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The cimbalom (; ) or concert cimbalom is a type of
chordophone String instruments, stringed instruments, or chordophones are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer plays or sounds the strings in some manner. Musicians play some string instruments by plucking the ...
composed of a large, trapezoidal box on legs with metal strings stretched across its top and a damping pedal underneath. It was designed and created by V. Josef Schunda in 1874 in
Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
, based on his modifications to the existing
Hammered dulcimer The hammered dulcimer (also called the hammer dulcimer) is a percussion-stringed instrument which consists of strings typically stretched over a trapezoidal resonant sound board. The hammered dulcimer is set before the musician, who in more trad ...
instruments which were already present in Central and Eastern Europe. Today the instrument is mainly played in
Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
,
Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...
,
Moravia Moravia ( , also , ; cs, Morava ; german: link=yes, Mähren ; pl, Morawy ; szl, Morawa; la, Moravia) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The me ...
,
Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
,
Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...
, and
Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
. The cimbalom is typically played by striking two sticks, often with cotton-wound tips, against the strings which are on the top of the instrument. The steel treble strings are arranged in groups of 4 and are tuned in unison. The bass strings which are over-spun with copper, are arranged in groups of 3 and are also tuned in unison. The
Hornbostel–Sachs Hornbostel–Sachs or Sachs–Hornbostel is a system of musical instrument classification devised by Erich Moritz von Hornbostel and Curt Sachs, and first published in the in 1914. An English translation was published in the '' Galpin Society Jo ...
musical instrument classification system registers the cimbalom with the number 314.122-4,5. The name “cimbalom” is also sometimes used to describe other types of dulcimers, which may have different tuning systems and which may lack the dampers and heavy construction of the concert instrument. In other languages, the words for those other instruments and the concert cimbalom may be similar as well (such as in
Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language *** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language ** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...
or nowiki/>tsymbaly.html"_;"title="tsymbaly.html"_;"title="nowiki/>tsymbaly">nowiki/>tsymbaly">tsymbaly.html"_;"title="nowiki/>tsymbaly">nowiki/>tsymbalyin_Ukrainian_language.html" "title="tsymbaly">nowiki/>tsymbaly.html" ;"title="tsymbaly.html" ;"title="nowiki/>tsymbaly">nowiki/>tsymbaly">tsymbaly.html" ;"title="nowiki/>tsymbaly">nowiki/>tsymbalyin Ukrainian language">Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...
).


History

The modern Hungarian concert cimbalom was designed and created by V. Josef Schunda in 1874 in
Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
based on his modifications to existing folk dulcimers. He demonstrated an early prototype with some improvements at the 1873 Vienna World's Fair, gaining praise from audiences and drawing the attention of highly-placed Hungarian politicians such as József Zichy, Gyula Andrássy, and Franz Joseph I of Austria, King Franz Joseph. He then continued to work to modify and improve his design. He extended the length of the strings and redesigned the position of the bridges to improve the tone and musical range. He added heavy dampers which would allow a greater degree of control over the ringing of the strings, and a metal brace inside the instrument which would increase its stability. Four detachable legs were added to support this much larger instrument; its folkloric predecessors had usually been played on a barrel or table. Schunda began serial production of his concert cimbalom in 1874, manufacturing them in a piano shop located on
Hajós utca Hajós ( hr, Ajoš; german: Hajosch) is a town in Bács-Kiskun County, Hungary. History Hajós's name comes from the Hungarian word "hajó" which means boat or ship. It is possible that in the Middle Ages Hajós was surrounded by a large area ...
, across the street from the
Budapest Opera House The Hungarian State Opera House ( hu, Magyar Állami Operaház) is a neo-Renaissance opera house located in central Budapest, on Andrássy út. Originally known as the Hungarian Royal Opera House, it was designed by Miklós Ybl, a major figure o ...
in Pest. He also started to develop a playing method and school to popularize his new instrument, eventually recruiting
Géza Allaga Géza Allaga (1841 – 19 March 1913) was a Hungarian composer, cellist and cymbalist. He was a member of the Hungarian Royal Opera orchestra and published ''Cimbalom'', his first textbook on the subject before 1889. References External li ...
, a prominent musician and pedagogue, to publish method books. Prominent Hungarian musicians such as
Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...
became increasingly interested in the instrument and its possibilities. The instrument quickly became popular among the
Bourgeoisie The bourgeoisie ( , ) is a social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. They ...
as well as
Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...
musicians, and by 1906 Schunda had produced over ten thousand instruments.


