The English estampie: interpreting a medieval dance(?) tune (revised, with new analysis & new video)

Ian Pittaway citole, Douce Francis, English dance, estampida, estampie, gymel, historically informed performance, istanpitta, Jean de Grouchy, Johannes de Grocheio, medieval notation, stampetum, stantipede, stantipedem, stantipedis, stantipes 13 Comments

One of the earliest extant pieces of English instrumental music has survived with the 13th–14th century manuscript, Douce 139, now in the Bodleian Library, Oxford. It is exciting in its musical drive and complexity, but interpretation of the neume notation has its problems, leaving us to make judgements about intention. The music is untitled, and is often named Estampie or English Dance in modern sources.

This article works through the puzzles to gain performable answers. What is an estampie? Is the Douce 139 piece an estampie? Was the estampie really a dance? How can the musical problems left by the scribe’s imperfect notation be reconciled? This article looks for historically informed solutions, with a video of the music played on citole.

This is a revised version of an article first published in February 2019, with a more detailed analysis of the music and a new performance video.   

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How to play bandora music on the lute ~ or ~ The relationship between the tunings of the lute, bandora, orpharion and penorcon: some practical observations for lute players

Ian Pittaway bandora, Holborne Anthony, lute, orpharion, penorcon, Praetorius Michael 0 Comment

The wire-strung bandora, created by luthier John Rose in 1561 or 1562, has a small but beautiful solo repertoire, and was part of the bass section of the renaissance mixed consort. Bandora players in the early music revival are few, but its repertoire need not be passed over by lutenists: though the tuning of the bandora and lute are different, bandora pieces can be played on lute from bandora tablature without having to rearrange or rewrite the music. This article explains the relationship between the tuning of the lute, bandora, orpharion and penorcon, which allows the music of one to be played on the other.

We begin with a video of two pieces by Anthony Holborne (fl. 1584–1602), composed for and played on bandora, and the same pieces played on lute. We end with sources of late 16th and early 17th century bandora music for players of bandora or renaissance lute.

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Medieval plectrums: the written, iconographical and material evidence. Part 2/2: Medieval and early renaissance plectrum technique.

Ian Pittaway Astripotens famulos (Kind ruler of the stars), Cantigas de Santa María, cetra, cithara, citole, ductia, Foweles in the frith, Foweles in þe frith, Francesco da Milano, gittern, historically informed performance, iconography, kithara, lute, lute manuscripts and books, Mater dei (Mother of God), Milano Francesco da, Miro genere (By a wondrous birth), plectra, plectrum, plectrums, polyphony, psaltery, septime estampie Real, Stella splendens, Stuttgart Psalter, Uitime estampie Real 4 Comments

Part 1 brought together the written, iconographical and material evidence for the characteristics of plectrums used to play the gittern, lute, psaltery, citole and cetra, made from quills, gut strings, metal, bone, and ivory.

In part 2 we examine the practical evidence for medieval plectrum technique. Iconography is presented to demonstrate medieval ways of holding a plectrum; suggestions are made for easy accompaniment of monophonic melodies; the myth that plectrum instruments could not play polyphony is disproven; and evidence is presented for an intermediate stage in the 15th century between playing with a plectrum and playing with fingertips, using both simultaneously. Finally, we answer the question: were plectrums always used to play medieval plucked chordophones?

This article includes 7 videos to illustrate medieval and early renaissance plectrum technique, beginning with citole and gittern playing an untitled polyphonic instrumental – probably a ductia – from British Library Harley 978, folio 8v-9r, c. 1261–65. 

This is a revised version of the article originally published in January 2023, now with additional information, more examples of iconography, and a new illustrative video.

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Medieval plectrums: the written, iconographical and material evidence. Part 1/2: Medieval plectrum materials and manufacture.

Ian Pittaway Astripotens famulos (Kind ruler of the stars), cetra, cithara, citole, estampie, gittern, historically informed performance, kithara, lute, lyre, Mater dei (Mother of God), Miro genere (By a wondrous birth), plectra, plectrum, psaltery, septime estampie Real, Stuttgart Psalter, Uitime estampie Real 5 Comments

Studies of medieval musical instruments draw upon written testimony, iconography (manuscript art, painting, drawing, sculpture and stained glass windows) and surviving instruments to describe their characteristics and the way they developed over time. In my search for evidence about medieval plectrums, I was surprised to find not one dedicated paper, book chapter or webpage. This article is an attempt to bring the written, iconographical and material evidence together and present some new research, focussing on the characteristics of plectrums used to play the gittern, lute, psaltery, citole and cetra, made from quills, gut strings, metal, bone, and ivory.

