France: The Epinette of the Vosges

Through a large repertoire spanning from the 18th century to their own compositions, Jean-Francois Dutertre, Jean Ribouillault and Christophe Toussaint (key figures in the folk revival of the 1970s) display here the profound expressive richness of the epinette of the Vosges. The type of dulcimer called epinette des Vosges is a box zither which is commonly found in a few valleys of the Vosges, in Franche-Comte and Lorraine. It serves both as an accompaniment to dancing or singing, and as music for entertainment. This dulcimer belongs to a family of box zithers which is wide-spread throughout Northern and Central Europe (this European family of instruments is also related to certain Asian zithers). In Europe, the use of dulcimers seems to have remained popular for the most part, except in the context of religious ceremonies. It's main characteristic is the presence of frets under part of the strings, which distinguishes two groups: melody strings or chanterelles, and accompaniment strings, or drones, which produce a fixed, invariable chord.