Lifestyles and Status of Musicians in

England and France during the

Renaissance and Baroque Periods

by Sara Erbes

Fall, 1995

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Introduction

Erbes 1

The purpose of this paper is to describe and discuss

the status and employment practices of musicians in England

and France during the Renaissance and Baroque periods of

history. The paper is in four sections. Section 1 is a

description of the lives of French musicians in these

periods. Section 2 is about English musicians, and Section

3 is a comparison of the musicians 1 social status in the two

countries. Section 4 is an appendix with pictures of the

more obscure instruments mentioned within the paper just to

give an idea of what sort of instruments these early

musicians would have been performing with.

Little is known about the day-to-day lives of

musicians before the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, so

much of what is in this paper is conjecture taken from

sources that have established their theories on their own

conjecture. However, all of the theories within this paper

and within the sources I have drawn upon are quite logical

and fit with what little concrete evidence there is from

records of the periods.

I would also like to add that I have omitted all

mention of the opera in this paper. The creation of the art

of the opera in the beginning of the Baroque period resulted

in a whole new subset of musicians in both England and

France that would take years of research to be able to

understand and report upon. Therefore, I chose to

concentrate on musicians who did not work with the opera,

a l t h o u g h s o m e of t h e t y p e s of m u s i c i a n s m e n t i o n e d m a y h a v e

worked at one time or another in an opera.

Part 1

France

E r b e s 2

H e n d r i k W i l l e m van L o o n o n c e said that "the h i s t o r y of

the w o r l d is the r e c o r d of a man in q u e s t of his d a i l y bread

and b u t t e r . " * One could also say that the h i s t o r y of m u s i c is

the h i s t o r y of m u s i c i a n s in q u e s t of t h e i r daily bread and

b u t t e r ? in q u e s t of s t a t u s and w e a l t h w h i l e s i m u l t a n e o u s l y

q u e s t i n g for c r e a t i v e e x p r e s s i o n . The w a y s the m u s i c i a n s of

the past h a v e m a n a g e d to c o m b i n e t h e s e two d i s p a r a t e q u e s t s

are f a s c i n a t i n g e x a m p l e s of i n g e n u i t y and c r e a t i v i t y .

In the R e n a i s s a n c e and B a r o q u e e r a s , most m u s i c i a n s in

F r a n c e , i n c l u d i n g v o c a l i s t s , i n s t r u m e n t a l i s t s , and c o m p o s e r s ,

s o u g h t to s u p p o r t t h e m s e l v e s , and t h e i r f a m i l y m e m b e r s , by

w o r k i n g in one of five w a y s : as a c o u r t i n s t r u m e n t a l i s t ,

c h a p e l s i n g e r , m o n a s t i c m u s i c i a n , m e m b e r of a j a i s o n

( h o u s e h o l d ) , or t r a v e l l i n g m u s i c i a n . All of t h e s e

s i t u a t i o n s , i n c l u d i n g the l a s t , h a v e in c o m m o n a d e p e n d e n c e

on a s t a b l e p o s i t i o n w i t h i n the c o m p l e x h i e r a r c h i e s of the

c h u r c h , c o u r t , or h o u s e h o l d . P r o f e s s i o n a l m u s i c i a n s of t h e s e

two e r a s had to m a i n t a i n t h e m s e l v e s w i t h i n the c o m p l e x s o c i a l

s t r u c t u r e s of their t i m e .

M o s t p r o f e s s i o n a l m u s i c i a n s in the R e n a i s s a n c e w e r e

m a l e s i n g e r s . Boys from all c l a s s e s w e r e able to e n t e r

(choir s c h o o l s ) if they p a s s e d an a u d i t i o n , w e r e

in good h e a l t h , and could p r o v e t h e i r p a r e n t s w e r e m a r r i e d .

It was e x p e c t e d that s t u d e n t s in the JUa i t r i e w o u l d e v e n t u a l l y

b e c o m e c h u r c h m e n , s e r v e in a royal c h a p e l , or p e r f o r m d u t i e s

in both the c h u r c h and the c o u r t . A l t h o u g h it is true that

the s i n g e r s who r e c e i v e d p r o m o t i o n s w i t h i n the c h u r c h ranks

Erbes 3

were usually either middle class or higher, singers from the

lower classes were able to make a living because of their

training in the ma^t£i_se. Both kings and noblemen would

often pay for a child singer's education and care both as an

act of patronage of the arts and in the hopes of cultivating

talent for their courts.

