Anything Cimbalom, Dulcimer, Hackbrett, Santour, etc.

CWA News

Here are some extracts from the News section of :

CWA News volume 7, issue 1, January 1999.

CWA News January1999

International News

Australia
- In Australia, young musicians now have an opportunity to learn dulcimer. In January for the past three years, Gillian Alcock has participated at the Canberra Young Music Society's Summer School as dulcimer teacher. For two weeks, young students from the ages of 9 to 14 attend classes in a wide
range of musical subjects. Anything from set design, acting, singing for the stage, video production, orchestral percussion, didgeridoo to violin, keyboards, wind instruments and of course, now, dulcimer. At the end of the two weeks, Gillian's students have performed in concert, playing music in four parts. Each year the class grows in popularity, so the future of dulcimer playing looks bright amongst the young musicians in Canberra.

Gillian has more information about Australian Dulcimer news on her website:
http://www.netspeed.com.au/gillian.alcock

Austria - new scores
- Karl-Heinz Schickhaus is planning to publish scores for hackbrett. In 1999 there are works for children and studies, by Schickhaus, and works by Pietro Beretti. Next year (2000) are further works by Bach, Weber, Chiesa, Conti. Contact Musikverlag Preissler, Munchen.

HungaryÝ
- Two new CDs by Viktoria Herencsar were published in Autumn 1998. One of the CDs "Cimbalom Magic" was previously issued in record and cassette format. On this CD you can hear Classical Music. The transcription were written by Viktoria Herencsar. On the second CD "Ballo Ongaro", which was published by "Hungaroton Classic", you can hear Hungarian dance music from the 16th Century through to the 20th Century. The live premiere of the CD was on 1st December 1998 in Budapest. It will be shown by the Hungarian broadcasting Co. on 6th Feb. 1999.
- On 30th Dec. there was a programme broadcast on Hungarian television. In this programme there were reports and performances by Ida Tarjani Toth, Kalman Balogh, Tamas Petrovits and Viktoria Herencsar, who also spoke about the work of the CWA.
- The Moldavian student of the Music School, Ciprian Porumbescu in Kisinev (Moldavia) gave concerts in Budapest and Szekesfchervar on 22nd and 23rd January together with Hungarian students of cimbalom. The teacher of theÝ Moldavian students is Valeriu Lita; the Hungarian student of cimbalom is Beatrix Beresno Szollos. The Moldavian students visited the "KOZMOSZ" workshop, where cimbaloms are made by Istvan Jancso. The guests were welcomed by the director of the co-operative, Istvan Varga.
- Viktoria Herencsar will take part in the competition in Viteps (Belorussia) at the end of March.
Viktoria sent a student from Banska Bystrica to the competition.
- In this year, as in previous ones, the International Music Camp in Balassagyarmat (Hungary) is being held from 21 to 31 July and the teacher for cimbalom is Viktoria Herencsar. All types of cimbalom are welcome!
- A new cimbalom has been produced by "KOZMOSZ". It will be shown in Koln (Germany) in June.ÝÝ It is a small size instrument (neverless covering about 5 octaves, and with normal dampers) which costs DM3999 + VAT (delivered to Budapest ).