Characteristics

Concert instruments from Schunda onward are fully chromatic. The Schunda tuning system established a standard pitch range of four
octave In music, an octave ( la, octavus: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is the interval between one musical pitch and another with double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been refer ...
s plus a major 3rd; extending from C to e′′′ (
Helmholtz pitch notation Helmholtz pitch notation is a system for naming musical notes of the Western chromatic scale. Fully described and normalized by the German scientist Hermann von Helmholtz, it uses a combination of upper and lower case letters (A to G), and the su ...
). The cimbalom has continued its development and modern concert instruments are often further expanded and have numerous refinements beyond Schunda's design. These instruments can now have a pitch range that extends five fully chromatic octaves from AA to a′′′. Contemporary cimbalom makers also create smaller instruments. These run the gamut from less weighty versions of Schunda's original concert layout to truly portable fully chromatic cimbaloms (which use Schunda's signature tuning pattern and note layout but with reduced range in the bass). Modern makers also continue to craft new and traditional folk style instruments. A smaller more portable version of the concert cimbalom was produced in
Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
from the 1950s to the 1980s that came with detachable legs and dampers, but could be carried more easily than the larger concert instrument. These instruments were produced by the
Chernihiv Chernihiv ( uk, Черні́гів, , russian: Черни́гов, ; pl, Czernihów, ; la, Czernihovia), is a city and municipality in northern Ukraine, which serves as the administrative center of Chernihiv Oblast and Chernihiv Raion within ...
factory and the Melnytso-Podilsk folk instruments workshop which also produced many types of other folk instruments.


