Moving from the Fringe

My musical life has been dominated by fringe instruments: my fault. By "fringe," I mean instruments that aren't in the mainstream, that have a limited repertoire, but are struggling for wider acceptance. My first instrument, the zither, seems like an extreme case. My next instrument – and the one that I studied formally, the guitar – was only slightly better at the time. The guitar has since climbed to credibility through a series of important evolutionary leaps:

• The overall level of technical competence of guitarists has significantly improved. Sure, there are plenty of amateurs who play as badly as ever, but one doesn't have to go far to find a really good performer.
• The overall level of musicianship has significantly improved. At the risk of really upsetting the devotees of Segovia, I think he pandered to a musically unsophisticated crowd with a an arsenal of charming miniatures played in an excessively romantic (or flat-out schmaltzy) manner. I think it took a Julian Bream and John Williams to demonstrate virtuosity without such gimmickry.
• The repertoire expanded beyond clever transcriptions to important music. True, the masses demand many of the "old classics" and there are some transcriptions, such as the music of Albéniz and Granados, that work as well or better on the guitar, but there has been a lot of bonafide new and important new repertoire. (In fairness to Segovia, he deserves a lot credit for promoting new literature for the instrument.)

While I am inspired by the potential for the zither, and especially the sound of more modern instruments, I am dismayed by what I am seeing (and hearing), now that I have reentered that small community: the zither is stuck on the fringe and is in danger of extinction. Harsh words, I know.

Searching on YouTube – an increasingly important resource for instruments and music not easily heard elsewhere – one can't help but be overwhelmed by amateur performances: usually traditional music performed adequately, at best,  poorly, at worst. Further searching on the Internet uncovers some self-produced CDs of zither music, again mostly performed at an embarrassingly low level of technique and musicality. By comparison, a number of lesser-known instruments – some of them almost comical in their limitations – have stunning videos that demonstrate levels of virtuosity and musicality that boggle the mind.

There is a small community of zither players who are amongst the best musicians I have met anywhere. They prove that it is an instrument of complexity, power, and subtlety. However, so long as the prevalent media is dominated by amateur performances of little folk songs and arrangements, the future looks grim. My challenge to the virtuosi of the zither is to make those YouTube videos and post them, even if they aren't perfect: they will be much better than most of what's there and maybe establish a little more credibility and move the instrument away from the fringe.