This is a revised version of the article originally published in January 2023, now with more information, extra illustrations, and a new illustrative video: La Uitime estampie Real (The Eighth Royal estampie), c. 1300, played on citole and gittern with plectrums of antler, horn and gut string.

In the second article, we survey the evidence for plectrum playing technique, with practical applications for modern players of medieval music; and evaluate whether all medieval plucked instruments were played with plectrums.   

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The complete French estampies of c. 1300: music, analysis, performance

Ian Pittaway Ars musice, Chansonnier du Roi, chant, church modes, citole, contrary motion, Doctrina de compondre dictates, drones, ecclesiastical chant, Edi beo thu heuene quene, Edi beo thu hevene quene, estampida, estampie, estanpie, fiddle, gittern, harp, heterophony, historically informed performance, istanpitta, Johannes de Grocheio, Manuscrit du Roi, medieval fiddle, medieval harp, modes, monophony, musica falsa, musica ficta, musica recta, musica vera, Notre Dame school, organum, parallel harmonies, parallel polyphony, polyphony, postlude, prelude, prime Estampie Royal, quarte Estampie Royal, quinte estampie Real, rhythmic modes, Roman de Horn, seconde Estampie Royal, septime estampie Real, Sexte estampie Real, stampen, stampita, stantipede, stantipedem, stantipedis, stantipes, tierce Estampie Roial, Uitime estampie Real, viella, vielle 2 Comments

Among the treasures of surviving medieval instrumental music are eight French royal estampies in the Manuscrit or Chansonnier du roi, c. 1300. This article includes:

• an outline of the manuscript, putting the estampies in context;
• a description of the estampie form from a contemporaneous French source, Ars musice by Johannes de Grocheio, c. 1300;
• a video of each of the eight royal estampies performed on either gittern, citole or medieval harp;
• the music for all the royal estampies in the original neume notation and in modern notation;
• music analysis and historically-informed performance suggestions, looking at a different aspect of performance for each estampie.

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How reliable is medieval music iconography? Part 3/3: Making the Martini gittern

Ian Pittaway Baker Paul, bray gittern, bray harp, bray lute, gittern, harp, iconography, Martini Simone (14th c artist), medieval harp, musica falsa, musica ficta, musica recta, musica vera, Pythagorean tuning, Tinctoris Johannes 2 Comments

The first of these three articles focussed on understanding the nature of medieval art, its artistic conventions and relationship to reality. The second suggested 10 principles for a luthier or music historian to follow when gathering practical information about musical instruments from medieval iconography.

This third article applies the historical knowledge of the first article and the principles of the second to the reconstruction of a very special gittern, painted in 1312–18 by Simone Martini, part of a fresco in Cappella di San Martino (Chapel of Saint Martin), San Francesco, Assisi, Italy. The gittern reconstruction, commissioned by musician Ian Pittaway and made by luthier Paul Baker, could only have been made as a result of an historically-informed study of iconography. This article describes the process, the questions that were answered, the questions that remain, and the musical results, with a video of the Martini gittern being played.

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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 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 puts the 10 principles of the present article into practice with the recreation of a gittern painted by Simone Martini in 1312-18.    

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How reliable is medieval music iconography? Part 1/3: Understanding medieval art

Ian Pittaway bray harp, bray lute, citole, gittern, harp, iconography, lute, pipe and tabor 0 Comment

Medieval art or iconography is a rich resource for the researcher of medieval musical instruments, giving information about the physical features of gitterns, citoles, lutes, fiddles, and so on, the extent of their popularity and geographical reach, and design changes over time.

However, common features of medieval art, such as size distortion and perspective distortion, mean that an individual instrument cannot be reconstructed from the page, painting or sculpture uncritically. This has led some commentators to suggest that medieval art is wholly defective and unreliable for instrument makers and players.

