Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

ZITHER (Ger. Zither, Schlagzither, St...

Online Encyclopedia

Originally appearing in Volume V28, Page 991 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.

Encyclopedia Home :: YAK-ZYM

Spread the word:

del.icio.us it!

See also:

ZITHER (Ger. Zither, Schlagzither, Streichzither; Ital. cithara)

ZITHER (Ger. Zither, Schlagzither, Streichzither; Ital. See also:
CITHARA (Assyrian chetarah; Gr. KcOhpa; Lat, cithara; perhaps Heb. kinura, kinnor)
cithara) , a name applied in See also:

MODERN

modern See also:

Germany to the See also:

ancient cithara (q.v.), to the See also:

CITTERN (also CITHERN, CITHRON, CYTHREN, CITIIAREN, &C.; Fr. titre, cistre, cishre, guitare allemande or anglaise; Ger. Cither, Zither (mit Hals, with neck); Ital. cetera, tetra)

cittern (q.v.), and to an See also:

INSTRUMENT (Lat. instrumentum, from insincere, to build up, furnish, arrange, prepare)

instrument which is a See also:

KIND (O. E. ge-cynde, from the same root as is seen in " kin," supra)

kind of See also:

PSALTERY, PSALTERION

psaltery, consisting of a shallow See also:

sound-See also:

CHEST (Gr. Kiarl, Lat. cista, O. Eng. cist, test, &c.)

chest with ribs having the outline of a flattened See also:

jug (termed in See also:

German Flaschenform, See also:

BOTTLE (Fr. bouteille, from a diminutive of the Lat. butta, a flask; cf. Eng. " butt ")

bottle-shape). In the centre of the sound-See also:

BOARD (O. Eng. bord)

board is a See also:

rose sound-hole, and the See also:

FINGER

finger-board with frets lies along the straight See also:

side of the zither in front of the performer. The number of the strings varies, but 36, 38 and 42 are the most usual. Over the finger-board are four or five strings known as See also:

VIOLIN

violin, on which the See also:

MELODY (Gr. ,ueXw3ia, a choral song, from name, tune, and gi6i, song)

melody is played. These five melody strings are stopped with the thumb and fingers of the See also:

LEFT

left See also:

hand and plucked with the thumb of the right hand, which usually has a thumb See also:

RING (O.E. hring; a word common to Teutonic languages; and probably cognate with the Lat. circus, Gr. KtpKOS or KpLKOS, Skt'. chakra, wheel, circle, cf. also " harangue "); in art, a band of circular shape of varying sizes, made of any material and used f

ring with plectrum. Nos. I and 2 are See also:

STEEL, FLORA ANNIE (1847– )

steel strings; No. 3 of See also:

brass, and 4 and 5 of spun See also:

WIRE (A.S. wir, a wire; cf. Swed. vire, to twist, M.H.G. wiere, a gold ornament, Lat. viriae, armlets, ultimately from the root wi, to twist, bind)

wire; the See also:

bass is played with the fingers of the right hand, and in See also:

order to facilitate the fingering the strings are tuned in fourths and fifths. Most of the other strings from the 6th are of gut. All the strings See also:

lie horizontally across the sound-board, being fastened in the usual manner to hitch and wrest pins. The zither is placed on the table in front of the performer, who holds his right See also:

ARM (a common Teutonic word; the Indo-European root is ar, to join or fit; cf. the Lat. armus, shoulder, and the plural word arma, weapons, Gr. apphs, joint, and the reduplicated apapilKSV, to join)

arm so that the See also:

WRIST

wrist rests on the side of the zither parallel with the hitch pins, the thumb being over the finger-board.

The foregoing remarks apply to the distant and See also:

CONCERT (through the French from Lat. con-, with, and certare, to strive)

concert zither; the elegiac or bass zither is of similar construction but larger, and is a transposing instrument, having the same notation as the former, the real sounds being a See also:

FOURTH

fourth See also:

LOWER

lower. These zithers are the favourite See also:

INSTRUMENTS

instruments of the peasants in the Swiss and Bavarian See also:

HIGHLANDS, THE

highlands, and are sometimes seen in the concert halls of See also:

north and western Germany. The Streichzither, or bowed zither, has a See also:

BODY

body of See also:

heart-or See also:

PEAR (Pyrus communis)

pear-shape similar to that of the cittern, but without the See also:

long See also:

NECK (O. Eng. hnecca; the word appears in many Teutonic languages; cf. Dutch ride, Ger. Nacken; in O. E. the common word was heals; cf. Ger. Hals)

neck of the latter. The finger-board covers the whole of the sound-board with the exception of a few inches at the tapering end, which is finished off with a raised See also:

nut or See also:

BRIDGE

bridge, the See also:

BOW (pronounced " bo ")

bow being applied in the centre of this See also:

gap. The bowed zither has little feet and is placed on a table when being played. There are four strings corresponding to those of the violin or See also:

VIOLA [Fr. viole, Ger. Bratsche, Ital. viola, alto]

viola, but the See also:

TONE, THEOBALD WOLFE (1763-1798)

tone is nasal and glassy.

End of Article: ZITHER (Ger. Zither, Schlagzither, Streichzither; Ital. cithara)

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.

» Add information or comments to this article.

Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.

Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
ZIRKEL, FERDINAND (1838– )

[next]
ZITTAU