n bagpipes, whereby the melody note would be played only very briefly and then the sound of the primary note immediately reinstated. The player covers with his fingers all the holes of the playing pipe and opens only the hole for the melody note, which he then immediately closes again, thus playing again the primary note of the pipe [fn].
The Hungarian repertoire for the hurdy-gurdy is composed of the same folk and dance songs as for the bagpipes, which in the last decades was used especially by shepherds as musical instruments for their dances [fn]. Melodies for the bagpipes were played either on this instrument or on the hurdy-gurdy, again an indication of a common practice and an identical repertoire for both instruments (ex. 52). Just how popular the bagpipe and hurdy-gurdy music was in Hungary is shown by the behavior of gypsy fiddlers, who later replaced these instruments in the dance music. Since their listeners were accustomed to the drone sounds of the hurdy-gurdy and the bagpipes, the fiddlers sometimes had to imitated the music of the bagpipes on their instrument in order to please their public [fn].
In Spain the hurdy-gurdy survived up into the 20th century in the provinces of Asturia and Galicia [fn]. In Galicia it belonged to the traditional folk instruments of this region, like the bagpipes [fn]. It was played almost exclusively by the blind [fn], who appeared with their instrument especially in summer and at feasts, church celebrations, and above all in the Corpus Christi processions and in pilgrimages [fn]. In the countryside of Asturia and Avila there are still wandering hurdy-gurdy players and players of the "rabel", a three-stringed lute-shaped instrument. The rabel players are likewise
usually blind. These blind musicians with their rabel and hurdy-gurdy sing and play songs of miracle-working saints and of bandits or report about extraordinary events and adventures [fn]. Satirical and other cutting songs as well as romances were also played on the hurdy-gurdy. Lastly it served, as in other countries, as a dance instrument for Jotas and other dances [fn]. In the Spanish province of Pontevedra singing is accompanied by the instrument, which repeats the melody.
In the last two centuries the blind hurdy-gurdy players in Spain assumed the duties of the organ-grinder in Germany, who used this instrument to present Moritaten [need definition] and Bänkelliedern.[need definition] Since the hurdy-gurdy was played almost exclusively by blind persons in Spain, who in addition presented Moritaten, [need definition] the lack of sight of the musician was used in Spanish to characterize these Moritaten [need definition] as "romance de ciego" [fn].
In the province of Pontevedra the pieces from the repertoire of a blind hurdy-gurdy player show, with one exception, the range of a ninth (ex. 53). The melodies are folk tunes with strong rhythmical accents which indicate their use as dance songs. The hurdy-gurdy used for this music had a tonal range of two octaves, from g' to e''' or g''' [fn]. In the melodies there are however notes which lie below g', which leads to the supposition that either all instruments were not tuned alike, or that they were tuned higher and lower.
In Belgium the hurdy-gurdy was known up until the end of the 19th century. It was played in Spa in the Ardennes in 1840, in the country around Hesbaye in 1885 and in the Ourthe Valley in 1890 [fn]. The French influence on the construction of Belgian hurdy gurdies, which are possibly also
French instruments, is indicated by the term "tièsse di dj'vâ", which is the same as 'tête de cheval', [trans: SB: "horse's head"] so called on account of the shape of the body. [Something missing here?] the French 'vielle en luth' [fn]. "lute-shaped hurdy-gurdy".]
As in Spain the repertoire of the hurdy-gurdy in France consists mainly of dance pieces, and the instrument was also used to accompany songs (ex. 54). Aside from dance music, marches are very frequently played in France on the instrument. They are particularly suited for the still widespread practice of usin