Hi all! This is Harry. Today I’m excited to introduce to you the cimbalom. I encountered the cimbalom a couple years ago when I was learning Franz Liszt’s “Hungarian Rhapsody No. 12.” I was engrossed by the piece’s thrilling improvisational feeling and particularly attracted to some of the unique trembling sounds. I later found out that the trembling sounds are meant to imitate the cimbalom.
I invite you to listen to the distinct trembling sounds at 10-33 seconds of Liszt’s “Hungarian Rhapsody No. 12”
The cimbalom, a Hungarian music instrument, is believed to have originated in the Middle East. In Hungary, the first mention of its appearance was in the 15th century, when King Lewis II noted the instrument in his court diary. Without legs and smaller in size, the traditional cimbalom was played by the gypsies either on a table or carried over the shoulder.
In 1874, the Hungarian music instrument maker, Vencel Jozséf Schunda, created the modern-day cimbalom in Budapest. The cimbalom now has a trapezoid-shaped soundbox, with about 125 metal strings stretched over it. Some of the strings have two or three bridges underneath them lengthwise, making it possible for each of these strings to produce two or three notes. (Maybe that’s why the performers always look so virtuously busy hitting the different areas of the strings) Jozséf Schunda also added four legs to the instrument, and a dampening pedal. The cimbalom has a range of 4-5 octaves.
Vencel Jozséf Schunda
The cimbalom is played by hitting the strings with mallets. The tips of the mallets can be covered by different materials to produce different timbres: cotton for a softer sound, leather for a sharper sound, metal wire for a stronger projecting sound, or bear with no cover at all for a banjo-like sound. Some musicians mention that the mallets are more costly than the drumsticks, so they would want to cover the mallets with at least a thin layer of tape to prevent the wood from chipping.
The mechanics of the cimbalom are similar to the piano – both produce sound by hitting metal strings with hammers. The cimbalom is harder to tune than the piano because some of the strings can produce two or three notes.
Invented during the era of the rise of nationalism in Hungary, the cimbalom was named the national instrument.
Here is Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 on cimbalom
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_a8L9sBXQfM
Today the cimbalom is widely used worldwide in classical music, movie score, and even Jazz music.
The legendary Russian composer Igor Stravinsky used the cimbalom in many of his compositions. Here’s his “Ragtime for eleven instruments”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XUHA-W-b9g
The cimbalom has been used in many Hollywood music for its mysterious and suspenseful feel. “The Black Stallion,” “Sherlock Holmes,” and “The Golden Compass.”
Marius Preda’s Jazz Trio for his Mission Cimbalom
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUqnfhXlw-4
We may have all heard the cimbalom somewhere in the past without being aware. Maybe now we can pinpoint the instrument more easily in the future.
Thank you for reading and see you next time!