Tractatus de Musica – Early Music Muse

How reliable is medieval music iconography? Part 2/3: 10 principles for interpreting iconography

Ian Pittaway cithara, citole, cittern, cobza, Elbląg 'gittern', Elbląg coboz, Elbląg koboz, Elbląg kobza, fiddle, fiddle tunings, gittern, guitar, harp, iconography, instrument straps, Jerome of Moravia, kithara, koboz, kobza, lute, medieval fiddle, medieval fiddle tunings, musical instrument straps, organ, organetto, organino, organistrum, Pierre de Limoges, portative organ, rota, rote, rothe, rotta, simfonie, simfony, sinfonie, straps, symfony, symphonia, symphonie, therobo, Tractatus de Musica, viella, vielle, vielle tunings 24th April 202425th April 2024 0 Comment

Our chief source of information for medieval musical instruments is iconography, meaning the art of manuscripts, paintings, and sculptures. That this art must be viewed critically is a commonplace understanding. Due to its highly stylised nature, some argue that all medieval iconography is suspect and of no value for gleaning real-world information. This series of articles argues that this conclusion is a mistake: if we come to iconography with an historically-informed approach, medieval art has much to teach us about historical musical instruments.

How do we judge medieval symbolism, artistic conventions and the limitations of the medium (manuscript, stone, paint) so as to gather information valuable to a luthier, a music historian and a modern player of medieval instruments? That is what this article sets out to describe, outlining 10 principles when viewing iconography for practical musical purposes.

The first article introduced the topic by outlining the characteristics of medieval art. The third and final part (released on this site on the 1^st of May) puts the 10 principles of the present article into practice with the recreation of a gittern painted by Simone Martini in 1312-18.

La prime Estampie Royal: completing the fragment of a medieval melody

Ian Pittaway Ars musicae, carolling, carols, Chansonnier du Roi, church modes, dance, estampida, estampie, gittern, Grocheio, historically informed performance, istampitta, istanpitta, Jean de Grouchy, Jerome of Moravia, Johannes de Grocheio, Manuscrit du Roi, mediaeval, medieval, medieval dance, medieval modes, medieval scales, modes, prime Estampie Royal, rhythmic modes, stampita, stantipes, Summa musice, Tractatus de Musica 9th February 20221st March 2023 5 Comments

The estampie was an internationally popular musical form of the late middle ages. Eight beautiful French estampies from circa 1300 are written in the Manuscrit du Roi, seven of which are complete. The first estampie is a fragment, due to the top half of the page being torn to remove illuminated letters, seen on the right.

After examining what we know about the estampie and the particular characteristics of French estampies, this article searches for historical principles upon which the fragment of La prime Estampie Royal can be made whole again.

The article begins with a video performance of the finished piece played on gittern, then explains the process of historically-informed construction, and ends with the completed music in modern notation.

“the verray develes officeres”: minstrels and the medieval church

Ian Pittaway Ars musicae, bagpipes, Berkeley manuscript, Beverley Minster, bombard, Bosch Hieronymous, Bosch Jheronimus, bray harp, Canterbury Tales, carols, Chaucer Geoffrey, cithara, citole, cymbala, ductia, dulcimer, estampie, fiddle, Garden of Earthly Delights (Bosch painting), gittern, hammer dulcimer, harp, Jean de Grouchy, Jerome of Moravia, Johannes de Grocheio, jongleurs, lute, minstrels, monochord, nota, Notre Dame school, Order of the Ancient Company or Fraternity of Minstralls in Beverley, organ, organistrum, organum, pipe and tabor, portative organ, psaltery, rebab, recorder, rubeba, Saint Mary’s Church Beverley, shawm, simfonie, simfony, sinfonie, stantipes, Summa musice, symfony, symphonia, symphonie, Tractatus de Musica, vielle, violin 16th June 202123rd August 2023 8 Comments

In the middle ages, minstrels were regularly accused by church commentators of vanity, idleness, inflaming carnal desire, lechery, and leading others into vice. In the 12^th century, Bishop of Chartres John of Salisbury expressed the view that all minstrels should be exterminated. Because of this reputation, the church wanted to ensure that its most sacred music was different in kind to minstrel music, and restated several times that only the voice and organ were allowed in the liturgy, not instruments of minstrelsy. Still some writers complained bitterly of secular styles of music corrupting singers’ voices in sacred chant.

How can we account for the contradiction between clergy’s invectives against minstrels and the innumerable quantity of medieval and renaissance paintings in which gitterns, shawms, harps, fiddles, lutes – the instruments of minstrels – are shown in worship of the Virgin Mary and in praise of the infant Jesus? How can we reconcile the critiques of clerics against minstrels with their regular appearance in religious manuscripts, their likenesses carved in churches, and their employment by the church? This article seeks answers through the evidence of medieval Christian moralists; church councils; music treatises; religious paintings; records of church ceremonies; and the relationship of the church with organised minstrelsy.

Images from *The Luttrell Psalter*, 1325-1340 (BL Add MS 42130).
**Top row, left to right:** church singers (f. 171v); bishop (f. 31r); pilgrim (f. 32r); nun (f. 51v).
**This row, left to right**, players of: harp (f. 174v); pipe and tabor (f. 164v);
organistrum, also called the symphony (f. 176r); portative organ (f. 176r).

