The Cithrinchen or Bell cittern was a distinctively shaped instrument of the
renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass id ...
and
baroque periods. It was usually strung with doubled courses of thin, light tension brass or steel strings. It usually had 3 soundholes (with decorative roses) and 5 (or sometimes 6 or more)
courses
Course may refer to:
Directions or navigation
* Course (navigation), the path of travel
* Course (orienteering), a series of control points visited by orienteers during a competition, marked with red/white flags in the terrain, and corresponding ...
(pairs) of strings. It was popular in
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
and
Sweden.
Most such instruments built nowadays are reconstructions of historical instruments, or modern mandolin-type instruments which simply use the same body shape as the historical Cithrinchen.
Gallery
Image:Cittern MET DP163299.jpg, Cithrinchen in the Met Museum, New York, USA.
Image:Cithrinchen BNM Mu 13.jpg, Cithrinchen in the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich, Germany
Image:Cittern (Hamburger Cithrinchen), view 1, Hamburg, late 1600s - Germanisches Nationalmuseum - Nuremberg, Germany - DSC03285.jpg, Cithrinchen in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum - Nuremberg, Germany, front view
Image:Cittern (Hamburger Cithrinchen), view 2, Hamburg, late 1600s - Germanisches Nationalmuseum - Nuremberg, Germany - DSC03286.jpg, Cithrinchen in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum - Nuremberg, Germany, rear view
References
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Early musical instruments
String instruments