Using examples from iconography, I aim to show that illustrations of medieval instruments yield valuable and practically applicable data if we have a considered and historically informed approach.

This article, the first of three, discusses:

• the debate about representation and idolatry in the early church, and how this affected art;
• how symbolism is fundamental to representation and meaning in medieval art;
• how and why proportion in medieval art is often symbolic rather than naturalistic;
• nonetheless, the case for realism in medieval art, that it gives important real-world information, with examples from farming and ornithology;
• and that this real-world information extends to our knowledge of medieval instruments, with examples.

We begin with a video of medieval instruments – bray lute, citole, gittern, harp and bray harp – playing the three voice polyphonic Mariam Matrem Virginem attolite from El Llibre Vermell de Montserrat (The Red Book of Montserrat), 1396-99, with a commentary of instrument information. Further information about these instruments, gleaned from iconography, is summarised in this article.

Having made the case for the value of iconography in this first article, the second article continues by suggesting 10 principles for gaining musical instrument information from medieval art. These principles are then tested in the third and final article by the recreation of a gittern painted by Simone Martini in 1312-18.

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Alliterative animals making medieval music in Saint Mary’s Church, Cogges (14th century)

Ian Pittaway alliterative literature, animals playing instruments, bagpipes, bells, Beowulf, Beverley Minster, cithara, citole, Doll thi ale, drum, duct flute, fiddle, flute, Foweles in the frith, Foweles in þe frith, harp, horn, hunting horn, iconography, kithara, medieval fiddle, medieval harp, minstrels, miracle plays, misericords, musical animals, mystery plays, Piers Plowman, pipe and tabor, psaltery, Puritans, recorder, septime estampie Real, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, St. Mary's Church Cogges, viella, vielle, vielle tunings, viola
Photographs © Ian Pittaway.

Alliteration was a foundational feature of medieval verse. Animals playing musical instruments are regularly seen in medieval art. The 14th century stone-carved musicians of Saint Mary’s Church, Cogges, Oxfordshire, delightfully bring these two elements together: there are nine instruments played by eight alliterative animals (one plays two), including a sheep playing a citole and a boar playing a bagpipe (above). 

This article begins with examples of alliteration in medieval poetry (Beowulf, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Piers Plowman), songs (Foweles in þe frith, Doll thi ale), and the medieval mystery plays; followed by illustrations of animals playing music in medieval and renaissance art. That is the background for a brief history of Saint Mary’s Church, Cogges, and an explanation of its eight alliterative animals playing medieval music, with photographs of every carving and a video of each instrument being played.  

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The evidence for straps used with medieval, renaissance and baroque musical instruments

Ian Pittaway archlute, baroque guitar, citole, cittern, cobza, gittern, guitar, harp, iconography, instrument straps, koboz, kobza, lute, medieval harp, musical instrument straps, nakers, organ, organetto, organino, organistrum, pipe and tabor, portative organ, psaltery, simfonie, simfony, sinfonie, straps, symfony, symphonia, symphonie, theorbo

To play a musical instrument comfortably, sometimes the player needs a strap to stabilise it. What is the historical evidence for the types of straps used for medieval, renaissance and baroque instruments?

As this article will show, in trying to discover the historical evidence for straps, we immediately encounter the conventions of artistic representation. Medieval artists until the 15th century typically did not show straps, even when an instrument was impossible to play without one; and renaissance and baroque artists showed straps inconsistently and often only partially.

This article takes a roughly chronological look, sifting the artistic conventions from the practical realities to discover if and how straps were used on a range of historical instruments: citole; gittern; harp; psaltery; portative organ; simfony; pipe and tabor; cittern; guitar; nakers; and lutes from the medieval, renaissance and baroque periods.

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The medieval minstrels of Beverley Minster. Part 8/8: The strange and continuing history of the minstrels’ neglect.

Ian Pittaway Beverley Minster, citole, fiddle, gittern, iconography, medieval fiddle, minstrels 4 Comments
Photographs © Ian Pittaway.

This is the last of eight articles about the iconography of Beverley Minster in Yorkshire: 71 musical minstrels carved in stone and wood in the 14th century; musical misericords of the 16th century; and neo-Gothic musicians carved in the early 20th century. Beverley Minster has more medieval musicians and more misericords than any other church in the world.

