Medieval Instrumentation: Without a Voice

I've always considered myself a musician, but the instruments I use (guitar and piano) are largely a mystery to me. I know some basics about how they work and how to maintain and care for them, but don't even think of asking me about the differences between individual designs or models. For me, the most interesting part of music has always been its composition and, as such, most of my musical experiments have been devoted to songwriting. Some of this prejudice may have crept into my blog entries as well since, to date, I haven't written any blog entries that discuss medieval instrumentation or instrumental notation. However, this is in large part due to the fact that there is very little evidence of how instruments were used in that era, with instrumental notation only being invented at the end of the period. We do know that instrumental accompaniment to vocal pieces was commonplace, particularly in secular music, but it was believed to be largely improvisational in nature.

Many of the basic types of instruments were already in use in the middle ages, including plucked (lute, harp, mandora, gittern, psaltery), bowed (fiddle, rebec, lyra), wind (shawm, cornett, recorder, pan flute), and percussion (tabor). Furthermore, organs were in extensive use in churches and were often extremely complex in design. Despite this panoply of available instrumentation, the lack of instrumental notation or a description of their use in performances leaves much to guesswork when reproducing medieval music. Many of the recordings I've reviewed have included instrumental accompaniment, but because we don't really know how these instruments were used, I've focused on the structure and feel of the vocal parts.

I'll continue in this vein in the short term -- devoted instrumental compositions don't appear until the middle of the Renaissance period. As a compromise, however, I've included the instrumentation in the headers of my past blog posts (at least, in those referring to specific recordings). If nothing else, it's worth revisiting these recordings to hear what the individual instruments sounded like and what means of expression were available to medieval composers. My prejudice need not be yours.

Music of the Troubadours: Troubadour Shmoubadour

Album: Music of the Troubadours
Year: 1100 - 1350

There is an endless debate among musicians, music theorists, and music historians about the value of authenticity in performances of old music. Is it best to perform the music as the composer originally envisioned it or should one include modern elements that will make it more palatable to the audiences of our time? This question has featured prominently in my Hopeless Journey, as I'm often forced to choose between renditions of Medieval music, each of which puts its own spin on old formula. Most such recordings will restrict themselves to instruments that were available at the time the music was written, but the performance itself is often improvisational, as is the chosen combination of instruments. Such is the case with Music of the Troubadours, a collection of old troubadour songs performed with everything from bagpipes to reed-flutes. Now you don't have to be a music historian to figure out that these performances are lacking in authenticity, but the real question is, does that matter? Can't we just enjoy the music for what it is?

No, I can't, and I think it's easy to see why -- these songs were written the way they were because of the limitations in accompaniment. How can we be expected to enjoy the lament of troubadour who has lost his castle when his poem is being drowned out by the buzzing and jangling of a cadre of overzealous 20th century musicians? It's true that my stated goal of immersing myself in ancient music is not necessarily shared by the average listener, but these "creative" additions may as well have included a computer-generated disco beat for all the good it did for the music.

I'm still determined to explore the music of the troubadours, but after listening to this recording a few times I decided that I'll have to look elsewhere. I found a more promising recording in Music of the Middle Ages, Vol. 1: Troubadour and Trouvere Songs and I'll post about it in the coming weeks.