The hurdy-gurdy is one of Europe's oldest musical instruments. A kind of mechanical violin, it uses keys and a crank, along with melody and drone strings. Some call it the medieval synthesizer, and a ...

Twenty-seven years ago, in search of a hurdy-gurdy master, Donald Heller wandered into a music shop in Budapest. There, he saw a beautiful maiden, an ancient-looking stringed instrument in her lap, ...

We recently attended a fantastic talk and performance at the library by Tomás Lozano about an instrument that dates back to ...

Today's Beautiful Music is an introduction to the hurdy-gurdy. The unusual string instrument is played with a hand crank, and its ancestor -- the organistrum -- dates back at least to the 12th century ...

Ever heard of a hurdy-gurdy? You may know it by many other names – vielle a roue, zanfona, or organistrum – as there is a version of this medieval instrument in ...

Would you love to launch your own Middle Ages band but can’t find a lutist let alone a good hurdy gurdy player? First off, congratulations on knowing what a hurdy gurdy is (man). But second and more ...

Teenage Engineering calls its new digital music sequencer an instrumentalis electronicum, “the ultimate, and only, medieval beat machine.” I call it coolium thingamajignus because the EP-1320 embodies ...

He is the shaman. Donovan in the David Lynch-directed video for 'I am the Shaman' Despite the hiccups Donovan was established and, ultimately, his ascendancy was about the songs rather than any ...

TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. About the Archive This is a digitized version of an article from The Times’s print archive, before the start of online ...

Beaudin, a professional piano and organ player, is bringing a modern take to this ancient instrument, the hurdy-gurdy. She presents a contemporary take on the music of this instrument’s past, present ...