Musica Antiqua - Iowa State University MUSIC

Musica Antiqua
Friday, January 22 at 10am & 12:30 pm
Fisher Theater
STUDY GUIDE
We hope you find this guide helpful in preparing for an enjoyable and educational experience.
Included you’ll find things to talk about before and after seeing the performance, activities that deal with
curriculum connections and education standards, and resource materials.
Musica Antiqua is an early music ensemble that specializes in
instrumental and dance music of the Middle Ages and Renaissance.
There are few professional touring ensembles specializing in
the performance of music and dance of the Middle Ages and
Renaissance and none play such a variety of music with as many
different instruments as does Musica Antiqua. The group has
received unparalleld support from the Iowa Arts Council since 1971.
Formed at Iowa State University in 1967 with four recorders, a
sacbut and a krummhorn, today Musica Antiqua’s collection of
replica instruments is one of the largest in the world with more than
100 instruments.
The ensemble consists of instrumentalists, vocalists, and dancers
who have performed together for more than 30 years and all are,
or have been, teachers. After each performance the audience is
encouraged to ask questions and interact with the performers. Each
concert is placed in its historical, sociological, and cultural settings.
Instruments demonstrated range from the gentle lute or gemshorn
to the raucous bladder pipe or tenor schawm.
Many of our modern day band instruments have their foundations
in the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Most elementary school
students have at one time or another learned to play a recorder.
During the concert the relationships between early and modern
instruments will be examined.
NOTES ON SELECTED EARLY INSTRUMENTS
Music has played an important part throughout history and is
often represented in the visual art of a period or region. Here is a
bit about some of the instruments you will hear played by Musica
Antiqua.
Woodwind and reed instruments
Recorder
Hirtenschalmei
Pip and Tabor
Bladder Pipe
Gemshorn
Shawm
Organetto
Rauschpfeife
Krummhorn
Bagpipe
STRINGS
Gamba
Rebec
Lute
BRASS
Zink
Sackbut
Serpent
Join Director Carl Bleyle and Musica Antiqua for this wonderful
introduction to early music, song, and dance.
www.center.iastate.edu
Hurdy-Gurdy
Harp
THE RECORDER
Govern these ventages with your fingers and thumb,
give it breath with your mouth, and it will discourse most eloquent music.
Look you, these are the stops.
Shakespeare, Hamlet
The principle of the recorder or whistle mouthpiece seems to be as old as mankind. The
instrument’s essential features are the lip (cut near the top of the body), the fipple (a block of
wood inserted in the end to be blown), and the windway (a narrow channel along the fipple
through which air is blown against the edge of the lip to produce sound.
While it is difficult to document the recorder’s early history, in medieval art, the earliest
accepted portrayel is found in a twelfth century Psalter found in the Library of Glasgow
University.
In the Renaissance the recorder had its own instruction manual: Ganassi’s Opera Intitulata
Fontegara (Venice, 1535). The author bases much of the recorder technique and tone quality
on attempts to imitate the human voice. Fingering charts extending to 2½ octaves, and
complex exercises demonstrating the technique of improvisation allow one to conclude that recorder playing had achieved a high level
of accomplishment. Praetorius gives eight different sizes of recorders from the sopranino in f2 to the great bass in c. He prefers the soft,
sweet and pleasant harmony of the lower instruments, finding the sound of the smaller ones much too loud and piercing.
THE PIPE AND TABOR
If a pipe is joined thereto, it renders the melody sweeter. Zamora, c. 1260
The pipe is a simple instrument with a fipple like a willow whistle or recorder but usually
having only three melody holes (index finger, middle finger, and thumb). There is a ridge
around the bottom of the instrument to aid in holding the instrument with one hand, leaving
the other hand free to strike the tabor. The drum is held with a strap around the arm that
fingers the pipe. It is an ideal combination for dance music of a rustic nature or to supply
background music for jugglers or performing animals. The pipe and tabor player also
entertained audiences during scene changes of Shakespearean plays.
