baroque – Early Music Muse

The guitar: a brief history from the renaissance to the modern day

Ian Pittaway baroque, baroque guitar, Broonzy Bill, Carthy Martin, citole, cittern, early instruments, early music, folk music, gittern, guitar, kithara, Latin guitar, Moorish guitar, orpharion, Paul Les, renaissance, renaissance guitar 4th September 202028th August 2024 4 Comments

The origins of the guitar are much-discussed and much-disputed, and some pretty wild and unsubstantiated claims are made for its heritage, based on vaguely guitar-like instruments in medieval and even pre-medieval iconography, about which we often know little or nothing beyond an indistinguishable drawing, painting or carving; or based on instruments which have names that sound like ‘guitar’. This article is an attempt to slice through the fog with a brief history of the instrument, charting its development from the renaissance, through the baroque period to the modern day, based only on what can be claimed with evidence. The article is illustrated with pictures, videos and sound recordings, beginning with a short video of guitar history.

This is an expanded version of an article originally published in 2015, with a new video.

Drive the cold Winter away: the meaning of a 17th century seasonal song

Ian Pittaway baroque, broadside ballads, Christmas, Come worldling see what paines I here do take, drive the cold Winter away, Playford John, When Phoebus did rest 8th October 20183rd September 2022 0 Comment

Drive the cold Winter away is a 17^th century broadside ballad which appeals to its readers, singers and listeners to put aside differences, forget old wrongs, and to sing, dance, eat, drink and play together.

As this article outlines, there was good reason for this appeal for a Christmas truce in the 17^th century, a time of bitterly cold winters, religious division and civil war. After describing what a 17^th century Christmas feast consisted of, we explore the two distinct melodies the song was sung to and outline its long-lived popularity.

The beautiful Boissart mandore, part 3 of 3: Creating a new mandore inspired by the ‘Boissart’ design

Ian Pittaway Baker Paul, baroque, Boissart, Boissart mandore, early instruments, early music, gittern, lute, lutherie, luthier, mandore, renaissance, V&A, Victoria & Albert Museum 23rd September 20151st September 2024 13 Comments

It is difficult to describe the joy of a private viewing of the beautiful and tiny mandore in the Victoria & Albert Museum. The instrument, repaired in 1640 by the mysterious Monsieur Boissart and made c. 1580–90, is exquisite. You can view photographs and read my observations about it in the second of these three articles. The first article traces the history and of the mandore, with its origins in the lute and gittern familes. This, the third and final article, is a record of the design and making of a new mandore based on, but not a replica of, the V&A’s instrument. The affable and ever-accommodating maker was Paul Baker; the delighted and very lucky player is Ian Pittaway, the author of this piece. This was to be a new journey for us both: me never having played a mandore, Paul never having made one. The article includes a video of the completed mandore playing 3 pieces from the John Skene mandore book of 1625-1635, accompanied by photographs of its construction.

The bray harp: getting a buzz from early music

Ian Pittaway arpichordium, baroque, begena, bèguèna, bray harp, Chaucer Geoffrey, Davidsharffe, early instruments, early music, Gothic harp, harp, harpichordium, hurdy gurdy, Lamento di Tristano, lyre, mediaeval, medieval, muselar, Praetorius Michael, renaissance, Robert ap Huw manuscript, rota, rote, rothe, rotta, Ur lyres, vielle à roue 24th July 201519th November 2023 16 Comments

A donkey plays bray harp while a goat sings, from the Hunterian or York Psalter, 1170. — Donkey harpist, goat singer: Hunterian/York Psalter.

The bray harp is not a sound modern ears are used to, and even most early music groups with harps don’t use the period instrument, yet it was the standard European harp of the late medieval, renaissance and early baroque periods, from the 15^th century to the 1630s, and still used until the late 18^th century in some places. The bray harp gets its name from the L shaped wooden pins at the base of the strings, positioned so the strings buzz against them as they vibrate: the effect was said to sound like a donkey’s bray. It’s an older idea than the bray harp, one shared by the oldest surviving stringed instruments, made four and a half thousand years ago.

