zither
Zither is an organological (instrumental) term for stringed instruments that consist of one or more strings that are stretched between fixed points over a string carrier that also serves as a resonance amplifier or to which a detachable resonance body is attached. In the Hornbostel-Sachs system , zithers are differentiated from composite string instruments in which the string support and resonance body are joined together in an indissoluble connection without destroying the sound apparatus. This second group includes lute instruments and harps . Most of the stick zithers, tubular zithers, raft zithers, shell zithers, board zithers and box zithers occurring worldwide are plucked instruments .
In a narrower sense, “zither” means the alpine zither, which is produced in many variations , a box zither that originated in the 19th century from simpler forerunners of rural dance music as a folk musical instrument of alpine folk music and is associated with numerous other European zithers. At the end of the 19th century the Alpine zither found its way into the salons of the European bourgeoisie. After the world wars, their construction was further developed to the present day concert instrument in historical performances and in contemporary music.
With " Waldzither ", "resin Zither", "Bergmann Zither" and other regional names no zithers are meant but belonging to the loud instruments Cistern .
origin
The term zither comes from the Greek word kithara . In German, it occurs in the 17th century in the forms Cyther and jitter , but this marked the first loud like cittern (or Cyster ). The ancient Greeks knew a predecessor of the zither, the monochord . From Europe, the medieval Scheitholt and the psaltery are considered to be the forerunners of the zither. Many forms of this instrument can also be found all over Asia, for example in East Asia the vaulted board zithers Guzheng in China, Koto and Wagon in Japan, Đàn tranh in Vietnam and Ajaeng in Korea. The Kannel in Estonia and the Kantele in Finland are box zithers. The dulcimer and the santoor in Iran and northern India are also box zithers, which, like most zithers, are not plucked with the fingers or a plectrum , but rather struck with mallets.
Alpine zither
One of the earliest descriptions of a zither instrument in the Alpine region comes from the Swiss Thomas Platter (* 1499 in Valais ). He reports that in his youth he pulled strings on a clapboard, made a bridge underneath and tore the strings with his fingers. In "Syntagma musicum" (1619) by Michael Praetorius , an instrument of this type is mentioned under the term log or lump wood. An instrument from Brixen , dated 1675, has the shape of a long rectangle , two playing and two accompanying strings and a fingerboard with 14 frets. Only at the end of the 18th century did vigorous efforts to modernize the type of instrument begin, mainly in the Salzburg area and in Mittenwald .
Johann Petzmayer was decisive for the success story of the instrument in the 19th century . Born in Zistersdorf in 1803 , he grew up in Vienna as the son of an innkeeper and first learned to play the violin , then also the zither at the age of 16. His zither comprised three melody and 15 accompanying strings and was the preferred instrument on his extensive concert tours. On his second tour of Germany in 1836/37, the Bavarian Duke Max heard him in Bavaria , who then hired Petzmayer as a private teacher and in 1838 awarded him the title of chamber virtuoso. In the same year Nikolaus Weigel (from Giesing near Munich) published his theoretical-practical zither school . In 1838 Petzmayer accompanied Duke Max on a trip to the Orient through Italy and Greece to visit King Otto. In Egypt he made music at the foot of the pyramids and composed the waltz Nilfahrt on a boat trip to Aswan . The love of folklore during the Biedermeier period caused the zither to flourish in Central Europe , with development towards a bourgeois salon instrument ("The Little Man's Piano"). After all, in the late 19th century, instruments were manufactured in large numbers and exported worldwide, while "Zither clubs" were founded all over Germany, some of which still exist today.
Concert zither
In terms of instrument technology, Georg Tiefenbrunner added a so-called alto or "elegy" zither to the previous treble zither in 1851, an instrument with an extended scale and changed tuning (1 fourth lower). The first concert zither of today's design with an extended scale was built in 1862 by Max Amberger in Munich . Around 1930 Adolf Meinel sen. (1872–1953) in Markneukirchen a fifth zither (1 fifth higher) and a bass zither (1 octave lower), the great tradition of zither making was started by his son Adolf Richard Meinel (1910–2009) and is run by his daughter Ulrike Meinel (* 1952 ) continued.
