Cymbals: history, video, interesting facts

Musical Instrument: Cymbals

Belarus ... A magical land whose beauty is impossible to describe in words. It is not for nothing that they call it blue-eyed: thousands of rivers and lakes of heavenly blue are the hallmark of the country. The centuries-old Belovezhskaya Pushcha, Polesye, golden fields, windmills, as well as ancient castles and fortresses are a small bit of what can impress a traveler who has visited this amazing land. Another bright attraction of the country is its distinctive culture (Belarusians sacredly keep folk customs and traditions). Melodious folk songs sound very beautiful, especially to the accompaniment of cymbals, a stringed percussion musical instrument that has become a symbol of Belarusian culture, whose sound adorns all the significant events in the life of the people of this country. The Russians have a button accordion and a balalaika, the Americans have a banjo, the French have an accordion, the Scots have a bagpipe, the Armenians have a duduk, and the Belarusians have a cymbal. This instrument is a national treasure, which is treated with particular trepidation in Belarus, and the art of performance on it is carefully passed down from generation to generation.

The history of cymbals and a lot of interesting facts about this musical instrument, read on our page.

Sound

Cymbals are a unique instrument with a rich musical display, it can sound like a piano and like a bell. The light and gentle timbre of the instrument, its bright, but at the same time gentle and not fading sound is extremely pleasant to the ear. Cymbals resemble the Russian folk instrument - the harp. But the essential difference between these two instruments is the way of sound extraction: on cymbals it appears when striking the strings with special sticks or hammers. However, the techniques of performing the instrument playing technique today are significantly expanded and include pizzicato, glissando, tremolo, flageolettes, arpeggios, and many others, from which the cymbal music becomes very diverse.

Cymbals with a large number of species can have both diatonic (folk cymbals) and chromatic order (academic concert cymbals). The range also varies from two and a half to four octaves. For example, in the professional instrument of the Prima model, it is located in the range from the small to the C salt of the third octave.

Notes for cymbals are recorded, as for piano, in two keys: treble and bass.

A photo:

Interesting Facts

• A zimbalist is the name of a cymbal performer.
• In the Middle Ages, one of the most popular secular instruments was a kind of cymbals, called psaltery, which in its design had a small keyboard. It is believed that this particular instrument is the progenitor of the modern piano.
• The biblical book Psalter received its name from the instrument psaltery, accompanied by which the Old Testament hymns of praise were recited.
• Cymbals were very popular in France as early as the 14th century. This is evidenced by the fact that the famous French composer and poet Guillaume de Macaud at that time described them in detail in his treatises.
• At the end of the 17th century, the development of cymbals, or rather their varieties - psaltery, was closely associated with the name of the remarkable German performer and composer Pantalion Gebenstreit. He performed his improvisations so vividly and masterly on the instrument he perfected, that King Louis XIV of France, enchanted by the musician’s play, jokingly called the instrument Pantaleon, this name subsequently became entrenched.

• Outstanding Russian composer I. Stravinsky once in a restaurant in Geneva, I heard cymbals. The composer liked the sound of the instrument so much that he bought himself an instrument and learned with enthusiasm how to play it.
• Famous cinema composers often use cymbal sound in their compositions for films. For example, K. Coppola ("Black Horse"), D. Horner ("Star Trek 3: In Search of Spock"), D.T. Williams ("Indiana Jones: In Search of the Lost Ark"), A. Desplaus ("Golden Compass", and "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"), L. Schifrin ("Mission Impossible").
• In Hungary, on November 3, 1991, the World Association of Cymbalists was founded, the main purpose of which is to popularize the instrument. The organization includes representatives from 32 countries in Europe, Asia, America, Australia. These are performers, instrument makers, composers, music publishers and musicologists. The Association holds world congresses every two years in different countries of the world to exchange experience and information.
• National and international competitions and festivals of performers on cymbals are held in different countries of the world: Hungary, Belarus, Australia, Japan, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Moldova, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Mexico and others.
• The word dulcimer has another meaning. It is sometimes called sagat - a musical instrument in the form of small metal plates with a diameter of 2 cm, usually used during the performance of belly dance.

Design

The body of academic cymbals of the Prima model has a trapezium shape, the bottom base of which is 100 cm, the top 60 cm, and the side is 53.5 cm. The case is covered with a deck, with several resonant openings on it. There are also six stands on the deck - shtegov, dividing the strings into different intervals: quarts, quints, third and second. A large number of strings are stretched onto the deck: 29 rows of 2-3 strings, the pitch of which is adjusted with the help of tuning pegs - the camels.

Cymbal body is usually made of maple, and the deck is made of high-mountain resonant spruce.

The instrument is played with special wooden hammers - beaters that have a special curved shape, which, if necessary, are covered with leather or cloth to soften the sound.

Varieties

The cymbals, which are very popular in many countries of the world, have very many varieties and the most popular of them are:

• Hungarian concert dulcimer is the largest instrument in terms of design, the body of which is a heavy frame, standing on four detachable legs. These dulcimers have an extended range, chromatic system and a damper pedal for jamming strings.
• Santur is a tool that has become widespread in eastern countries: Turkey, Iraq, Iran, India, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan. It has 96 strings and is made of walnut wood in the shape of a trapezoid. The sticks with which they play the instrument are called mizrabi.
• Folk dulcimer is a portable instrument that has a small size, diatonic structure and range within two, two and a half octaves.
• Appalachian dulcimer - a tool that has spread among the peoples of North America. It has a narrow elongated shape in the form of a figure of eight or an oval. This type of cymbals is distinguished by the neck, which is located in the middle of the body and is raised one centimeter above the deck. On the neck are from 12 to 16 frets, the instrument has two or four resonator holes. The number of strings on such cymbals can vary from three to five. The sound is extracted with your fingers or a pick.

