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Pipers and Drummers

Martin Kirnbauer

In the representative arrangement of the Triumphzug, the procession begins with “pipers and drummers,” among whom “Annthonj von Dornstet” is prominently mentioned in the written program.[12] Besides the military function of this ensemble, in combat and providing marching signals, the accompanying verses also mention the piper’s role in providing “kurtzweyl” (entertainment). This primarily refers to playing for dances at the court, as seen in numerous images in Freydal, another book project by Maximilian I with an autobiographical account of his journey to marry Mary of Burgundy.[13] A good impression of the importance of these musicians to Maximilian is given by a letter from 1495, in which he urgently requests the release of musicians detained in Worms due to unpaid debts and their immediate dispatch to Milan, “as we dance here constantly without a piper and on one chopine shoe.”[14]

[12] Appuhn 1979, 172 f.

[13] For a compilation of music-related illustrations, see Henning 1987, 69–94

[14] Senn 1954, 24.