Music with Guitar

 

In the age before electric amplification the guitar was a relatively quiet instrument. It provided useful chords to accompany a melody sung by a vocalist or played on an agile treble instrument but guitarists were never the front man in an ensemble. They usually sat at the side strumming along to keep the music moving. The placement of a guitar in this trio is typical. The two lead musicians play a mandolin and a zither, a string instrument played flat on a table which helps amplify its sound. The group had other instruments to add color: a violin, likely played by the mandolinist as it has the same string tuning; a wooden folk xylophone called a Strohfiedel or Straw Fiddle; and a collection of wine glasses improbably standing on a near vertical tray. They were tuned by filling with water (or even spirits) so that they vibrated at different pitches when stroked by the player's fingertips. There is one more instrument if you look carefully. As a clue, it is from the percussion family.

This unknown trio were photographed seated outdoors, possibly at the wine garden where they performed,  by a photographer from Dresden, Germany. Their colorful bow ties and satin trimmed coat collars are typical of professional musicians in the 1900s. The postcard was sent from Dresden (Altstadt), on 18 April 1910 to someone in Breslau, Germany which is now known as Wrocław, Poland. The handwriting is a peculiarly neat penmanship with completely indecipherable cursive letters that run together. Take a look at the third line — mnmnmnnm.Who could translate that? I believe the writer was the guitar player as he is marked with a discrete X. His signature looks like M. (or W.) Lappitsch.

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Sometimes a guitar defines a group's style even though it isn't the lead instrument. These four young ladies are the Original Damen Schrammel Quartett from the "Jankowski" Kozert Ensemble. The guitarist here plays a contraguitar called a Schrammel guitar which is an instrument associated with the light folk music of Wien or Vienna, Austria. In addition to the standard six strings the Schrammel guitar has a second, fretless neck supporting as many as nine bass strings that are tuned to a scale. This player accompanies two violinists and a button accordionist as they sit in a photographer's studio, but they very likely performed at a wine garden like the previous trio. 

The postcard has no postmark or date but is addressed to someone in Wilhelmsburg on the the Elbe river, a district of Hamburg. There is a faint imprint of a variety theater named Hohenziller(?). The card was printed in Leipzig, Germany probably in around 1910. 

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My last guitar photo is unusual as the guitarist is seated front and center of the ensemble. In this case it is a brass quintet with rotary valve instruments in five different different sizes, left to right: baritone horn, alto horn, bass tuba, tenor trumpet, and soprano trumpet. Needless to say, a brass band really has  no use for a guitarist, especially one with a guitar that looks a bit smaller than a standard modern acoustic guitar. Another odd thing is a small fir tree behind the tall trumpet player on the right. Perhaps this group is playing for the Christmas season. 

The photographer left an imprint on the back of this unposted postcard, R. Fuchs of Kurort Wörishofen. This place was a Kurort or "cure resort" in Bad Wörishofen, a spa town in Bavaria, Germany that is known for a water-cure or hydrotherapy developed by Sebastian Kneipp (1821–1897), a Catholic priest who once lived there. Many of the town's hotels and boarding-houses still offer their guests treatment using Kneipp's methods. 

I wonder if the guitarist is a spa guest who has joined with the health resort's band for a souvenir photo. He is neatly dressed in a nice suit with a small corsage in the lapel and some of the musicians have one too. Maybe he is a bridegroom celebrating his wedding day. But what amuses me is that the man's shoes are polished while the brass players' shoes could use a good cleaning. Evidently this guitarist did not march in any parade.

Did you spot the triangle in the first trio?

Since I don't often feature photos
of musical wine glasses, i.e. a glass harp,

here is a demonstration of one  by Anna Szafraniec from GlassDuo.

She plays an arrangement of a well known guitar piece,
the Spanish Romance by an anonymous 19th century composer.

This piece is a standard of any guitarist's repertoire
so I looked for another version played on guitar for contrast.
There are thousands of renditions of it on YouTube
but I found one that is played on a harp guitar,
an instrument very similar to the Schrammel guitar.
Here is the same Romance de Espana
performed by Canadian harp guitarist Jamie Dupuis.