Compositions for cimbalom


Classical and contemporary music

Many composers have written for the cimbalom.
Zoltán Kodály Zoltán Kodály (; hu, Kodály Zoltán, ; 16 December 1882 – 6 March 1967) was a Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, pedagogue, linguist, and philosopher. He is well known internationally as the creator of the Kodály method of music edu ...
made extensive use of the instrument in his orchestral suite ''
Háry János ''Háry János'' is a Hungarian folk opera by Zoltán Kodály with a Hungarian libretto by Béla Paulini and Zsolt Harsányi. The opera, in four acts, is in the manner of a ''Singspiel and is based'' the comic epic ''The Veteran'' (''Az obsitos'') ...
'' which helped make the cimbalom known outside
Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russ ...
.
Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the ...
was also an enthusiast. He owned a cimbalom which he purchased after hearing Aladár Rácz perform on the instrument. He included the cimbalom in his ballet '' Renard'' (1915–16), his ''Ragtime'' for eleven instruments, his original (1917) scoring for ''
Les Noces ''Les Noces'' (French for The Wedding; russian: Свадебка, ''Svadebka'') is a ballet and orchestral concert work composed by Igor Stravinsky for percussion, pianists, chorus, and vocal soloists. The composer gave it the descriptive title " ...
'', and his ''Four Russian Songs''.
Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...
used the cimbalom in his ''Ungarischer Sturmmarsch'' (1876) and in the orchestral version of his '' Hungarian Rhapsody No. 6''.
Béla Bartók Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist, and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as H ...
used it in his '' Rhapsody No. 1 for violin and orchestra'' (1928). More recently, other composers including
Pierre Boulez Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 1925 – 5 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war Western classical music. Born in Mont ...
,
Peter Maxwell Davies Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (8 September 1934 – 14 March 2016) was an English composer and conductor, who in 2004 was made Master of the Queen's Music. As a student at both the University of Manchester and the Royal Manchester College of Musi ...
,
Peter Eötvös Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...
,
György Kurtág György Kurtág (; born 19 February 1926) is a Hungarian classical composer and pianist. He was an academic teacher of piano at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music from 1967, later also of chamber music, and taught until 1993. Biography Györ ...
,
Miklós Kocsár Miklós Kocsár (21 December 1933 – 29 August 2019) was a Hungarian composer. He was born in Debrecen, Hungary, (son of László Kocsár and Erzsébet Borsy) and studied composition at the Academy of Music in Budapest with Ferenc Farkas, gr ...
,
Richard Grimes Rick Grimes is a fictional character and the main protagonist in the post-apocalyptic comic book series '' The Walking Dead'' and the first nine seasons of the television series of the same name, in which he is portrayed by Andrew Lincoln. Cr ...
,
Louis Andriessen Louis Joseph Andriessen (; 6 June 1939 – 1 July 2021) was a Dutch composer, pianist and academic teacher. Considered the most influential Dutch composer of his generation, he was a central proponent of The Hague school of composition. Although ...
, and Peter Machajdík have made a great use of cimbalom in their works.
Henri Dutilleux Henri Paul Julien Dutilleux (; 22 January 1916 – 22 May 2013) was a French composer active mainly in the second half of the 20th century. His small body of published work, which garnered international acclaim, followed in the tradition of ...
used it extensively in ''Mystère de l'Instant'' for chamber orchestra, and ''L'arbre des songes'' for violin & orchestra.
Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in ...
's orchestral ballet score ''
Il Sogno ''Il Sogno'' is the 20th studio album by Elvis Costello, released in 2004 by Deutsche Grammophon. It is performed by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas, recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London. It peaked at No. 1 ...
'' includes several extended cimbalom passages.
Harrison Birtwistle Sir Harrison Birtwistle (15 July 1934 – 18 April 2022) was an English composer of contemporary classical music best known for his operas, often based on mythological subjects. Among his many compositions, his better known works include '' T ...
's operas '' ''Gawain'''' (1991) and '' ''The Minotaur'''' (2008) each utilize the cimbalom.
John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Befor ...
uses the instrument prominently in his large 2012 symphonic oratorio ''
The Gospel According to the Other Mary ''The Gospel According to the Other Mary'' is an opera-oratorio by the American composer John Adams (composer), John Adams. The world premiere took place on May 31, 2012, at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles with Gustavo Dudamel conducti ...
'' as well as in his 2014 dramatic symphony ''
Scheherazade.2 ''Scheherazade.2'' is a dramatic symphony for solo violin and orchestra by the American composer John Adams. The work was jointly commissioned by the New York Philharmonic, the Concertgebouw & the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and the Sydney Sym ...
''. Cimbalom is used in a popular arrangement of
Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...
's ''
La plus que lente ''La plus que lente'', List of compositions by Claude Debussy by Lesure Numbers, L. 121 (, "The more than slow"), is a waltz for solo piano written by Claude Debussy in 1910, shortly after his publication of the Préludes (Debussy), Préludes, B ...
'' which the composer approved but did not actually score. (''La plus que lente'' with cimbalom saw renewed popularity with its inclusion in world tours of the Hundred Gypsy Violins starting in 1985.)