The first article gives a potted history of the building being established in the 8th century, then expanded in the 13th and 14th century, then the medieval minstrels being smashed by Puritans in the 16th-17th century and restored in the late 19th and early 20th century. The second, third and fourth articles describe all the 14th century carvings of musicians, and the fifth sought to answer the question: why are there so many more medieval minstrels in this church than anywhere else? The sixth article explains the meanings of the 14th century allegorical carvings; and the seventh describes the musical misericords of 1520 and the neo-Gothic organ screen of 1878–80 and 1919. This final article seeks to answer one central question: why, in the modern age, has the Minster’s medieval iconography been so poorly served?

Through a review of literature about Beverley Minster from the late 19th century to the present, we will see the repeated pattern of either ignoring the minstrels altogether or muddled misnaming of the medieval instruments. This has been widespread in academic journals, in specialist books, and in publications for the general reader. This is a situation which still persists today, perpetuated by literature published by Beverley Minster.

First we outline the Beverley Minster Project, which would have provided an accurate book about the minstrels with illustrative photographs, complete with music CD/downloads; a concert with all the instruments of the Minster being played by medieval music specialists; an audio-visual tour of the minstrels for visitors; education for guides; and a new website about the minstrels linked to the main Beverley Minster site. This proposal would have been fully-funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, at no cost to the Minster – indeed they would have generated money from it – and it would have promoted the Minster as an educational attraction for schools and individuals on the subject of historical music. The project was turned down without any engagement.

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The medieval minstrels of Beverley Minster. Part 7/8: Tudor misericords and neo-Gothic musicians.

Ian Pittaway bagpipes, bestiaries, Beverley Minster, cobza, cornett, cornetto, fiddle, fools, gittern, harp, horn, hunting horn, iconography, koboz, kobza, lute, lyre, minstrels, misericords, morris dancing, organ, organistrum, pipe and tabor, portative organ, simfonie, simfony, sinfonie, symfony, symphonia, symphonie, tambourine, timbrel, zink 0 Comment
Photographs © Ian Pittaway.

This is the seventh in a series of eight articles about the musical carvings in Beverley Minster, a church in the East Riding of Yorkshire. There are 71 14th century carvings of musicians, more than in any other medieval site, as well as more Tudor misericords than in any other church, some of them musical, and a neo-Gothic organ screen with medieval instruments.

Having given the story of the Minster’s foundation, flourishing, iconoclasm and repair in the first article; examined the medieval minstrels of the arcades in the second article; of the walls in the third; and of the tombs, altar screen, chapel and south transept in the fourth; the fifth article asks why there is such an abundance of medieval minstrelsy in the Minster, finding the answer in the “Order of the Ancient Company or Fraternity of Minstralls”, which had its headquarters in Beverley. The sixth article completes the description of 14th century iconography with the allegorical carvings.

This seventh article moves from the medieval period to the renaissance and describes musical aspects of the 16th century misericords – animal and human musicians, fools and morris dancers, playing bagpipes, harp, fiddle, hunting horns, and pipe and tabor – and the neo-Gothic imitations of medieval instruments on the 19th–20th century organ screen, with lyre, timbrel, harps, portative organs, simfony, cornetts, gittern or koboz, and lute.

The final article puzzles over the paucity of publications about the magnificent medieval minstrels, and the Minster’s declared lack of interest in accurate information about their uniquely important iconography.

Photographs © Ian Pittaway.

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The medieval minstrels of Beverley Minster. Part 6/8: Medieval beasts and allegories.

Ian Pittaway amphisbaena, bestiaries, Beverley Minster, foliate heads, Green Man, iconography, minstrels, onocentaur, Reynard the fox, Triton, Virgin Mary, woodwose 0 Comment
Photographs © Ian Pittaway.

This is the sixth in a series of eight articles about the 14th century carvings of minstrels in Beverley Minster, a church in the East Riding of Yorkshire. There are a total of 71 musicians, more than in any other medieval site. Having given the story of the Minster’s foundation, flourishing, iconoclasm and repair in the first article; examined the minstrels of the arcades in the second article; of the walls in the third; and of the tombs, altar screen, chapel and south transept in the fourth; the fifth article asked why there is such an abundance of medieval minstrelsy in the Minster, finding the answer in the “Order of the Ancient Company or Fraternity of Minstralls”, which had its headquarters in Beverley.    

