1. A 'Lait-ketrilje', known earlier in Kreis Winsen, is probably the corrupted name for the 'Lai'r ketrilje', which is the same as 'Leier-Quadrille', and hence the name for a quadrille danced to a hurdy-gurdy [fn]. The hurdy-gurdy as a much used instrument is indicated by a saying used on the lower Elbe, according to which an end must be
made now, even if one has danced the entire night to the hurdy-gurdy: "Oplets is'n Scheden un wenn'n uk de ganze Nach na de Liern danzt" [fn]. The hurdy-gurdy was danced to also in the Lüneburg area, as a saying goes which refers to the drone sound of the instrument: "Gait nich anne(r)s, secht de Lirn-drai'r [sp][L-i/macron-rn-drai'r], danzt man tou" [fn]
In Austria the hurdy-gurdy, serving various purposes, was still widespread in the 19th century. It was used as an accompanying instrument for singing (1817):
"Da singet man fröliche Lieder
Der Leyermann spielet dazu" [fn]
[ Translation JW: "There merry songs are sung
and the hurdy-gurdy man plays along"]
It was played by itinerant musicians in front of houses (1819):
"Es ging amal a Leyerer wohl für a Weber Haus,
Da schaut das Webertöchterle bam Fensterlen heraus" [fn],
[translation JW : Once a hurdy-gurdy man went past a weaver's house,
the weaver's young daughter looked out of the (small) window]
Further, it was used as a dance instrument (1805):
"Der Leyrer Mazl ist heund hier,
wer danzen wil, der kombt zu mir" [fn]
[translation JW: Mazl the hurdy-gurdy player is here today,
all who want to dance, come to me.]
A report of a Vienna house ball from the same time (1816), at which "die Musi in zwaa Leyern bestandte" [fn],[translation JW: the music consisted of two hurdy-gurdys] shows that the hurdy-gurdy was played for dancing not just in the country, but also still in Vienna, which is testified to by a country dance written in 1819 (ex. 50). This dance was played by the musicians on the hurdy-gurdy or on the bagpipes or on both instruments together, which is a proof that these instruments had a common repertoire. Just how popular the drone sound of the hurdy-gurdy was at this time in Austria is indicated by the movement of the dance opus 27, no.5 (c. 1820) by Joseph Lanner, who used the hurdy-gurdy in it (ex. 51). Even a vignette on the first printing of Johann Strauss' waltz "Die Gemütlichen" [translation JW: "The comfortable/amiable ones"].
from 1848/49 shows a couple dancing to the hurdy-gurdy. (ill. 231) [figlink]
[missing part of sentence: Vereinzelt gespielt (Abb. 119) ....]
The instrument fell out of use sometime later.
In Hungary, where the hurdy-gurdy was earlier very widely spread and still used in the 19th century as a dance instrument, there can be found in the last decades only a few old men in the vicinity of Szentes who can play the instrument [fn]. There the instrument belonged to the folk music instrumentarium, while in the other parts of the country, up until approximately the mid 1950's, it was found principally in the hands of beggars [fn].
The Hungarian practice of playing the hurdy-gurdy is completely different from that of the western European countries. Differences are apparent in the arrangement of the keys, which in Hungary do not produce a major scale, but rather most frequently a Mixolydian scale [fn], which is also the scale generally used on the Hungarian bagpipes [fn]. [Editor's note: this is not the case on the Hungarian hurdy-gurdies which we are aware of.] Above all considerable differences can be seen in the playing of the melody, and in the sequence of the individual notes. In France and Spain pauses between the return of one key and the insertion of the next are carefully avoided, since the goal is a uniform flowing of the melody, uninterrupted by the sound of the free string, which would be heard between notes. In Hungary however the sound of the free string is inserted between the notes of the melody as a type of extra drone; this is a practice which was cultivated in conscious imitation of the manner of playing the bagpipes there [fn].
The musicians used a special technique in playing the
Hungaria