Film and television

The cimbalom has occasionally been used in film scores, especially to introduce a "foreign" feel. The cimbalom appears in ''
Christmas in Connecticut ''Christmas in Connecticut'' is a 1945 American Christmas romantic comedy film about an unmarried city magazine writer who pretends to be a farm wife and mother and then falls in love with a returning war hero. The film was directed by English d ...
'' (1945) in a scene in Felix's (
S. Z. Sakall Szőke Szakáll (born Jakab Grünwald, akas: Gärtner Sándor and Gerő Jenő; February 2, 1883 February 12, 1955), known in the English-speaking world as S. Z. Sakall, was a Hungarian-American stage and film character actor. He appeared in ...
) Hungarian restaurant in
Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
. It was also featured in the films '' Captain Blood'' (1935), ''
The Divorce of Lady X ''The Divorce of Lady X'' is a 1938 British Technicolor romantic comedy film produced by London Films; it stars Merle Oberon, Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richardson and Binnie Barnes. It was directed by Tim Whelan and produced by Alexander Kord ...
'' (1938), and ''
Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon ''Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon'' (1942) is the fourth in the Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce series of 14 Sherlock Holmes films which updated the characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to the then present day. The film is credited as ...
'' (1943). The cimbalom was used in the film score for the movie '' In the Heat of the Night'' (1967). Composer Carmine Coppola made heavy use of the cimbalom in his soundtrack for ''
The Black Stallion The Black Stallion, known as the Black or Shêtân, is the title character from author Walter Farley's bestselling series about the Arab stallion and his young owner, Alec Ramsay. The series chronicles the story of a Sheikh's prized stallion a ...
'' (1979) to accentuate the Arabian heritage of the majestic horse.
Miklós Rózsa Miklós Rózsa (; April 18, 1907 – July 27, 1995) was a Hungarian-American composer trained in Germany (1925–1931) and active in France (1931–1935), the United Kingdom (1935–1940), and the United States (1940–1995), with extensi ...
used the cimbalom in the main theme and throughout the score for the science-fiction thriller '' The Power'' (1968). John Barry used it in the title theme for the film ''
The Ipcress File ''The IPCRESS File'' is Len Deighton's first spy novel, published in 1962. The story involves Cold War brainwashing, includes scenes in Lebanon and on an atoll for a United States atomic weapon test, as well as information about Joe One, the ...
'' (1965), as well as in the main theme of the ITC TV series ''
The Persuaders! ''The Persuaders!'' is an action-comedy series starring Tony Curtis and Roger Moore, produced by ITC Entertainment, and initially broadcast on ITV and ABC in 1971. The show has been called 'the last major entry in the cycle of adventure ser ...
'' (1971); in both examples the performer was John Leach.
James Horner James Roy Horner (August 14, 1953 – June 22, 2015) was an American composer. He was known for the integration of choral and electronic elements, and for his frequent use of motifs associated with Celtic music. Horner's first film score was in ...
made use of the instrument in his "Stealing the Enterprise" cue from '' Star Trek III: The Search for Spock'' (1984). In addition,
John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (15 November 2022)Classic Connection review ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who wa ...
has made less prominent use of the instrument in scores such as ''
Raiders of the Lost Ark ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' is a 1981 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Lawrence Kasdan, based on a story by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman. It stars Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, Ronal ...
'' (1981). Howard Shore used the cimbalom as well to express Gollum's sneaky nature in
Peter Jackson Sir Peter Robert Jackson (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best known as the director, writer and producer of the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003) and the ''Hobbit'' trilogy ( ...
's film '' The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers'' (2002). The cimbalom is also featured prominently in
Hans Zimmer Hans Florian Zimmer (; born 12 September 1957) is a German film score composer and music producer. He has won two Academy Awards, Oscars and four Grammy Awards, Grammys, and has been nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards, Emmys and a Tony Awar ...
's scoring of ''
Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...
'' (2009).
Alexandre Desplat Alexandre Michel Gérard Desplat (; born 23 August 1961) is a French film composer and conductor. He has won many awards, including two Academy Awards, for his musical scores to the films '' The Grand Budapest Hotel'' and '' The Shape of Water'' ...
uses cimbalom in works such as ''
The Golden Compass ''Northern Lights'' (titled ''The Golden Compass'' in North America and some other countries) is a young-adult fantasy novel by Philip Pullman, published in 1995 by Scholastic UK. Set in a parallel universe, it follows the journey of Lyra Be ...
'' (2007), '' The Curious Case of Benjamin Button'' (2008), and ''
The Grand Budapest Hotel ''The Grand Budapest Hotel'' is a 2014 comedy-drama film written and directed by Wes Anderson. Ralph Fiennes leads a seventeen-actor ensemble cast as Monsieur Gustave H., famed concierge of a twentieth-century mountainside resort in the fiction ...
'' (2014). In television, composer
Lalo Schifrin Boris Claudio "Lalo" Schifrin (born June 21, 1932) is an Argentine-American pianist, composer, arranger and conductor. He is best known for his large body of film and TV scores since the 1950s, incorporating jazz and Latin American musical elemen ...
made use of the cimbalom in several scores he wrote for the original '' Mission: Impossible'' television series, from which several cues were regularly recycled throughout the series' run. Composer
Debbie Wiseman Debbie Wiseman, OBE (born 10 May 1963) is a British composer for film and television, known also as a conductor and a radio and television presenter. Biography Wiseman was born in London. She studied at Trinity College of Music Junior Depart ...
used the cimbalom, played by Greg Knowles, in her score for the BBC television series 'Dickensian' (2015–16). The cimbalom, played by John Leach, features prominently in the score of the BBC television drama serial from 1988, 'Babylon Bypassed' by
Gareth Glyn Gareth Glyn, born Gareth Glynne Davies (born 1951), is a Welsh composer and radio broadcaster. Life and education Born in Machynlleth, Wales, Glyn is the eldest son of the late Welsh poet T. Glynne Davies. He received his secondary education at ...
.