William Kemp, nine daies vvonder (1600)
THE GEMSHORN
The gemshorn is the only medieval “flute” with a sharply tapering conical bore. Its shape is determined
naturally since it is made from the horn of a chamois or ox. The tone has a sweet color, and its haunting
delicate sound is even more impressive when one knows the ordinary material from which it is constructed.
By the mid sixteenth century the instrument had fallen out of use.
THE ORGANETTO
The sun was coming up and beginning to get warm, a thousand birds were singing.
Francesco [Landino] was ordered to play on his organetto to see if the singing of the birds
would lessen or increase with his playing. As soon as he began to play, many birds at
first became silent, then they redoubled their singing and, strange to say, one nightingale
came and perched on a branch over his head. Giovanni da Prato
The organetto was one of he most popular instruments of the thirteenth through fourteenth
centuries. The instrument, when equipped with a sling, could be carried about and played
in religious processions. The player provides his own wind supply by pumping a bellows
made of sheepskin and wood with his left hand, while playing a button type keyboard of
approximately two octaves with his right hand.
The John Brombaugh Organ Company, the same company that installed the organ in Iowa
State University’s Martha Tye Recital Hall, built Musica Antiqua’s organetto. It is copied from
a fifteenth century painting by Hans Memling.
Triptych, Hans Memling
THE KRUMMHORN
Beginning with the fifteenth century a new type of double reed woodwind instrument was
developed whereby the player’s lips did not touch the reed. With these instruments reeds were
enclosed inside a protective cap with a slot at one end. Strongly blowing through this slot caused
the reed to vibrate independently as it does in the bagpipe chanter. Since most of these reed cap
instruments cannot overblow, they have a limited range of a little over an octave.
The krummhorn is the earliest and most common instrument of the reed cap family. The name
translates to “curved horn,” appropriate considering the instrument’s shape. Krummhorns
are built by turning a length of wood (boxwood or maple), and then (using steam and a mold)
bending one end to produce the distinctive “J” shape. This shape is decorative and has no affect
on the tone quality of the instrument.
The krummhorn was most popular in Germany, Italy and the Low Countries and despite its
strange shape and the amusing reaction of listeners when the instrument is played poorly
(or well) the Krummhorn played a serious role in all kinds of renaissance music, ranging from
dances and madrigals to church music.
Aldegraver, Krumhorn players
The Hirtenschalmei
The name Hirtenschalmei (shepherd’s shawm) comes from the fact that this instrument, often
mentioned in medieval French literature and poetry, was frequently depicted in art as being
played by rustic types. The tone is produced by a capped double reed. The tone quality is rich
and buzzy, one distinctly different from the Krummhorm.
During salvage operations in 1980 on Henry VIII’s ship the Mary Rose, sunk in 1545, the only
surviving example of a Hirtenschalmei (shepherd’s shawm) was uncovered. The name comes
from the fact that this instrument, often mentioned in medieval French literature and poetry,
was frequently depicted in art as being played by rustic types.
The tone quality is rich and buzzy, one distinctly different from the krummhorn. The main bore is
cylindrical and ends in a large flared bell.
THE BLADDER PIPE
The bladder pipe is a loud, distinctive instrument with a reed that is enclosed by an animal
bladder. The performer blows into the bladder through its mouthpiece, a wooden pipe. Like
the bag of a bagpipe, the bladder serves as a wind reservoir keeping the lips from touchingthe
reed directly. The bladder pipe’s sound is unusual because the player is unable to tongue or
otherwise control the reed.
THE RENAISSANCE SHAWM
At great feasts they are to play upon shagbut, cornetts, shawms and
other instruments going with wind. Richard Brathwaite, 1621
Unlike the medieval shawm, the late Middle Ages and Renaissance shawm uses a broad
cane reed controlled by the player’s lips. With the smaller size shawms, the reed could
be placed inside a pirouette, a funnel shaped protector against which the player places
his lips. This pirouette not only protects the reed, but also helps avoid lip fatique.
