The Hammered Dulcimer
A History
Series: American Folk Music and Musicians Series #6
Paul M. Gifford

List Price: $75.85 ISBN: 0-8108-3943-1 ISBN-13: 978-0-8108-3943-4 Pub Date: 2001 480 pages Binding: Cloth Availability: In Stock   European customers click here

SUBJECTS
Music » Instrumental
Music » Popular & Folk
History » American History » Nineteenth Century
History » American History » Colonial
History » American History » Twentieth Century

REVIEWS
"In this important, impeccably researched book, Paul Gifford traces the evolution and musical history of the hammered dulcimer...Gifford's book should become the standard one on the topic of hammered dulcimers. It is a welcome addition to the literature on musical instruments in general as well as to Scarecrow Press's fine series American Folk Music and Musicians." — JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MUSICAL INSTRUMENT SOCIETY

DESCRIPTION
The last quarter of the twentieth-century saw a renewed interest in the hammered dulcimer in the United States at the grassroots level as well as from elements of the Folk Revival. This book offers the reader a discussion of the medieval origins of the dulcimer and its subsequent spread under many different names to other parts of the world. Drawing on articles the author has written in English as well as articles by specialists in their own languages, Gifford explains the history and evolution of the instrument. Special attention is paid to the North American tradition from the early 18th-century to the 1970s revival. Drawing from local histories, news clippings, photographs, and interviews, the book examines the playing of the dulcimer and its associated social meanings.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Paul M. Gifford is an Associate Archivist at the University of Michigan-Flint Library.

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