Toggenburg neck zither
Andreas Michel
In Switzerland, after the general dissemination of this instrument in Western and Central Europe, the cister found a refuge in which not only continued use, but also where four individual types could develop. The Toggenburg neck zither - named after the valley in the canton of St. Gallen - is one of these types.
- relatively large lengths: approx. 51 cm
- thirteen strings in five choirs (2 x 2 + 3 x 3)
- Triad tuning in c g c 'e' g '
- twelve frets
- two additional rosettes stuck into the ceiling
- usually holes in the fingerboard and neck to accommodate a capo
- relatively high frames that taper towards the bottom block
- a tailpiece with metal hooks attached to the saddle button with wire
- Turned half columns at the base of the neck
- a round, turned head plate as a pegbox closure
- Ornaments painted with Indian ink on the ceiling
Ludwig Vogel: Girl with Toggenburg Neck Zither, drawing, Swiss National Museum Zurich, inv. No. 27621. Repr. After Bachmann-Geiser 1981, plate 28a All of the surviving Toggenburg neck zithers have no signature. The earliest evidence of the type comes from the first quarter of the 19th century. A drawing by Ludwig Vogel (Swiss National Museum Zurich, inv. No. ML 27 621) which can be dated to around 1820 shows a female figure with a Toggenburg neck zither. In 1895 a photograph was taken in Krinau (Obertoggenburg) in which the instrument can be seen in the hands of textile workers.
Ludwig Vogel: Girl with Toggenburg Neck Zither, drawing, Swiss National Museum Zurich, inv. No. 27621. Repr. After Bachmann-Geiser 1981, plate 28a
Textile workers from Krinau with a Toggenburg neck zither. Photograph from 1895. Repr. From: Geiser 1974, p. 263, fig. 7 and Bachmann-Geiser 1981, plate 29 Textile workers from Krinau with a Toggenburg neck zither. Photograph from 1895. Repr. From: Geiser 1974, p. 263, fig. 7 and Bachmann-Geiser 1981, plate 29
The collection of the Musikinstrumenten-Museum at the University of Leipzig includes two Toggenburg neck zithers (inv. No. 615 and 616), the origin of which must remain unclear due to the very vague descriptions in the first catalogs by Kraus and de Wit. Paul de Wit's comment on number 90 in the catalog from 1893 (p. 21), which was also reprinted unchanged in the directory from 1903 (no. 205, p. 82) - "Cister, quite a rough work from the middle of the last century. The very long neck is similar to that of the violin. The instrument is covered with 13 metal strings "- one of the two Toggenburg neck zithers might mean.
literature
B. Geiser: Cister and cister maker in Switzerland. In: Studia instrumentorum musicae popularis III, Stockholm 1974, pp. 51-56 and 263-265; this: The zithers in Switzerland. In: Glareana XXIII (4/1974), pp. 43-87; B. Bachmann-Geiser: The Toggenburg neck zither as a cister. A folk musical instrument from Switzerland as a living testimony to an art musical instrument of the Renaissance. In: Volkskunst III (1980), pp. 218-222; this: the folk musical instruments of Switzerland. Leipzig 1981 (= Handbook of European Folk Music Instruments I / 4), p. 60ff.
Bookmarks