This sixth article describes the 14th century allegorical carvings and beasts of the Minster which accompany the minstrels on the west, north and south walls. We will see allegorical carvings and describe the medieval meanings of: dogs and their owners; a thirsty snake attacking a man; a fighting lion and dragon; a lustful goat carrying nuns to hell; Reynard the trickster fox; a wild hairy man of the woods (woodwose); a beard-tugging pilgrim; a faithless pilgrim in the grip of a two-headed dragon (amphisbaena); half-human half-ass hybrids (onocentaurs); asses being carried by people; Triton the merman; and foliate heads, now misleadingly called green men.

The next article examines musical aspects of the 16th century misericords and the neo-Gothic imitation medieval instruments of the 19th–20th century organ screen. The final article puzzles over the paucity of publications about the magnificent medieval minstrels, and the Minster’s declared lack of interest in accurate information about their uniquely important iconography.

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The medieval minstrels of Beverley Minster. Part 5/8: The “Order of the Ancient Company or Fraternity of Minstralls in Beverley”.

Ian Pittaway Beverley Minster, bombard, fiddle, lute, minstrels, miracle plays, mystery plays, recorder, Saint Mary’s Church Beverley, shawm, waits 2 Comments
Photographs © Ian Pittaway.

This is the fifth in a series of eight articles about the 14th century carvings of medieval minstrels in Beverley Minster, a church in the East Riding of Yorkshire. There are 71 images of musicians in stone and wood, more than in any other medieval site. This article asks what is special about the Minster that it houses such a profusion of minstrel iconography, and finds the answer in the “Order of the Ancient Company or Fraternity of Minstralls in Beverley”, a trade guild for professional musicians which covered the whole of the north east of England.

This is followed in the sixth article with an examination of the 14th century allegorical carvings of real and mythical beasts; in the seventh article with musical aspects of the 16th century misericords and the 19th–20th Gothic revival century organ screen; and the final article puzzles over the paucity of print publications about the magnificent medieval minstrels, and the Minster’s declared lack of interest in accurate information about their uniquely important iconography.

Left to right, fiddle, citole and harp as they appear in the Romance of Alexander, MS. Bodl. 264, 1338-44, and above as they appear carved in Beverley Minster, 1330-40.

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The medieval minstrels of Beverley Minster. Part 4/8: The minstrels of the tombs, reredos, Saint Katherine’s chapel, and south transept.

Ian Pittaway Ars musicae, bagpipes, Beverley Minster, drum, fiddle, fiddle tunings, foliate heads, Green Man, harp, horn, hunting horn, iconography, Johannes de Grocheio, medieval fiddle, medieval fiddle tunings, minstrels, nakers, olifant, oliphant, olyphant, organ, organetto, organino, portative organ, vielle 0 Comment
Photographs © Ian Pittaway.

This is the fourth in a series of eight articles about the 71 stone and wood carvings of musicians created between 1330 and 1390 in Beverley Minster, a church in the East Riding of Yorkshire. Since Beverley Minster has more iconography of medieval musicians than any other surviving historical site, these articles are a survey of the musical life of 14th century England.

Having given the Minster’s history in the first article, described the medieval musicians of the arcades and triforium in the second article and those on the walls either side of the nave in the third article, here all the outstanding medieval stone and wood carvings are explored in the remaining parts of the church. We will see 14th century carvings of musicians playing bagpipes, hunting horn, vielles (medieval fiddles), harps, portative organs, psaltery, oliphants, and nakers. These carvings raise questions about: the history of the influential de Percy family from the Norman conquest to the English Civil War; the royal and military practice of blowing elephant horns; and the pre-eminence for medieval musicians of the fiddle, bagpipe, harp and portative organ.

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The medieval minstrels of Beverley Minster. Part 3/8: The minstrels of the west, north and south walls.

