The cittern, also called cithren, is a stringed instrument from the Renaissance period. Experts are not sure about its exact history, but most agree it came from a medieval instrument called the citole. The cittern had a flat back, which made it simpler and cheaper to build than the lute. It was also easier to play, smaller in size, not as delicate, and easier to carry. People from all social classes used the cittern, and it was a common instrument for informal music playing, much like the guitar is today.
History
The cittern is a rare instrument from the Renaissance music period that uses metal strings, unlike most other instruments of the time, which used gut strings. It usually has four groups of strings, which can be single, pairs, or triples depending on the design or region. Some groups are often tuned in octaves. Instruments with more or fewer groups of strings were also made. The cittern may have a range of only one octave between its lowest and highest strings and uses a special tuning called re-entrant tuning, where the top string is not the lowest. This is also true for the five-string banjo and most ukuleles. The tuning and limited range allow players to use simple chord shapes for songs and dances, though more complex music was also written for it. Its bright and cheerful sound makes it a good match for gut-strung instruments. The Spanish bandurria, still used today, is a similar instrument.
From the 16th to the 18th century, the cittern was a common instrument in English barber shops. It was kept in waiting areas for customers to play and entertain others. Popular sheet music for the cittern was published for this purpose. The top of the pegbox was sometimes decorated with a small carved head, though not always artistically detailed. In Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost, the term "cittern-head" was used as an insult.
Just as the lute was made larger and deeper to become the theorbo and chitarrone for musical accompaniment, the cittern was developed into the ceterone, which had a longer neck and unstopped bass strings. However, the ceterone was much less common.
Gérard Joseph Deleplanque (1723–1784), a luthier from Lille, made many types of instruments, including citterns. Johann Wilhelm Bindernagel (around 1770–1845), who worked in Gotha, created a hybrid instrument called the "Sister" or "German Guitar," which had seven gut strings.
Carl Michael Bellman, an 18th-century Swedish songwriter, mostly played the cittern. He is shown with the instrument in a 1779 portrait by Per Krafft the elder, now in the National Museum in Stockholm.
In Germany, the cittern is still known as Waldzither and Lutherzither. The name "Lutherzither" comes from the belief that Martin Luther played this instrument. Other regional names include Thüringer Waldzither in Thüringer Wald, Harzzither in the Harz mountains, and Halszither in German-speaking Switzerland. Modern German often uses the words "cittern" and "zither" interchangeably. The term "Waldzither" began to be used around 1900 to distinguish citterns from zithers.
The cittern family continues today as the Corsican cetara and the Portuguese guitar. The guitarra portuguesa is often used to play traditional music called fado. In the early 1970s, English luthier Stefan Sobell created a hybrid instrument called a "cittern" based on the guitarra and a 1930s archtop Martin guitar. This instrument is popular among folk musicians.