Royalty would often take personal interest in the

musicians hired in their courts. For example, in 1517

Francis I had two boys kidnapped for him from the m£.itri_£e at

Rouen because the school would not let them go to work in the

royal court. Anne of Brittany bribed the authorities at

Chartres Cathedral in order to get a choirboy whose voice

she admired: she gave the cathedral a large bell in

exchange for the boy. Charles VIII took such an interest in

his court musicians that he wrote an "anxious" letter to

Piero de' Medici, in Florence,

entreating him to send back to him Agricola, his singer, who has left the royal chapel for Florence, along with a good lutenist... The king wants Agricola and the nameless lutenist to return and promises to treat them we 11.

This kind of personal attention from the aristocracy

went beyond mere interest in hiring procedures. The attention

extended to the buying of instruments for court and church

musicians (Charles VI bought a harp for a harpist in his

employ in 1413 and Louis XI gave an organ to Notre Dame

d'Embrun in 1474), and providing for their retirement.

Louis XII and Francis I named members of the Royal Chapel

who were eligible for retirement canons at Saint-Quentin as

Erbes 4

a reward for past services. Sometimes aristocratic interest

in the workings of the musical structure in the courts was

more political and personal in nature than musical.

For example, Francis I appointed Cardinal Francois of Tournon,

a friend and statesman, to the post of Maitre de Chapelle

(head of the Royal Chapel) although he was not a musician and

had no duties.

Chapel singers were generally highly respected and well

paid. They would travel with the head of whatever court

employed them, and follow the orders of the same man. They

were on the same social level as, and sometimes actually were,

well-to-do churchmen, were provided with substantial wages,

and were welcome in their employers' "intimate circle." In

addition to their singing duties, they would also act

as secretaries, librarians, almoners, or valets_de chambre

(personal servants) for their employer. The doubling of

duties occurred more often in aristocratic courts than in

the King's, but it was quite common throughout France.

Instrumentalists were divided into two groups. The

members of rou£ i^u e_d e_ l^a^ha mbr e were the soloists,

cornettists, fifers, and drummers. Their social position

was close to that of hononary domestics, slightly below the

chapel singers. The members of 5HS_i^ue_de_la_ecur ie were

the violinists, oboists, and sackbut players. They were

like a small band, and had a lower social position than

the chambre musicians. The difference between them is quite

evident in the names of the two groups. Chambre means room,

E r b e s 5

w h i l e e c u r i e m e a n s s t a b l e s . W h e n a c c o m p a n y i n g t h e i r e m p l o y e r

on his t r a v e l s , the e c u r i e m u s i c i a n s w o u l d not be

a c c o m m o d a t e d well and u s u a l l y had to t r a v e l by foot/ w h i l e the

c h a p e l and the c h a m b r e m u s i c i a n s w e r e w e l l a c c o m m o d a t e d and

had h o r s e s . The i n s t r u m e n t a l i s t s in b o t h g r o u p s w o u l d

s o m e t i m e s h a v e added d u t i e s as h e r a l d s , c u p b e a r e r s , w a i t e r s ,

or m e s s e n g e r s .

It is i m p o s s i b l e to look at c o m p o s e r s as a s e p a r a t e

c a t e g o r y of m u s i c i a n s b e c a u s e they w e r e a l w a y s p e r f o r m e r s

as well as c o m p o s e r s . In f a c t , it is i n t e r e s t i n g to note

that m u s i c i a n s w e r e u s u a l l y paid less for t h e i r t a l e n t as

c o m p o s e r s than for the b e a u t y or r a r i t y of t h e i r v o i c e s .

J o s q u i n Des Pres was paid only 5 d u c a t s a m o n t h by his p a t r o n

G a l e a z z o M a r i a S f o r z a , w h i l e his c o n t e m p o r a r y L ' A b b a t e , a

m u c h m o r e o b s c u r e m u s i c i a n to m o d e r n m i n d s , was paid 14 d u c a t s

a m o n t h , p r o b a b l y b e c a u s e he had a b e t t e r v o i c e than J o s q u i n .