Ian Pittaway bagpipes, Beverley Minster, citole, cornet, cornett, cornetto, cup cymbals, cymbals, drum, fiddle, fiddle tunings, gittern, harp, horn, hunting horn, hurdy gurdy, iconography, Jerome of Moravia, medieval fiddle, medieval fiddle tunings, medieval harp, minstrels, olifant, oliphant, olyphant, organ, organetto, organino, organistrum, pipe and tabor, portative organ, psaltery, serpent, simfonie, simfony, sinfonie, symfony, symphonia, symphonie, tambourine, timbrel, trumpet, vielle, zink 0 Comment
Photographs © Ian Pittaway.

There are 71 images of 14th century musicians in stone and wood in Beverley Minster, a church in the East Riding of Yorkshire, more than in any other medieval site. This is the third in a series of eight articles about the Minster’s medieval minstrels, surveying the musical life of 14th century England. This article explores the carved musicians of the west, north and south walls, who are depicted playing medieval fiddles (vielles or viellas), gitterns, timbrel (tambourine), bagpipes, portative organs, citoles, harps, pipes and tabors, horns, cymbals, simfony, psaltery, nakers, and trumpets. Each instrument is described, with a photograph and a link to a video of the instrument being played.

In this article, the carvings on the walls teach us about: the meaning of minstrel; fashions of the 14th century; a medieval menagerie of captive animals from overseas; a transition in the form of the portative organ; the fog of confusion in differentiating between the citole and gittern, only recently lifted; evidence of medieval fiddle tunings; and the difficult art of restoration and repair in both medieval art and medieval music.

This is followed in the fourth article with photographs and commentary on the minstrels in the tombs, altar screen, Saint Katherine’s chapel and south transept; and in the fifth article by a gathering of evidence to answer the question: why are there so many medieval minstrels in the Minster? The sixth article describes the 14th century allegorical carvings of real and mythical beasts; and the seventh article explores musical aspects of the 16th century misericords and 19th–20th century neo-Gothic organ screen. The final article puzzles over the paucity of print publications about the magnificent medieval minstrels, and Beverley Minster’s declared lack of interest in accurate information about their uniquely important iconography.

Photographs © Ian Pittaway.

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The medieval minstrels of Beverley Minster. Part 2/8: The minstrels of the arcades, triforium and capital.

Ian Pittaway bagpipes, Beverley Minster, bombard, citole, drum, fiddle, fiddle tunings, gittern, harp, lute, medieval fiddle, medieval fiddle tunings, medieval harp, nakers, organ, organistrum, pipe and tabor, portative organ, psaltery, shawm, simfonie, simfony, sinfonie, symfony, symphonia, symphonie, tambourine, timbrel, vielle 6 Comments
Photographs © Ian Pittaway.

This is the second in a series of eight articles about the 14th century carvings of medieval minstrels in Beverley Minster, a church in the East Riding of Yorkshire. There are 71 images of musicians in stone and wood, more than in any other medieval site. This article explores the carved musicians of the arcades, triforium and a capital, depicted playing harps, fiddles, bagpipes, timbrels, shawms, gittern, citole, portative organ, psaltery, pipe and tabor, nakers, and a drum. Each instrument is described, accompanied by a photograph of the Minster minstrel carving, with a link to a video of the instrument being played. This article thereby acts as a survey of the musical life of 14th century England.

This is followed in the third and fourth articles with photographs and commentary on the minstrels in the rest of the church, and in the fifth article by a gathering of evidence to answer the fundamental question: why are there so many medieval minstrels in the Minster? The sixth article describes the 14th century allegorical carvings; and the seventh article focuses on musical aspects of the 16th century misericords and 19th–20th century neo-Gothic organ screen. The final article puzzles over the paucity of print publications about the magnificent medieval minstrels, and the Minster’s lack of interest in accurate information about their uniquely important iconography.

Photographs © Ian Pittaway.

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The medieval minstrels of Beverley Minster. Part 1/8: Foundation, destruction, and restoration.

Ian Pittaway Beverley Minster, Edward VI, fiddle, harp, Henry VIII, iconography, medieval fiddle, minstrels, organistrum, Puritans, simfonie, simfony, sinfonie, symfony, symphonia, symphonie, vielle 10 Comments
Photograph © Ian Pittaway

This is the first in a series of eight articles about the medieval musical iconography of Beverley Minster, a church in the East Riding of Yorkshire. Beverley Minster has a remarkable 71 medieval carvings of musicians in stone and wood, more in one place than any other site, as well as 68 magnificent Tudor misericords, more than in any other church. The current building originates from the 13th century onward, its musical carvings largely from the 14th century, with some additionally from the 16th and 19th–20th centuries.  