It should also be noted that for use in folk ensembles and orchestras different types of cymbals were designed, differing in pitch: piccolo, prima, alto, bass and double bass.

Application and Repertoire

With its peculiar sound, timbals attracted the attention of composers at all times. Well-known musical authors who paid special attention to the instrument, including his voice in his works, mention should be made of Ferenc Erkel, Zoltan Kodai, Ferenc Liszt, Claude Debussy, Igor Stravinsky, Bela Bartók, Franz Legar.

Dulcimer, and nowadays being a rather demanded instrument, which has a very wide scope of application. They are used with great success as a solo, ensemble and orchestral instrument. The dulcimer is very versatile, not only the works of composers of past epochs sound great, but also the music of modern trends, for example, jazz compositions.

The cymbal music library is very rich and diverse - these are transcriptions of the wonderful works of great composers of different eras and trends, as well as original works written specifically for the instrument. The musical masterpieces of outstanding classics sound great on cymbals: I.S. Bach, A. Vivaldi, G. Handel. V.A. Mozart, J. Haydn, F. Couperin, L.V. Beethoven, F. Mendelssohn, N. Rimsky-Korsakov, P. Tchaikovsky, D. Shostakovich, R. Gliere, G. Sviridov, A. Khachaturian. Among contemporary music authors who pay special attention to the instrument, it is worth noting P. Boulez (France), P. Davis (England), D. Kurtag (Hungary), M. Kochar (Hungary), L. Andrijsen (Netherlands), I. Zhinovich (Belarus).

Famous Performers

The cymbals, enjoying great popular love, have always attracted both ordinary music lovers and professional musicians. The richest history of instrument performance has revealed a whole galaxy of talented performers who have made an invaluable contribution to the development of the instrument with their creativity. One of the most famous cymbalists of the first half of the 20th century was recognized by the Hungarian musician Aladar Rat, who with his magnificent performance prompted the eminent Russian composer I. Stravinsky not only to love cymbals, but also to learn how to play them.

The basis of the Belarusian performing school of cymbal games was laid and subsequently glorified by the names of such outstanding performers as D. Zakhar, S. Novitsky, H. Shmelkin, and I. Zhinovich, who was called “Belarusian Andreev” for his versatile creative work. A. Ostrometsky, V. Burkovich, J. Gladkova, T. Chentsova, T. Tkacheva, G. Klimovich made a significant contribution to the development of mastery by their tireless creative activity.

At present, among well-known virtuoso performers who admire listeners with their performance and do a lot to maintain the popularity of cymbals all over the world, it should be noted M. Preda, M. Lukács, A. Denisen, M. Leonchik, Sh. Yurmyosha.

Story

The history of cymbals originates in the Middle East in ancient times far from us. Their predecessors were tools that were used by our ancestors as early as the fourth millennium BC, and we learn about this from the images found as a result of archaeological excavations in the territory of ancient Sumer. For example, on a fragment of a vase, created sixty centuries ago, musicians were drawn with instruments resembling recumbent harps. Similar similar images are found on a bas-relief belonging to the epoch of the very first dynasty of the Babylonian kings, and they refer to the 9th century BC. er In addition, tools that can be called the cymbal progenitors are mentioned in one of the parts of the Old Testament, in the book of the prophet Daniel. For example, Santour, which, according to the legend, was created by the remarkable personality of the biblical story - King David. Over time, the tool has spread widely throughout the world, occupying an important place in the cultural life of the peoples of Asia, Africa, China, India, and then Europe. In different countries, he acquired new names: in France he was called timpane, in England - Dalshima, in Germany - hakbrettom, in Italy - salterio, in Iran - santure, in Armenia - eve, and in the Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland , Moldova, Belarus and Ukraine - cymbals.

The instrument, winning more and more popular love, was constantly modified, each master added something different to his device: the cymbals changed the shape and volume of the resonator body, in some cases even adapted the keyboard, and instead of the gut strings they put metal. Particularly popular with cymbals came in the XIV-XVI centuries. At this time, they firmly settled among the population of both villages and cities, and in high society was known as a fashionable tool in home music.

The cymbals were considered the best for playing different music and were used not only for solo and accompaniment, but also for playing in an ensemble with other instruments. They sounded at various holidays, fairgrounds, weddings, and even court ceremonies. In the 18th century, composers began introducing cymbals into the scores of opera performances, symphonies and oratorios. An example would be K. Gluck's opera "Fooled Kadi".

Loved by many nations, the instrument was constantly improved, but real revolutionary changes in the construction of cymbals were made in the seventies of the 19th century by the piano master from the Hungarian city of Pest V. Schund. He strengthened the cymbal frame, increased the number of strings, added a damping mechanism for killing the strings, and also installed them on four legs. This instrument became the forerunner of concert cymbals, which today are particularly popular in Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Moldova. And at the beginning of the 20th century, more precisely in 1923, at the initiative of a talented musician and teacher D. Zakhar, together with the master of musical instruments K. Sushkevich, cymbals were modernized, which not only enjoyed particular popularity on Belarusian soil, but also acquired the status national symbol of Belarus. Somewhat later, in 1925, a whole family of cymbals was created - piccolo, prima, alto, bass and double bass, which later became part of the ensemble, and then into the orchestra of Belarusian folk instruments.

Cymbals are a tool that is treated with particular trepidation in Belarus, so the art of performing it is carefully passed down from generation to generation. However, cymbals due to their musical appeal are popular not only among the Belarusian people, they have won love and fame in many countries of the world. Hungary, Ukraine, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Moldova, Romania, Serbia, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Armenia, Greece, China, India - this is a small list of countries where not only professional musicians, but also simple amateurs play music with dulcimers - music lovers.