J o h a n n e s O c k e g h e m was said to h a v e had a b e a u t i f u l b a s s v o i c e ,

w h i c h is one of the m a i n r e a s o n s he was l e a d e r of the

R o y a l C h a p e l u n d e r t h r e e k i n g s .

M u s i c i a n s who w o r k e d in n e i t h e r the c h u r c h nor the court

u s u a l l y c h o s e to b e c o m e part of a ma ijs on, e s p e c i a l l y d u r i n g the

B a r o q u e era. A m£.ison was a h o u s e h o l d h e a d e d by a man who was

" f a t h e r - m a s t e r " to all the m e m b e r s of the h o u s e and had such

c o n t r o l that he would " a s s i g n or 'give' his h o u s e h o l d

X

m e m b e r s to a n o t h e r p e r s o n . " The head of a m a i s o n w o u l d h i r e

m u s i c i a n s as a sort of s e r v a n t b o t h for t h e i r a r t i s t i c and

e n t e r t a i n m e n t v a l u e and b e c a u s e it was a m a t t e r of s t a t u s

Erbes 6

to have musicians. The greatest houses had permanent

musicians, the respectable houses would hire musicians for

many occasions, and all other houses were considered to be

inferior. The belief that having musicians in one's employ

was a social necessity to be among the highest ranking families

can actually be traced to the Middle Ages, where women were

advised in lessons such as those taught by Garin lo Brun in

t o "welcome troubadours and jongleurs with gifts

. .

so their praises will be spread abroad by the musicians."

The same sort of reasoning can be found behind the hiring of

musicians within the m a .i £ on .

The hierarchy of social status within the in a on

depended on the relative necessity of each job. In the

ma^i_£on of Cardinal Richelieu, for example, the musicians 1

status was ranked as the seventh most important job: below

the valets_de_chambre and above only the re_d_|_hotel

(who headed the administration of the household), the cooks,

the stableboys, and the pages. Not all houses had the same

social rankings, since the organization of status all

depended on the needs and preferences of the head of the

household.

An interesting fact is that in the ranking of salaries

in Cardinal Richelieu's household, musicians were second to

last. Only the cooks, who were considered menial labor, got

paid less than the musicians. The reasoning behind this is

that the musicians lacked the permanence of other servants. They often changed households and very rarely grew up in the

Erbes 7

house they were serving, as did many of the other servants.

Musicians in the mai^on did get some advantages, however.

Instruments were often bought by the mai^sson for the musicians

and were included in the regular expenses for furniture.

Only the greatest households had permanent musicians,

since they were considered a luxury rather than a necessity,

and most households relied on itinerant musicians for

entertainment. The image of the vagabond travelling

musician was a stereotype from the Middle Ages that still

lived on, and was another reason musicians were not paid a

great deal; the stereotype was not a respectable one.

Itinerant musicians would be hired by households for special

occasions such as marriages, baptisms, and the visits of

important personages. There is even a case where two Parisian

bourgeoisie hired a drummer to go with them on a pilgrimage to

announce their presence in all the towns and villages along

the way to Mont-Saint-Michel, although it was doubtful

anyone really cared about their arrival or their journey.

If a musician could not find work in a nia i_ s o n, the

court, or the church, he could try to get hired by a town or

municipality. Many towns had one trumpet player and three

to four minstrels on permanent hire to play for every public

or civic occasion. These instrumentalists would play for

processions, public proclamations, executions, public torture,

and any plays the town produced that required music. This sort

of job was particularly precarious because among the first

things to be cut from a budget when the town's economy was in

E r b e s 8

t r o u b l e w a s t h e p a i d p o s i t i o n f o r i n s t r u m e n t a l i s t s / e v e n

t h o u g h t h e y u s u a l l y h a d d u t i e s t h a t w e r e n o t m u s i c a l , s u c h

as s t a n d i n g g u a r d in a t o w e r or b e l f r y . If a t o w n d i d n o t

h a v e p e r m a n e n t m u s i c i a n s , t h e y w o u l d h i r e i t i n e r a n t

i n s t r u m e n t a l i s t s w h o w o u l d t r a v e l f r o m t o w n to t o w n l o o k i n g

for w o r k f r o m e i t h e r t h e t o w n i t s e l f or s o m e of t h e

w i t h i n t h e t o w n .