The last major innovations in zither construction took place in the 20th century, mainly through the development of a zither "in psaltery form" by Ernst Volkmann (Ingolstadt). Volkmann let his knowledge of violin making flow into it. With a stretched cover for the body and the sometimes enormous extension of the lengths, he gave his instruments a powerful, assertive sound, which is particularly advantageous for the interpretation of baroque transcriptions and contemporary music. With his changes, Ernst Volkmann reacted to the further development of playing technique, literature and the changing needs of professional players. Numerous instrument makers took up his construction and developed it further in their own way.
The concert zither family includes four instruments that differ from one another in terms of pitch and construction. The common zither is called the descant zither. The alto (a fourth lower) and bass zither (an octave lower) are derived from this . The rarer fifth zither is tuned a fifth higher than the treble zither. The different types are often played together in an ensemble (as chamber music or in larger ensembles), with each instrument also being used as such as a soloist. Except for the treble zither, the instruments are notated transposing: Alto zither in g (low), bass zither octaving in c (low), fifth zither in g (high). The entire set of notes is transposed, with the respective pitch range of the instruments varying from five and a half to four and a half octaves.
Form and style of play
The basic shape of the concert zither consists of a flat box on which 5 fretboard strings and 27 to 37 free strings are stretched parallel to the long side. There is a sound hole under the free strings . Under the fretboard or melody strings lies the fretboard , which is divided with chromatic frets . In addition to the most frequently played treble zither, the fifth, alto and bass zither also belong to the concert zither family. The latter are transposing instruments .
One of the most common historical zither shapes is the Salzburg shape, which has a bulge on the side of the instrument facing away from the player. Another construction variant is the zither in Mittenwald shape, which is based on the symmetry of the guitar or lyre : it has two bulges. A modern form of the zither is the psaltery zither, which was developed around 1970 by the instrument maker Ernst Volkmann (* 1921). This innovative construction is a common template for many concert instruments today, such as the models by the instrument makers Kleitsch, Meinel, Wünsche and Ziegler.
The concert zither has two play areas: the fingerboard or melody strings and the free strings (also known as accompanying strings). The fretboard strings are torn with a zither ring (plectrum) on the thumb of the right hand while they are gripped by the fingers of the left hand. The free strings are plucked with the fingers of the right hand.
Standard stringing
For the concert zither there are two widespread strings that differ both in the tuning of the fingerboard strings and in the tuning of the free strings (formerly "accompaniment" or "chord strings", "bass" and "contras"): The standard stringing ("normal tuning", earlier colloquially also "Munich tuning") is the more recent and most common arrangement of the strings in terms of development history.
The fretboard strings are tuned to a ', a', d ', g, and c. The free strings (originally accompanying and bass strings) are arranged in fourth-fifths according to a system by Nikolaus Weigel (1811–1878) and cover the pitch range from f 'to contra F without any gaps (fully chromatic). The counter strings are tuned from F downwards in chromatic order (the number of counter strings and thus the range can vary depending on the instrument model). The arrangement in the circle of fifths means that the basic chords of a key are close to one another and can be easily and quickly grasped as a single sound or cadence sequence. The sequence of the fretboard strings is based on the tuning of the fifths of the string instruments, with the additional a-string making it easy to grasp chords in high register. The notation is usually done in two systems (similar to the piano): the fingerboard in the upper (treble clef), the free strings in the lower (bass clef).
The standard stringing was introduced as normal tuning at the congress of the Association of German Zither Associations in 1878. In doing so, their protagonists also pursued the goal of making it easier to play classical literature on the zither. The normal mood was spread by well-known composers and zither players such as Johannes Pugh, Josef Haustein (1849–1926), Richard Grünwald (1877–1963) and many others.
Viennese stringing
The Viennese stringing is rarely used nowadays, mostly for traditional interpretations of the Viennese salon and so-called "Schrammelmusik".
The fretboard strings are tuned to a ', d', g ', g, and c. A characteristic of Viennese stringing is the auxiliary string g 'in the middle of the fretboard strings. The free string range of the Viennese stringing differs from that of the standard stringing mainly by the fact that six strings in the bass range (f, d, e, f sharp or eb and c sharp) are tuned an octave lower. This divides the free string range into two tone ranges (a flat 'to g sharp and c to c sharp) and leaves a gap from g to c sharp. The double strings start with the C and are chromatically tuned downwards. The entire free string range is notated in the bass clef.
