HAMBURG, Germany — At the end of Schubert’s great song cycle “Winterreise” stands the Leiermann, a tattered hurdy-gurdy player so repellent that even dogs only growl at him from a distance. And yet ...
If Scottish pop singer Donavan is your only reference to the term "hurdy-gurdy," as in his 1968 hit "Hurdy Gurdy Man," welcome to this extraordinary device for improvisation. This medieval ...