The shawm band enlivened the palace courtyard and market square of the sixteenth
century and added to the general din and confusion associated with them.
Woman playing a bass shawm,
(Tobias Stimmer ca. 1500)
All shawms have several vent holes between the hole for the lowest note and the end
of the bell. This section of the instrument is very long and contributes to the tone and
carrying power of the instrument. The metal band often found wrapped around the bell
not only helps protect the instrument but also helps make the shawm a sturdy weapon
for settling disputes among town musicians.
THE RAUSCHPFEIFE
The Rauschpfeife is a loud reed-cap instrument with a double reed (like
the Krummhorn, Hirtenschalmei, and Cornamuse). Its bore is conical
like the shawm, so it overblows the octave. The name comes from the
German rausch (noise) or rusch (reed). The Italian name for the instrument,
schreierpfeife, is from schreien (to cry or scream). The Rauschpfeife’s
screaming sound, full of overtones, gives it enough carrying power to be
used outdoors, unlike the other reed-cap instruments.
Hans Burgkmaier, The Triumphs
of Maximilium (1512)
THE BAGPIPE
Nero knew how to play the pipe with his mouth and the bag thrust under his arms. Dio Chrysostom
The history of the bagpipe goes back to primtive times. It probably originated as a rustic instrument.
A herdsman had the necessary materials at hand: a goat or sheepskin and a reed pipe. During the
Middle Ages, however, the bagpipe was heard and appreciated by all levels of society.
The construction of the bagpipe allows a continuous supply of air to be maintained. By squeezing the
bag with his left hand, while he takes a breath, the flow of air can be kept up in both drone pipes and
chanter. Other features of this instrument are the mouthpipe and chanter. The mouthpipe contains a
round piece of leather hinged onto the bag end that acts like a non-return valve. As the player blows
air in, the flap opens; when he stops blowing, the air pressure within the bag forces the flap shut. The
chanter has seven finger holes and a thumb hole, and has a usual range of an octave and one note.
The bagpipe is ideal for solo dances and monophonic music. During the Renaissance, the bagpipe
gradually moved from court to country. As a rustic instrument it has been immortalized in the
paintings of Pieter Breughel and his contemporaries.
STRINGED INSTRUMENTS
THE GAMBA
The voice between her lips, and the viol between her legs,
she’ll be fit for a consort very speedily.
Thomas Middleton, A Trick to Catch the Old One
The viol family may have originated by applying a bow to a
preexisting plucked string instrument and might have been
developed in Spain during the late fifteenth century (the tenor
viol has the shape, size and tuning of the Spanish vihuela).
The most common viol has six strings and is tuned in fourths with a third in the middle; it has
a long tail, fretted fingerboard (like the modern guitar) a flat back and sloping shoulders. A
carved head often adorns the top of the instrument.
All viols are played while seated, with the instrument held on or between the knees. There
is no support on which to rest the instrument, as is the case with the modern cello. The
viol bow is held in an underhanded position with the finger controlling the tension of the
horsehair.
The viol, as the lute, was cultivated among courtly society by gentlemen amateurs. A consort
of viols was the ideal medium for polyphonic music. Its sound was sustained and clear with
little vibrato. Viols were ideal for accompanying solo voices in consort songs.
THE REBEC
In twenty manere koude he trippe and daunce
After the scole of Oxenforde tho,
And with his legges casten to and fro,
And pleyen songes on a smal rubible;
Therto he song som tyme a loud quynyble.
Chaucer, The Miller’s Tale
Gerard David (1455-1523),
Virgin among Virgins
(1509)
The use of a bow on stringed instruments probably originated in central Asia during the ninth century, spreading
through Islam and Byzantinium territories and later reaching Western Europe in the twelfth century. Bowing
may have developed in an attempt to create an instrument that could imitate the voice. Bowing gave stringed
instruments the sustaining power necessary to play a continuous melodic line. Nevertheless, the status of these
bowed instruments and their players remained low. The rebec was definitely an instrument of the lower class.
