My dulcimer
We were once in New Zealand and it happened to be my birthday. My daughter who was working there bought a musical instrument from a friend and gave it to me. Not being terribly musical I didn’t even know what it was. But it was splendid, like two violins conjoined, polished and smooth. It was a real talking point going through Aukland airport, as much admired as if I was carrying a new puppy. Since then it has adorned the wall of my office.
Then on Saturday evening we were invited to a concert chez Brigitte and Bernard in Bray. They have a beautiful house with a salon big enough to hold musical evenings. The performers were some of Brigitte’s musical friends who came up from Lyon. Cinq de Choeur consists of Michel Colin and his daughter Maud, Maud’s husband Benjamin and friends Annie-Laure and Patrick. You can listen to their music on http://cinqdechoeur.free.fr.
Michel, Benjamin and Michel from Cinq de Choeur
As well as being extraordinarily talented singers they switched between the flute, violin and guitar with ease. What interested me most was that Maud and Michel were playing dulcimers. I had never seen one played, although I have since read that Joni Mitchell and Cyndi Lauper have played the dulcimer for years. And Brian Jones played one in several Rolling Stones recordings in the 60s.
Playing the dulcimer
Dulcimers originated in the Appalacian mountains and were made by the first Scots and Irish settlers who wanted something easier to make and play than the violin. They are not usually as curved as mine but a simple triangular shape. They just about died out in the early 20th century but were revived by Jean Ritchie, a Kentucky musician, who played a dulcimer to audiences in New York. By 1965 dulcimers were well known in folk music circles.
A dulcimer is said to be one of the easiest stringed instruments to learn to play. It lies across your lap and you pluck or strum with the right hand while fretting with the left. There are plenty of dulcimer advice groups on the internet so perhaps I’ll give it a go. On verra.
