![]() Musician on the left: The bagpipe was a very popular
instrument in the Middle Ages but by the 16th c. it was
considered worthy only of shepherds and farmers. In the
17th and 18th c. it was again a popular and accepted
instrument. Its typical sound is created by the kind of
pipes it uses, as well as a drone (i.e. several pipes on
one unchanging tone that is constantly played under the
actual melody). Another part of its typical sound stems
from the fact that the air that plays the pipes is
provided mechanically, i.e. not directly from the player
but by a windbag, so that the player cannot influence the
tone. This means that he usually plays a long, richly
embellished series of melodies without phrasing.
(Musical
example: O du lieber Augustin). Musician on
the right: The hurdy-gurdy also has a drone but it is a
string instrument whose strings are played by a wheel,
which is turned by the player via a handle on the outside
of the instrument. The player uses little wooden keys
which are connected to the top of the instrument to play
the strings in a certain "fingering" and thus create a
melody. (Musical
Example: Theme from J. Haydn's Londoner
D-Dur Symphonie, as Oj, Jelena a folk melody
in Burgenland). The hurdy-gurdy was a respected
instrument in churches and monasteries in the 12th to
14th c, and was also popular with travelling musicians.
It became the instrument of beggars and blind people
because it was easy to play, helping it to survive over
the centuries. Both of these instruments were the
quintessence of peasant music in the Baroque period (in
the 19th c, the term used was Folkmusic ). The
illustration shows a fresco (ca 1680) in Söding
castle (Styria). (E. Stadler)
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