Description
“Nyckelharpa Etudes” is a collection of exercises compiled by internationally renowned virtuoso Marco Ambrosini to offer players of this unique instrument a way to improve their playing technique. This book is a fundamental contribution to the development of the nyckelharpa, a stringed instrument whose pitch is altered with a keyboard and which has been documented in music history since around 1350.
The key fiddle
The nyckelharpa is a stringed instrument in which the strings are bowed with a bow. The pitch is changed using the keyboard, the “keys”. Resonance strings contribute to the special sound. Depending on the design, the instrument has one or more rows of keys.
A journey through history
The nyckelharpa has been documented since around 1350 and was used until the 17th century. played in various European countries. It is also described as a key fiddle by Praetorius and Agricola. From the 17th century. it was used exclusively in Swedish folklore.
“Nyckelharpa Etudes” in the focus of music education
Anyone learning to play a classical instrument will be very familiar with etudes, as they are the ideal way to improve playing technique, fluency and speed. To master the musical potential of the nyckelharpa, musicians now have access to a collection of exercises by the internationally renowned virtuoso Marco Ambrosini.
The “Nyckelharpa Etudes” are notated for both 3- and 4-row “Swedish” tuned instruments (sixth-fourth-fifth), as well as for “continental” tuned nyckelharpas (fifth-fifth-fifth-fifth), which is preferred above all for instruments made in Central Europe.
Tailor-made exercises for the nyckelharpa
With the book “Nyckelharpa Etudes” the author has provided the growing scene of nyckelharpa players with profound working material. With his work in the CADENCE project and with this textbook, he has made a fundamental contribution to ensuring that the nyckelharpa receives the attention and dissemination it deserves. There will probably never be a comparable book of etudes for other traditional instruments.
All texts and explanations in this book are in Italian, German and English!
Foreword
Today, the term nyckelharpa covers a whole family of string instruments with a mechanical keyboard. Historical and cultural reasons, but also the choice of musical repertoire, have led to the fact that it now presents itself in many different forms, extensions and moods.
This fact amazes every musician who comes into contact with the instrument for the first time and is at the same time a considerable challenge for teaching practice.
This is particularly true on the European continent, where “traditionally” tuned instruments are used in parallel with those tuned in fifths. Not to be forgotten are also some imaginative experiments of recent years, in which various instrument makers have made more or less efficient changes, ranging from aesthetic-structural to futuristic concepts in electronic form or with MIDI implementation.
Text on the back of the book
These 21 etudes were composed for different types and tunings of nyckel harps. In particular (but not exclusively) these etudes have been compiled for teaching methods in continental Europe, where “traditional” and “continental” teaching and playing methods are used in parallel. These exercises focus particularly on finger technique, articulation, double strings and the keys commonly used for nyckelharpa.
Author:in
Marco Ambrosini
Marco Ambrosini teaches early music and nyckelharpa at the Akademie Burg Fürsteneck (D), at the Scuola di Musica Popolare di Forlimpopoli (I), the two birthplaces of European nyckelharpa training, and at the Conservatoire Intercommunal de Musique des deux vallées Milly la Foret (F).
Vita: Born in 1964 in Forlì, Italy. Studied violin (with A. Casagrande) and composition (with M. Perrucci) at the Music Institute “G.B.Pergolesi” in Ancona and at the Conservatory “G.Rossini” in Pesaro, then worked with the Orchestra Filarmonica Marchigiana and various ensembles for early, baroque and contemporary music in Italy. 1982 Foundation in Innsbruck (with Peter Rabanser) of the international ensemble Oni Wytars. Since 1990 soloist with the Clemencic Consort in Vienna, since 1991 artistic director (with Katharina Dustmann) of Studio Katharco – sound:creations. Concerts as a soloist for the Royal Swedish Concert Agency, the “Alla Scala” Theater (Milan), the Alte Oper Frankfurt, the Philharmonie in Cologne, Berlin and Moscow and for the Camerata Nordica. Jazz concerts and recordings in collaboration with Carlo Rizzo, Jean-Louis Matinier, Valentin Clastrier and Michael Riessler. 1993 “new-comer” & composer at the New Jazz Meeting of the SWF. Co-author (with Michael Posch) of the textbook “Einführung in die mittelalterliche Musik”. Worldwide concert activity, more than 100 CD productions, as well as radio and television recordings as a composer, soloist or as a member of Ensemble Oni Wytars (Germany), Els Trobadors (Spain), Ensemble Unicorn, Ensemble Accentus, Clemencic Consort, Armonico Tributo Austria (Austria), Ensemble Kapsberger (Rolf Lislevand-Norway), Camerata Nordica (Sweden), Jean-Louis Matinier, Michael Riessler and others. ECM musician (as soloist), SONY/DeutscheHarmoniaMundi with the ensemble Oni Wytars. Lecturer for nyckelharpa and early music at the Akademie Burg Fürsteneck (DE), at the Scuola di Musica Popolare di Forlimpopoli (IT) and didactic coordinator of the EU project CADENCE.
As a composer (selection): Music for the music theater production “Kaiserkrönung”, commissioned by the Frankfurt Trade Fair, for the 1200th anniversary of the city of Frankfurt. 1995 the music theater production “La Divina Commedia”. 1996 at Swedish Radio as performer and composer for the Nordic Jazz Meeting.
In collaboration with Katharina Dustmann: 1997 for the Alte Oper Frankfurt and the Italian Cultural Institute: “The Return of Marco Polo”. 1999 World premiere of “Zwischen Himmel und Hölle” in the Maschinenhalle Zweckel. 2000 World premiere of “misch:lagen” 2001 of “ZechenZirkus”. 2002 of “illumina” (for EUROGA 2002+) and “QuasiBolero” (for the nomination of Zeche Zollverein as a UNESCO cultural heritage site). 2003 “ILLUMINA 2”, “ExtraSchicht” & “Ensemblia”. 2004 “Magic Illumina” and “Centro”. 2006 “Water Quintet”. 2007 “The Pennschnecke Jonathan”. 2011 Works for the EU project “CADENCE”. 2011 “The Praise of Folly – La Follia & Other Crazy Grounds” (sony music).
