his society, Eugène de Bricqueville, who made efforts to revive the use of the instrument. He played the 18th century music written particularly for the hurdy-gurdy and had as accompanying instruments a bass and a descant viola [fn].
These attempts to again create a place for the hurdy-gurdy in serious music were founded on the special French situation which had arisen on account of the aristocratic fashion of the 18th century. For the first time in the history of this instrument a fad had created a repertoire for the hurdy-gurdy which was written down and hence could be reproduced at any time by any player, in contrast to the music of the provinces which was handed only down aurally.
E. The Use of the Hurdy-gurdy in Recent Times
The particular sound common to both the bagpipes and the hurdy-gurdy did not lead to a repertoire equally playable on either instrument, but was used as early as the Middle Ages for duos involving these two instruments (see page 242). This combination was preserved up until the present time in the folk music of France as well
as Hungary [fn]. At times the bagpipes were replaced by another instrument, as for example in Hungary, where the combination of hurdy-gurdy and clarinet is widespread [fn]. The hurdy-gurdy was used more frequently just by itself than with other instruments, for which it seemed just as suitable as the bagpipes when in the hands of a good player, due to the combination of melody and accompaniment. With their fixed drone sounds these instruments produced indeed just a simple accompaniment, but nevertheless they were the instruments, as Felix Hoerburger mentions, which stimulated a much stronger dance movement than more complicated harmonic structures could [fn]. For this reason the hurdy-gurdy and the bagpipes were for a long time preferred as dance music instruments.
We have only scattered information about the repertoire of the hurdy-gurdy in the various countries, partly because of its early disappearance, partly because for a long time this music was handed down orally. There was nowhere a specific repertoire for the hurdy-gurdy except in France, and even in France the music intended for the hurdy-gurdy was at the same time intended for the bagpipes and other instruments as well.
In the other countries in which the hurdy-gurdy was played up to recent times, it remained often in the hands of beggars, whose repertoire likewise did not remain fixed. As a folk instrument it served for the performance of the folk music tradition and did not develop its own repertoire. For this reason, in the pieces for the hurdy-gurdy which were written down, the only differences that can be ascertained pertain to the folk music of the particular country and not to the peculiarities of the instrument.
The music preferred for there hurdy-gurdy had its limits. On the basis of its construction the hurdy-gurdy is like the bagpipes in sound and the type of harmony it produces, for which reason it can be assumed that music intended for the bagpipes was also played on
on the hurdy-gurdy [fn]. The bagpipes however had an extensive repertoire since it was used throughout Europe as a dance instrument [fn].
In the Soviet Union the hurdy-gurdy was found in the hands of White Russian and Ukrainian beggars after the 1917 revolution (ill. 79,132,133) [figlink][fn]. But it was still played by the country folk, since in Ukraine for example there were earlier even well-attended schools for hurdy-gurdy players, "in denen erfahrene Musiker das Spiel auf der Relja lehrten". [fn] ["in which experienced musicians learned to play the relja"] In the White Russian steppes even in recent time the hurdy-gurdy was played by farmers at village dances and for evening entertainment, and was used by professional musicians principally for accompaniment of vocal duets [fn]. Example 48 shows that the songs could be very short and accompanied by the hurdy-gurdy: in example 49 on the other hand the musician sings the song without any accompaniment and plays on the hurdy-gurdy only as prelude and postlude.
In Romania, where the hurd