This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday

where some guitarists always attract a crowd.

The Sound of Fine Wine

Glassware rings and clinks.
Crockery rattles and clangs.
Bottles tinkle and plink.
These are sounds which most people know well
but few bother to study as a musical art.

Wine bottles in particular
possess a vibration potential
that varies with the amount of alcohol removed
and mimics the percussive sound of bells and chimes.

Once upon a time there was a musician
who became a master of bells, bottles, jingles and more.
His name was Heinrich Rodenbusch.

Heinrich Rodenbusch,
vom kaiserlichen Musikdirektor geprüfter,
von der hohen Regierung
anerkannter Musik-Virtuose
~

examined by the imperial music director,
recognized by the high government
as a music virtuoso

Ständige Adresse:  RODENBUSCH, Lennep (Rheinland)
Permanent address:                                                                   

Herr Rodenbusch stands next to rack from which eighteen wine bottles are suspended. On a table in front are a collection of tuned hand bells. He is leaning against an upright piano on which a set of jingle bells hang from another rack. On the floor in front of him is a bass drum and cymbals, a snare drum, a small metal xylophone, and a wooden xylophone in a trapezoidal shape. This instrument was a popular Tyrolean folk instrument, oddly called a Strohfiedel or Straw Fiddle.

The postcard was sent on 17 June 1901 from Cöln, an old style spelling of Köln or Cologne, Germany to Oberpleis, a district of Königswinter near the Siebengebirge or Seven Mountains  a hill range of the German Central Uplands on the east bank of the Middle Rhine.

A few years later Heinrich returned with a display of his many musical instruments: an upright piano, a table with the wooden xylophon, the small glockenspiel xylophon, bass drum cymbal, and snare drum, a second table with gleaming hand bells, a very large rack of tubular chimes, and a rack of twenty wine bottles. The two tables are covered in velvet cloth embroidered with his monogram. The caption is similar but starts with a different ensemble and now a telephone number.

Blinden Solisten Kapelle
~
Blind soloist band  Heinrich Rodenbusch

Telephon-Ruf ANRATH 25.

This postcard was postmarked 11 October 1910 from possibly Bresslau(?) to someone in Oberhausen, a city in northwest Germany’s Ruhr region.

In his 3/4 portrait, Heinrich Rodenbusch wears white tie and tailcoat, along with a handsome Prussian 'stach, and holds a roll of music in his hands, a symbol for a keyboard artist. The caption again refers to his eminent musical credentials and that he directs the Blinden Solisten Kapelle. This card was sent from Berlin on 28 October 1911.  The remark at the top was written by the postcard dealer. I hate when they do that.

We can't be certain of course, but Heinrich Rodenbusch may in fact have been blind, despite his clear gaze in his postcard images. But in a fourth postcard he stands with three other musicians who do have a distracted look of a sightless person. Seated at a table is a violinist. On the table are some brass trumpets. Standing next to Herr Rodenbusch is a large man with a Prussian mustache and a very long piston valve herald trumpet. Next to him is a smaller and younger man holding a blackwood flute with ivory headjoint.

There is piano, presumably Heinrich's main instrument, but the bells, drums, and wine bottles are gone. The postcard was never mailed but the caption reads:

Blinden Kapelle  Rodenbusch
Ständige Adresse:  RODENBUSCH, Anrath im Rheinland

These four postcards imply that Herr Rodenbusch had a musical career lasting at least 11-12 years in the first decade of the 20th century. The style of his postcards match the kind of promotional material that thousands of German/Austrian music hall artists used for connecting to theater managers and entertainment booking agencies. Herr Rodenbusch's use of wine bottles, bells, chimes, and xylophones was not unusual as I have several other examples of small ensembles that used high pitched metallic percussion instrument. Tuned wine bottle were cheap.

