Hello Robbie,  I just read your "editor's words" concerning my contri-
bution about the unknown 4-tune serinette in Australia.  It seems to be
really difficult to transfer very specific words across the ocean or to
translate slang into another language!  Please let me comment on your
comments.

First some basic words: "crank organ", in German "die Drehorgel", is
the basic word for the mechanical music instrument originally powered
by hand, and later on by steam or electric motor.  The music is pro-
grammed on a pinned cylinder or barrel, punched paper, or in modern
times on a micro chip.  The sound originates from organ pipes activated
by wind.

"Hurdy-gurdy", in German "die Drehleier" or "die Radleier", refers to
a stringed instrument.  It is similar to a fiddle but the strings are
activated by turning a wheel instead of moving a bow.

"Die Drehleier" is a very ancient instrument; it is known since
the 10th century and the name "Drehleier" consists of the two words:
"drehen" (English "to turn") and "Leier".  "Leier" comes from the
Greek word "lyra" which means "stringed instrument".  Now we have it:
"Drehleier" means a stringed instrument on which you have to turn
(a wheel) to make it sound.

From the 10th to about the 15th century it was very much appreciated by
the European kings and noblemen, and the Minnesingers played artistic
music on it.  But the "Drehleier" was not well suited for the emerging
polyphony of the "modern music of the renaissance" -- in the 16th
century it lost its noble environment and became a popular instrument
for vagrants and beggars.

The "Drehleier" found it's revival in the high society of the 18th
century when -- especially at the French royal court -- the romantic
"shepherd's scenarios" were performed: famous composers like Bois-
mortier, Chedeville, Vivaldi, Hotteterre and Haydn wrote music for the
"Drehleier".  But for the common people on the streets it was nothing
but a beggar's instrument.

From these times the word "Leier" metamorphosed into the slang verb
"leiern", which means "to turn in a stupid way" and "to speak, to recite
a poem in a stupid boring manner".

During the 18th century another mechanical music instrument was born
in the French middle-class: the "serinette", originally a bird-organ
which grew up and became the "orgue de salon".  Similarly it happened
in England with the barrel organ, and in Italy, Russia, Poland, etc.

In Germany and Austria the wonderful "Floetenwerke" ("mechanical
flutes") were built for the nobles and the rich citizens.  Haydn,
Mozart, Beethoven and other composers wrote music for these barrel
organs, which were highly sophisticated musical instruments and
not at all dedicated to street music.

To make it more confusing, I have to say that the same technical
construction (pinned cylinder, bellows for the wind, wooden or tin
flutes, hand cranked) was used by beggars and vagrants in the same
way as it was with the "Drehleier" since centuries before.  Of course,
these street music instruments played all the pop music of that time.
(Very few people could afford the tickets to listen Verdi's famous
operas in an opera house but millions enjoyed his popular arias and
overtures performed by the barrel organs  in the streets.)

There was only one problem for the street musicians: The barrel organs
with the organ pipes inside were quite expensive and heavy to carry
around.  One can imagine how happy they were when, in the first half of
the 19th century, a new type of barrel organ emerged: the reed organ.

Its principle had been used in China for more than two thousand years.
The little reeds inside the reed organ (or harmonium) were manufactured
in mass production, and they were cheap and light compared to organ
pipes.

The classical barrel organ was equipped with reeds.  This enabled more
and more of the poor people to buy or to rent a reed barrel organ in
order to make money with these small light-weight boxes (in German
"Kasten") in the streets or backyards.

And as happens very often: quantity works against quality.  The
quality of the instruments dropped down and the performers forgot to
crank the instrument with feeling and musical expression.  Instead of
_performing_ the music, they turned the crank in a most monotonous
way, and as explained above, the German slang-verb "leiern" is the best
fitting expression for this behavior.

So the word "Leierkasten" was born in the 19th century.  Most prob-
ably this term originally was dedicated only to the small barrel reed
organs, but later on all hand-cranked street organs were called
Leierkasten (especially in the northern parts of Germany).

There is no well-defined nomenclature for the instruments mentioned
above but I prefer to use the following terms for the classical
mechanical wind instruments (i.e., not including orchestrions):

Hand cranked organ with organ pipes for street music =
   Engl.:  street organ
   German: die Drehorgel

Hand cranked organ with (only) reeds for street music =
   Engl.:  ??
   German: der Leierkasten

Hand cranked organ with organ pipes for in-door use =
   Engl.:  ??
   German: die Salonorgel
   French: l'orgue de salon

Hand cranked organ with reeds for in-door use =
   Engl.:  organette
   German: Organette

Maybe these definitions will generate some discussion !

Musically
Christian Greinacher

 [ Thank you for the expert explanation, Christian.  I'm amused at
 [ the analogy with insect life: hatched as a bowed lyre, the infant
 [ Drehleier performed for noblemen, but after metamorphosis it labored
 [ as a drone -- a prop for the street beggar's panhandling !
 [
 [ The short opera "Brundibar" centers upon a nasty Leierkastenmann who
 [ drones incessantly the same song, over and over, on his Leierkasten.
 [ "Brundibar" is a slang word for the bumble-bee, and the organ
 [ grinder character alludes to Hitler.  Read the story by Philippe
 [ Rouille in MMD 980316.  -- Robbie