Hi Stuart,
Margit actually flew out to the LSA seminar in Ohio a few years ago to
play duos with Crawford. Yes, it's in the hammered dulcimer family,
yep, sure sounds great and believable in that context and, oh yeah, is
she ever in control!
It looks like a pretty versatile instrument and very overlooked. I'd
think most of the lute rep would be available: certainly tenors with
whomever, formal ensemble music and I'm sure they made solo
arrangements of popular vocal or ensemble music. The latter could
range from tenor-contrapunto settings, to (mostly) strict 3-part
settings of their own --just like the lute rep. Furthermore, if its
metal strings and good simple solid body was as portable as the lute
and twice as durable I'm sure there were those that took advantage and
specialized in it.
There's a guy here in Berkeley who's been playing one on street
corners for 30 years. I'm pretty sure that for some of it it was
keeping him fed. A tradition that goes back centuries, if not
millenia, in hammered dulcimer circles.
Sean
On Oct 21, 2009, at 3:25 PM, Stuart Walsh wrote:
http://www.lewon.de/inhalt/projekte/ensembles_dulce.php?navbat=03
Ont this page, under 'Tonbeispiele' there are three pieces,
including one by Obrecht, 'Nec mihi nec tibi'. Jon Banks claims
that this Obrecht untexted chanson was actually conceived and
composed for three plucked instruments but here in this Ensemble
Dulce Melos version the three instruments are: ? at least one
plucked thing and, surprisingly what seems to be a hammered
dulcimer. The three instruments create a strange sound; very nice,
very beguiling. I was really surprised to hear a hammered dulcimer
(if it is one) in this context (of quite sophisticated polyphony)
and the as can be heard, the player (Margit Übellacker) is in
complete command.
The instrument Margit Übellacker is playing is described as a dulce
melos, after Henri Arnault de Zwolle: fully chromatic over 3
octaves. But Margit sounds like she is playing with hammers and
Henri is definitely sniffy about hammers and his dulce melos
proper has an elaborate keyboard mechanism. Iconography of 15th
century hammered dulcimers suggests long, thin instruments with a
limited range but Margit's instrument looks a monster by contrast.
Stuart
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