Court Music and Representation

The wealth and extent of the musical representation apparatus of Emperor Maximilian I (1459–1519) is vividly illustrated in the woodcuts of the so-called Triumphzug. However, it should not be forgotten that this ambitious and costly visual project is not a realistic depiction of his court chapel but rather a highly idealized vision “for praise and eternal remembrance” of the reputation-conscious monarch.[1] In the assembled state, the image frieze, which is over 100 metres long, includes, in addition to the carriage with the actual court chapel (titled “Musica Canterey” with the chapel master Georg Slatkonia and singers), four other carriages with musicians, not to mention the considerable number of trumpeters and drummers, “Burgundian pipers” (“Burgundisch pfeyffer”) as well as pipers and drummers represented in the procession. The more modest historical reality of Maximilian’s musical apparatus is reflected in the account books, such as the inventory on the occasion of the dissolution of the court chapel in 1520 after Maximilian’s death: Here, there are a total of thirteen “trumpeters and drummers,” nineteen adult singers, about twenty boys as “descantists,” and one “organist” in the “chapel or cantorey”; among the other ranks, only one “violinist” is listed.[2] This discrepancy is explained by the different functions of the musicians: The singers were needed for worship services, while the trumpeters and drummers primarily served as a visual and acoustic heraldic sign and were considered the much-cited “honour and ornament,” an indispensable status symbol of the ruler.[3] The other musicians, on the other hand, primarily served the so-called “diversion” and were only indirectly representative, for example at imperial diets or as musical ambassadors, when they performed, dressed in the ruler’s livery, in imperial cities and at princely courts, for example as “two of His Majesty’s lutenists,” receiving substantial monetary gifts for their performances.[4] Venetian envoys who met Maximilian in Strasbourg in 1492 reported the honour they received through the visit of the royal musicians to their quarters: fourteen trumpeters with large drums appeared, as well as pipers, drummers, and lutenists. Additionally, three brothers with their father, who played a claviorganum (a keyboard instrument that combines organ and harpsichord), lute, and fiddle.[5] This artistic family enterprise is also explicitly described as belonging to the court, although they have not yet been documented archivally.

Primarily the representative function—more so than his own musical needs—explains Maximilian’s interest in associating outstanding instrumental musicians with his court. It is well known that music and musicians at a court were considered an important part of the ruler’s glory.[6] In this sense, reports of Maximilian’s special love for music can be understood as part of a ruler’s praise, as can be read in the biography of his humanistically trained personal physician Johannes Cuspinianus:
“Musices vero singularis amator, quod vel hinc maxime patet, quod nostra aetate musicorum principes omnes in omni genere musices omnibusque instrumentis in ejus curia veluti in fertilissimo agro succreverint, veluti fungi unâ pluviâ nascuntur”[7]
(“He was a unique lover of music, which is especially evident from the fact that all the great masters of music in our time in every genre and on all instruments flourished at his court, as if on the most fertile soil, just like mushrooms that shoot up after a single rain-shower.”)

The often-cited passage in the epic Weißkunig (The White [or Wise] King), an ambitious publication project comparable to the Triumphzug, is to be understood in a similar way. Here, it is reported how the young king, an idealized alter ego of Maximilian, establishes a chapel (“Canterey”), “with such a sweet singing, wonderful to hear from human voices, and such lovely harps, new instruments, and sweet string music, that he surpassed all kings, and none could compare to him. Such music he maintained continuously, as befits a great princely court.”[8] In the accompanying illustration, the Weißkunig can be seen amidst instrumental musicians, literally giving them the “beat” with a long staff (» Abb. Weißkunig Blatt 33).[9] Interpreted differently, the illustration shows that all music at the court traces back to and references its actual centre, the ruler.

Abb. Weißkunig Blatt 33

„Wie der jung weiß kunig die musica und saytenspil lernet erkennen“ (Weißkunig, Blatt 33). Holzschnitt von Hans Burgkmair, 1514–16. Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, A-Wn Cod. 3032.