Kriens neck zither

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The Kriens neck zither is a special musical instrument which is equipped with a guitar-shaped body. Together with mandolin, guitar, double bass and table zither, it forms part of the Kriens house music. Despite its name, it is not a zither , but rather, like all cistern , belongs to the box-neck lute .

history

The use of the neck zither has been known in Switzerland since the 17th century . Central Switzerland was influenced, especially in the 19th century, by the then popular zither groups in Germany. Various figures show that similarly formed formations appeared in Central Switzerland at that time. The Kriens neck zither with its unmistakable small, guitar-shaped body was created around 1880 and has hardly changed to this day. More models have been added in recent years, some with new mold types. Playing the neck zither with accompaniment was a tradition in central Switzerland.

At the end of the 19th century, Samuel Rodel from Kriens triggered a new development in local instrument making. Observations in various collections suggest that teardrop-shaped neck zither models were usually played between 1800 and around 1890.

The first known Kriens neck zither comes from Samuel Rodel from 1883. It is signed by him. Rodel's instruments were particularly popular among the farming and middle-class families in Kriens, but also in the rest of central Switzerland. The people of Kriens practiced intensive music-making with the neck zither over the past 120 years. During this time and until today, new chapels were founded again and again. The ensembles were made up of a wide variety of instruments: neck zither, mandolin, mandola, accordion, clarinet, violin, viola, guitar, bass lute, double bass.

source

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. KRIENSER BRAUCHTUM ( Memento from June 7, 2008 in the Internet Archive )