The Viennese mood was recorded and propagated by Carl IF Umlauf (1824–1902) in his “Latest Complete Theoretical-Practical Wiener Zitherschule” (Vienna 1859 near Glöggl). He writes about the fretboard strings as they were later used in the normal tuning: "There are also zithers where the fingerboard tuning is a'-a'-d'-g-c; however, I reject this tuning entirely because it is not more effect can be achieved with it than with 4 strings, and then usually played on the second a ', which never has the beautiful and powerful tone as in the place of the first a'. "
Scherr zither
The Scherr zither , also scratch zither or blow zither is a peasant zither with diatonic arranged frets that in the alpine folk music is still used today. In particular, playing with the Scherr zither is cultivated in the Allgäu , in the neighboring Vorarlberg and Tyrolean regions, and in Upper Bavaria .
Chord zither
The guitar or chord zithers differ from the construction and function of the concert zither . Conceived as amateur instruments and industrially manufactured, they do not have a fingerboard, but only strings that vibrate freely or are arranged in chord groups. A special sheet of music ( tablature as backing notes) is placed underneath them so that the instrument, also known as the backing zither , can be played without knowledge of music. In 1931, the Cologne-based instrument maker Karl Opitz patented his Operia concert harp , a chord zither with 92 chord and melody strings and a harp or lyre-shaped outline.
E-zither
An electric zither is a treble zither with built-in electric pickups like an electric guitar .
The Moodswinger is an electrically amplified flat board zither. The Moodswinger also has an additional third, movable bridge . The third bridge divides the strings into two parts with different pitches. Depending on where the string is plucked, a flageolet tone also sounds .
composition
The zither has long played a central role in traditional folk music ensembles in the Alpine region (for example in so-called room music ). Together with the guitar, it often serves as an accompanying instrument for singing.
In the course of the further development of the instrument after the Second World War, numerous arrangements were made for zither alone or for zither ensembles from all epochs of music history. The high tonal affinity to the historical plucked and lute instruments promoted this movement.
Especially since the 1980s, the instrument with its unused sound possibilities and extended playing techniques aroused the interest of well-known contemporary composers, such as Violeta Dinescu , Georg Friedrich Haas , Leopold Hurt , Mauricio Kagel , Peter Kiesewetter , Bernhard Lang , Dieter Schnebel , Christian Wolff and Walter Zimmermann .
education
The Munich University of Music and Performing Arts is the only training institute in Germany to offer a pedagogical diploma course in zither as well as a Bachelor of Music degree.
In Austria the zither is taught at the conservatories in Graz, Innsbruck, Klagenfurt and Linz as well as at the University Mozarteum Salzburg and its Innsbruck location.
Systematics
- Stick zither: The string support of stick zithers is solid, straight and rigid, in contrast to the flexible and elastic string support of musical bows . The stick zithers include early forms of Indian vina . Their descendants in Indian folk music are the single-string tuila , in northern Thailand the two- to five-string phin phia and in Cambodia the single-string kse diev . The latter two instruments belong to the round rod zithers common on the Southeast Asian mainland, while flat rod zithers occur in the Malay Archipelago . The common name for single and multi-string flat zithers in East Africa is zeze .
- Tube zither: The strings are on the outside of a gutter or tube. The most original zithers are idiochord, that is, the strings are made of the same material as the body from which they are cut. The most widely used material for tubular zithers is bamboo . The all-tube zithers made of bamboo are divided into two groups: multi-string zithers, plucked with the fingers to form a melody, and usually one or two-string percussion instruments, the strings of which are struck with sticks. The first group includes the valiha in Madagascar, the sasando on the Indonesian island of Roti and the kolitong in the north of the Philippines. The second group includes the celempung bambu and the three-string gumbeng in Java , the single-string guntang in Bali and in northeast India the gintang and the chigring . In Vietnam, the single-string đàn bầu used to consist of a bamboo tube, today its sound box is a narrow rectangular box.
