Rebec

Rebec

The rebec in "Virgin among Virgins" (1509), by Gerard David.
String instrument
Classification	Bowed string instruments
Hornbostel–Sachs classification	321.21-71 (Bowl lyre sounded by a bow)
Developed	Middle Ages
Related instruments
vielle viol rebab Byzantine lyra

The rebec (sometimes rebecha, rebeckha, and originally various other spellings, pronounced /ˈriːbɛk/ or /ˈrɛbɛk/) is a bowed string musical instrument. In its most common form, it has a narrow boat-shaped body and 1-5 strings and is played on the arm or under the chin, like a violin.

Origins

The rebec dates back to the Middle Ages and was particularly popular in the 15th and 16th centuries. The instrument is European and derived from the Arabic bowed instrument rebab and the Byzantine lyra. The rebec was first referred to by that name around the beginning of the 14th century, though a similar instrument, usually called a lyra, had been played since around the 9th century.

The introduction of the rebab into Western Europe has possibly coincided with the conquest of Spain by the Moors, in the Iberian Peninsula. There is however evidence of the existence of bowed instruments in the 9th century also in Eastern Europe: the Persian geographer of the 9th century Ibn Khurradadhbih cited the bowed Byzantine lira (or lūrā) as typical bowed instrument of the Byzantines and equivalent to the Arab rabāb.

The rebab was adopted as a key instrument in Arab classical music and in Morocco a tradition of Arabo-Andalusian music has been kept alive by descendants of Muslims who left Spain as refugees following the Reconquista. The rebab became a favourite instrument in the tea houses of the Ottoman (Turkish) Empire The rebab was till the advent of the violin, the only bowed instrument in the Ottoman Empire.

A singular distinguishing feature of the rebec is that the bowl (or body) of the instrument is carved from a solid piece of wood. This distinguishes it from the later period vielles and gambas known in the renaissance.

Tuning

The number of strings on the rebec varies from 1 to 5, although three is the most common number. The strings are often tuned in fifths, although this tuning is by no means universal. The instrument was originally in the treble range, like the violin, but later larger versions were developed, such that by the 16th century composers were able to write pieces for consorts of rebecs, just as they did for consorts of viols.

In use

In time, the viol came to replace the rebec, and the instrument was little used beyond the renaissance period. The instrument did remain in use by dance masters until the 18th century, however, often being used for the same purpose as the kit, a small pocket-sized violin. The rebec also continued to be used in folk music, especially in eastern Europe and Spain. Andalusi nubah, a genre of music from North Africa, often includes the rebec.

Artists

• The original Michael Nyman Band included a rebec before the band switched to a fully amplified lineup.
• Les Cousins Branchaud, a folk music group from Quebec, Canada, includes a rebec player.
• Ensemble Micrologus, an Italian medieval music group, has a member who performs on rebec.
• Tina Chancey is a multi-instrumentalist specializing in early bowed strings like the rebec. She also plays in Hesperus, an early music and folk music group.
• Dominique Regef is a French musician, composer and improvisor who performs on, among other instruments, the rebec.
• Giles Lewin, while being more famous for his work on violin and bagpipes, also plays the rebec in the Dufay Collective.
• Rossen Genkov is a rebec virtuoso. He appeared onstage with the Bulgarian band Epizod.
• Sisters Shirley and Dolly Collins have released a number of albums that include the rebec.
• Oni Wytars, a European music group, often includes the rebec in their performances.
• Helen Johnson plays the rebec, and its close relative the violetta, in the British early music group Cancionero.
• Siba de Oliveira Veloso, from Mestre Ambrósio and Siba e a Fuloresta, and Antônio Nóbrega plays the rebec in a very Brazilian folcloric way, which has a large number of players in its north-east part.
• Swedish progressive rock band Älgarnas Trädgård list rebec as an instrument used on their 1972 album 'FRAMTIDEN ÄR ETT SVÄVANDE SKEPP, FÖRANKRAT I FORNTIDEN'

The rebec in popular culture

Hugh Rebeck is a minor character in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, one of the musicians called by Peter in an oft-cut scene. Presumably, he is named for the instrument that he plays.

In a scene in Don Quixote, a goatherd entertains Don Quixote and Sancho Panza by playing a rebeck and singing a love song.

A rebec featured prominently in one of Ellis Peters' (12th century) Brother Cadfael stories: Liliwin, the title character of The Sanctuary Sparrow, earned his living by playing that instrument. His rebec was damaged by a mob that accused him of murder, but one of the monks repaired it and returned to him at the end of the story.

'Rebec' is also a common name used to abbreviate the name Rebecca, it is a nickname for the female suffrage pioneer of New Zealand, Rebecca Lea.

See also

• Byzantine lyra: the pear-shaped bowed stringed instrument of the Byzantine Empire.
• Cretan lyra: The pear-shaped bowed instrument of Crete, Greece.
• Dramyin: a Himalayan folk music instrument.
• Kamencheh: a four-stringed instrument similar to the kemenche.
• Kemenche: a three-stringed instrument from the Black Sea region of Asia Minor.
• Gadulka: a Bulgarian stringed instrument.

External links

• The Rebec – Short history of the rebec, and sound sample.
• The Rebirth of the Rabeca Fiddle of Brazil
• The Rebec Page – Origins, morphology, construction, and sound sample.
• Tenor rebec photo
•  Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). "Rebec". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.