For centuries, the cimbalom was a folk and tavern instrument, at home in the dance houses of Hungary and Romania. That changed in 1874, when Budapest instrument maker V. József Schunda set it on four legs, extended it to a fully chromatic range, and added a damper pedal. The effect was profound: Within a single generation, the cimbalom found its way into the concert hall through the folk traditions that composers such as Kodály, Bartók, and Stravinsky drew on. The pedal is what made that journey possible – articulate and rhythmic when the strings are damped, atmospheric and sustained when they ring free. This versatility has since made the cimbalom a striking color in contemporary orchestral and film scores.