crankin' out tunes

April 15, 2024 5:35 AM

In her article Th'infernal Drone: In Praise Of The Hurdy-Gurdy Jennifer Lucy Allan notes that in "Hieronymus Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights the soundtrack to hell is a giant and infernal hurdy-gurdy". She discusses, among others, Stevie Wishart, who can be seen here giving a quick introduction to the hurdy-gurdy, and performing her composition Vespers for St. Hildegard and duoing with daegeum player Hyelim Kim. Corinna de Fonseca-Wollheim profiled Matthias Loibner in the New York Times [archive link] and his performance with Nataša Mirković of Schubert's Winter's Journey. For an overview of the history of the instrument, hurdy-gurdy player Fredrik Knudsen made a half-hour video or you can read A Brief History of the Hurdy-Gurdy by Graham Whyte.
posted by Kattullus (24 comments total)

I used to think the hurdy-gurdy was mentioned in Bruce Springsteen's "Blinded by the Light," given all the mention made of out-of-control music-makers mentioned ("madman drummers," "brimstone baritone," & "go-cart Mozart," plus the "very unpleasing sneezing and wheezing" as the "calliope crashed to the ground").

But no, it was "just little Early-Pearly" ... "in her curly-wurly..."

And I'm apparently not the only one making a mondegreen of this
posted by chavenet at 6:37 AM on April 15 [3 favorites]

> Hurdy-Gurdy

have you seen my laptop?
posted by genpfault at 7:23 AM on April 15 [3 favorites]

I first heard about the Hurdy Gurdy Man via his album and song of the same name.
posted by DJZouke at 7:26 AM on April 15

Both Sting and Donovan wrote songs called Hurdy Gurdy Man. Which is surprising for something so far out of the mainstream.
posted by tommasz at 7:45 AM on April 15 [2 favorites]

Sting is singing the same Schubert song that Matthias Loibner and Nataša Mirković performed.
posted by Kattullus at 8:37 AM on April 15 [1 favorite]

Every time I see someone play the hurdy gurdy I think to myself "I should get a hurdy gurdy" and then I manage to distract myself long enough to not actually do that, but I worry one of these days I will stare too long into that particular abyss and then I'll have to figure out how to actually tune and maintain one.
posted by cortex at 8:43 AM on April 15 [4 favorites]

These....

This guy is awesome ....Andrey Vinogradov
Andrey Vinogradov - Uzh I Ya Li Moloda, Tonkopriaditsa Byla

And this is pretty good too...

Guilhem Desq - Le château magique
posted by Oh_Bobloblaw at 8:56 AM on April 15 [2 favorites]

I would *love* one of these, but after the Bagpipes Episode Mrs.43rd, aka the Controller of Frivolous Musical Purchases, has put her foot down in no uncertain terms *sigh*
posted by 43rdAnd9th at 9:33 AM on April 15 [1 favorite]

Excellent post!

For a tangential piece of hurdy gurdy history (and the origin of my username): the “hurdy gurdy girls”.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 9:34 AM on April 15 [3 favorites]

Also in one of my favorite lines from a beloved and underrated Coen Brothers movie, Intolerable Cruelty:

"This firm deals in power. This firm deals in perception. This firm cannot prosper, nor long endure, if it is percieved to be dancing to the music of a hurdy-gury!"
posted by mtthwkrl at 12:06 PM on April 15

Donovan has admitted he had no idea what a hurdy gurdy was, he just liked the sound of it. I really would love one but I already play uilleann pipes so have enough tuning issues on my life.
posted by misterpatrick at 1:39 PM on April 15 [4 favorites]

Is it wrong that I want to hear a hurdy-gurdy/bagpipe duet?
posted by egypturnash at 3:11 PM on April 15 [1 favorite]

Regine Chassagne playing the hurdy-gurdy.
posted by mike3k at 5:25 PM on April 15 [1 favorite]

egypturnash, it is not wrong to want to hear that.
posted by samw at 7:55 PM on April 15 [1 favorite]

For more modern gurdy music Patty Gurdy - she also has a bunch of youtube videos about how gurdys work and how to play them
posted by mbo at 10:40 PM on April 15 [1 favorite]

Slightly more lowbrow, but no less awesome: Pantera's "Cowboys from Hell" on a hurdy-gurdy.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 4:48 AM on April 16 [3 favorites]

Bagpipe - hurdy gurdy duets? Hungary has you covered: Hungarian bagpipe (duda) and hurdy gurdy (tekerő ) music. If you want a bigger sound, add more. Or even more.... it never ends. The traditional players lived into the 1980s, loing enough for the younger generation to learn both playing and the construction of the hurgy gurdy, mostly from Barsony Mihaly.
posted by zaelic at 5:15 AM on April 16 [1 favorite]

Lots of unconventional users out there too.
posted by remembrancer at 6:27 AM on April 16 [1 favorite]

Well, that's serendipity. I had no clear idea what a hurdy-gurdy even was, and then yesterday I stopped by a local music venue because I know the owner and wanted to ask her a question, and they had an act playing right then where a woman was playing a hurdy-gurdy and explained in detail how it worked, and then today I encounter this. Makes you think the cosmos is anything other than indifferent.
posted by outgrown_hobnail at 6:38 AM on April 16 [1 favorite]

The hurdy-gurdy is remarkably similar to the shenanigan, featured previously!
posted by TedW at 7:15 AM on April 16 [1 favorite]

You can make your own!
posted by eyeball at 9:08 AM on April 16

Don't bother with the toy kit mentioned above. Playable hurdy gurdies are not simple instruments to construct. Get one from a maker in France or Hungary, or if you feel handy, perhaps a dealer in early instrument kits.
posted by zaelic at 9:38 AM on April 16

Back in the 60’s I had a friend from England staying in the attic of my little wooden house in Stockholm. Mac McLeod. He had hung out with Donovan in St Albans teaching him guitar.
Mac later moved to Copenhagen and statrted a band called Hurdy Gurdy.
Donovans song Hurdy Gurdy was written for Mac originally.

posted by jan murray at 1:30 PM on April 16 [4 favorites]

I'd agree that the uBlock thing is a toy, but there are other DIY options, I build a Nerdy Gurdy and I think it's OK for a beginner, I really need to spend more time with it. The design is open source, I just downloaded the files and had it lasercut
posted by mbo at 9:32 PM on April 16