Traditional role of the mountain dulcimer.
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
There have never been any 'classical works' written for the Appalachian dulcimer either. Leonard Bernstein has been bust with other projects. IMHO "lower class peasant instrument" is a bit harsh. No, they were not instruments of the major cities -- Vienna, Paris, Milan -- nor were they "favored" by the hoi polloi of those cities and cultures. But that doesn't make them 'lower class peasant instruments'.