The wire-strung cistre ou guitarre allemande (with different spellings
for 'cistre' and 'guitarre') was popular in France in the 1770s and
1780s, though not as popular as the ordinary guitar. The basic tuning is
e-a-d-e-a-c#-e. Here are two pieces on a rather humble instrument (and
thanks to Art Robb for actually getting it into a playable state).
The first is the opening Ariette from the opera comique (play with
songs... ariettes), Le Moissoneurs (The Reapers), 1768 with words by
Favart and music by Duni. A mother figure, Gennevote, is weaving a
thread, and she sings a song, Le temps passe. In his Methode for the
cistre, published a few years later, Pollet gives this song (ariette)
with a cistre accompaniment but here he seems to be simply evoking the
opening. It is from C.F.A. Pollet's very first publication in 1770 and
he went on to publish at least fourteen more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3atLBaOzEI
The second is a tambourin - and there are quite a few tambourins in the
cistre repertoire. This is from Pollet's IXe Recueil:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BesDJk6WeYE
Stuart
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