What's interesting is his promotion of a band of blind musicians. It's a strange idea that the public would be attracted to a performance of musicians who are unable to read sheet music. There's nothing unusual about any musician playing by ear and by memory, so perhaps Herr Rodenbusch's blind soloists were a kind of sideshow novelty. Their choice of instruments in the last postcard suggests a refined salon style music. Did they sing too? Who knows?

But blindness is certainly no handicap for savoring fine wine and appreciating the music of empty bottles..

This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday
where the barman is never there when you need him.

Xylophon Kinder part 3

Her gaze has that faraway daydream quality

of a sensitive teenager lost in thought.
Perhaps her reverie is linked to the two instruments
lying on a fuzzy sheepskin in front of her.
A rotary valve trumpet and
the wooden bars of a trapezoidal xylophone.

Her name is written on the back of the postcard:
Elmira Rohl
Piston in Xylophon Virtuosin

Elmira is another example of Xylophon Kinder that I have featured in the last two months. Readers can review this musical fad for the European Xylophone in Xylophon Kinder Part 1 and Part 2. For reasons that still remain a mystery to me, many talented small children were promoted as professional Xylophon virtuosos who performed in the cafes, theatres, and music halls of the German and the Austrian-Hungarian Empires. Some were solo acts, others played with sibilings, and several were members of a larger musical ensemble led by their father. Many like Elmira Rohl played multiple instruments. Her trumpet or Piston was not an uncommon solo instrument fro young women either.

But their chosen instrument for a postcard souvenir was not the more common solo instruments like violin or piano, but a percussion instrument, the xylophone. And not the familiar modern xylophone with bass notes on the left and treble on the right. This unusual instrument was the Xylophon, also known under its folk name, the Strohfiedel or Straw Fiddle. Its wooden bars are arranged parallel to the player with the bass notes closest and the treble notes farthest away, and small lightweight hammers are used instead of mallets. It was usually associated with the music of the Tyrolean region of the Alps but was adopted by musicians from many regions of Central European. The bars were woven together with twine and rested on straw rope so they are often displayed casually draped over a chair or table. 

***

This young woman is dressed in typical folk costume of the Tirol
with a flat hat and ornately embroidered blouse.
Her name is Liesl Rechl.
Her xylophon has four columns of bars
which I believe make it a fully chromatic instrument.
 

This postcard was mailed from Hannover, Germany
on 19 September 1909.

***

Here is another young pre-teen girl
with the faraway look.
She is
Lucie Friemel
Instrumental-Virtu(osin)

She wears a rather unflattering shift dress
with white bow and white shoes and stockings
while standing on another ubiquitous photographer's sheepskin.
She sent this postcard herself, signing the back.
The postmark location is unclear but the date was 16 July 1919.

Her instrument was the Xylophon
which was partly displayed on the second postcard
while she hold the hammer sticks.
Strewn on the floor beneath the xylophon table
is a collection of posters of her musical program.

Czardas
Perles de Cristal
Overture Dichter
Guillaume Tell
2nd Rhapsodie Liszt

 This was some serious music
that required great skill to play well.
If she performed alone
the music was probably adapted
from piano arrangements.

***

This last attractive Xylophon Virtuosin
has another understandably romantic gaze
as she is a more mature young woman
of perhaps age 16 or even 20.
Her name is Wilhelmine Kreuzig
and she is posed over her xylophon
placed on what is clearly a combination
folding case and table for the instrument.

Her postcard was posted on 12 November 1908
from Kiel, the major German port on the the North Sea

This concludes (for now) my series
on this unusual instrument.
But as I have discovered on YouTube
it is not entirely forgotten
but is still regularly played
by German-Austrian bands.
 

 The piece most often performed is the
Souvenir de Cirque Renz,
aka Zirkus Renz,
by Gustave Peter (1833 – 1919),
a xylophone performer and composer
who is remembered today
only for this single popular tune
which I'm sure every
Xylophon Kinder played a thousand times.

 I found three versions of
this Strohfiedel hit.
The first is played by OktoberfestDrummer
with the assistance of another Xylophon Kinder in a way. The performance was at an Oktoberfest
in Helen, Georgia of all places.