In t h e R e n a i s s a n c e and B a r o q u e e r a s in F r a n c e ,

m u s i c i a n s c o u l d f i n d w o r k in s e v e r a l p l a c e s , b u t all of t h e

j o b s d e p e n d e d on t h e g e n e r a l p r o s p e r i t y of t h e s t a t e , t h e

c o u r t s , t h e c h u r c h , t h e t o w n s h i p s , and t h e i n d i v i d u a l

h o u s e h o l d s . T h e j o b s a l s o d e p e n d e d on t h e w i l l i n g n e s s of

t h e m u s i c i a n s , or at l e a s t t h e i n s t r u m e n t a l i s t s , to p e r f o r m

n o n - m u s i c a l d u t i e s in a d d i t i o n to t h e i r p e r f o r m i n g d u t i e s .

S i n g e r s w e r e g e n e r a l l y a b l e to r e s t r i c t t h e i r a c t i v i t i e s to

m u s i c s i n c e t h e y w e r e c o n s i d e r e d to b e of h i g h e r s o c i a l

s t a t u s t h a n t h e i n s t r u m e n t a l i s t s . W h e t h e r i n s t r u m e n t a l i s t s

or s i n g e r s , t h o u g h , m u s i c i a n s in t h e s e p e r i o d s h a d t h e

a d v a n t a g e t h a t e m p l o y i n g m u s i c i a n s w a s a s y m b o l of h i g h

s o c i a l s t a t u s . T h e y a l s o h a d t h e a d v a n t a g e t h a t t h e r e w a s

a c o m m o n b e l i e f t h a t " s e r v i n g as t h e f o u n t a i n of k n o w l e d g e ,

m u s i c w i l l p u r g e t h e s o u l of d i s o r d e r , i n s t i l l v i r t u e and

m a n n e r s in t h e y o u t h , s o f t e n s p i r i t u a l e l a t i o n , e x h i l a r a t e

s p i r i t u a l d e p r e s s i o n , and ... ' d r i v e b a r b a r i s m f r o m G a u l . '

P e o p l e in F r a n c e w e r e w i l l i n g to p a y for a c o m m o d i t y t h a t

c o u l d do a l l of t h o s e t h i n g s , so m u s i c i a n s c o u l d s u p p o r t

t h e m s e l v e s t h r o u g h t h e i r m u s i c .

Part 2

England

Erbes 9

It has been said that "England has civilization but no

culture, 1,4>especi ally no musical culture. This belief has

been around almost as long as England has, but is not

exactly true. It is true that English music in the

Renaissance and Baroque periods is not as famous now as

the music of its contemporaries France and Italy,

but there was English music, and there were English

musicians. Musicians in England had a hard time making a

living, but they were able to do so, some of them quite

nicely. The most sought after positions in this period in

England were the ones in the King's Musick or the Chapel

Royal. Since there were limited positions available in the

court, most musicians were forced to work as waits, professional

freelance musicians, traveling minstrels, or church singers.

A few musicians were able to obtain a patron who was

willing to support them in return for entertainment.

England was a difficult country to live in as a musician,

but it did have a musical culture and respected some

musicians a great deal.

The most sought after positions for musicians in

England were in the royal court. King Henry VIII, Queen

Elizabeth I, and Kings James and Charles were the only great

patrons of English music in this period. They had the

resources to maintain large groups of accomplished musicians

and singers for their pleasure. The two groups established

by the court were the Chapel Royal and the King's Musick.

The King's Musick was a group of instrumentalists created

Erbes 10

by Henry VIII in the early sixteenth century. By 15 4 7, Henry

VIII had fifty-eight musicians in his employ/ including (with a

classification of instrumentalists by what they play): 8

viols , 7 sackbuts, 7 flutes, 2 lutes, 4 singers, 9

singing-men and choristers (choirmembers and boy singers), 1

virginal, 3 harps, 2 instrument makers, 1 song-pricker

(copyist), 1 bagpipe, 6 musicians, 8 minstrels, and 1 rebec.