Performing medieval music. Part 2/3: Turning monophony into polyphony

Ian Pittaway Ars musicae, Berkeley manuscript, bourdon, Cantigas de Santa María, contrary motion, devil’s interval, drones, Edi beo thu heuene quene, Edi beo thu hevene quene, fiddle tunings, fifthing, Glarean Heinrich, Glareanus Heinrich, ground bass, Guido of Arezzo, gymel, heterophony, historically informed performance, hurdy gurdy, Jerome of Moravia, Johannes de Grocheio, kithara, mediaeval, medieval, medieval modes, modes, motet, musica falsa, musica ficta, musica recta, musica vera, Nobilis humilis, Notre Dame school, organistrum, organum, parallel harmonies, parallel polyphony, pes, polyphony, rota, Sancte Bonifati martyr, simfonie, simfony, sinfonie, Sumer is icumen in, Summa musice, Tractatus de Musica, tritone, vielle tunings 9th August 201826th September 2023 26 Comments

Harp, vielle and citole in the
*Peterborough* *Psalter*, England, 1300-50.

The most fundamental question of all in playing early music today is: how can the music be played to reflect historical practice? This is the second of three articles looking at historically-informed ways of performing medieval music, aiming to be a practical guide, with plenty of musical examples and illustrations, and a bibliography for those who wish to delve further.

The first article focussed on historical instrument combinations, using the illustrations of two 13^th century manuscripts as representative examples. This second article distinguishes the difference between modern harmony and medieval polyphony, and the main body of the article looks at styles of medieval accompaniment by referencing historical models. For simplicity and clarity, the same passage of music is used as the basis for exploring a variety of accompaniments. Arrangements of the first section of Cantiga de Santa Maria 10 illustrate heterophony, parallel movement, fifthing, the gymel, the importance of medieval modes, drones and drone-like accompaniments, the type of organum derided by a cleric as “minstrelish little notes”, the rota and ground bass, and the motet.

For each method, there is a sound clip of a short musical performance, composed in historically informed style by Ian Pittaway, performed by Kathryn Wheeler on recorder and vielle, and by Ian Pittaway on harp, gittern and oud. There are links to 15 illustrative videos, putting the techniques in this article into practice. Finally, the question of what to do if there isn’t a tune is addressed.

The key message of this article is: once informed, be creative.

On the medieval fiddle: a short introduction to the vielle

Ian Pittaway bourdon, bowed lyre, crwth, early instruments, early music, fiddle, fiddle tunings, Henry VIII, hurdy gurdy, Jerome of Moravia, jongleurs, lyre, Mary Rose, mediaeval, medieval, medieval fiddle, medieval fiddle tunings, minstrels, organistrum, organum, simfony, Tractatus de Musica, troubadours, trouvères, viella, vielle, vielle à roue, vielle tunings 22nd November 201530th October 2023 2 Comments

A mention of the violin today is likely to conjure up images of a classical, orchestral, or jazz musician, whereas the word fiddle is more likely to suggest a traditional or folk musician, even though they’re essentially the same instrument, set up differently to suit different styles of playing. This class-based relegation of the term fiddle was not always so. Centuries before the creation of the violin there was the medieval fiddle, also known by its French name, the vielle. This brief introduction demonstrates that the playing style and sound of the medieval fiddle had more in common with the hurdy gurdy and the crwth (bowed lyre) than the modern violin. Includes illustrations and video examples.

This is one of two editions of this article, being a short introduction to the vielle, intended for the general reader. There is a longer version, The mysteries of the medieval fiddle: lifting the veil on the vielle, which has a detailed discussion of the different ways in which we can make sense of historical fiddle tunings and, in the light of that, a closely argued case for the relationship between the vielle and the crwth.

The mysteries of the medieval fiddle: lifting the veil on the vielle

Ian Pittaway Agricola Martin, Berkeley manuscript, bourdon, church modes, citole, crwth, fiddle, fiddle tunings, Guido of Arezzo, Guidonian hand, Henry VIII, hexachord, hurdy gurdy, Jerome of Moravia, Johannes Tinctoris, jongleurs, kithara, lira da braccio, lute, lyra da braccio, lyre, Mary Rose, medieval fiddle, medieval fiddle tunings, medieval modes, medieval scales, minstrels, modes, musica ficta, organistrum, organum, re-entrant tuning, rebec, simfony, Tractatus de Musica, troubadours, trouvères, viella, vielle, vielle à roue, vielle tunings 22nd November 201530th October 2023 16 Comments

The vielle or medieval fiddle was the most popular instrument in its heyday for secular song accompaniment. It first appeared in western Europe in the 11^th century and continued to be played until the middle of the 16^th century, flourishing in the 12^th and 13^th centuries. There is a wealth of vielle iconography, which can tell us a great deal about the variety of its form and the context of its use. There is a medieval source for its tuning, Jerome of Moravia in the 13^th century, who gives 3 tunings for 5 strings, leaving us with some puzzles as to what exactly they mean in practice, and whether they can be applied to fiddles with fewer than 5 strings. Our only renaissance tuning source is Johannes Tinctoris in the 15^th century, which isn’t entirely clear in its meaning.

This page provides a detailed discussion of the different ways in which we can make sense of historical fiddle tunings and, in the light of that, a closely argued case for the relationship between the vielle and the crwth or bowed lyre, demonstrating that they were identical in style, having more in common with the hurdy gurdy family than modern bowed strings.

There are two editions of this article. This one includes detailed analysis. For a brief introduction, go to On the medieval fiddle: a short introduction to the vielle.