The
Brudevælte Lurs
In 1797 a peasant by
the name of Ole Pedersen
found three lur-pairs in Brudevælte Mose when he was digging
peat. Brudevælte Mose was a bog (it no longer exist) close to the
farm
Fuglerup, northeast of Lynge in North Zealand, Denmark.
This was
the first, greatest and most famous lur-findings from the bronze age in
Denmark.
Five of these lurs are on display at the National Museum in
Copenhagen. In 1845 the sixth lur
from Brudevælte was
presented as a
gift to the Russian tsar Nikolaj I. This lur is still kept at the State
Hermitage Museum in St.
Petersburg, Russia. Stig Johanssen from Denmark, was allowed
to see and take photos of this lur. Here is a photo of the sixth lur
and Stig Johanssen at the Hermitage, Leningrad, Soviet (it was still USSR) in the year 1988 .
The length of the lurs are around
2.20 meter. When compared to modern
tuning, one pair
is in C, one in D, one in E, one in G and one and "a half" in E flat
(the other "half" - the
one in Russia is probably also in E flat).
The 6 Brudevælte
lurs date back approximately to 800 - 700 BC. Even today, after almost 3000 years, the
old bronze-lurs from
Brudevælte are in such a fine
condition that they can be played.
In 1966, a recording was made in Denmark, called Klange fra Danmark's
bronzealderlurer
(Music blown on lurs from the Danish Bronze Age). 10"
331/3 rpm disc. Nationalmuseet
NM 67-001. It was
performed by Palmer Traulsen
and G. A. Wilkenschildt. They use the Brudevælte lurs. The
Brudevælte pair in C (Museum no. 8116), are
presumably those in the best playing condition since they occupy the
whole of side 1 on the LP.
Links:
Thanks to:
Per-Olof
Johansson for info about the lur in Russia and for use of the photo and
links!
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