(The distinction between minstrels and musicians had to do with

the type of musical performance they enacted and with

several other social connotations that will be discussed

later in this paper.) Queen Elizabeth generally kept thirty

musicians throughout her reign, James had around sixty-five,

and Charles had up to seventy-eight musicians. These

positions were avidly sought after for many reasons. Members

of the King's Musick were not only paid amazingly well for

musicians and treated with respect, but also could not be

pressed into any public service, paid no taxes, and couldn't

be arrested. Their duties included giving concerts, playing

at dinner, performing before and between acts of any plays

performed at court, providing music for dancing and masques,

and, for a select few, tutoring the royal family in music.

They received livery money and about forty-six pounds a year,

which is twice what any other musician ever received. Compare

this to the church choirmaster who was paid twenty-six pounds a

year both as his wages and as means to room and board eight boys

in his choir. Some members of the King's Musick were paid

even more if they filled several positions or if they found

E rbe s 11

special favor with the king or queen, Alfonso Fenabosco,

for example, filled four places? musician/ composer/ viol

player, and music instructor to the prince, and therefore

received four salaries. Members of the King's Musick were

the most prosperous musicians in England,

The other desirous positions for musicians who wanted to

have the security and respect of a job in the court were in

the Chapel Royal/ which was the king's (or queen's) personal

chapel choir. This choir was not considered to be a part of

the church at all because the king had complete power over

everything that happened within it. The Chapel Royal

consisted almost entirely of singers/ though there was an

organist and the King's Musick sometimes helped out at

special religious holidays. The Chapel was made up of

singing-men, chaplains/ and choristers/singing-boys. In the

middle of the 16th century there were, technically/ about 32

members of the Chapel Royal/ though some of those were not

in active service. In many cases, once a person became a

member of the Chapel he was a member for life; supported by

the court although no longer able to perform because of age

and infirmity. There were also honorary members who

received no wages, but were named as part of the Chapel in

return for some service they had rendered the Chapel. For

example, William Phelps became an honorary member, called a

"gentleman extraordinary," because he had helped a member of

the Chapel who had been robbed. He received the dignity of

being a member without the wages, and was allowed to perform

Erbes 12

with the group on special occasions. The Chapel Royal's

primary duty was to provide daily religious services for the

court, wherever the court was located at that time. The

Chapel was given a great deal of power. The master of the

boys, who trained the boy choir members, had a royal warrant

to seize boys from anywhere in England to bring them to

become a part of the Chapel Royal. To be one of the boys

who was "seized" was an honor and a way to be economically

set, possibly for life. Choir members were paid well, trained

well, given room, board, and livery, and were well respected.

And for boys, once their voices changed they sometimes

received a place in the chapel of some collegiate church,

and were promised the chance of a university education.

The stability of working for the court really had no

outside counterpart. The most stable job for non-court

musicians was that of the wait, but the pay was considerably

less, as was the respectability. Waits were originally

watchmen or sentinels who would play some type of horn as an

alarm or signal. By the end of the sixteenth century, waits

were municipal musicians who had traditional but relatively

unimportant guardian functions. The waits were the only

permanent secular musical organization and the waits in

London were the only organization in England regularly

giving public concerts. To be a wait in London was to hold

the most sought after position outside the court, but it was

a position nearly impossible to obtain since the largest

number of waits at one time on hire in London was eleven.

