uments and a drone line is not present. The drone strings and pipes must sound however, since the instruments immediately pause when the piece begins to modulate into another key which does not harmonize with the drone tones of these instruments (ex. 44). The confinement of the two instruments to movements in D major lead to the same conclusion. In addition the fagottes, cellos and partly the horns, which are played in unison, indicate the use of drones. When the hurdy-gurdy and bagpipes begin to play, then the fagottes, cellos and basses almost always remain on d and hence probably on the low drone tone of the two instruments. Only when the drone instruments cease playing does the bass take on more movement. The melodies of the individual pieces are very simple, especially for the bagpipes and the hurdy-gurdy. No great technical demands are made on the players of these instruments (ex. 45). Despite the sparing use of both instruments Leopold indicates for the hurdy-gurdy a precise accentuation. This shows that the technique of separating and connecting individual notes with the help of the wheel was familiar to country players (ex. 46, ex. 47).
The works in which Leopold and Wolfgang Mozart used the hurdy-gurdy indicate that these composers knew the hurdy-gurdy only as a country instrument. Leopold Mozart even used it to characterize this music. The use of the hurdy-gurdy and the simple melody lines provided for it
without any ornamentation or runs indicate that in the case of both composers they were not stimulated by the French hurdy-gurdy fashion, but handled the instrument in their works just as it was familiar to them from their surroundings.
It was only in France that the hurdy-gurdy could not only acquire increasing respect as a popular instrument of the nobility, but also receive a tangible repertoire within this sphere. Although the French court of the "ancient regime" was a model for the other European courts, the preference for the hurdy-gurdy and bagpipes was not adopted by any other court. The hurdy-gurdy fashion in France was unique in its time.
C. The French Hurdy-gurdy Methods
The French hurdy-gurdy repertoire consisted mainly of short dance and song pieces which usually placed no great demands on the technical ability of the player. This music was intended for aristocratic amateurs whose musical training did not allow for technical difficulties. The hurdy-gurdy however had certain peculiarities, such as the fingering and the movement of the crank (see page 63), which needed some practice. Therefore it made sense that the teachers of this instrument composed directions for learning the hurdy-gurdy. Six French methods for the hurdy-gurdy, which are different in their depth and contents, have been preserved from the 18th century.
The shortest of these methods is the anonymous "Méthode" from the first half of the 18th century [fn]. It concerns itself with how the strings of the hurdy-gurdy are tuned in C and G, says a bit about the fingering positions of the left hand and how many revolutions of the wheel are neccesary for certain values.
A method somewhat more detailed but still very scanty in its information appeared in 1732 from J.-B. Chr. Ballard: "Pièces
choisies pour la vielle à l'usage des commencants avec des instructions pour toucher et pour entretenir cet instrument". [translation JW: "Selected pieces for hurdy-gurdy for beginners with instructions on how to play and maintain this instrument"]. Before the easy pieces there are a few explanatory notes about the instrument. The author describes tuning of the hurdy-gurdy (see page 57), goes into fine tuning of the chanterelles with the movable nuts of these strings and by the tuning of the individual tangents. He gives some information about the care of the instrument and especially for the wheel, and about the range, but says very little about turning the crank to produce the note values (page 63). After this come the pieces, with further notes as to their execution added to some of them. The composers of these pieces are not named, just as the auth