What instruments are in medieval music?

Instruments, such as the vielle, harp, psaltery, flute, shawm, bagpipe, and drums were all used during the Middle Ages to accompany dances and singing. Trumpets and horns were used by nobility, and organs, both portative (movable) and positive (stationary), appeared in the larger churches.

Is a Zanfona a hurdy-gurdy?

The hurdy-gurdy is a mechanical string instrument that produces sound by a hand-crank-turned, rosined wheel rubbing against the strings….Hurdy-gurdy.

Is a hurdy-gurdy a medieval instrument?

A string instrument that was set up primarily for the purpose of making drones was the hurdy-gurdy; at least, that is the modern name for it. In the Middle Ages, it was known in Latin as the organistrum and the symphonia, and in French as the vielle à roue (the vielle with the wheel).

How old is hurdy?

The hurdy-gurdy was first mentioned in the 10th century as the organistrum. It was then a church instrument played by two men, one fingering the keys, one turning the wheel. Secular, one-man forms, called symphonia, appeared in the 13th century.

Where does the word organistrum come from in music?

The word organistrum is derived from organum and instrumentum; the former term was applied to the primitive harmonies, consisting of octaves accompanied by fourths or fifths, first practised by Hucbald in the 10th century.

What kind of instruments did medieval people play?

THE MEDIEVAL INSTRUMENTS 1 Bass Psaltery. Standing at a height of five feet, the imposing bass psaltery is one of a kind. 2 Organistrum. For hundreds of years, the medieval organistrum was almost lost to history. 3 Hurdy-Gurdy. The hurdy-gurdy’s sound is produced by turning a crank attached to a rosined wheel that rubs against the strings.

Where is the organistrum in the Museum of Rouen?

The organistrum appears on a bas-relief from the abbey of St Georges de Boscherville (11th century), now preserved in the museum of Rouen, where it is played by a royal lady, her maid turning the crank.

What was the date of the invention of the organ?

This explanation enables us to fix with tolerable certainty the date of the invention of the organistrum, at the end of the 10th or beginning of the 11th century, and also to understand the construction of the instrument.