The rebec came from the Arabian rabob. Its rounded body is carved from a single block of wood, to which a flat
soundboard is added. The three-stringed rebec seems to be the most popular. As with most early instruments,
rebecs came in many sizes and pitches.
In the Middle Ages the most common rebec was the soprano, played by resting it on one’s shoulder, across the chest, or in the armpit. The
instrument often has frets, and probably had a thin, nasal, penetrating tone. Rebecs are associated with secular music, especially dance
music. Remnants of its tone and style can be heard in country fiddling of the United States.
THE LUTE
I know the lute, Oft have I sung to thee: We are both out of tune... Go break
this lute upon my coach’s wheel as the last music that I e’er shall make; Not
as my husband’s gift, but my farewell in all earth’s joys... Thomas Heywood,
A Woman Killed with Kindness
During the Renaissance the lute held the highest respect of all musical
instruments. The repertoire for this courtly instrument is vast. Delicacy,
expressiveness and nuance of performance were made possible when the
use of a plectrum to pluck the strings was replaced by use of the fingers. The
lute was an ideal accompaniment for voice and other soft instruments, and
the most eloquent of all solo instruments. In paintings and other art works
the lute is often associated with Apollo, angels, or Orpheus, and it is often
mentioned at climactic points in tragedies.
Caravaggio, The Musicians
Although the greatest repertoire for the lute is from England, the best makers were Germans who lived in Italy. The delicacy and
expressiveness of Renaissance lute music is mirrored in the light construction of the instrument. Its belly is made of pine, often only onesixteenth inch thick, with a carved sound-hole or rose in the middle. Wooden bars glued underneath the belly strengthen it and add to the
resonance. The pear shaped back is constructed from several ribs, shaped and bent over a mold, and then glued together edge to edge.
These ribs may be made of sycamore, cedar, yew or cypress, and often are no more than one thirty-second of an inch in thickness. Stringing
is light since the body is not able to withstand twelve or more strings at high tension. Plucking is done with the soft part of the fingers and
thumb, not the nails.
The lute goes out of tune easily, which prompted Mattheson to complain that a lutenist spends most of his life tuning rather than actually
playing the instrument.
THE SYMPHONIA (HURDY-GURDY)
The hurdy-gurdy is the first stringed instrument to which the keyboard
principle was applied. The French name, Viella a Roue (wheel fiddle),
describes the method by which sound is produced. A wheel cranked by a
handle replaces the bowing action of the fiddle. The outer rim of the wooden
wheel is coated with resin. When the crank is spun, the wheel turns and the
gut strings vibrate.
Just as the bag of the bagpipe acts as a
reservoir of air for continuous sound, so too
the wheel makes possible continuous sound
by avoiding changes of bowing. Tangents
activated by keys press the strings at the
appropriate points to produce different pitches.
There is evidence of the hurdy-gurdy in Europe in the 12th century and the instrument was highly regarded.
Before 1300 the instrument was often long enough to require two performers, one to crank, and one to
push the keys. Single player instruments developed in the 13th century and the hurdy-gurdy became the
ideal instrument for dance music.
THE ENGLISH ROMANESQUE HARP
According to the Laws of Wales (12th century), the three items indispensable to a
gentleman were his harp, his cloak, and his chessboard, while the three proper things for
any man to have in his house were a virtuous wife, his cushion on his chair, and his harp
in tune.
The harp is one of the most ancient types of stringed instruments. It was important in
pre-Christian cultures and still survives today in many forms all over the world. Harps use
open strings exclusively, thus the number of strings determines the range of each. In the
Middle Ages strings were made from twisted animal gut (usually from sheep), although
horse hair and silk were used as well. Each string of the harp is attached to a wooden peg
or metal pin and the strings are tuned by adjusting these pegs or pins.
Due to the lack of a notation system, little is known about how the harp was used or how
it accompanied troubadour melodies. Players relied on memory and improvisation.
