National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh Chinese guqin with seven strings The Berkeley psaltery illustration (right) and its commentary gives a range of an octave and a major third, A to c#, as labelled on the left of the drawing. 515-294-3831 phone "[4] The psaltery was originally made from wood, and relied on natural acoustics for sound production. Corrections? Psaltery The psaltery of Ancient Greece (epigonion) was a harp-like stringed instrument. It has a flat soundboard over which a variable number of strings are stretched. Thirdly, there is another hark back:the strings may also be played with the quill or the fingers, like the Harpe, Mandore & Cistre [cittern], in other words, as well as with hammers, the psalterion may still be played like a psaltery which, by 1635, had fallen into wide disuse for more than a century. [7] It is popular in the easternmost Basque province of Soule (Zuberoa), where it provides along with the three hole flute (xirula) the necessary musical background for traditional dance performances and the carnival set of performances called maskarada, which takes place on a yearly basis in different villages of the former viscounty. I think you might have distinguished between the canon and micanon (half canon) and the psaltery this instrument was a borrowing from the Arabic qanun and appears in lists with psalteries, meaning that it was regarded as a distinct instrument. I dont really know about the history of the autoharp, but the same principle of strings across a frame played on the lap facing forward does suggest an organological link. Not only did the psalterion replicate the medieval bourdon of a more-than-diatonic step down; it could have been played like its predecessor, the medieval psaltery; it was shown by Mersenne as a purely diatonic instrument when they had fallen out of favour; and it employed octave stringing which,by 1635, had fallen into disuse on any melody course of any instrument. The instrument is apparently strung in courses of 2 strings. An instrument that produces unisons, parallel octaves, parallel double octaves and parallel fifths is a, Secondly, referring to his illustration, Mersenne states, Now this [lowest] string acts as a bourdon. Hans Memlings triptych altarpiece for the Santa Mara la Real monastery, painted in the 1480s. Thus, Nebuchadnezzar's idolatrous ensemble included the Aramicpsantria. A fully chromatic psaltery is one way of interpreting the Memling instrument in the article above, which has 61 strings, possibly 5 chromatic octaves exactly, rather than your 62 strings, with an extra semitone. Clavicytherium (late 15th century?). This psaltery has 61 strings, counting from the left bridge (more from the right bridge see below), positioned so closely together and so evenly that, if these were double or triple courses, it would be impossible to tell visually where one course ends and the next begins, but this cannot represent 61 independent diatonic pitches, as that would make a technically impossible range of 8 octaves and a sixth, so another tuning solution is necessary. The pitches the Berkeley author gives for shorter strings are usually accidentals. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. The. Bowed psaltery Of the wire strung instruments, besides the Irish harp and possibly the citole, there is only the psaltery and its relative, the dulcimer. This psaltery has 61 strings, counting from the left bridge (more from the right bridge see below), positioned so closely together and so evenly that, if these were double or triple courses, it would be impossible to tell visually where one course ends and the next begins, but this cannot represent 61 independent diatonic pitches, as that would make a technically impossible range of 8 octaves and a sixth, so another tuning solution is necessary. [8][2] Examples found in one reference book, the Groves New Encyclopedia of Musical Instruments, show examples in paintings from the 9th century Carolingian Empire Benedictine Psalter, in 13th century Spain (in the Cantigas de Santa Maria), in Bohemia in the 14th century, in Italy in the 14th century, and Germany in the 15th century.[2]. It lacks one detail we would now expect to see on a hammer dulcimer: the central bridge or bridges to divide the vibrating string length into separate pitches. Researcher Violet Alford said that it was a mistake to include the stringed drum under the name of psalterium, the latin name of a strummed or plucked instrument. The strings are laid out exactly like a chord or guitar zither. We have no precise details for which courses were in octaves, double octaves, fifths and unisons, but technical necessity yields some of the information. The earliest reference may be a drawing in the aforementioned Berkeley manuscript, before 1361. Chord zithers and their offspring were developed in the late 19thand early 20th. The original autoharps