tambourine – Early Music Muse

York Minster: 900 years of music iconography. Part 1 of 2: Carvings of musical instruments, c. 1030–1915.

Ian Pittaway Beverley Minster, Bosch Hieronymous, Bosch Jheronimus, drum, fiddle, Garden of Earthly Delights (Bosch painting), gittern, harp, horn, iconography, lute, medieval fiddle, medieval harp, morris dance, morris dancing, nakers, olifant, oliphant, olyphant, organ, pipe and tabor, portative organ, tambourine, timbrel, trumpet, viella, vielle, violin, York Minster 10th September 202514th September 2025 0 Comment

The current building of York Minster was founded in c. 1225 and added to for many centuries, as is typical for a medieval church. During that period, depictions of medieval and renaissance musicians were carved in stone and crafted in stained glass. There is also an actual musical instrument on display, an oliphant from c. 1030 (pictured above).

This article, the first of two about York Minster’s rich musical iconography, is a chronological guide from c. 1030 to 1915, a span of nearly 900 years. The dates, locations and instruments are:

• c. 1030, the crypt – oliphant
• c. 1290–1350, the south wall – pipe and tabor
• c. 1310, the south window – harp
• 1405–08, the Great East Window – trumpets
• c. 1470s–80s, the central tower – gittern, lutes, fiddle, nakers
• c. 1803–35, the quire – gittern
• c. 1820, the south quire aisle – violin
• 1903–1915, east walls of the north and south transepts – harp, timbrel, portative organ

Each representation of an instrument is photographed, with a description and a video of the instrument being played.

There is one location missing from the list above, so densely populated with instruments that it is described in a second dedicated article: the magnificent pulpitum or Kings Screen, 1473–1500, with 56 carvings of 20 different instruments, including shawms, bagpipes, trumpets, transverse flute, recorder, double recorder, lutes, bray harps, gitterns, rotas, fiddles, symphonie, tromba marina, portative organs, positive organ, clavicimbalum, cymbals, fool’s percussion, triangle, nakers, and singers. The second article is available here on 17^th September 2025.

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, symphonie, tambourine, timbrel, zink 15th August 202328th June 2025 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, symphonie, 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, chifonie, chiphonie, citole, ciunfonie, 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, nakers, olifant, oliphant, olyphant, organ, organetto, organino, organistrum, pipe and tabor, portative organ, psaltery, sampogna, serpent, simfonia, sinfonye, symphonie, tambourine, timbrel, trumpet, vielle, zink 19th July 202328th June 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, symphonie, 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, chifonie, chiphonie, citole, ciunfonie, drum, fiddle, fiddle tunings, Garden of Earthly Delights (Bosch painting), gittern, harp, lute, medieval fiddle, medieval fiddle tunings, medieval harp, nakers, organ, organistrum, pipe and tabor, portative organ, psaltery, sampogna, shawm, simfonia, sinfonye, symfenyge, symphonie, tambourine, timbrel, vielle 12th July 202321st August 2025 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.