meaning cloth, i.e. rags. Referring to the supposedly beggarly image that the instrument acquired from the 15th century onward (Palmer, 1980; Lejeune, 2009).

It is difficult to set a specific period to the first appearance of the instrument. But when the hurdy-gurdy first came to Europe, though - somewhere in the 12th century - it was both widely used and highly regarded by the end of that century.

Before 1300 earliest form of the hurdy-gurdy was known as the organistrum. Palmer & Palmer (1980) argue that there is evidence that suggests that Odo of Cluny (died 942 AD) may have been its inventor. Odo investigated the mathematical problems related to intervals between notes and how pitch is related to shortening strings fixed to a board. They argue:

"From here it is a fairly short step to inventing an instrument where the strings will be shortened mechanically and where a rotating wheel will provide the friction necessary to sound the strings, but it is far from certain  who actually made the invention." (Palmer & Palmer, 1980, page 46)

Palmer & Palmer (1980) go on to propose that it is also possible that the instrument had an Arabic or near-Eastern origin, stating that there are carvings of the organistrum dating from early Medieval Spain, by then under Moorish influence. Also tenth century writing has been found on an Arabic instrument called the dulab, which seems to refer to a hurdy-gurdy type instrument. This all seems to me rather speculative.

Virtually all the earliest illustrations which show the hurdy-gurdy's ancestor are from  twelfth century Europe. Several stone carvings, for instance on the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela (Spain), show a large organistrum being played by two performers.

Twelfth century carvings on the cathedral of
Santiago de Compostela, Spain (Wikipedia, 2016)

The organistrum required two to play it: one to crank, and one to operate the keys. This was necessary, not just because the instrument was so large, but also because of the challenging key action. Munrow states:

"The action might be compared to turning a series of front-door keys: the player clearly needed both hands for the job and even so speed must have been very restricted" (1986, p.17).

It is hard to be certain about its mechanics and tuning, for all we know is from medieval illustrations. It is thought that the bridges would press against all three strings and if they were tuned in fifths or octaves, a form of strict parallel organum could be played. This would explain its other aliases: organistrum, symphonia and armonie.
Its continuous sounds that could double singers as they performed long held notes of polyphonic music of the time (Lejeune, 2009).

From the thirteenth century onward both construction and playing technique changed considerably. Revolving bridges were replaced by keys operating sliding tangents. These would press at the string at appropriate points and that could back again, much like the keyboard of an organetto. The instrument became more compact and single player instruments developed making it an ideal instrument for dance music.

Munrow (1980) states that the tangents were arranged so that they would only touch the melody string, leaving other strings in a permanent drone.

"Thus the whole character of the hurdy-gurdy changed: from a slow moving instrument capable of playing in consecutive fourths, fifths, or octaves it became an ideal instrument for dance music with an agile keyboard for the melody and a fixed drone for the accompaniment" (Munrow, 1980, page 17)

Initially three-stringed instruments were built, with a G and d for the drone and a c for the melody. Over time more strings were added resulting by the fourteenth century in as many as five or six. The range of the keyboard evolved from a diatonic octave to a fully chromatic two octaves.

2.2 Pipe and Tabor

A high whistle fingered with the left hand, while the right hand beat a small drum with a stick.

The pipe has only three melody holes (index finger, middle finger, and thumb) and is set up so that it facilitates overblowing. A ridge at the bottom make it possible to support the pipe with one hand, while the other strikes the tabor.

The drum is held with a strap or thong around the arm which fingers the pipe. In this way, the performer can accompany himself, making an ideal combination for dance music of a rustic nature, or to supply background music for jongleurs or performing animals (Iowa State University Department of Music and Theatre, 2016).

3. Sources

BURKHOLDER, J, GROUT, D. and PALISCA, C. (2014) A history of western music, 9th edition, New York: W.W. Norton. (Pages: 64-65, 133-135).

CENTRE FOR THE STUDY OF THE CANTIGAS DE SANTA MARIA OF OXFORD UNIVERSITY (n.d.) Introduction to the Cantigas de Santa Maria. [Online] Available from - http://csm.mml.ox.ac.uk/?p=intro [Accessed: 24th August 2016]

DAN SNOW'S HISTORY HIT. (2008) Medieval dance tunes, Hurdy Gurdy - English Heritage [Online Video]. juli 6th. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4y7HNW972M. [Accessed: August 13th 2016].

HISTORIC FILMS STOCK FOOTAGE ARCHIVE. (2013) Medieval musical instruments 1973 [Online Video]. jan 17th. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bfw3N_tEMSI. [Accessed: August 13th 2016].

IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC AND THEATRE (2016) A Guide to Medieval and Renaissance Instruments [Online]  Available from: https://www.music.iastate.edu/antiqua/instrumt.html [Accessed: 14th August 2016].


LEJEUNE, J. & VARIOUS ARTISTS (2009) A Guide to Period Instruments [CD + Book] Belgium: Ricercar (pages 5, 45-47, 55-57, 83)

MUNROW, D. (1986) Instruments of the Middle Ages and Reneaissance, 10th edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

PALMER, S. and PALMER, S. (1980) The Hurdy-Gurdy. Pomfret, Vermont: David & Charles Inc.

WIKIPEDIA (2016) Hurdy-gurdy. Wikipedia [Online Image] Available from - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurdy-gurdy.[Accessed: 13th August 2016].

WIKIPEDIA (2016) Organistrum. Wikipedia [Online Image] Available from -https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organistrum.[Accessed: 24th August 2016].