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| dulcimer | |
|---|---|
| Name | Dulcimer |
| Classification | String instrument |
| Related | Hammered dulcimer, Appalachian dulcimer, santur, cimbalom, yangqin |
| Developed | Ancient origins; medieval to modern |
dulcimer
The dulcimer is a stringed instrument with ancient roots, adopted in diverse traditions including Persia, Medieval Europe, Appalachia, Hungary, and China. It appears in sources associated with courts such as Byzantine Empire chronicles, royal patronage like Ottoman Empire records, and folk revivals including the American Folk Revival and festivals such as Newport Folk Festival. Scholars in institutions such as British Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Library of Congress, Bodleian Library, and Bibliothèque nationale de France preserve historical examples and manuscripts.
The instrument family surfaces in archaeological and textual evidence tied to sites like Persepolis, Baghdad, Constantinople, Kiev, and medieval centers such as Florence and Paris; scholars at University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, Harvard University, Yale University, and Princeton University have published on its diffusion. Trade and cultural contact via routes like the Silk Road, maritime links to Venice, and diplomacy involving Mamluk Sultanate and Safavid Persia facilitated variants mentioned in inventories of Holy Roman Empire courts and collections of Vatican Library. Renaissance musicians associated with Florence Cathedral, St Mark's Basilica, and patrons such as the Medici appear in iconography. Ethnomusicologists at Columbia University, Indiana University Bloomington, and University of California, Berkeley documented Appalachian transmission linked to migrations through ports like Philadelphia, Baltimore, and New Orleans. 19th- and 20th-century revivalists connected the instrument to movements centered at Royal Academy of Music, Conservatoire de Paris, Juilliard School, and festivals like Edinburgh Festival Fringe and Tanglewood.
Construction traditions are maintained by workshops and museums including Metropolitan Museum of Art, Victoria and Albert Museum, Smithsonian Institution, and artisans in regions such as Hungary, Romania, Greece, Turkey, Iran, Iraq, China, and United States. The hammered dulcimer family includes the cimbalom of Hungary and Romania, the santur of Iran and India, and the yangqin of China; makers and shops associated with Budapest, Bucharest, Isfahan, Beijing, and Delhi have distinctive approaches. Appalachian lap versions were crafted in communities near Knoxville, Bristol, Asheville, and Lexington; luthiers associated with guilds such as Guildhall and organizations like American Lutherie Society and Viola da Gamba Society adapted bracing, soundboard materials, and tuning systems. Museums such as National Music Museum catalog instrument dimensions, spruce and maple selection, and decorative motifs linked to patrons like Queen Victoria and collectors such as Henry Ford. Modern builders experiment with electronics developed at Bell Labs and collaborations with manufacturers like Fender, Gibson, and boutique shops in Nashville.
Performance practice is taught at conservatories including Royal College of Music, Berklee College of Music, and Royal Conservatory of The Hague and documented in treatises linked to historical figures such as Johann Sebastian Bach, Antonio Vivaldi, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, George Frideric Handel, and folklorists like Alan Lomax. Technique varies from hammered approaches influenced by virtuosi associated with Franz Liszt salons to plucked and strummed lap styles revived by players at Newport Folk Festival and classrooms at Eastman School of Music. Pedagogy references collections at British Library, tuning systems studied by theorists at Princeton University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and notation practices seen in archives of Sächsische Landesbibliothek. Techniques include mallet control, fingerpicking, drone maintenance, and modal ornamentation comparable to practices in Ottoman court music and Persian classical music.
Repertoire spans court compositions performed in settings like Topkapi Palace, chamber pieces in salons of Vienna, and folk repertoires from Appalachia, Balkan Peninsula, Anatolia, and Caucasus. Composers and arrangers such as Béla Bartók, Zoltán Kodály, Francis Poulenc, Igor Stravinsky, Benjamin Britten, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Aaron Copland, Alan Hovhaness, and Samuel Barber engaged with folk materials related to the instrument. Ensembles in institutions like Glyndebourne, Royal Opera House, Metropolitan Opera, and community groups at Carnegie Hall present both solo and ensemble roles; film scoring credits at studios such as MGM, Warner Bros., and Universal Pictures feature the instrument's timbres. Collections at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts and recordings on labels like Nonesuch Records, Smithsonian Folkways, and Decca Records preserve repertoire.
Regional identities are tied to forms found in Hungary (cimbalom), Iran (santur), China (yangqin), Romania, Greece, Turkey, Armenia, Georgia (country), and United States (Appalachian). Cultural institutions such as UNESCO list related intangible heritage elements; national conservatories in Tehran Conservatory of Music, Shanghai Conservatory of Music, and Liszt Academy of Music foster transmission. Ceremonial and social roles occur in weddings in Istanbul, religious celebrations in Yerevan, community dances in Bucharest, and contemporary fusion projects in urban centers like London, New York City, Los Angeles, Berlin, and Tokyo. Ethnomusicology fieldwork conducted by researchers at University of Chicago, SOAS University of London, and Australian National University highlights migration, adaptation, and revival movements linked to diasporas in Toronto and Melbourne.
Historic and modern makers and performers are represented in collections and archives: makers and luthiers associated with workshops in Budapest, Prague, Istanbul, Isfahan, Shiraz, Cairo, Beijing, and Hanoi; individual makers displayed in museums such as Victoria and Albert Museum and Metropolitan Museum of Art. Prominent performers and advocates connected to the instrument's traditions include musicians who appeared at Carnegie Hall, Royal Albert Hall, Sydney Opera House, and festivals including Glastonbury Festival and Roskilde Festival; ethnomusicologists and collectors like Alan Lomax, Moses Asch, Ziryab scholars, and curators at Smithsonian Folkways advanced recordings and pedagogy. Ensembles and groups from conservatories such as Juilliard School and Berklee College of Music have premiered works commissioned by institutions like BBC Proms and orchestras including London Philharmonic Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, and Chicago Symphony Orchestra.