- Raft zithers consist of several parallel connected tubes (mostly bamboo tubes) each with one string and are mainly found in Africa and Southeast Asia.
- Shell zither: They are also called trough zithers. The strings run freely over a mostly flat, bowl-shaped wooden board. Multi-string plucked shell zithers are restricted to East Africa. The broad inanga is widespread in the East African inter- lake region from Burundi to the island of Ukerewe in Lake Victoria . The approximately one meter long, slender ligombo occurs in central Tanzania. Another type are single-stringed shell zithers with a short bow, which include the tshidzholo and segankuru in southern Africa.
- Frame zither: The strings are stretched within a frame. A rare instrument of this category today is only known to the Kru in Liberia and neighboring countries. Forms of the medieval psaltery belong to this.
- Drone zithers belong to the fretboard zithers in which, in addition to one or two melody strings, which are shortened to frets by pressing them down, a number of other strings are arranged that are plucked empty andproducean accompanying drone tone . These include historical instruments such as the South German Scheitholt , the Dulcimer and the North German Hummel as well as the Norwegian Langeleik and the Icelandic Langspil .
- Board zither : the East Asian fretboard zither guqin , the vault board zithers guzheng in China, koto and wagon in Japan, gayageum and ajaeng in Korea, yatga in Mongolia and đàn tranh in Vietnam: the bangwe is a board zither in Malawi.
- Box zither: They form a subgroup of the board zithers in the Hornbostel-Sachs system . The strings run over a box made of boards. At this famous group includes the Alpine zithers, the dulcimer , which Hummel and Scherr zither , the wing-shaped Finnish kantele , the Ukrainian According Zither Bandura , the Oriental trapezoidal zither kanun , the Persian-Indian santur and kacapi and celempung , boat-shaped box zithers on Java . The violin zither is drawn with a bow. In England in the 18th and 19th centuries , the swinging zither was moved back and forth while playing to create a special floating sound.
- Key zither: Board or box zithers introduced at the beginning of the 20th century, the melody strings of which are shortened with a key mechanism located above the strings. These include Japan in the taishōgoto and in northern India and Pakistan bulbultarang .
Special forms between zither and harp, in which a flat resonance body is added behind the free strings of a harp, have been in Europe since 10/11. Century handed down on illustrations. The instruments called pointed harps or twittering harps in modern times have had double-covered strings with a sound box between the two string levels since the 13th century. They stood upright on the table and were plucked from both sides with their hands like a harp. Pointed harps were popular again in the 17th and 18th centuries.
See also
literature
- Joan Marie Bloderer: Zither play in Vienna: 1800 - 1850. Schneider, Tutzing 2008, ISBN 978-3-7952-1226-1
- Regina Hanemann, Johanna E. Blume, Brigitte Eichner-Grünbeck, Petra Hamberger, Maik Schaarschmidt: The Good Star or How Duke Max discovered the zither in Bamberg . (Exhibition catalog) Erich Weiß, Bamberg 2018, ISBN 978-3-940821-67-6
Web links
- Historical zithers in the Leipzig Musical Instrument Museum
- Zither Festival of the University of Music and Theater Munich
- Zither page by Werner Wölfing (photos, history, typology, links to information, zither makers and players)
- Zitherist International Die Zither Worldwide (German / English)
- Audio samples from the Viennese zither friends
Individual evidence
- ↑ Heinz Mader : Adolf Meinel † , in: "Saitenspiel" 49, issue 4 (July / August), pp. 215-217, Borchen 2009
- ↑ dated from Hofmeister's monthly reports
- ↑ Wolfgang Hopf: Re: Stefan Lieser's report on the Operia concert harp in Guitar & Lute Heft 4/1985. In: Guitar & Laute 7, 1985, issue 5, p. 8.
- ↑ Stefan Lieser: From bulky waste. Dieter Petzold and the Operia concert harp. In: Guitar & Laute 6, 1985, 4, p. 31 f.
- ^ University of Music and Theater Munich ( Memento from October 12, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Curt Sachs : Handbook of musical instrumentation. Georg Olms, Hildesheim 1967, p. 134f