![]() Writing nearly 2 centuries later, Jerome of Moravia was either unaware of this rebek, or did not consider it worth mentioning, or classed it among the fiddles with fewer than 5 strings he did not think worthy of consideration. There is no illustration with that Arabic/Latin table so, with the notorious fluidity of medieval instrument naming, we cannot be entirely sure what was meant by rebek, and cannot necessarily assume it was the rebec we are seeking, nor is there any suggestion of a connection to the rebab. 14754), and this is where it begins to get complicated. The first extant evidence in writing for the word rebek is in an early 12 th century table of Arabic and Latin terms (Paris, Bibliotheque Nationale, Ms. (Click picture to see larger in new window.) On the left we have two rubebas,Īlso conforming to Jerome’s description. The 13 th century description by Jerome of Moravia (see above). On the right we have an oud played with a 2 string rubeba or rebab, the latter conforming to Instruments in the Cantigas are labelled, in common with almost all medieval illustrations. ![]() ![]() ![]() Two images from the Cantigas de Santa Maria, an Iberian songbook commissioned by andĪpparently largely composed by King Alfonso X, written 1257-1283. He described it having 2 strings a fifth apart, c and g, and it was less important (in France at this time) than the 5 string vielle (medieval fiddle). 1280, in which he stated that the “rubeba” was “a musical instrument played with a bow”, as if it was new to his readers and had to be explained. In 13 th century France, music theorist Jerome of Moravia wrote his Tractatus de Musica, c. In his Muqaddimah ( Introduction to History), he described the rebab being played with a bowing string attached to a bent shaft, rubbed with resin and drawn across the two playing strings. A more clear description appears in 1377 by Tunisian scholar Ibn Khaldun. The first brief mention of the rebab in writing is in 9 th century Arabia. (Much more on this subject here.) The link between rebab and rebec seems to originate from Ian Woodfield, The Early History of the Viol (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984), but this is conjecture, and there is no primary evidence linking the two instruments. As anyone familiar with early music nomenclature is aware, similar or even identical names do not necessary signify the same instrument. The origin of the rebec is now widely believed to be in the similarly named Arabian rebab or rabab, thus the evolution of names is presumed to include rubeba, rubeb, rebecca, rebeccum and rebec. Italian Saltarello from British Library Add MS 29987, folio 62r,ĭated c. 1400, on rebec.Ĭlick picture to play video, which opens in a new window. This article begins with a video of Igor Pomykalo playing an Italian Saltarello, c. Though the rebec has gained a reputation as a medieval instrument, it was still being played beyond the renaissance and to the end of the baroque period in western Europe, by now having fallen from grace from a regal courtly instrument to one of lowly street entertainment. Distinguishing the rebec from other medieval and renaissance bowed instruments, in particular the vielle (medieval fiddle), has been a matter of some contention until more recent scholarship re-evaluated the primary evidence. Its sound has a nasal quality, unlike the more full-sounding modern violin, which shares some of the rebec’s characteristics: strings played with a bow, a fretless neck, a curved bridge to allow strings to be bowed singly, and a soundboard carved to have a gentle upward curve. The rebec is a late medieval and renaissance gut-strung bowed instrument with 3 strings, its body carved from a solid piece of wood.
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