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Organ-grinders in the old town centre

lajnarji Dunja Wedam

© Dunja Wedam

  • 16 Dec - 23 Dec 2024, 16:00-19:00

    City Centre – Corner of Trubarjeva Street, second half near Filip’s Mansion

In the streets of Ljubljana, organ grinders dressed in historical clothing will be conjuring up an atmosphere of times long gone. The barrel organ, commonly known as a simple instrument used by 19th century buskers travelling from village to village, cannot be played as automatically as it may seem and is much more interesting than it appears at first sight.

The technique of playing the barrel organ, which was historically the first musical automaton and as such the predecessor of today's electronic musical instruments, is something that can only be mastered with practice - just like playing modern electronic instruments. Just turning the handle is far from enough to play a melody as provided by the cardboard book music folded zigzag inside the instrument.

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