Rock

The cimbalom was used by
Alan Parsons Alan Parsons (born 20 December 1948) is an English audio engineer, songwriter, musician and record producer. Parsons was involved with the production of several notable albums, including the Beatles' ''Abbey Road'' (1969) and '' Let It Be'' ...
on his "I Robot" and ''Tales of Mystery and Imagination'' albums and is included in the guest musician acknowledgments. The experimental rock group
Mr. Bungle Mr. Bungle is an American experimental rock band formed in Eureka, California in 1985. Having gone through many incarnations throughout their career, the band is best known for music created during their most experimental era. During this time, ...
made use of the cimbalom on the ''Disco Volante'' and ''California'' albums. It is included in the guest musician acknowledgments. The experimental performance organization
Blue Man Group Blue Man Group is an American performance art company formed in 1987. It was purchased in July 2017 by the Canadian company Cirque du Soleil. Blue Man Group is known for its stage productions, which incorporate many kinds of music and art, bot ...
has used a cimbalom in its productions. American progressive chamber group,
cordis The Community Research and Development Information Service (CORDIS) is the European Commission's primary public repository and portal to disseminate information on all European Union (EU) funded research projects and their results in the broadest se ...
, uses electric and acoustic cimbalom as a centerpiece in their music. Romanian rock group Spitalul de Urgență has frequently used cimbalom, including a full-time player in some line-ups of the band. New York multi-instrumentalist
Rob Burger Robert Burger (born March 26, 1971) is an American composer, arranger, multi-instrumentalist, and music director. Biography Burger began playing piano at an early age, starting his formal training at age six with the pianist Jeffrey Marcus. He pla ...
used a cimbalom on the album ''L'Entredeux'' (2008) by Tucson chanteuse
Marianne Dissard Marianne Dissard (born 20 May 1969 in France) is a singer, lyricist and author, and filmmaker who lived in the United States from 1985 to 2013, including Tucson, Arizona from 1994 to 2013. "A central figure in Tucson's desert music community" wi ...
. Alternative rock band Garbage incorporated cimbalom into their track " The Trick Is to Keep Breathing" from their 1998 album '' Version 2.0''. Portishead have long been successful pioneers of the cimbalom or hammered dulcimer in their groundbreaking work since formation in 1991.


Schools of performance


Belarus

In
Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...
a cymbaly school was established in 1948 by J. Zynovych. The Belarusian cymbaly differs from the concert cimbalom in timbre and size—it is smaller and produces a sweeter, more mellow tone. Also, pedal dampers are not typically used. Instead, hands and fingers are used to damp the strings.


Croatia

The cimbal today is a rare instrument found in folk groups ( Međimurje and
Podravina ''Podravina'' (in Croatian) or ''Podravje'' (in Slovenian) are Slavic names for the Drava river basin in Croatia and Slovenia. History Between 1929 and 1941 a province of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia known as the ''Drava Banovina'' (Drava province) ...
regions - parts of northern Croatia near Hungarian border).