Germany - 5th International Hackbrett Festival
- In December Karl-Heinz Schickhaus was on a very successful concert tour in the USA with the Ferrara Ensemble. See below an extract of the review in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette of Dec 12, 1998.
"Christmas music from Long ago charms all
The Swiss based Ferrara ensemble grew out of the rich explorations of early music by the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, which has been making fine recordings for decades. Drawing upon rare manuscripts available in Basel, the Ferrara Ensemble assembled well varied selections in two complementary halves of the concert..... ...... Soprano Miriam Anderson, tenor Eric Mentzel and bass Stephen Grant were all excellent: precise, fluent and achieving a sensuous beauty, however removed it may be from operatic style. The instrumentalists were led by lutenist Ceawford Young, a sensitive player who gained volume from using a pick. Karl-Heinz Schickhaus was fabulous on dulcimer, while Randall Cook was expert on viola díarco..."
- The first ìMunchener Hackbrett Konzertî is on 7th Feb. 1999 at 11 a.m. in the small concert hall in the Gasteig. It is the works of Edwin Kammerer.
- The first issue of a new series of predominantly comtemporary hackbrett music has been published by Vogt & Fritz, Scweinfurt (Northern Bavaria). The score is music by the composer Roland Leistner-Mayer - "Six aveux d'amour" - Six Romances for Hackbrett solo op. 93 and was edited by Karl-Heinz Schickhaus.
A supplement to the "New Dulcimer manual, part III" (Preissler publishers, Munich) price DM 15 has also been published. This music book, the CD "Duo Desiderata" (DM 33) and these six romances are all available at Musik Preissler, P.O. Box 110 10 58, D-80084 Munchen/Munich fax no 49 89 222086. e-mail address Musik-Preissler@t-online.de.
- The Hackbrett Festival in Munich is from 12-14 November 1999 (from Friday evening to Sunday evening). As in the last festival 1997 the opening concert will be in the big area of the "Circus Krone" and the concerts on Saturday and Sunday in the Studio of the "Bayerischer Rundfunk" (Bavarian Broadcast Station). The Circus Krone and the Bayerischer Rundfunk are both in the center of Munich, only 10 resp. 5 minutes to walk from the "Hauptbahnhof" (main railway station). Additionally to the concerts on Saturday and Sunday also in the Bavarian Broadcast station will be a exhibition of hackbrett instruments (maybe also guitars and other string instruments), sheet music and CDs.

Slovakia
- The student of the Music School in Kisinev (Moldavia) gave concerts in Kosice and Banksa Bystyrica. These were organised by Juraj Helcmanovsky, the professor of the Music School in Kosice and by Viktoria Herencsar, who are the lecturer of the Arts Academy and the professor of the Music School in Banksa Bystrica. On both concerts the Moldavian students played together with the Slovakian students.
- In October 1998 Viktoria Herenscar performed a new piece for cimbalom and violin in Banksa Bystrica. The violin part of the "Pastorale" by Mate Hollos was played by Anita Horvath, Viktoria's daughter. The concert was heard by the composer, too.

Belarus
- The "Litwins" group, an organisational member of the CWA, began using a cimbalom of Vileikaís tradition. The Litwins group performs folk and folklore-isedÝ music. Since its beginning in 1991 the group is trying to popularise the traditional folk type of Belarussian cimbalom in folk music. The instrument is very different from the modern academic type and has almost died out. Earlier the group was using only a cimbalom of Maladecknaís tradition. The instrument was made by Maxim Takishevich - the last great cimbalom maker of the Maladeckna region.
Vileikaís tradition is as rich as Maladecknaís, but the instruments of this region differ from Maladeckna ones in appearance and timbre. Besides, the instrument is smaller in size and its range is higher. The "Litwins" new instrument was made by Pietrus Skabey and it was restored in August 1998. The audience liked the sound of the new restored instrument. The "Litwins" contact is: 220071, Vladimir Berberov, Gikalo str. 14/52 Minsk, Belarus. Tel: 2390166.
- Kate Anokhina, with her accompanist Elena Vashkevich, have developed a concert programme with classical, folk and jazz music.
A competition for cimbalom will be held from 22 to 26 March 1999 in Soligorske for young students. The address is Cultural Ministry of Belarus Republic, 220004 Minsk, Masherova 11. Fax. 00-375 172-237574.

