Instrumental Music at the Court of Maximilian I
While the personnel of Maximilian’s instrumental music can be relatively easily identified through archival records and documents, it is much more challenging to identify or even grasp the music played by these musicians. This is primarily because instrumental music at that time was rarely recorded and was essentially a non-written practice. In this sense, the musicians did not “improvise,” but rather they played “by heart,” so to speak, either based on oral tradition or as ad hoc creations.[32] Written records were mainly typical for vocal music – accordingly, in the Triumphzug, only the carriage of the “Musica Canterey” shows a music stand, while all other musicians perform without musical notation. Specific writings for instrumental music, known as tablatures, existed at the beginning of the sixteenth century for keyboard instruments and lutes. Indeed, music by Maximilian’s musicians is preserved in both notations: by Paul Hofhaimer and Adolf Blindhamer (see the chapter “Lute Intabulations by Adolf Blindhamer”). Further sources of instrumental music can be identified from the title page of a songbook printed in four partbooks (Seventy-Five Beautiful Songs, Cologne: Arnt von Aich, 1514-1515): “In dissem buechlyn fynt man .Lxxv. hübscher lieder myt Discant. Alt. Bas. vnd Tenor. lustick zů syngen. Auch etlich zů fleiten / schwegelen / vnd anderen Musicalisch Instrumenten artlichen zů gebrauchen” (In this book one finds seventy-five beautiful songs with Discant, Altus, Bass and Tenor, pleasant to sing. Also some to play on flutes, shawms, and other musical instruments).[33] Accordingly, the songs, for which the lyrics are found separately in the tenor partbook, can also be performed instrumentally. Aich’s book is a reprint of at least two books printed by the Schöffer workshop, containing repertoire from Maximilian’s circle.[34] Therefore, the two Augsburg song prints “Aus sonderer künstlicher Art” (of special artistic kind) (» 1512) and “[68 Songs]” (» 1513), published by Erhart Oeglin, can also be claimed for Maximilian’s instrumental music, although it must be noted that this is clearly vocal music that could also be performed instrumentally.
This looks somewhat different in the case of a manuscript source for which a loose connection to the repertoire of Maximilian’s musicians is also suspected: the “Augsburger Liederbuch” (» D-As Cod. 2o142a), a music manuscript created between 1505 and 1515, containing a mixed content of songs, chansons, and motets (including works by Josquin Desprez, Jacob Obrecht, Heinrich Isaac, Alexander Agricola, and Ludwig Senfl (» G. Kap. Senfls musikgeschichtliche Bedeutung) as well as some dance pieces.[35] These mostly untitled pieces can be identified as Italian dances, as brought back by musicians like Schubinger from their service in Italy. However, the written-down music only provides a rough idea of its captivating performance practice, as seen in a letter from Maximilian in 1479 from the Netherlands, stating that his pipers “almost played him to death three or four times.”[36]
[32] See Welker 1992, 189–194.
[33] Aich 1515, title page of the tenor partbook; for dating, see Schwindt 2008, 117 ff.
[34] See Bernoulli/Moser 1930, v–vii; McDonald/Raninen 2018.
[35] See Brinzing 1998, 137–154; Filocamo 2009.
[1] For information on the Triumphzug, its different versions, and its complex history, see Appuhn 1979 and Michel/Sternath 2012; on its significance for Maximilian, see Müller 1982; on the relationship between depiction and reality, see Polk 1992; The quotation comes from the earliest surviving formulation of the iconographic program of the Triumphzug in 1512 in » A-Wn Cod. 2835, fol. 3v.
[2] Koczirz 1930/31, 531 f.
[4] Nedden 1932/33, 27 (quotation from the Augsburg Baumeisterbücher of 1491, the council’s account books for income and expenses).
[5] See Simonsfeld 1895, 267 f.
[6] See Strohm 2009, 98.
[7] Quoted in Waldner 1897/98, 2.
[8] Treitzsaurwein 1775, 78.
[9] See Schwindt 2012.
[10] She received 50 guilders “zu Irer vnderhaltung vnd Zerung” (for her maintenance and living) in June 1520 when the court chapel was dissolved after Maximilian’s death; Koczirz 1930/31, 535.
[11] Such as “Hannsen pfeiffer vnnd matheusen Trumelschlacher”, who were expressly paid for their services “bei Tanz” at the 1491 carnival; Waldner, 1897/98, 52.
[12] Appuhn 1979, 172 f.
[13] For a compilation of music-related illustrations, see Henning 1987, 69–94
[15] See Gombosi 1932/33; Heinzer 1999, 92 ff.
[16] Polk 1992, 86 (with references from Augsburg archives).
[17] See Kirnbauer 2005.
[18] See Kirnbauer 2003, 243–248 (including the following).
[20] According to payments in the Augsburg (D-As) Baumeisterbuch 103 (1509), fol. 24v, and 104 (1510), fol. 28; kindly communicated by Keith Polk.
[21] See Jahn 1925, 10 ff., and Kirnbauer 2000, 25 ff.
[22] Kirnbauer 1992, 131.
[23] Nedden 1932/33, 31.
[24] See Polk 1989a; Polk 1989b.
[25] Hintermaier 1993, 38.
[26] See the letter from Paul Hofhaimer to Joachim Vadian on May 14, 1524; Moser 1966, 56.
[29] Nowak 1932, 84.
[30] Praetorius 1619, 148.
[31] So the wording in the formulation of the iconographic program in » A-Wn Ms. 2835, fol. 8v.
[32] See Welker 1992, 189–194.
[33] Aich 1515, title page of the tenor partbook; for dating, see Schwindt 2008, 117 ff.
[34] See Bernoulli/Moser 1930, v–vii; McDonald/Raninen 2018.
[35] See Brinzing 1998, 137–154; Filocamo 2009.
[37] » A-Wn, Mus. Hs. 41950; facsimile and description in Kirnbauer 2003. For lute tablatures of the next generation from the southern German-speaking area, see » H. Lautenisten und Lautenspiel (Kateryna Schöning).
[38] Gerle 1533, fol. IIv.
[39] See Moser 1966, 26 and 182, footnote 35.
[40] See Moser 1966, 137–140; Radulescu 1978, 66 f.; see also » C. Orgeln und Orgelmusik.
Recommended Citation:
Martin Kirnbauer: “Instrumentalkünstler am Hof Maximilians I.”, in: Musikleben des Spätmittelalters in der Region Österreich <https://musical-life.net/essays/instrumentalkunstler-am-hof-maximilians-i> (2016).