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This second version of Zirkus Renz
is from the Valina Polka Band
at an Oktoberfest in Galveston, Texas.
Could any of the young xylophon girls 

have matched the exuberance of this Texas gal?

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***

This last version of Zirkus Renz
shows us the frightening future of music.
Technically it is a modern xylophone
but I'm sure it would be easy enough
to rotate the player's programing 90 degrees.


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This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday
click the link for more tricks and treats.

Xylophon Kinder part 2

I think it's the tilt of her head
that makes the photo's composition so charming.
Her name is Gret'l Bode,
age 8, maybe 10,
and she sits beside her instrument, a xylophone
atop a beautifully carved end table.
Her second instrument, a violin,
which appears to have frets like a guitar,
rests on the floor between the table legs.
She's dressed in a dirndl frock,
a traditional Tyrolean folk costume.

The postcard caption reads:
Grüß Gott! :-: Zum Andenken an Gret'l Bode :-: Grüß Gott!
Xylophon-, Tubaphon- und Schoßgeigen- Künstlerin
überall Zügkraft! ::-:: Diplom von der direktion
des Grand Zillerthal, Brüssel
~
Good Day! :-:  For souvenirs of Gret'l Bode :-: Good Day!
Xylophone, Tubaphone (with metal tubes) and Castle violin artist
Attractive everywhere! ::-::
Diploma from the Directorate
of Grand Zillerthal, Brussels

Gret'l is one of the many Xylophon Kinder
who were popular child entertainers
in Germany and Austria
at the beginning of the 20th century.
The xylophone children in Part 1 were
dated around 1913-1915 by postmarks on the cards.
Gret'l Bode's was never mailed
but based on the cheap paper
it probably dates to the war years 1914-1918.

***

Her instrument was called a Xylophon,
but the arrangement of the tuned wooden bars
is very different from the modern xylophone and marimba
which follow a standard keyboard system
with bass notes on the left and treble on the right.
With this percussion instrument the bars are turned 90°
and the bass notes are closest to the player
with the treble farthest away.
This detail shows how the bars are closely woven together.
In the background are a set of handbells.
They belong to the Geschwister Stehle
i.e. the Stehle sister and brother.

The two Stehle children are about age 8 and 12
and they hold little mallets
poised above two xylophones.
A third one is on another table in between.

There is no date on this postcard but there is on the next.

A penciled message gives a date of 17 Oct 1920,
while the postcard caption says this boy's  name is Otto Stehle.
He may be the missing brother for the third table
or he might be the same boy but in a younger photo.

***

This next brother and sister Xylophon Virtuosen act
are named Harry (?) and Vera Gläsner.
They appear about ages 13 and 16.
and are dressed in white tie and tails.
Their xylophones rest on trapezoidal tables
that look like they might double
as folding cases for the instruments.
There is no postmark, but the back does have
an agent's address in Berlin.
The style of photo postcard likely dates
the Gläsner siblings to the 1920s.

* * *

My last example of  Xylophon Kinder
is Rita Lenz, 8 years old.
Her eyes were poorly retouched by the photographer
which gives her a rather alarming look.
Her short dress is a more conventional than folk style
and she wears high top white shoes
that resemble ice or roller skating shoes.

Her postcard was sent to Berlin on 26 July 1921.

The Xylophon, also known under its folk name,
the Strohfiedel or Straw Fiddle
was a favorite instrument by many young entertainers.
There are still more to come
in Xylophon Kinder part 3.

Meanwhile here's a delightful video
of Josef Ost, 85 years young,
performing Souvenir de Cirque Renz,
aka Zirkus Renz,
by Gustave Peter (1833 – 1919),
a xylophone performer and composer
remembered only for his one big hit.
This is the music that I'm certain
every Strohfiedel Kinder knew by heart.
 
(click the full screen icon for a better view)

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And for an even more impressive virtuoso
here is Xylophon soloist Bena Havlu
playing an arrangement of the familiar
Capriccio XXIV of Paganini.

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This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday
where some kids study while other play.

