Help: stringed instrument from Spain

Subject: stringed instrument from Spain
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 03 Apr 02 - 11:20 PM

A friend of mine was in Toledo, Spain recently, and he bought an archaic (but newly-made) stringed instrument which he calls a "rehal." It is rather like a rebec, a precursor of the violin.

On the front is bears the words "Jara 1994." The shop owner said that Jara is a district or village near Toledo, but neither my friend nor his Spanish hosts could locate a place called Jara. We thought that since the instruments had been in the shop seven or eight years, that the owner had got confused and that Jara might be the name of the maker.

So, has anyone ever heard of a Spanish place or an instrument maker called Jara?

Subject: RE: Help: stringed instrument from Spain
From: Sorcha
Date: 04 Apr 02 - 10:37 AM

Leenia, I think something must be (at least spelled) wrong. I can't find anything under rehar or rejar, and only personal names under Jara, the most prominent being Victor--a South American guerilla fighter. Rebec & rebab I've heard of. Is a photo a possibility at all?

Subject: RE: Help: stringed instrument from Spain
From: IanC
Date: 04 Apr 02 - 11:26 AM

Leeneia

Sounds most likely that your friend has a Rebec. They're still being made, and were common in Spain during the middle ages. How many strings does it have, and how big is it?

Subject: RE: Help: stringed instrument from Spain
From: Sorcha
Date: 04 Apr 02 - 11:42 AM

And a Rebab photo

Subject: RE: Help: stringed instrument from Spain
From: GUEST,Ivan
Date: 04 Apr 02 - 02:12 PM

Sorcha,

Get a grip, or find a new referencce work.

"Victor Jara a South American guerilla fighter"?

I hope that you are refering to a different Victor Jara than the one known to most of us the the folk singer and composer killed by the much loved (in the USA)Pinochet regime in Chile.

As I recall the reports were that before he was shot in the stadium they confirmed that he was Victor Jara the guitarist and smashed his hands with rifle butts first. It was in various news reports here in the free world and also in a Sing Out special on Chilean music.

Come you older Mudcatters back me on this.

Or Sorcha - are you talking about someone else?

Subject: RE: Help: stringed instrument from Spain
From: Mr Red
Date: 04 Apr 02 - 02:37 PM

There was a song about Victor that was sung in our local session because graham Cox knew Victor's wife who came back to live in Birmingham to escape the problems. I think she was from Brum. She did return to Chile. It was a real good song, and Graham really made you feel it.
If he ever carried a weapon it must have been like Woody Guthrie's wot said on it "This machine kills fascists".

Subject: RE: Help: stringed instrument from Spain
From: Sorcha
Date: 04 Apr 02 - 02:39 PM

No, I just FUBARD...........beat me now. My brain cell has not been working well lately. Apologies. I'll go and try to get a grip on something.........

Subject: RE: Help: stringed instrument from Spain
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 04 Apr 02 - 03:23 PM

the question is not what kind of instrument it is, the question is, who made it? It is a nifty little thing. I, who have never played a stringed instrument, picked up the bow and produced sweet notes on my first try!

So, does anybody, probably someone from Spain, know of a district or instrument-maker called Jara?

It's always possible that the maker named it is honor of Victor Jara, but it doesn't seem likely.

Subject: RE: Help: stringed instrument from Spain
From: Sorcha
Date: 04 Apr 02 - 04:33 PM

I didn't have any luck with that, either. The reason I was trying to find the instrument was to give more clues as to who might have made it. Since I couldn't find the right instrument, I am wondering if it is a model name, not a luthier name. I still want to know what a rehal/rejal is.

Subject: RE: Help: stringed instrument from Spain
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 04 Apr 02 - 08:23 PM

There are several towns incorporating "Jara" in their name in Spain (name also present in the southwestern states- La Jara Cañon near Taos, etc.- and everywhere else with Spanish influences). There is one in the Sevilla district, another some 40 miles from Madrid (Toledo is some 40-50 miles from Madrid so this one is a possible) and others too tiny to show on the usual atlas maps. Jara is not uncommon as a family name (generally reduced from de la Jara). Jara is a thicket, sometimes of brambles, sometimes of a wild rose, sometimes natural and sometimes built as an enclosure.
Th name also has spread because of St. Ginés de la Jara.
Since Jara is a not uncommon name, and since a number of towns bear the name (as de la Jara), it is doubtful that you will get an answer here.

Subject: RE: Help: stringed instrument from Spain
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 05 Apr 02 - 07:06 PM

Thanks, Dicho. The one 40 miles from Madrid sounds possible, since the shop owner said the instrument was made in a nearby village of that name.