This article traces the earliest evidence for the European harp, leading to the origins and popular rise of the bray harp specifically. We ask why there is so little surviving early harp music and try to come to a feasible historical answer; and along the way take in Pictish stones, illuminated Psalters, Geoffrey Chaucer, harp-playing angels and an ape playing a rota, with a video of the harp being brayed.

Baroque music: a brief tour of the extravagant last period of early music

Ian Pittaway Bach Johann Sebastian, baroque, broadside ballads, catch clubs, dance, Lully Jean-Baptiste, Monteverdi Claudio, Playford John 16th July 201518th October 2024 2 Comments

Robert Tournières, *Concert*, France, 1690s, showing
a baroque cello, virginal, singer, violin, and French baroque lute.

The baroque period was a time of ornate decoration, extravagance and the rise of ever larger ensembles, giving rise to opera and the early orchestra. Dance music was as popular as ever, with the renaissance galliard giving way to the baroque sarabande, chaconne, and bourée. Public dancing was briefly in trouble, banned by the Puritans, during which John Playford started a remarkable series of English dance instruction books which outlived Puritan censoriousness. Singing styles among the cultural elite were florid and declamatory, while broadside ballads for the masses continued to be sung and sold in the streets. And, in private, John Playford and his companions met to sing about farting.

Baroque is the final period of early music (medieval, renaissance, baroque) and this is the last of 3 articles charting them. This article includes 15 illustrative videos for the music of Robert Johnson, John Blow, Tobias Hume, Thomas Arne, John Playford, Claudio Monteverdi, Jean-Baptiste Lully, and Johann Sebastian Bach (click blue links).

Music of the renaissance: a whistle-stop tour

Ian Pittaway baroque, broadside ballads, dance, Dowland John, Dunstaple John, early instruments, early music, lute, mediaeval, medieval, renaissance, renaissance dance 15th July 201525th July 2022 0 Comment

The renaissance marked a turning point for European culture. Beginning in Italy in the 14^th century, its influence spread across Europe, affecting all aspects of culture, including music. But it was in England that the sound of the renaissance first developed, spreading out to Burgundy, Italy, and then back to England in new forms. The invention of the printing press and the spread of literacy profoundly affected music-making, with musicians in households now able to write down music, use the new printed songbooks of composers such as John Dowland, and sing from broadside ballad sheets sold in the street. The spread of printing and literacy also affects our own knowledge of the period, with surviving instructions for dances and a wealth of music. Includes 15 active links in blue to videos of musical examples, illustrating the text.

The gemshorn: a (necessarily) short history

Ian Pittaway Agricola Martin, baroque, cornet, cornett, early instruments, early music, gemshorn, mediaeval, medieval, renaissance, Virdung Sebastian 14th July 201522nd February 2023 0 Comment

The haunting sound of the gemshorn has played a small part in the early music revival. Evidence for its historical use is sparse, scattered thinly from the late middle ages or early renaissance to the first days of the baroque period, and only within Germany. This ocarina made of goat horn was included in the completist musical lexicographies of Sebastian Virdung, 1511, and Michael Praetorius, 1618, and was deemed recognisable enough to be played by the figure of death in a series of woodcuts in 1488. This article traces what we know about the gemshorn, comparing the evidence with its use in the early music revival.

Greensleeves: Mythology, History and Music. Part 3 of 3: Music

Ian Pittaway baroque, broadside ballads, early music, Greensleeves, lute, lute manuscripts and books, morris dance, passamezzo antico, Playford John, renaissance, romanesca 8th July 201528th February 2024 8 Comments

The remarkable longevity of a 16^th century song and tune

Left to right: Adrien le Roy, French lutenist, one composer of passamezzo antico; William Kimber, English morris dancer and concertina player, one player of Bacca Pipes; Ralph Vaughan Williams, composer of Fantasia on Greensleeves; John Coltrane, jazz saxophonist, and Nomansland, trance dance band, both performers of Greensleeves. — **Left to right:** Adrien le Roy, French lutenist, one composer of a *passamezzo antico*;
William Kimber, English morris dancer and concertina player, one player of *Bacca Pipes*;
Ralph Vaughan Williams, composer of *Fantasia on Greensleeves*;
John Coltrane, jazz saxophonist, and Nomansland, trance dance band, performers of *Greensleeves*.