Xylophon Kinder part 1

Emil Jahn
der kleinste Xylophon-Virtuose der Gegenwart
5 jahre alt
~
the smallest xylophone virtuoso of the present
5 Years old

Dressed in a military bandsman's uniform,
little Emil stands proudly behind an instrument
that he called a Xylophon.
But it is 90 degrees different
from the modern percussion instruments
we know as xylophones and marimbas.
Those instruments arrange
the pitched wooden or metal bars
with the longer bass tones on the left
and the higher tones ranked progressively to the right
just like the keys of a piano.
 

Emil's xylophon has four columns of wooden bars
arrayed into trapezoidal shape
with the lower tone bars closest to him
and the higher ones farther away.
It's a bewildering system that does not follow
the familiar keyboard pattern of white keys for naturals
and black keys for sharps and flats.
It looks very difficult to play.
 

But once upon a time
it was easy enough
for little kids to master.

The postcard was sent to Fräulein Elsa Lantsch
and postmarked from Leipzig on 13 June 1914

***

Emil Jahn posed for another souvenir photo
dressed in a sailor suit, a popular boy's fashion of the time,
but with the edges of his collar and cuffs embroidered in scallops
and his jacket and short pants made in a velvet fabric.
 

He is holding a pair of curious shaped sticks
that are different from the ball-end mallets
used by modern xylophone players.
These are more like the spoon shaped hammers
used to play a Cimbalom or Hammered Dulcimer.
Both of these wire strung instruments
are similarly arranged into a trapezoid
with the strings stretched left to right
and having the low notes closest to the player.
Like xylophones and pianos
they belong to the percussion family
as the musical tone is produced
by being struck with a stick or hammer.

The postmark is not legible,
perhaps 1913 or 1914,
but it was sent to Fräulein Babbette Poptr(?)
in Münchberg in Bavaria, Germany.

***

Die kleinste Xylophonvirtuosin
Gretel Link

This young girl appears to be about age 12.
Dressed head to toe in white,
Gretel stands before a trapezoidal xylophon
set upon a table that looks purpose made
to fold and carry her instrument.

This type of xylophone links the wooden bars together
with string cleverly knotted to space the bars.
They rest on tracks that were sometimes made of straw,
which gave the instrument its folk name,
Strohfiedel or Straw Fiddle.
 
It is also called
the Hölzernes Gelächter or Wooden Hilarity (?),
and was an instrument popular with musicians
of the alpine Tyrol region of western Austria.

Gertel Link's postcard was sent
from Nuernberg, Germany
on the 14th of January, 1913.

***

Elsa von Borstein
Xylophon-Virtuosin
7 Jahre alt!
~
Xylophone Virtuoso
7 years old!

Little Elsa wears a feminine variation
of the sailor suit
as she concentrates on keeping
her xylophon sticks
from getting tangled in her long hair.
Her instrument is placed
on a heavy ornate table
but she still needs to stand on a box,
cleverly disguised with a carpet,
in order to reach the bars.

 
Her postcard was never mailed
but likely dates from around 1910.


The trapezoidal xylophon,
or Hölzernes Gelächter, or Strohfiedel,
was once a very common percussion instrument
in musical groups from Central Europe.
It was this type xylophon
that European composers
of the 19th and early 20th century
knew as a folk instrument.
I have many postcards of German/Austrian folk bands
that show one draped over a chair or placed on a small table.
Yet today this kind of pitched mallet percussion
with its baffling system of musical tones
is rare to find and largely forgotten
as it has been replaced by the improved xylophone
in the modern percussion world.
 
But for some reason it was once a very popular instrument
for talented small children
to play as soloists
in family musical ensembles.
Since I've found enough of their postcards
to display this interesting musical history,
this post is just the first
of a series I call
 Xylophon Kinder.

Stay tuned for more.

Now it's time to hear
what a Hölzernes Gelächter sounds like.
Here is a YouTube video
of a performance by the Familienmusik Servi

that features some fast handwork on the Xylophon.

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This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday
where the kids are always up to something.