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Most average size towns employed three waits, large towns had

four, and the wealthiest and proudest towns had five. Most

waits played mainly the shawm, though in London the level of

musicianship was so high and varied that the city bought the

waits a set of sackbuts, recorders, viols, violins, lutes,

and a bassoon. The waits 1 main duties were to play for any

public occasion in the town, such as parades, festivals, and

inaugurations, and to walk around the town every night playing

in order both to entertain and to prevent robberies and watch

out for fires (this duty goes back to the origin of the town

waits). Another duty was to play for guild meetings in the

town and at the houses of the town's sheriff and mayor. There

were three main reasons to become a wait. The first was to have

a steady job, which was very hard to get as a musician. The

second was for the protected status that let a wait travel about

the country freely without worrying about being arrested for

vagabondage. The third was that waits often had the sole right

to perform music for pay in their particular town. This cut

down outside competition for the waits and helped the towns by

discouraging vagabond minstrels from trying to get work in the

town. Waits were usually paid fairly low set wages by their

town, but they received a livery allowance and were able to

get a lot of extra money by playing for private functions and

by earning rewards (we would call them tips) at special public

occasions. Money earned in private employment offset the

disadvantages of low wages, especially in those towns where

the waits were the only performers allowed to play for pay.

E rbe s 14

In some of the poorer towns, waits weren't even paid wages

by the town other than the livery allowance/ but lived completely

off of rewards and private employment. To be a wait was to be

respectable and reasonably secure at a lower middle class level.

Another advantage the waits had over other musicians is

that they were able to train two apprentices rather than the

one apprentice allowed to all other professional musicians

by the musicians' guild. The Company of Musicians, as the

guild was called, regulated all aspects of a professional

musician's life and livelihood, especially in London. The

Company's stated purpose was "to preserve order among all

persons performing music for gain," r and to do everything

possible to make sure music didn't increase disorder and

immorality among the general public. (There was a common

belief in England that music had the power to lead to

immoral behavior in those who played and listened to it).

The Company performed many other vital services for its

members beyond its stated purpose. The Company took

half of its dues to support the poorest members/ and used

the rest to organize and pay its officers. It also got the

city of London, for example, to make it illegal for anyone

who was not a member of the guild to perform on the most

profitable occasions, which cut out a great deal of

competition (although members of the Royal Chapel, the

King's Musick, and the city's waits were still allowed to

perform since they outranked the professionals). Members

of the Company supported themselves by playing in private

Erbes 15

houses at feasts, in churches on religious holidays and

weddings, at banquets for other guilds, and in the street or

in taverns (as a last resort for the truly poor musicians).

The Company of Musicians was one of the smallest and poorest

guilds, but it was fairly respectable and the musicians

within it were able to support themselves through their

performances. The Company organized the only type of

professional secular musical training; the apprenticeship.

Apprentices had to be free-born, couldn't get paid by their

masters, had to give all outside earnings to their masters,

could not marry, and had to be apprentices for seven years

before becoming members of the professional guild and able

to work independently. They were taught mostly practical

music, though some were also educated in music theory and

composition. Apprentices were tested by the guild before

they were allowed to perform in public even under their master's

supervision, and the master would be fined heavily if the

apprentice was caught playing in public without the guild's

permission. Because apprentices were trained to become

professionals, the guild limited how many apprentices could be

trained in order to try to control the future competition for

jobs. A master could usually teach only one apprentice, but

the waits were allowed to train two. Professional musicians

did not receive a great deal of honor or live prosperously,

but they were considered to be respectable professionals on

the level of the very bottom of the middle class.

The waits and court musicians were the main competition

E r b e s 16

for p r o f e s s i o n a l m u s i c i a n s , but a n o t h e r t y p e of c o m p e t i t i o n

c a m e from t r a v e l i n g m i n s t r e l s and m u s i c i a n s who w e r e s u p p o r t e d

by p a t r o n s . T r a v e l i n g m i n s t r e l s had a very d i f f i c u l t t i m e .

The M i d d l e A g e s a t t i t u d e of r e s p e c t and a f f e c t i o n for the

w a n d e r i n g m i n s t r e l w e a k e n e d in the f o u r t e e n t h c e n t u r y w h e n

labor p r o b l e m s c a u s e d the g o v e r n i n g c l a s s to w o r r y a b o u t

v a g a b o n d s . At that time laws b e g a n to be p a s s e d p u n i s h i n g

a n y o n e w i t h o u t a job for m o r e than t h r e e days at a t i m e , and

m i n s t r e l s w e r e s o m e t i m e s i n c l u d e d in that c a t e g o r y ( t h o u g h

s o m e t i m e s the j u s t i c e s of the p e a c e w o u l d not p u n i s h t h e m ) .

