I have been studying German, brushing aside the cobwebs resulting from 40 years of non-use. One of the many beauties of the German language is its power to create compound words that mean exactly what they should, that are very evocative of something greater than the sum of the words. For example, to say that I have embraced a "zither journey" means little. It should be "zitherjourney." Would this be "zitherreise" in German?
My zitherjourney is all about a re-discovery of music, and it is very exciting – very "re-energizing." This is not to say that I am in any crisis over music: my cup runneth over. The scope of Music is so vast that I understand why some feel compelled to specialize their interests, to limit their options so that they aren't overwhelmed. I don't want to be like that: I want music to be Music. What I have seen in the tiny zither community is a breadth and sensitivity to music that is an inspiration. The zither is an instrument that has been re-inventing itself over the last several decades and I think the important thing is that it has enough musical resources to do really interesting things... at least, in the right hands. The progressive forces in the rather small zither community are doing really interesting things across the entire gamut of music, and with great taste.
Just recently I received three CDs that demonstrate what I'm talking about. I'm afraid they may be a bit difficult to get from North America, which is a real shame. The first is by the distinguished zither player and teacher Georg Glasl: music for zither and viola, with the viola played by Kelvin Hawthorne. It is interesting to note that the "melody strings" of the standard concert zither, referred to as the diskant zither, are tuned to the same pitches as the viola. In fact these two instruments very complimentary. (Some of the pieces use the alt zither, which is tuned a fourth lower, which makes the texture even richer.) With the exception of Bach cello suite arranged for the solo zither, the music is all 20th Century, in a progressive, but fundamentally tonal and romantic style. One cannot listen to this recording and fail to take the zither seriously, especially as a small ensemble instrument. While the first impression is that the zither sounds like a guitar, it really has the sound and resources of two guitars, with a great depth to its bass. I find the metal strings to the "melodic" portion of the instrument provides an appropriately sharp sound that makes it work very well in a small ensemble.
The second CD is a remarkable pairing between zither and Countertenor: Horchend Still. The zither player, Gertrud Wittkowsky, uses three different sizes of zither: the alt, diskant, and a quint, which is tuned an fifth above the diskant zither. The Countertenor is Franz Vitzthum; I have to believe he is well known in the world of countertenors. The the collaboration is magical, as is the program: a smorgasbord of delights, opening with Mozart's Komm, liebe Zither, originally written for the mandolin; the diskant zither sounds very much like a mandolin in the accompaniment. Both a solo version of Dowland's Lacrymae Pavane and the vocal version, Flow my Tears, demonstrate how "lute like" the zither can be and what a sensitive accompanist Ms. Wittkowsky is. Ms. Wittkowsky plays several solo zither pieces, including a favorite of mine, Unlimited Strings, by Isolde Jordan. There are two recordings of this hypnotic minimalist piece. I recently acquired the score to this piece and have been playing it on the clavichord – I don't know if I can hope to reach the level of accomplishment at which I can play it on the zither.
Finally, there is the stunning recording Ziegether by Michal Müller, a Czech zither player and singer. I would have bypassed this recording by because it looked like it was just popular/jazz music. I am fighting my tendencies to brush aside music that I don't think is "serious enough" or that is "too popular": this is a snobbery I don't want to be a part of! As Müller describes it, it is '[My] Own compositions and two arranged bohemian folk songs for zither-solo with and without singing. A musical mix of jazz, slavic folk motives, classical music and free improvisation.' Not only is the zither playing stunning – even that superlative word doesn't do it justice! – his musical imagination is a wonderment. He sings in Czech – I have absolutely no idea what about, but it is a gentle voice and seems to be a gentle language with Slavic overtones. Playing this recording daily is my newest guilty pleasure: the challenge is to play it only once per day.
These three recordings represent music spanning the fifteenth century to the modern day. For the most part, the use of the zither isn't idiosyncratic: it is entirely natural and I think more a reflection of rich imagination and supremely good musical taste. I want to get a piece of that combination in my zitherjourney!
