Orpharion

The Orpheoreon is a stringed instrument dating from the Renaissance and one of the plucked instruments.

Building and history

The Orpheoreon belongs to the family of the Cistern. It is similar in structure to the larger Pandora. The metal strings are tuned like the lute and also struck with the fingers.

The saddle and the web are oblique to the neck, making the scale length ( the vibrating string length ) increases from treble to bass.

The Orpheoreon was probably invented in the late 16th century by the English luthier John Rose. It is English music around 1600, often given in sources as an alternative to the lute or Pandora.

The name derives from the Greek: " Orpheo " is the mythological singer Orpheus (Greek Όρφευς ), " reon " comes from " flow" (gr. ῥεῖν ).