A duré is an elven instrument, created by Lossin in LY 775. It is best described as a cross between a violin, squeezebox, and bagpipes (the violin being the only of these Earth instruments to exist independently on The Land). The instrument was, of course, unknown outside of Woodstockade until the establishment of the Second Order in 904, and it is still rarely seen (or heard) in any human villages. However, when Demos Royal became The Land's first king, he established a Royal Orchestra, which includes one duré-player.
The duré is a particularly difficult instrument to master, and in the hands of anyone who has not thoroughly mastered it, the sound it produces is generally considered terrible noise rather than music. But expert duré-players can use it to create particularly enchanting melodies, which may be enjoyed either solo or in conjunction with other instruments in a band or orchestra.
When Lossin first introduced his invention to his fellow elves, it was common for them to wonder how he came up with the name; the same question would later be asked after elves rejoined human society, long after Lossin's death. What he had said, all those years ago, was that it seemed to him that if a thing didn't already exist on either the Land or any other worlds, the one who invented it should just make up a name for it by using whatever seemingly meaningless sound struck his or her fancy. In such a big universe, he said, there couldn't possibly be any word on one world that didn't exist as a homophone on some other world. So if duplication is unavoidable, one shouldn't worry about it.