were chord zithers with bars across the top. The instrument, probably of Middle Eastern origin in late Classical times, reached Europe in the 12th century as a variety of the trapezoidal Arabic psaltery, or qnn. Thank you! I was looking to see if the internet had any pictures showing her so engaged, though I couldnt find one. Page from the Benedictine Psalter (842-850). In Ancient Greek a psalma was a song sung accompanied by such an instrument, and the word was later applied to the biblical psalms. The simpler and now familiar triangular form was popularised as a simple musical learning aid for children by Walter Mittman, a primary school teacher in Westphalia, after World War II. The Millers Tale in Geoffrey Chaucers The Canterbury Tales, written at the end of the 14th century, not only mentions the psaltery but also names two tunes, Angelus Ad Virginem and The Kings Note, that were played on it. The psaltery painted by Memling is shown in such careful detail that it is arguably credible, giving us information not otherwise available. Perhaps, as a result of the creation of the fully chromatic harpsichord family some time between c. 1350s and 1397 a new keyboard family derived from the psaltery (more of which below) some inventive psaltery makers were trying to keep pace, resulting in this hugely expanded number of strings. You seem to be describing the modern concert zither, which has a fretboard next to the courses. As a result, they have much higher string tension and heavier frames. On the left of these three, the right hand is playing the upper part, the strings for which are situated nearest the player. I meant to say do they have fretted strings next to the longest strings? and the answer is no. Qanun Psaltery. Psalteries and Zithers | SpringerLink forward-facing position, and is clearly shown plucked by fingers rather than a quill. Octave stringing producesparallel octaves, favoured in the medieval period and continued primarily on the. None of the instruments in the Cantigas are labelled so, with a range of names for similar or same instruments, we cant know what the players in the cantigas called their instrument (and some remain nameless to this day). Psaltery played by Andy Casserley, with Ian Pittaway on voice and gittern. There is something quite enchanting about the silvery sound of the psaltery. If you search the internet for psaltery it is almost impossible to fight your way past the plethora of words and videos for the, We have seen the evolution from the diatonic psaltery to the addition of accidentals by additional courses, or by fretting, or by fully chromatic stringing probably shown by Memling, making it essentially a plucked harpsichord. Each side if the bridge is a whole-tone scale, with the left side pitched a semi-tone higher than the right. Required fields are marked *. Hello, Panth. Trapezoidal psaltery. Early versions were simply a wooden board with gut strings stretched between pegs. Psalteries still played in European folk music include the Finnish kantele and its Baltic relatives, among them the Estonian kannel, which is bowed rather than plucked, and the Russian gusli. All rights reserved. Secondly, referring to his illustration, Mersenne states, Now this [lowest] string acts as a bourdon. psaltery Since there is a minimum optimal length of a string combined with its pitch beyond which it reaches breaking point, the higher courses must have been in unison if we presume that octave stringing always adds a string at the upper octave. This is speculation, but what is clear is that the instrument has 2 internal bridges as on the dulcimer/psalterion, allowing the possibility of 2 pitches per course, assuming the vibrating string length between outer and inner bridges on both sides is the same. An altarpiece from Minden, Lower Saxony, dated 1425, shows a psaltery player and a clavicembalum player next to each other within a circle of angels (see right). The player performed with the instrument on the lap or on a table, or in front of the chest held with a strap around his neck if movement was needed. In the early 14th century, general rules developed among church singers to make some interval movements between voices sound smoother by sharpening or flattening some notes, adding what today we call accidentals, what then was called musica ficta or false music, since those changed notes were not part of the gamut. Psaltery in the shape called a "pig's head" psaltery, a very common psaltery shape in manuscripts.[2]. 