This series of articles is the first and so far the only available account in print or online to photograph and describe all the medieval musical iconography and many of the allegorical carvings of this historically important church. The articles are illustrated by colour photographs by the author, acting as a survey of the musical instruments and religious culture of 14th century England.

This first feature is an introduction to the Minster’s history: its foundation in the 10th century under King Athelstan; its attempted destruction under Henry VIII and then the Puritans; with a particular focus on the repair of its stone medieval minstrels in the late 19th and early 20th century by John Percy Baker, making it possible for visitors today to admire the minstrels rather than view only vandalised fragments.

Following articles explore the carvings of 14th century minstrels high in the arcades, triforium and capitals (article 2); on three walls at eye level (article 3); and in the rest of the church, such as the Minster’s two tombs (article 4). This is followed by a gathering of evidence to answer the fundamental question: why are there so many medieval minstrels in the Minster (article 5)? Because they are too interesting to omit, the next article surveys the wonderful 14th century stone carvings of allegorical dogs, Reynard the fox, beard-pullers and dragons, some with two heads (article 6). The penultimate article surveys the musical aspects of the 16th century misericords and 19th–20th century neo-Gothic organ screen, with its imitation medieval instruments (article 7). The final article surveys literature about Beverley Minster, puzzling over the paucity of print publications about the magnificent medieval minstrels, and the Minster’s declared lack of interest in its own heritage (article 8).

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Rediscovering the vitality of medieval chant: an interview with Bruno de Labriolle

Ian Pittaway bourdon, chant, church modes, contrary motion, ecclesiastical chant, Gregorian chant, historically informed performance, Jerome of Moravia, Labriolle Bruno de, modes, Notre Dame school, ornamentation, Pérès Marcel, rhythmic modes, Solesmes Abbey 3 Comments

This interview with Bruno de Labriolle, Gregorian choir leader in Lyon, discusses why historically informed performance of medieval ecclesiastical chant has proved controversial. In this wide-ranging interview, Bruno discusses:

• how very recent changes in chant are wrongly considered to be the way things have always been;
• how and why the work of the Abbey of Solesmes in the 19th century standardised previously diverse, varied and rich traditions of singing;
• the plainness of modern chant compared to the emotional vitality of medieval singing;
• ways to make sense rhythmically of chant written non-mensurally (without signs for rhythm);
• historical evidence for ornamentation in medieval chant.

The article begins with a recording of Bruno and his singers of Saint-Bruno-des-Chartreux, and includes further videos of Lycourgos Angelopoulos leading the Greek Byzantine Choir, Marcel Pérès leading Ensemble Organum, and soundfiles of Bruno demonstrating singing technique.

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The Elbląg ‘gittern’: a case of mistaken identity. Part 2/2: Identifying the koboz.

Ian Pittaway Berkeley manuscript, cobza, Elbląg 'gittern', Elbląg coboz, Elbląg koboz, Elbląg kobza, gittern, iconography, koboz 0 Comment

In the first article, I explained why the koboz (kobza, cobza) found in 1986 in a latrine in Elbląg, Poland (above left), dated to 1350–1450, cannot be a gittern, though it is always identified as such in modern literature.

In this second article we discover the difficulties of nomenclature in early eastern, medieval, and renaissance literature, with several quite different instruments named koboz or its variants; and that the same situation persists today. How then to establish the lineage and history of the Elbląg instrument from historical sources? First we define the characteristics of the Elbląg koboz and, having established the parameters of an instrument of the same type, we see such kobzas in iconography from the 14th to the 17th century in Turkey, Bohemia (now in the Czech Republic), Hungary, France, Catalonia, England, Italy and Flanders, with possible further sightings in Romania.

I conclude that, this being the case, a new instrument can be added to the lexicon of medieval and renaissance instruments: the koboz, of which the Elbląg find of 1350-1450 is a surviving historical example. 

We begin with a video of the popular 16th and 17th century tune, Sellenger’s Round, played on a copy of the Polish Elbląg koboz.

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