King David playing the harp (stained glass
by P. von Andlau) - late 15th century
The harp had an important role in legend and folklore. It not only was the instrument
assigned to King David, but also was credited with supernatural powers which could destroy the feynde’s myght.
Musica Antiqua’s harp is based on a late 12th century English Bible illumination. It has twenty gut strings, a range of almost three octaves,
is thirty inches tall, and is ideally suited to accompany minstrel, troubadour and trouvere songs.
THE BRASS
THE CORNETTO (ZINK)
The most versatile Renaissance wind instrument was the cornetto or zink. Between 1500
and 1650 the zink was used indoors and out in serious music, dance music, town bands,
rural households, at church and court. Its uniqueness is due to its hybrid construction:
a very small acorn cup mouthpiece (played on the side of the mouth where the lips
are thinner) is attached to a hollowed out piece of curved wood. Six finger holes and a
thumbhole are drilled in the body of the zink, and it is fingered in much the same manner as
a recorder. A competent performer can make the zink sound as loud as a trumpet or softly
enough to blend with recorders. No other instrument came so close to the sound of the
human voice.
Very little breath is used in playing the zink. Mersenne mentions a French court
musician, who could play one hundred measures in one breath!!!
Denijs Alsloot, The Procession of the Religious
Orders of the Town of Antwerp (detail)
(1616
)
[curtal, tenor shawm, cornett, alto shawm,
tenor shawm, trombone].
According to Benvenuto Cellini, Pope Clement VII hired him on the spot after hearing his
performance of some motets on the zink. Although the straight cornet was probably the
earliest type of this insrument, later cornettos were curved, possibly to facilitate reaching the finger holes on larger instruments.
The “cornetto curvo” or “krumme Zink” has a bore made from a curved piece of wood that has been cut in half, hollowed out, and glued
back together. The outside is then planed to an octagonal shape and a leather covering is glued around it to seal any weak portion of the
wood against the immense wind pressure built up inside.
The cornetto was an instrument of the virtuoso player. In the early Baroque it was in competition with the violin for instrumental
supremacy. The violin, however, won the battle and is still considered one of the most virtuosic of modern instruments.
THE SACKBUT
It should be blown by a skillful musician so that it may not imitate the sounds of the trumpet, but rather assimilate itself to
the sweetness of the human voice, lest it should emit a warlike rather than a peaceful sound. Mersenne
Many names have been given to the Renaissance trombone, including sackbut (literally “push-pull”), saqueboute, shakbusshes, seykebuds,
sakbuds, shakebuttes, shagbutts, and even shagbolts. It is uncertain when the sackbut first appeared, but by 1500 it is illustrated and
mentioned regularly. Detailed information about the instrument is given by Praetorius, who also pictures four principal sizes: the alto, tenor,
bass, and great bass. The tenor sackbut is the most useful size and it is this instrument
that has evolved into the modern tenor trombone. In the early 17th century the sackbut
was considered an instrument of the virtuoso performer.
For outdoor music the top part of a sackbut ensemble was usually taken by a shawm, and for
church music, by a cornett. The sackbut player should imitate the sound of the cornett, not
the trumpet. Thus today’s marching band trombone blasts have no place in the performance
of early music. In spite of the instrument’s wide range of dynamic and chromatic compass,
and its ability to be played “in tune” (by slide adjustment), the sackbut did not become a
regular member of the orchestra until the early 19th century. The sackbut differs from today’s trombone by its smaller bore, its bell (which is less
flared), and in the lack of a water key, slide lock, and tuning slide on the bell curve.
Since the human arm couldn’t reach the longest positions on the bass and great bass
sackbuts, they have an articulated handle on the slide to extend the reach.
THE SERPENT
At left: Engraving from Filippo Bonanni’s Gabinetto Armonico pieno d’Instromenti (Roma, 1723)
Edme Guillaume, a canon at Auxerre, probably invented the serpent in 1590. It was used in
sacred music to reinforce low men’s voices. When well played, it blends with voices and gives
a depth to the choral sound. During the next 200 years after its invention, it was used as a
military band instrument and later evolved into the ophecleide and tuba.