1440. Its influence and evolution is surprisingly widespread, giving rise to the hammer dulcimer, the harpsichord family and ultimately the piano. What this intimates, if anything, can only be speculative. Paul Hillier Portrait. Iconography shows a variety of psaltery stringing practices, strung singly or in double or triple courses to strengthen and embolden the sound. Due to changing fashions and the limitations of a diatonic instrument in a new increasingly chromatic milieu, there is no renaissance music written specifically for the psaltery, and scant evidence of it being played after c. 1500. The zither is essentially a psaltery, sometimes with strings in courses of two. Psalteries in a triangular shape were confused with harps at times. The levitating instrument is an artistic convention, since we see it in paintings from the middle ages right through to the baroque period. The modified psalteries shown by the Berkeley manuscript before 1361, Memling in the 1480s, the Hours of Bonaparte Ghislieri in c. 1500 andGirolamo in the first half of the 16th century, suggest different solutions to the same problem: how can the diatonic psaltery become increasingly chromatic to keep pace with changing musical styles? Southern Europe, influenced by Moorish Spain, preferred the trapezoidal psaltry with three or four strings to a note. The French cleric (bottom left) has the curve of the pig-snout supported by his lower arms, a more credible position, but still surely awkward. The psaltery (psalterion, saltere, sauterie, Psalterium, Psalter, salterio) is an ancient instrument seen in many forms. Having such a bourdon or drone string was a feature of the medieval harp and vielle (fiddle), harking back to earlier practice. There is greater spacing between some of the. The instrument was clearly very popular, appearing many times in iconography and literature. All these devices were attempts to keep pace with the creation of the first keyboard psaltery, the clavicembalum, which led ultimately to one of the most important instruments of the 19, Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window), Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window), The Psilvery Psound of the Psaltery: a brief history. Regarding the Memling psaltery, it seems to me that the strings on the left side do not wrap around the back. Part 2: Turning monophony into polyphony, is a compendium of music theory, including drawings and tunings for the, The psaltery illustration in the Berkeley theory, (As with all pictures, click for larger view. There are earlier Italian depictions of psalteries with strings in groups of 3 with much closer spacing, indicating courses of 3 strings, and this image may likewise indicate a triple course strung in 3 unisons or, as indicated by Mersenne, fundamental and 2 at the octave, or fundamental and fifth (1+2 or 2+1), or fundamental-fifth-octave. The logical choice, for reasons that will soon become clear, would be that the shorter strings are natural and the longer strings flats, so that the group of 4 strings together are (working from our left to right), for example, 2 x e flat / 2 x e natural, 2 x d flat / 2 x d natural, and so on. Im working on electronics to make this a MIDI controller as well as an instrument in its own right. If Mersennes psalterion stringing practice was derived from the psaltery then where there was triple stringing on lower courses it is possible that there was an octave added to an octave the Octave and at the fifteenth to augment the harmony or possibly the fundamental, the fifth and the octave, the Octave, to which one could add others at the fifth.. Spain. In the 19th century, several related zithers came into use, notably the guitar zither and the autoharp. Italian miniaturist Giovan Pietro Birago and Flemish illuminator Gerard Horenbout. It may be that this was the original form of the psalterion or hammer dulcimer, essentially a hammered psaltery, with central bridges added later. It seemed far-fetched but why not? Ian Pittaway. My notes say that Juan GIl of Zamora (fl. Omissions? Since we cannot know the comparative gauges of the strings, it may be that the shorter strings were tuned in octaves to the longer adjacent strings, so the same principle could apply to playing or avoiding octaves. The psalterion (Greek ) [7] is a stringed, plucked instrument, an ancient Greek harp. So swetely that all the chambre rong; In 1700, Cristofori invented what he called un cimbalo di cipresso di piano e forte, a keyboard of cypress with soft and loud. The Pyrenean version of the instrument numbers 4 to 10 strings but 3 sets of 2 (6 total) is the common arrangement. 1430). Brussels, Muse Instrumental, no. If we allow for double-stringing of courses, this gives 30 pitches plus 1 single string, a diatonic range of 4 octaves and a third or less if, as happened on some diatonic harps, there was both a B and a B, To summarise. [4], It has 5 or six strings tuned in 5ths.