Playing Hurdy Gurdy Organ and singing popular songs is a very old tradition in Europe and north America. This tradition is more than 150 years old and was created for men who were victims of wars - soldiers with corporal damages need new ways to earn money. Wien, the capital of Austria and especially Berlin were centers for these folk singers and for manufactories who built the instruments. The instruments were very expensive und could be rented by players in the early days. 100 years ago Berlin had more than 3 000 organ players. I have seen a lot of them as a child, where they visited the houses and backyards. My mother put a coin or two inside a piece of newspaper and kicked it outside the window on the street or backyard. We children collected the coins and brought them to the player, who took off his hat......
Today this kind of popular music is nearly forgotten, and a clip like these is very rare. The players are organized in clubs and live their hobby. This hurdy gurdy here is a "deLuxe" version with some additional drums.

свернуть