Zanfona - Medieval Music

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Uncle Al
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Zanfona - Medieval Music

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Re: Zanfona - Medieval Music

Post by Kirbstone »

Interesting stuff, Uncle Al. Good filming to show the instrument so close to.

When my eldest boy was a student he joined up with a costumed entertainment troupe called 'Past Pleasures' and they entertained at medieval festivals and banquets, one of which MOH and I attended.
It was a steaming Summer night and at Warwick Castle we were invited to dine in the basement prior to the Battle of Barnet, 1471 AD, at which the Duke of Lancaster lost to the Yorkies and the Tudors became kings of England for generations. Well on into the meal our Tim got up onto one of the tables, goblet of mead in hand and urged all the males present to ride out with the Duke on the morrow. He then cast his eye round the gathering and said...'I wonder if there are any Yorkies here in our midst?'

His troupe included a hurdy-gurdy player and Tim being essentially a clarinettist, played the Shaum, a medieval straight wind instrument which had a reed, like a clarinet or an oboe, so he could manage it. His troupe played at Hampton Court and Canterbury, also.

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Re: Zanfona - Medieval Music

Post by Stu »

I have catholic tastes when it comes to music, but I generally return to early Baroque opera like the great Pacini, or Leonardo Vinci.
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Re: Zanfona - Medieval Music

Post by crfriend »

I love the sound of the hurdy-gurdy, and it's always been a top-ten favourite. Other favourites are pipe-organ, oboe, Irish pipes, and hammered dulcimer. I am definitely a musical omnivore, and about the only thing I don't like is bad jazz and rap.
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Re: Zanfona - Medieval Music

Post by Fred in Skirts »

I have always been partial to the Harpsichord. I also like church and theater organs as well as the bagpipes. As far as music goes I love the Big Bands as well as early 50s to mid 60s rock and or roll. :)
As for rap it is as far as I am concerned some of the most filthy rotten excuse for music that I have ever heard... :evil:
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Re: Zanfona - Medieval Music

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Well, I enjoy music like I enjoy candy.
First thing I do is throw away the "wrappers" ;)

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Re: Zanfona - Medieval Music

Post by crfriend »

Fred in Skirts wrote: Tue Aug 03, 2021 8:56 pmI have always been partial to the Harpsichord.
Count me in the harpsichord camp as well -- much nicer sounding than the piano. The piano can be more expressive with sheer volume, but the brightness that the harpsichord's action brings to the experience eclipses that.
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Re: Zanfona - Medieval Music

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I have an 88-key full size electric piano which I use(d) for parties.....U3A, Bridge Club, Tennis Club, MOH's ladies' book clubs and private gatherings, all pre-Covid, of course. This instrument can be lugged around on the passenger seat of my car and set up anywhere on its scissor stand, so sing-songs &c were available anywhere.
It has a 'harpsichord' button, which is as near as I'll ever get to playing one. Not long ago I attended a medieval music evening in a small chamber, part of our National Concert Hall complex. There they had their brand new (2018) English-made double harpsichord played by some Prof. who does this sort of thing. What a sound! My younger son's friend played the viola-de-gamba, (another lovely creation) and that is how we got the invite.

Delightful stuff.

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Re: Zanfona - Medieval Music

Post by Fred in Skirts »

crfriend wrote: Tue Aug 03, 2021 9:47 pm
Fred in Skirts wrote: Tue Aug 03, 2021 8:56 pmI have always been partial to the Harpsichord.
Count me in the harpsichord camp as well -- much nicer sounding than the piano. The piano can be more expressive with sheer volume, but the brightness that the harpsichord's action brings to the experience eclipses that.
One of the ancient TV shows that I always watched was the Addams Family and they used a harpsichord in that show for the theme song and the butler Lurch played it regularly.
And that is how I became familiar with the instrument.
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Re: Zanfona - Medieval Music

Post by geron »

Fred in Skirts wrote: Tue Aug 03, 2021 8:56 pm I have always been partial to the Harpsichord.
Me too. I think perhaps the apogee of harpsichord music was the long cadenza in the Fifth Brandenburg Concerto. Or maybe anything by Couperin. But the older I get, the more I like the piano. This week in the BBC Proms we have Rachmaninov's dazzling Paganini Rhapsody, with the Aurora Orchestra, which plays standing up and from memory. It's to be shown on BBC TV on Friday evening, complete with surround sound -- a high-wire act which promises about as much excitement as you can have at home with your clothes on.
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Re: Zanfona - Medieval Music

Post by FranTastic444 »

A guy called Donald Heller is well known for busking with his Hurdy Gurdy in Boston. I've spoken to him a few times - quite the character. The first time that I spoke to him I told him that a (now ex) colleague back in the UK played the same instrument. He asked me to name him and, of course, he knew him because of the www and a Hurdy Gurdy forum (yes, such a thing exists) that brought together like-minded souls from around the world.
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Re: Zanfona - Medieval Music

Post by denimini »

Great. I grew up in an arty area where many people played medieval music and always enjoyed it. I did play a bit on a guitar until our family home got burnt in a bushfire. Nobody played the Hurdy Gurdy though ........ as someone said; like a string instrument with an infinitely long bow.

The term Hurdy Gurdy here locally has a different meaning of which I won't go into.
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Re: Zanfona - Medieval Music

Post by Stu »

I didn't see the hurdy gurdy being played in Boston last time I was there, but I have heard this guy (Erik Rydvall) play a vaguely similar-looking traditional Swedish instrument.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6zsC3MrVEg

I will be mightily impressed if anyone can name the instrument his is playing along with the brilliant recorder player, Kristine West.
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Re: Zanfona - Medieval Music

Post by Uncle Al »

Easy-Peazy :D
The instrument was named at the end of the clip :D
Nyckelharpa - Swedish Instrument 2021-08-13.jpg
Nyckelharpa
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - -
A nyckelharpa (Swedish: [ˈnʏ̂kːɛlˌharːpa], "keyed fiddle", or literally "key harp",
plural nyckelharpor) is a traditional Swedish musical instrument. It is a string
instrument or chordophone. Its keys are attached to tangents which, when a
key is depressed, serve as frets to change the pitch of the string.

The nyckelharpa is similar in appearance to a fiddle or the big Sorb geige or
viol. Structurally, it is more closely related to the hurdy-gurdy, both employing
key-actuated tangents to change the pitch.

Uncle Al
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Re: Zanfona - Medieval Music

Post by Stu »

Well done! Did you honestly know that before the end of the clip?

Stu
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