Moravia

The instrument is used foremost in the
historical region Historical regions (or historical areas) are geographical regions which at some point in time had a cultural, ethnic An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that ...
of Moravia as a basis for
Moravian traditional music Moravian traditional music or Moravian folk music represents a part of the European musical culture connected with the Moravian region of the Czech Republic. Styles of Moravian traditional music vary by location and subject, but much of it is c ...
ensembles. Foremost in regions of
Moravian Slovakia Moravian Slovakia ( cs, Slovácko, older ''Moravské Slovensko'') or Slovácko is a cultural region in the southeastern part of the Czech Republic, Moravia on the border with Slovakia and Austria, known for its characteristic folklore, music, w ...
and
Moravian Wallachia Moravian Wallachia ( cs, Moravské Valašsko, or simply ''Valašsko''; ro, Valahia Moravă) is a mountainous ethnoregion located in the easternmost part of Moravia in the Czech Republic, near the Slovak border, roughly centered on the cities Vs ...
.


France

Luigi Gaggero teaches since 2004 at the
Conservatoire de Strasbourg The Conservatoire de Strasbourg is a music conservatory located in Strasbourg, France. The school was created using funds given to the city of Strasbourg by arts patron Louis Apffel in 1839. The conservatoire's first day of classes began on 3 Janua ...
and at the Académie Supérieure de Musique de Strasbourg. His teaching focuses on classical and on contemporary repertoire for cimbalom.Examen d’entrée 2021 / Cymbalum
(in French) hear.fr 2021


Greece

In Athens, a cimbalom school was established in 2004 by M. Papadeas. The Greek musicians play on small portable folk style instruments.


Hungary

Besides the main cimbalom centre in Budapest, there is a very strong school of performance in Debrecen in Hungary.


Moldova

In 1952, cimbalom classes were opened at the Chişinău conservatory in
Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...
.


Romania

A strong performance school was established in
Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...
. Toni Iordache, a
Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnicities * Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia ** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule * Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...
-Romanian '' lăutar'', was the most famous Romanian cimbalom player.


Slovakia

The cimbal is a very popular instrument found in all Slovak regions, as well as in the ethnically Slovak/Hungarian mixed southern regions and among Romani folk ensembles.


Ukraine

In Ukraine, the concert Cimbalom was first formally used in the
Orchestra of Ukrainian Folk Instruments An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, ...
organized and directed by
Leonid Haydamaka Leonid Haydamaka ( uk, Леонід Гайдамака) (27 April 1898 – 21 July 1991) has left his impression on the development of bandura art in the 20th century. Born in Kharkiv the son of a Medical practitioner he studied at the Kharkiv ...
from 1922 by Oleksandr Nezovybatko. In time it was replaced by 2 smaller-sized instruments in order to facilitate transportation. Music for the cimbalom has been published in Ukraine from 1930 on. With the serial manufacture of ''
tsymbaly The tsymbaly ( uk, цимбали) is the Ukrainian version of the hammer dulcimer. It is a chordophone made up of a trapezoidal box with metal (steel or bronze) strings strung across it. The tsymbaly is played by striking two Percussion mallet, ...
'' by the Chernihiv Musical Instrument Factory cimbalom playing became popular in Eastern Ukraine in the post war years. Textbooks for the ''tsymbaly'' were published in 1966 by O. Nezovybatko, and initially players played on semi-concert instruments manufactured by the Chernihiv Musical Instrument Factory. In recent times most professional performers have switched over to the Schunda system of playing on concert-size instruments. Classes for the instrument exist in the
Lviv Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...
,
Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
and
Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.Roman Kumlyk Roman Kumlyk - (b. 4th Dec 1948 in Jasienow Gorny, desc. 22nd Jan 2014 in Verkhovyna, Ukraine) - the Ukrainian folk and filharmonic musician, a folk instruments constructor, a founder of the folk band called "Cheremosh" Ukrainian_language">ukr. ...
was a famous player from Hutsul area. After his death, a museum was named for him and is now run by his family.


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{{Authority control Hammered box zithers Hungarian musical instruments Slovak musical instruments Romanian musical instruments Moldovan musical instruments Ukrainian musical instruments