A psaltery ( el, ψαλτήρι) (or sawtry, an archaic form) is a fretboard-less box zither (a simple

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 s ...

) and is considered the archetype of the zither and dulcimer; the harp, virginal, harpsichord and clavichord were also inspired by it. Its resonance box is usually trapezoidal, rectangular or in the form of a "pig's head" and often richly decorated.

Etymology

The psaltery of Ancient Greece ('' epigonion'') was a

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orc ...

-like stringed instrument. The word ''psaltery'' derives from the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic pe ...

ψαλτήριον (''psaltḗrion''), "stringed instrument, psaltery, harp" and that from the verb ψάλλω (''psállō''), "to touch sharply, to pluck, pull, twitch" and in the case of the strings of musical instruments, "to play a stringed instrument with the fingers, and not with the

plectrum A plectrum is a small flat tool used for plucking or strumming of a stringed instrument. For hand-held instruments such as guitars and mandolins, the plectrum is often called a pick and is held as a separate tool in the player's hand. In har ...

." The psaltery was originally made from wood, and relied on natural acoustics for sound production. In the

King James Bible The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by sponsorship of ...

"psaltery", and its plural, "psalteries", are used to translate several words from the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' catgut, and played using a

or “pick.” The harp is strung with a single string for each tone, open to be plucked from either side of the instrument; a psaltery may have multiple strings for each tone, strung across a soundboard. The psaltery has been compared to the

harpsichord A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism ...

and dulcimer, though some forms of the latter are not plucked, but struck with hammers.

Medieval and Renaissance psalteries

From the 12th through the 15th centuries, psalteries are widely seen in manuscripts, paintings and sculpture throughout Europe.Anon. (15th century).
Roi David jouant du psaltérion
. (Chambéry, Savoie, France: manuscrit 4, fol. 319 v., Bréviaire franciscain, initiale B, psaume 1, Beatus vir) Musiconis.huma-num.fr (archive from 17 November 2018, accessed 15 June 2020). Examples found in one reference book, the Groves New Encyclopedia of Musical Instruments, show examples in paintings from the 9th century

Carolingian Empire The Carolingian Empire (800–888) was a large Frankish-dominated empire in western and central Europe during the Early Middle Ages. It was ruled by the Carolingian dynasty, which had ruled as kings of the Franks since 751 and as kings of the L ...

Benedictine Psalter, in 13th century Spain (in the Cantigas de Santa Maria), in Bohemia in the 14th century, in Italy in the 14th century, and Germany in the 15th century. Shapes included "triangular, trapezoidal, semitrapezoidal, wing shaped, or harp shaped". The ''psalterion decacordum'' was shaped like a square and had ten strings strung vertically. Stings could run in courses, as viewed in the middle-ages artwork.

Modern psaltery

While psalteries had largely died out in Europe by the 19th century, the salterio remained common in Mexico well into the twentieth century and is still played in some regional styles. The

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 tr ...

and related instruments such as the santur, cimbalom, yangqin, and khim, appear very similar to psalteries and it is often hard to tell which one historical images represent. They differ in that the player strikes the strings with small hammers rather than plucking them. As a result, they have much higher string tension and heavier frames. In the 19th century, several related zithers came into use, notably the guitar zither and the

autoharp An autoharp or chord zither is a string instrument belonging to the zither family. It uses a series of bars individually configured to mute all strings other than those needed for the intended chord. The term ''autoharp'' was once a trademark of ...

. In the 20th century, the bowed psaltery came into wide use. It is set up in a triangular format so that the end portion of each string can be

bowed Bowed string instruments are a subcategory of string instruments that are played by a bow rubbing the strings. The bow rubbing the string causes vibration which the instrument emits as sound. Despite the numerous specialist studies devoted to th ...

Gallery

File:Walraversijde94.jpg, Psaltery in the shape called a "pig's head" psaltery, a very common psaltery shape in manuscripts. File:Gorleston Psalter psaltery player.png, Gorleston-on-Sea, England. Psaltery player from the

Gorleston Psalter The Gorleston Psalter (British Library Add MS 49622) is a 14th-century manuscript notable for containing early music instruction and for its humorous marginalia. It is named for the town of Gorleston in Norfolk. Description The Gorleston ...

, c. 1310–1326. File:AlaBohemicaPsaltery.jpg, (Kingdom of Bohemia, 14th century). Picture of an unusual type of psaltery, found in Central Europe. Labeled "Bohemian wing" psaltery in Grove Dictionary of Musical Intruments. File:18th century psaltery.jpg, 18th century Spanish psaltery. Trapezoidal psaltery. File:Benedictine Psalter - King playing a psalter.jpg, Carolingian Empire. Page from the Benedictine Psalter (842-850). David playing a four-sided psaltery, ''psalterium quadratum'' or ''psalterium decochordum''. File:María3.jpg, Spain. Three shapes of psalteries (bottom row) from the Cantigas de Santa Maria, Códice Rico. File:Hans Memling - Christ with Singing and Music-Making Angels - Psaltery player.jpg, Germany, 15th century. Angel playing a pig's head psaltery. File:La-Chaise-Dieu JPG0 (1).JPG, France File:Elder of the Apocalyps MET medcast603.jpg, France. 1145-1155. ''Elder of the Apocalypse'' File:Bayeux (14) Cathédrale Crypte Ange musicien 11.JPG, France, Notre Dame Cathedral File:CatedralDeBurgosP1130665.jpg, Spain. Burgos Cathedral. File:Cancioneiro da Ajuda, folio 59, musicians with psaltery and clappers.jpg, Spain, 13th century. Cancioneiro da Ajuda, folio 59, musicians with psaltery and clappers File:Cappella Palatina-ceiling-ISL15002.jpg, Triangular psaltery, Palatine Chapel, c. 1140 A.D.

Notes

References

External links

Psaltery

Discussion of psalteries, with image
from the exhibition

by the ttp://www.civilization.ca/ Canadian Museum of Civilisation {{Authority control Ancient Greek musical instruments Ancient Hebrew musical instruments Box zithers Czech musical instruments Greek musical instruments Slovenian musical instruments