Greensleeves has captured the imagination of musicians for well over four centuries, testified by innumerous versions. This, the third of three articles about the mythology, history and music of Greensleeves, gives an audio flavour of the remarkable versatility and vitality of the melody and song, an à la carte menu to choose from. We begin with versions of the passamezzo antico and romanesca which are the foundation of Greensleeves; then advance to the song on period instruments; the Playford dance; two Greensleeves morris dances; the Christmas song; Ralph Vaughan Williams’ classical version; then a range of more modern interpretations: folk, blues, bluegrass, country, pop, rock, punk, black metal, jazz, flamenco, disco, trance, dubstep, Vietnamese ballet … and the ice cream van tune.

Greensleeves: Mythology, History and Music. Part 2 of 3: History

Ian Pittaway baroque, broadside ballads, early music, Greensleeves, lute, lute manuscripts and books, Merry Wives of Windsor, morris dance, passamezzo antico, Playford John, renaissance, romanesca, Shakespeare William, Sumer is icumen in 6th July 201519th November 2024 7 Comments

The remarkable longevity of a 16^th century song and tune

Greensleeves is well over four centuries old and is, even now, still going strong. This is a song first published in 1580, its tune used for a wide variety of other 16^th and 17^th century broadside ballads; used as the basis for virtuoso lute playing; that William Shakespeare used for a sophisticated joke; a tune that John Playford published for dancing to; that morris dancers still jig and kick bottoms to; that has become a Christmas favourite; and that pop singers continue to sing. This is the second of three articles, looking at the song’s mythology, its true history, and video examples of its musical transformations.

One of the first sources for the tune, in lute tablature as greene sleues in MS. 408/2, an anonymous amateur anthology dated c. 1592–1603. — One of the first sources for the tune, in lute tablature as *greene sleues* in MS. 408/2, an anonymous amateur anthology dated c. 1592–1603. (As with all images, click for higher resolution.)

The beautiful Boissart mandore, part 2 of 3: Observations on the Boissart mandore

Ian Pittaway baroque, Boissart mandore, early instruments, early music, gittern, lute, mandore, renaissance, V&A, Victoria & Albert Museum 24th June 20152nd September 2024

The history of a stunning 16^th century instrument, observations on its lutherie, and questions over its dating.

In part 1 we looked at the history of the renaissance and baroque mandore. Now we examine one exquisite instrument, the Boissart mandore in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, decoding its remarkable carvings and reconstructing its biography from the visible evidence of the changes it has been through. As far as I know, this is the first critical examination of the life of the Boissart mandore.

00_MandoreBoissart1640_Sideview02 — All photographs by Ian Pittaway, included courtesy of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
(As with all pictures, click to see larger in a new window, click in new window to further enlarge.)

The beautiful Boissart mandore, part 1 of 3: The pre-history of the mandore

Ian Pittaway Agricola Martin, baroque, Berkeley manuscript, Boissart mandore, early instruments, early music, gittern, lute, mandore, mediaeval, medieval, oud, renaissance, V&A, Victoria & Albert Museum, Virdung Sebastian 14th May 20151st September 2024

The history of a stunning 16^th century instrument, observations on its lutherie, and questions over its dating.

The Boissart mandore, dated by the V&A to 1640. (As with all pictures, click for higher resolution view.) — The Boissart mandore, dated by the V&A to 1640. Photograph by Ian Pittaway, included courtesy
of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. (As with all pictures, click for a larger view.)

In the family of renaissance plucked instruments, the mandore is the result of a union between two mediaeval string families: the oud and the lute on one side, and the gittern on the other. The resulting offspring is a small instrument with a musically significant (but alas now largely unplayed) surviving repertoire. Some actual instruments survive, and there is no doubt that the most exquisite of these is the beautiful Boissart mandore in the Victoria and Albert Museum. This article and two to follow will: (1) trace the pre-history of the mandore; (2) examine the V&A’s beautiful Boissart mandore and attempt to reconstruct its personal history for, as far as I know, the first time; (3) describe the making of a new mandore based on the Boissart model.