The Instruments

The Recorder, a fipple flute much like a penny whistle, was popular from the 15th Century through the first quarter of the 18th Century. It was and still is played most commonly with other recorders of varying sizes. The sizes most commonly played today are the soprano (descant), alto (treble), tenor, bass, and great bass. The alto member of the family lasted the longest and was specified by composers as late as Handel. The great popularity of the instrument in modern times is due to the efforts of Arnold Dolmetsch who was a musicologist and instrument maker in England in the first half of the 20th Century.

The Lute, characterized by its pear shaped body and short neck, can be traced in Egypt to the Third Century B.C. The immediate ancestor of the classical European lute is the Arabian 'ud or al'ud. The lute occupies a most important position in the history of instrumental music. It is one of the first instruments for which we find any large quantity of written music. Its repertoire was second only to that of the organ and harpsichord during the 16th. Century. By the 19th. Century the lute had lost much of its popularity, due in part to the rise of the guitar, which was more at ease with the demands of the then new classical music. During modern times the lute has enjoyed a revival and has become regarded as the instrument of record for recreating Medieval and Renaissance music. The Theorbo is the base member of the lute family. It is constructed similarly to the lute, but plays at a lower pitch. The theorbo has strings that are fingered like the lute, and also has unfingered bass strings that are supported on a very long neck that can be anywhere from six to nine feet long.

The Viol, a bowed instrument with frets, literally a bowed lute, is usually played held downward in the lap or between the legs (hence the Italian name "Viola da Gamba" or leg viol.) It appeared in Europe towards the end of the 15th. Century and became one of the most popular of all Renaissance and Baroque instruments. It was made in many different sizes including the pardessus (high treble), treble, alto, small tenor, tenor, bass, and violone (contrabass.) The treble, tenor, and bass are the regular members of the viol consort. The contrabass, somewhat altered and better know as the double bass, is still used in the orchestra and in jazz and folk music.

The Psalteries trace their origins back as far as the Psalms of David. There are references in the Bible to the harp and pslater. It is believed that the Psalms were accompanied on the psaltery. In various shapes, it is depicted in early paintings and icons, very often shown being played by angels or cherubs. It survives today as a folk instrument in many parts of the world. The method of playing varies from plucking and bowing to hammering with small wooden or wool-wound mallets. Two common variations used today are the Autoharp and the Hammered Dulcimer.

The Crumhorn (Ger.: Krummhorn), the name meaning "curved horn," is a hook-shaped double reed instrument with a wind-cap covering the reed. It was popular mainly in Germany, Italy, and the Low Countries from the middle of the 15th. Century to the middle of the 17th. Century. The instrument is blown fairly strongly, maintaining constant pressure. The strong nasal sound cannot be varied in loudness, making a choir of crumhorns sound like a reed organ. Crumhorns were often used in music for banquets, weddings, dances, and other festive occasions. Pipe organs often include a crumhorn stop, creating a sound resembling that of the instrument. Like most Renaissance instruments, crumhorns were made in sizes from sopranino to great bass.

The Cornemuse is a straight wind-cap instrument of the 16th. to early 17th. Centuries. The use of the word "conamusa" in some languages to mean bagpipe suggests that the instrument may have been developed from a bagpipe chanter. These instruments, also made in different sizes, sound like crumhorns except that they are quieter and gentler.

The Gemshorn, from the German "Gemse" or "chamoix," is a medieval folk recorder, made from the horn of a cow, ox, or goat, with the apex intact and the wide end covered by a wooden plug with a blowing hole close to the edge. Close to this hole, a recorder-like window is cut in the horn, with finger holes cut further down. The instrument resembles an ocarina in its sweet, mellow sound, and in its way of producing sound, the notes depending on the sum of the area of the holes uncovered, although with gemshorns fingerholes are designed to be uncovered in direct sequence. From about 1450, organ builders imitated the characteristic ocarina-like quality of the gemshorn in the flute organ stop which bears its name. Gemshorns are made in four sizes, soprano, alto, tenor, and bass.

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