pipe and tabor – Early Music Muse

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 17th April 20241st May 2024 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.

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 18th November 202310th August 2024

Alliteration was a foundational feature of medieval verse. Animals playing musical instruments are regularly seen in medieval art. The 14^th 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.

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 11th October 202310th August 2024

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 15^th 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.

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 15th August 202315th August 2023 0 Comment

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 14^th 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 14^th century iconography with the allegorical carvings.

This seventh article moves from the medieval period to the renaissance and describes musical aspects of the 16^th 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 19^th–20^th 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.

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 19th July 202316th March 2025 0 Comment

There are 71 images of 14^th 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 14^th 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 14^th 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 14^th century allegorical carvings of real and mythical beasts; and the seventh article explores musical aspects of the 16^th century misericords and 19^th–20^th 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.

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 12th July 202310th August 2024 8 Comments

This is the second in a series of eight articles about the 14^th 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 14^th 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 14^th century allegorical carvings; and the seventh article focuses on musical aspects of the 16^th century misericords and 19^th–20^th 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.

“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 20214th April 2025 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).

Jheronimus Bosch and the music of hell. Part 3/3: Music and musicians in the complete works of Bosch

Ian Pittaway Adoration of the Magi (Bosch painting), Allegory of Gluttony and Lust (Bosch painting), bagpipes, bestiaries, Bosch Hieronymous, Bosch Jheronimus, bray harp, Flood (Bosch workshop painting), fools, Garden of Earthly Delights (Bosch painting), harp, Haywain (Bosch painting), Hermit Saints triptych (Bosch painting), hurdy gurdy, iconography, jongleurs, Last Judgement (Bosch painting), Last Judgement (pseudo-Bosch painting), lute, minstrels, morris dance, morris dancing, pipe and tabor, Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things (pseudo-Bosch painting), shawm, Ship of Fools (Bosch painting), simfonie, simfony, sinfonie, Singers in the Egg (Bosch drawing), Strichnotation, symfony, symphonia, symphonie, Temptation of Saint Anthony (Bosch painting), trumpet, vielle à roue, Visions of the Hereafter (Bosch painting) 9th June 202110th August 2024 0 Comment

In Part 1, we explored the modern myth that the ‘music’ on the backside of a sinner in Jheronimus Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights is real and playable. We saw that it is not Gregorian notation, as is repeatedly claimed, but a faux and unreadable imitation of Strichnotation. As the present article will show, Bosch painted equally faux and unreadable Strichnotation in two more paintings and one drawing.

In Part 2, we surveyed all the musical imagery and the overall schema of The Garden of Earthly Delights, exploring historical sources for the meaning of each musician punished in hell, their instruments used as torture devices against them.

That leads us to the central question of this third and final article on Bosch’s relationship with music. Here we survey the rest of Bosch’s entire works, his paintings and drawings, for music and musicians. Every musical image is presented with a brief description and explanation, referencing literature Bosch would have known. The sum total of Bosch’s musical depictions raises the question: What was the nature of his beliefs that he imagined all musicians as wicked sinners and monstrous creatures who are eternally punished in hell? We search for answers in his locality, his biography, and the clues he left with his brush.

Tarleton’s Resurrection. Part 1/4: Tarleton’s place in the history of fools, clowns and jesters

Ian Pittaway Brant Sebastian - Ship of Fools, clowns, Dowland John, Feast of Fools, fools, Henry VIII, jesters, jongleurs, minstrels, morris dance, morris dancing, orpharion, pipe and tabor, Shakespeare William, Ship of Fools, Somer William, Tarleton Richard, Tarleton's Resurrection (John Dowland), Tarlton Richard, theatre 17th February 20214th September 2024 0 Comment

Richard Tarleton – fool, actor, playwright, poet, musician and legend – was the foremost stage clown of his age, celebrated in his own lifetime and well beyond. As an actor, he was a star of the stage when permanent theatre buildings were new, a fool or comedian of great physical and verbal wit, a serious player of affecting pathos, and a member of Queen Elizabeth I’s own acting company, The Queen’s Players. As a successful playwright, he wrote in the tradition of morality plays. As a poet and essayist, he wrote on the theme of natural disasters and divine displeasure. As a musician, he was a player of pipe and tabor and a creator of extempore comedy songs. As a legend, much-loved and much-missed after his sudden death, he was a byword for exemplary wit, his name used to sell literature for decades, his image still used and recognised two centuries later.

This is the first of four articles trawling 16^th and 17^th century sources to build up a picture of the man. This introductory article begins with a short history of fools in their three types – natural, ungodly, and artificial – to put Tarleton in his historical context; clarifies what contemporaneous writers meant when they described him as a jester; then describes his ‘country fool’ clown’s costume and notable physical appearance. Two neglected topics comprise the second and third articles. Part 2: Tarleton the player and playwright considers his range as a comic and serious actor and his style as a playwight, with an evidenced reconstruction of his lost play, The Secound parte of the Seven Deadlie Sinns. Part 3: Richard Tarleton the musician and broadside writer examines his style as a taborer; describes Tarleton as a comedic creator of extempore songs from themes called out by the audience; and surveys the evidence for Tarleton as a composer of ballads. Part 4: Tributes to Tarleton – with a musical discovery from the 16^th century summarises the broadside ballads, books and plays which praised Tarleton and used his persona after his premature death. In particular, a musical biography of Richard Tarleton, A pretie new ballad, intituled willie and peggie, has its words and music reunited after 400 years of separation in a featured video performance.