The serpent has six finger holes arranged in two sets of three. As with the cornetto and lizard,
it takes great skill and practice to get a good sound since every note depends on the player’s
correct embouchure and pitch accuracy. Only the fundamental has much clarity of sound.
Chromatics are obtained by half-opening the finger holes or by fork fingering. The conical tube
of the serpent is over six feet in length. Its construction is similar to that of the smaller cornetti
and it has an elbow shaped crook to bring the mouthpiece to the player’s lips. The wood
body is sometimes made from several fairly short pieces glued together and covered with
leather; other times, glued up from two complete halves of hollowed out blocks of wood. The
serpentine shape of the instrument brings the finger holes and mouthpiece within reach of the
player. Its range can extend to three octaves.
For more detailed information about Medieval and Renaissance instruments, please visit the Musica Antiqua Website:
www.MusicaAntiqua.org
MUSICA ANTIQUA - Carl Bleyle, Director - 205 Music Building - Iowa State University - Ames, Iowa 50011
Theater Etiquette
We are delighted to have you as our guest and want your experience to be an enjoyable one. Attending a live performance is very different
from
"LUEGRASS
*AZZ
watching television or going to the movies. You are not simply watching what is happening on the stage; you play an active role. The artists have
worked very hard to prepare this performance for you, so please remember the golden rule:7ORLD
Treat others the way you would like to be treated.
Here are a few guidelines to help you—and your fellow audience members—enjoy the performance:
Be Prepared
Be Aware
• Arrive early. Please plan to arrive at the theater at least
15 minutes before curtain time. Be generous in your
estimation of travel and parking time.
• Plan ahead to meet anyone in your group who travels
separately. Once inside the theater, ‘saving seats’ for
friends will only prove frustrating to all involved.
• Remember to turn off all beepers, cell phones, and watch
alarms before entering the theater (And then double
/RCHESTRA
check!) and leave all laser pointers, cameras,
etc. at home.
• It’s ok to talk quietly with those sitting next to you before
the performance; however, when the lights dim, it’s time
to be quiet and direct your attention to the stage.
• Practice the International Sign of “Quiet Please!” by
silently raising your finger to your lips to politely remind
a neighbor or friend. You communicate your wish for
quiet without adding to the distraction. Excessive noise or
motion can disturb not only other audience members, but
-USICAL
the&AMILY
performers as well.
• Take everything you brought with you when you leave.
Once the cast has taken their bows and the house lights
come up, check under your seat for any items (coats,
backpacks, etc) you might have placed there.
Be Courteous
• Walk, don’t run, when entering or leaving the theater.
The term “break a leg” means good luck to the performers
not the audience!
• Do not take food or drink into the theater, and please –
NO GUM!
• Please take children out of the theater if they become
restless and disrupt other's ability to listen.
• Actors love to hear applause—it shows how much you
enjoyed the performance. If you like something,
applaud– if not, don’t. It’s rude to boo or whistle.
Be Open
• A good audience member is
open to new sights and sounds.
Enjoy!
4HEATER
Getting to Ames
$ANCE
Ontario St.
13th Street
Blvd
Hilton
Coliseum
Stephens
Auditorium
24th Street
.
State St.
S. Dakota Ave.
Beach
Mortensen Rd.
University Blvd.
Center Drive
Iowa
State
Center
Univ
ersity Blvd.
Iowa State
University
Lincoln Way
13th Street
Duff Ave.
Scheman
Building
Dayton Ave.
Lincoln Way
y
Universit
Beach Ave.
Fisher
Theater
Grand Ave.
Stephens Auditorium is part of the Iowa State Center located at the corner of University Boulevard
(formerly Elwood Drive) and Lincoln Way in Ames, Iowa. Plentiful parking is available on all
sides of the building. Please follow traffic directors’ instructions if you are asked to park
in a specific location. Handicapped-accessible and limited-mobility
parking is available on the west side of the auditorium.
Lincoln Way