Flutes, Recorders and Harps in Europe During the Middle Ages and Early Renaissance

Musicians of the Middle Ages were from the lower class of society. Many of the musicians practiced as traveling or resident minstrels; others served as jongleurs, acrobats and animal trainers in addition to their musical responsibilities as entertainers. The troubadours and trouvères in France were the only group of medieval entertainer/musicians to attain aristocratic status. "The historical saga of the minstrel gave way to the romance of the troubadour . . . The romances, like the earlier sagas, were chanted and sung" (Montagu 22). Although it is known that instruments served as accompaniment to these songs, little is known about how instrumental accompaniment was used in the early Middle Ages. During the early portion of this period, instruments were imported from non-European sources, but instruments of the later Middle Ages became distinctly European. Three important instruments of the Medieval era that underwent such an evolution were the harp, flute and recorder.

Unlike most instruments, harps were used throughout the medieval period and into the Renaissance. Few extant medieval harps exist; the oldest is from the fourteenth century. Therefore, most of the information about these instruments comes from artwork. "Most of the early medieval carvings of harp-like instruments are found in Ireland" (Rensch 36), and most of these carvings depicting David playing the harp are found in churches or monasteries. Through studying Christian iconography of this period, Scholars have gathered large amounts of information about harps. The earliest European depictions of harps and harpists are from Italian vases.

Early harps could only play in one key at a time; they had seven strings in each octave and were tuned diatonically. The harp was used to accompany the chanting of lays and sagas. In twelfth century England, art portrays a triangular harp with a soundbox (a box-shaped object that amplifies the harp sound). The triangular shape was a purely European adaptation and is a distinguishing feature of the modern harp. It is unknown whether the Irish, English or Scandinavian people developed this type of harp. Artwork of the Portico de la Gloria on the route of pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela depicts an Elder playing a frame harp. This artwork is interesting because open harps were played up until the twelfth century, when the frame harp emerged. During the middle to late thirteenth century, a new harp developed. It was much heavier than earlier harps "with a massive sound box, increasing greatly in width towards the bass, with a strongly arched neck and a heavily curved fore-pillar" (Montagu 34). Gut and brass strings were common, and the strings were plucked with the finger nails. Tuning pegs were made of bone, wood or metal.

The number of strings on harps in the Middle Ages varied drastically from as few as nine up to twenty-four. Slight variations in harp shape and number of strings occur from region to region. In general,

"[t]he medieval harp . . . was a small instrument, ranging in height from two feet to four feet. It was essentially a portable instrument used by the traveling entertainer. It had a single row of strings tuned to the diatonic scale, and it was used to provide a simple accompaniment to traditional songs or to play uncomplicated solos."(Gammond 15)

The flute was another instrument used during the Middle Ages. Scholars do not know much about the standard sizes, tuning, or repertoire of the medieval flute. Most of the evidence of the flute's existence comes from pictures. During the latter part of the medieval era, "half the time when they said 'flute' they meant 'recorder'" (Galway 8). It is believed that flutes were used in the music of Guillaume de Mauchaut in the fourteenth century. Scholars do not believe flutes were used in polyphony until about 1480.

Panpipes, "either a series of cane tubes held in a wooden case or a series of bores drilled side by side into one piece of wood" (Montagu 17), and open-ended flutes with finger holes were common in the Middle Ages. The open-ended flutes usually had three to five finger holes and were quite short instruments. They were played in the same way a recorder is played. Most of the open-ended flutes were composed of wood, reed or bone from deer or sheep. The transverse flute was used less often during the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance. It had six finger holes and an embouchure hole near the closed end of the instrument.

Multiple duct flutes played like a recorder were not uncommon either. These types of flutes usually contained two or three ducts. The most common duct flute was the tabor pipe with three finger holes. The flute was played with one hand, and a drum was played with the other. Of the three finger holes, two were placed on the front and one on the back for the thumb. The two frontal finger holes were placed near the end of the tube so that the flute could play all the notes of the diatonic scale plus a couple of chromatic notes.

The recorder was a later addition to the woodwind family. Recorders probably developed around the fourteenth century in Northern Italy. It became an established instrument by the sixteenth century. The recorder is more of a Renaissance instrument than it is a medieval instrument. It was used in the sixteenth century by Henry VIII of England, who owned approximately 76 of them. In the Renaissance, recorders were used as part of an ensemble, not as solo instruments. The recorder has seven finger holes, "the lowest of which is duplicated so that it may be played by either the left or the right little finger, as the player prefers" (Montagu 73). The unused hole was plugged with a piece of wax. Recorders originally had a beaked mouthpiece, were straight instead of curved and had a bell-shaped end. They have a wide, almost cylindrical bore and an octave plus six range. Recorders usually came in cases of four, six, seven, eight or nine.

The first recorders were cut from a single piece of wood, but people soon discovered that the central bore of the recorder would be more effective if the instrument were cut in two pieces. The recorder gained wide popularity partly because it did not require a specific embouchure and partly because it had no complicated mechanisms to cause mechanical problems. It also produced a beautiful, calm, invariable sound. The invariability of the sound hindered the recorder from becoming a solo instrument.

Scholars have learned a lot about medieval instruments from artwork. Few extant harps, flutes or recorders exist from this time. Several instrument fragments have been discovered. Harps and flutes did not gain the wide popularity they now have during the Middle Ages, although many improvements were made to these instruments during this time. The recorder actually had a better acceptance during the Renaissance than it does now. Flutes and harps have become much more complicated instruments over the years, while the recorder has remained the same. Recorders are not used very much in modernity, but flutes and harps are standard orchestral and chamber instruments.

Works Cited

-Galway, James. Flute. New York. Schirmer Books. 1982.

-Gammond, Peter. Musical Instruments in Color. New York. Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc. 1976.

-Groves Dictionary of Musical Instruments

-Montagu, Jeremy. The World of Medieval and Renaissance Musical Instruments. Woodstock, New York. The Overlook Press. 1976.

-Rensch, Roslyn. The Harp: From Tara's Halls to the American Schools. New York. Philosophical Library, Inc. 1950.