Medieval flutes

[GreenWood]

This is an interesting presentation by Norbert Rodenkirchen on medieval flutes


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=i9n-fWehnoY


and as he explains there is a space of several hundred years before the 15th century which is largely undocumented in terms of flute instruments or playing. I agree with him that this is because historical records of all kinds are sparse for that time, and also agree that what he calls a "generic" kind of medieval flute was surely played across the continent. I am not sure how the design of the flute he plays has been reconstructed... possibly from fragments and to fit with known musical composition of the day. No intact wooden flutes exist from that period, I think Boaz Berney found a later large bore flute in a museum with appropriate tuning and copied from that but Jeff Barbe, the maker of Norbert's flute, doesn't provide detail though those offered seem to be cane or elderberry (I think)

https://www.jeff-barbe.fr/flute-traversiere.php

I expect his flutes are as said, large bore and period specific tuning, though I also imagine many folk flutes of the period were very improvised. The sort of music playable on this kind of flute....

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=caB0DaljOEk

That tune from around 1300 is apparently from a ruler of a previous kingdom in north of europe. I expect that in Ireland a similar kind of flute was being used during this time also... by a few available records of exports, sheep and so a pastoral way of life must have been prominent in medieval Ireland.

Well, am just trying piece together what little is known from that time in history...

[GreenWood]

This page gives a brief account of medieval trade in Ireland

http://what-when-how.com/medieval-irela ... l-ireland/

both to help picture the way of life during those times as well to demonstrate that there was a fair amount of communication with abroad.

On a similar note, I came across a 1960 study of Portuguese musical instruments by a well known researcher. That ended up with a book full of photographs of those collected during the study. That is not available online, but there is a text

http://alfarrabio.di.uminho.pt/cancione ... texto.html

which describes the initial attempt at a survey, with 3700 questionaires sent to reputable people, and 1500 replies to those. Ernesto de Veiga Oliveira, the author, says of the result

"...com essa metodologia, o panorama músico-instrumental do País, além de viciado por informações descriminadas, apresentava-se como uma floresta profusa e desordenada: por toda a parte se encontravam praticamente todas as espécies de instrumentos"

I.E. that this method of study was not only distorted by favouritism but presented a profuse and disordered forest where everywhere (in the country) just about every kind of instrument could be found.

That includes flute. The implication being maybe that folk instruments of all kinds existed widely and generally out of view, probably throughout history.

So his subsequent study involved travelling, and collecting instruments, as well as recording their music. The above site does not seem to link right to the recordings, but they are available here. There are three with flute [..actually more, because I saw "transverse flute" in the text and searched using that phrase, but other "flutes" are transverse also...] and others with pipes and so on, more or less random examples given below

https://web.archive.org/web/20060129015 ... noevo.html

Adufe (square drum) and song
https://web.archive.org/web/20051025222 ... evo181.mp3

Flute (many of these are local players that keep a tradition but aren't performance orientated and have probably never played on demand before)

https://web.archive.org/web/20051111220 ... evo021.mp3

Viola (guitar type)


https://web.archive.org/web/20051025212 ... evo006.mp3

Gaita de folhes (pipes) 20 seconds to start

https://web.archive.org/web/20051025212 ... evo048.mp3



And then I will jump across to Spain, in north eastern Zaragoza an 11th century bone flute [whistle probably] fragment was found. At the bottom of the page is a video of an existing maker of dulzaina (reed) in the same manner. He has a strong accent and it was hard for me to understand exactly what he was saying on how he learned, but if I have it right it was something they learned from each other in their youth, i.e. an unbroken tradition or one not derived from modern re-enactment etc.

https://zaragozamuseos.home.blog/2020/0 ... musulmana/


To round up my meandering around the web the last week or so, and I know that sort of took me away from the original theme (if there was one) is a question. Some must be aware of the top left three flutes...

Translated

https://www-musikwissenschaft-uni--wuer ... r_hl=pt-PT

Original

https://www.musikwissenschaft.uni-wuerz ... 5-travers/

... and I think I have seen their picture elsewhere at some point, but what are they ? The text just says unmarked maker, suggests similarity to plate IX Syntagma Pretorius, and says from the collection of Thomas Loelgen , a search for whom only seems to present a traveller photographer mid last century (including a visit to Constantinople) as a feasible character.

Are they some pre-baroque antiquity which also had conical bore, some tradition in Turkey, a "distinct" method of copying Baroque flutes, or whatever else ?

Puzzled.

[rykirk]

Rodenkirchen is a great performer. Heads up tho that a lot of his work is highly speculative and he has some interpretive ideas that run a bit counter to mainstream scholarship on the subject. Mainly he adopts a highly meditative and improvisational style and has interpreted what many scholars view as dance forms as much slower listening pieces.

Basically the surviving notation from this era is very simple and lacking in detail and we're not exactly sure how this stuff was performed. And playing what we have note for note would be very short and simple, so performers like this tend to extrapolate quite a bit. Some of these multi minute free flowing meditative pieces he plays are actually just based on a very short strain or two of melody from something that was originally a dance or chant. Not to say there's anything wrong with his performance. But just be aware it's highly speculative.

[GreenWood]

I agree with you rykirk on the interpretation of the music, for example one tune that comes to mind starts with a sort of flare that is very much modern style of playing. I could not say flute was not played that way also in medieval times mind you, just that it cannot be assumed as being as played in the day. Still, I am able to find in the basic melodies something that I am able to relate to that is outside of all of that, not that I would be able to describe what that was.