Page:A Dictionary of Music and Musicians vol 4.djvu/480

464 Europe in the Middle Ages, that it is almost impossible to sketch the one without touching upon the other. Before the 12th century music of a popular kind was almost entirely in the hands of the wandering or 'roving' musicians, who, associated with actors, acrobats, loose women, etc., led an unsettled life. That their free and lawless existence offered great temptations to those of an unstable character may be inferred from the fact that their numbers increased so much that severe imperial and provincial edicts were enacted for their repression. 'Roving men' were considered 'shadows,' and as such out of the pale of law; they could not inherit landed property, recover debts, nor partake of any Christian sacrament.

Yet by the agency of these wandering vagabonds most of the ancient tunes or songs that we have were preserved. If a new melody grew up like a wild-flower, these fifers, fiddlers, or minstrels took it up and made it known far and wide. Although a social outcast, it was no breach of etiquette to allow the musician in the houses of high or low degree, and learn from him the last ballad or the newest dance-tune. On all great occasions, fêtes or church festivals, large numbers of them flocked together for the exercise of their merry calling. But their associating together as a 'band' was a matter of mere momentary convenience, and their performances only consisted of playing the melodies of songs, vocal dance tunes, and marches. Bagpipes being favourite instruments in these bands, we can form an idea of the quality of the 'music.' Trumpets and kettle-drums were strictly forbidden to ordinary minstrels, being reserved for the exclusive use of princes and men of high rank.

These instruments predominated in the bands which officially performed on state occasions, or at royal banquets. It is said that King Henry VIII's band consisted of fourteen trumpets, ten trombones, and four drums, in conjunction with two viols, three rebecs, one bagpipe, and four tambourines. Queen Elizabeth's band consisted (1587), beside a small number of other instruments, of ten trumpets and six trombones. The Elector of Saxony had in 1680 twenty court-trumpeters and three kettledrums, with apprentices trained for the performance of each instrument. Other courts had their trumpeter-corps, and their respective numbers were considered an indication of the importance, wealth, or power of the court. In the German Empire they formed the guild of 'Royal Trumpeters and Army Kettle-drummers,' which enjoyed many privileges and were under the special protection and jurisdiction of the Grand Marshal of the Empire, the Elector of Saxony. No one could be admitted to this corporation without having previously served an apprenticeship of several years. There is no doubt that this corporation exercised a very beneficial effect upon the artistic education of its members. The following example of a trumpet part, from Bach's Christmas Oratorio, proves what the instruments and players of those times were capable of doing, and we must remember that Bach did not write for artistes of a European celebrity, but for simple members of the town-band of Leipzig:—

[App. p.817 "fourth stave of musical example, in the second bar a group of descending notes F, E, D, is to be inserted between the first and second groups of semiquavers and demisemiquavers, in order to complete the bar."]

The style of trumpet-music, due in a certain degree to the limits of the instrument, preserved its individuality down to our time; and many a phrase in the great works of Bach, Handel, and others, may have been played as a 'flourish' at a royal banquet.

But with regard to the roving musicians:—As early as the 13th century those 'pipers' who were settled in towns, and who felt the ignominious position of being classed with the wandering vagabonds, combined and formed 'Innungen,' or corporations for their mutual protection, in Germany, France, and England. The first of these, the 'Brotherhood of St. Nicolai,' was instituted at Vienna, 1288, and elected as 'protector' Count Peter von Ebersdorff, a high Imperial official. He organised a 'Court of Musicians,' obtained an Imperial charter for its perpetuation, elaborated a set of laws for the guidance of the members, and presided over it for twenty-two years. In Paris a 'King of Minstrels' was appointed and statutes enacted for the incorporation of the 'Brotherhood of St. Julian,' 1321. [See, vol. iii. pp. 145–7.] In England the appointment of 'Patron' of minstrels owed its origin to a curious circumstance. Randal, Earl of Chester, being suddenly besieged, 1212, in Rhydland Castle by the Welsh at the time of Chester fair, Robert de Lacy, constable of Chester, assembled the pipers and minstrels, who had flocked to the fair in great numbers, and marching at their