[2]. Heres a link to a modern psaltery Im building: http://johnkorchok.com/blog/music/introducing-the-zhaltar/ There is no written evidence of the way the psaltery was tuned until the14th century Berkeley manuscript (see below), but since its nearest neighbour, the harp, was diatonic, and that was in keeping with the music theory of the day, we can be fairly sure the psaltery was also diatonic until the14th century, that is to say, it had only the natural notes of a scale (the white notes on a piano), no accidentals (sharps or flats, the black notes), with the exception of Bb, which was part of the medieval gamut or range of notes. Some psalteries also simple trapezoids. With thanks toPaul Baker for being a sounding board and prodding my thinking on the Memling psaltery; to Arnold den Teuling of Assen, Netherlands, for permission to use his photograph of the Minden altarpiece for more on this image, see Arnold den Teulings website and to the Bodemuseum, Berlin, for their unrestricted photography policy. The order of notes is certainly the correct way round for a keyboard. The dulcimer/psalterion and the psaltery are similar in more than name: they share such a similar structure that it would be true to call a dulcimer a modified psaltery, to be played with small hammers of iron, or of brass, or such other material as may be preferred rather than quills, and usually with a central bridge or bridges to divide the vibrating length of each string, thus creating two or more different notes on one course. It is a very simple form of psaltery or box zither, made of a wooden sounding box, with strings stretched from end to end, lengthwise. Was this one musical line played by two hands for extra speed and dexterity, or two polyphonic parts being played, or perhaps right hand tune and left hand drone? There are, however, two intriguing late depictions indicating renaissance development of the psaltery in its final days. The name salterio or psalterium for the instrument comes from the Yebra, Spain. It appears in numerous Medieval bas-reliefs and illuminations and is mentioned in a number of texts, suggesting that it was a widespread and common instrument during that period. One thing you might have missed though is that the word psaltery isnt mediaeval in origin and doesnt come from the psalms specifically: the word psalterion/psalterium goes back to classical Greece and thence Rome, and was used in the Latin translation of the Bible (for example in Psalm 32 in the Vulgate=33 in English Bibles to refer to a ten-stringed instrument used to accompany sacred singing in the Old Testament). [1] The box-zither psalteries may have a Phoenician origin. Lutenist John Dowland, for example, wrote in 1610 that octave stringing on the melody courses of a lute was irregular to the rules of Musicke (in his introduction to his son Robert Dowlands publication, A Varietie of Lute Lessons). Department of Music and Theatre Due to the gaps in the evidence, we can only make educated guesses. Three shapes of psalteries (bottom row) from the Cantigas de Santa Maria, Cdice Rico. Its regular appearance in manuscript iconography, church iconography and in Geoffrey Chaucers Canterbury Tales are evidence of its wide use and appeal. Thank you for bringing it to my attention, and for adding information above on the autoharp, which is beyond my knowledge base. musicinfo@iastate.edu, TheatreAdministrative Office: [7], From the 12th through the 15th centuries, psalteries are widely seen in manuscripts, paintings and sculpture throughout Europe. Psalteries are members of the zither family, instruments having strings extended across an armless, neckless frame or holder; non-Western psalteries are thus sometimes referred to as zithers. Psaltery Ttun-ttun performance featured by M.Etxekopar, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tambourine_de_Bearn&oldid=1145338700, Wikipedia articles incorporating the Cite Grove template, Wikipedia articles incorporating the Cite Grove template without a link parameter, Articles with unsourced statements from November 2012, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 4.0, string drum, tambourin de Gascogne, tambourin cordes, Pyrenean string drum, ttun-ttun, toun-toun, psalterio salmo, chicotn, This page was last edited on 18 March 2023, at 16:31. The beautiful Boissart mandore, part 3 of 3: Creating a new mandore inspired by the Boissart design, https://earlymusicmuse.com/guitarhistory/, https://earlymusicmuse.com/gitternshorthistory/, http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/cantigas/images/29.gif, http://johnkorchok.com/blog/music/introducing-the-zhaltar/, http://auris-musical-instruments.com/lyres/. psaltery, (from Greek psaltrion: harp), musical instrument having plucked strings of gut, horsehair, or metal stretched across a flat soundboard, often trapezoidal but also rectangular, triangular, or wing-shaped. [1] It has also been called tambourin de Gascogne, tambourin cordes in Catalan, Pyrenean string drum, ttun-ttun in Basque [cuncun], salmo in Spanish, and chicotn in Aragonese. I suspect the short blocks of wood are for fretting notes sharp, for pressing onto the strings to give all the correct notes for sharps. -Chaucer,The Miller's Tale.

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