Czech Republic
- The "Brno Cimbalom Quartet" performed two new compositions. The cimbalom player in the quartet is Helena Cervenkova. The composers are from Brno: Radoslav Zapletal and Vlastimil Peska.
- On May 20-22 in the Czech Republic, there is an international playing competition for young people. Anyone can enter. There are 3 age categories, by year of birth - before 1984, 1983-1981 and 1980-1973.
Each category has one set piece + compositions of artists own choice.
Entrance is FREE, accomodation for participants is FREE (plus 1 adult if under 18). Applications should be by 1st April 1999 to: International Dulcimer Performance Competition, Ruzena Decka, Ruzova 153, 757 01 Valasske Mezirici, Czech Republic.

Mexico
- Is a new country to participate in the CWA, because the "Dulcimer Grupo" has joined us. The group was founded in 1995, with two instruments - dulcimer and guitar, and afterwords more instruments joined (violin, contrabass, accordeon). They performed in Europe in 1998, and they are planning to take part in the next CWA Congress. They are welcome!
- The Mexican music they play includes waltzes, polkas, marches and fox-trot from the beginings of century in Mexico.(1880 - 1940) - the time of the Mexican Revolution and the Porfiriato. The european influence is very strong in the musical forms representative of this period of history.
The salterio that they use was constructed by Miguel Pacheco, a Mexican salterio maker for 10 years and a player since childhood. The salterio has 90 strings and it is chromatic, tuned from C4 to C7, only three octaves range. Alejandra Barrientos plays it with 2 or 3 metal nails, plucking the chords.
There is another kind of salterio, the tenor one that has 120 strings, with groups of 4 strings for each note. Both salterios have 5 bridges, 3 of them cut the string in a specific distance so the same string produces two different notes that go from an interval of a 5th to a 3rd minor in the shortest one.

Turkey
- Umit Mutlu, whose profession is a medical man, plays the Turkish Santur. He would like to become acquainted with the different cimbaloms in different countries. He writes:
"I have made some structural changes to the Santur, i.e., I have added little brass jacks which can raise the tone by one comma, like the Turkish kanun. With this added feature the Santur has now the ability to change modes and microtones needed for playing middle-east sounds. This was something which was not paid attention to until today. I know from my research on the Web that Mr. Paul Gifford pointed out this matter as well."
His email address is umutlu@superonline.com.

United Kingdom
- In August 1998, Viktoria Herencsar visited England and performed a variety of works, including a new composition for Organ and Cimbalom at the Three Choirs Festival in Gloucester. The concert was completely sold out, but some British members obtained tickets with the help of the Organist, Malcom Rutland, who also arranged Viktoria's visit. The audience was delighted with the performance and very interested in the cimbalom. The next day there was a cimbalom and dulcimer concert in Redditch arranged by Sally Whytehead, and supported by Redditch Council. Viktoria Herencsar played a range of classical music and Hungarian folk music. Geoff Smith (who is a new English CWA member, see below) played his own compositions on dulcimer, and Geoff and Victoria finished the concert with a duo improvisation. The audience enjoyed the performance very much.
- Geoff Smith is a professional dulcimer artist and composer who has just completed his master's degree in composition. In 1998 he won the Howard Goodall prize for composition. Amonst other things, he recently recorded the soundtrack for a new feature film "Jinnah" which is about the founding of modern Pakistan and which stars Christopher Lee as Jinnah. Geoff is now composing and performing with Tibetan singer Soname Yang Chen. He is also preparing to study for a PhD which includes original development work on instrument design and composition specifically for dulcimer. He is very interested to meet other players, makers and composers, and is available for lectures and recitals. To get in touch with him, contact Sally Whytehead, email sally@ftel.co.uk.
- The Nonsuch Dulcimer Club Annual weekend will be held on 10-12 Sept 1999. Launde Abbey, Leicester. There will be a wide range of workshops for both hammered and mountain dulcimer.
For further details contact Sally Whytehead, email sally@ftel.co.uk.

Holland/Belgium
- A festival of cimbalom will be held in Belgium/Holland from 10-15 May. Among the organisers is Kalman Balogh. Contact: email: kultoer@club.tip.nl, web page: www.koltoer.club.tip.nl The full information is not published yet, you can contact the CWA Centre or look at the web page.