Val Cortoni shares his tools with the world
By Fiona Potts
Val Cortoni is a hammered dulcimer player and instructor who lives in France, where the hammered dulcimer is called the tympanon. This name inspired the title of the video series “Tympanim,” which he started publishing on YouTube in October 2022.
In the video descriptions he shares that while his music-reading skills have progressed, when he first began to learn dulcimer, he struggled reading music and made several attempts to find workarounds to make visualizing and memorizing tunes easier. He developed his own system of computer animations with note names and hit marks to help him find his way on the dulcimer. He generates the videos, with improved graphics, using several commercial softwares.
He also emphasizes that “these videos are not aimed at replacing a teacher,” but are rather “a way to get familiar with the instrument, without letting reading difficulties spoil the fun.” They are aimed at beginners and feature the tunes at both full and half speeds. The hit marks are shown using different colors and symbols for each hand.
One of the songs featured in the series is “St. Basil’s Hymn,” a traditional Greek New Year’s carol, a “kalanda,” like the Welsh “Nos Galan.” Cortoni writes that it is “one of the best HD beginner’s tunes for hand separation, as the left hand plays an eighth note vertical pattern while the right hand plays a quarter note horizontal pattern.” Ted Yoder provided the standard notation arrangement of “St. Basil’s Hymn” accompanying this article.
Another Christmas song featured in the series is the Ukrainian “Carol Of The Bells.” While there are many versions and variations of this tune, Cortoni’s arrangement is simple and compatible with 12/11 dulcimers and above.
Find the series on Cortoni’s YouTube channel at youtube.com/@ValCortoni and find links to his other sites at cortoni.fr.
St. Basil’s Hymn
Roundel with Saint Basil the Great with a Donor, at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Stained glass, circa 1515. The Cloisters Collection, 1932.
History and Facts
- “Saint Basil’s Hymn” is a “kalanda,” a traditional Greek New Year’s carol, like the Welsh “Nos Galan.”
- The Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates Saint Basil’s Day on January 1, where he is a children’s gift-bringer figure, similar to Santa Claus and Saint Nicholas.
- The common Greek name for the tune comes from the first line of the lyrics, “Αρχιμηνιά κι Αρχιχρονιά” or “Archiminiá ki Archichroniá,” meaning “First of the month, first of the year.”
- Vasilopita, or “Basil-pie,” is a bread or pie associated with Saint Basil’s Day. Like a King cake, the vasilopita contains a hidden coin or trinket which gives good luck to the receiver.
- George Winston’s “Night – Part Three: Minstrels,” on his popular album “December,” was inspired by Saint Basil’s Hymn and based on American hammered dulcimer player Malcolm Dalglish’s rendition on his 1982 album “Thunderhead.” Winston passed away on June 23, 2023.
- Dalglish’s “The Kalanta of the New Year” is a popular arrangement of the hymn.
- An arrangement by Frederick S. Converse with Greek and English lyrics titled “Saint Basil (New Year’s Song)” appears in “Folk Songs of Many Peoples, Volume Two,” compiled and edited by Florence Hudson Botsford, 1921.
Playlist
For more curated playlists visit Dulcimer Players News on YouTube.