If t h e s e m i n s t r e l s w e r e p u n i s h e d , they w o u l d , d e p e n d i n g on

the time p e r i o d , be b r a n d e d w i t h a 11V" , e n s l a v e d for two y e a r s ,

w h i p p e d u n t i l b l o o d y , put in a p i l l o r y , or lose t h e i r e a r s .

The j u d g e a l s o had the o p t i o n to put a p e r s o n to d e a t h on

his third c h a r g e of v a g a b o n d a g e . Any t r a v e l i n g m u s i c i a n ,

t h e r e f o r e , w o u l d want to h a v e e i t h e r the p r o t e c t i o n of a

p a t r o n (hard to come b y ) , or p a p e r s from the j u s t i c e of the

p e a c e of the c o u n t y they w e r e t r a v e l l i n g in m a k i n g them e x e m p t

from the v a g a b o n d r u l i n g s . S i n c e t h o s e p a p e r s w e r e also very

hard to g e t , most m i n s t r e l s w o u l d s i m p l y h o p e no one w o u l d a r r e s t

them when they w e r e out of w o r k , w h i c h was m o r e than half of the

t i m e . At this point it w o u l d be a d v a n t a g e o u s to d i s c u s s the

d i f f e r e n c e b e t w e e n a m i n s t r e l and a m u s i c i a n . At first the

word m i n s t r e l a p p l i e d to all p u b l i c p e r f o r m e r s i n c l u d i n g

m u s i c i a n s and a c t o r s , but the word came to h a v e a d e r o g a t o r y

c o n n o t a t i o n , so r e s p e c t a b l e m u s i c a l p e r f o r m e r s s e p a r a t e d

t h e m s e l v e s from the s t i g m a of m i n s t r e l s y by c a l l i n g

Erbes 17

themselves musicians. Minstrel then meant a ballad singer

who played a little, mimed, and acted. A minstrel put on

more of a variety show than anything else. He would work

mainly in alehouses and taverns, though he sometimes got

other musical jobs when his employers couldn't find anyone

respectable. Minstrels were the least respected musicians

in England, and were thought to bring down the reputation of

all musicians through their general poverty, filth, and

drunkenness (because they worked in taverns so often, they

were usually drunk). They worked for very little, though,

so they were competition for the professional guild musicians.

The other competition for the freelance professionals

was the musicians who had rich patrons. The patronage

system in England wasn't as widespread as it was in other

countries, but it did have some growth in the Renaissance

for several reasons. One reason was that music was taught

in the universities in England "as a means of familiarizing

oneself with musical performance and with the respectability

8

of musical accomplishment." Since an appreciation of music

was associated with good education, it was a matter of

respectability to help musicians if one had the means of

doing so. Another reason there was a growth of patronage in

the Renaissance and Baroque was that people imitated the Royal

Court's musical fashions, which were extensive. Very few

musicians were lucky enough to be fully supported by a patron.

A lucky few were treated almost as members of the family who

supported them. Those who were slightly less lucky were paid

E r bes 18

with food and enough money to pay boarding expenses, but the

average musician who was considered to be part of the patronage

system received far less. Most served noblemen at more or

less regular intervals and lived off of the fees they

received at these times. They did not live with, or usually

even near, their patron, and had little contact with him.

This type of musician would be called a "servant" of their

patron, but may have been associated with several houses and

been servants of all of them. This type of nominal retainer

far outnumbered the domestic musicians who had close and

regular contact with their patrons.

The last type of musician in England during the

Renaissance and Baroque eras is the church musician. The

church played a relatively minor role in the musical life of

England, so \\ employed fewer musicians than most other

countries. Most cathedrals had a choir consisting of

priests, laymen, and singin-boys. The wealthier churches

also employed an organist, who usually also acted as

choirmaster. The singers didn't get paid very much, but

they did have fixed wages, housing, food, and livery, so the

job was better than being a traveling minstrel. Sometimes,

if they were working for an especially poor church, the

singers were forced to find outside work to supplement their

slight wages. To be a choirboy could be the start of a

great future as a musician if the choirmaster was good and

the church affluent. Boys could even stay on and join the

church if their voices changed and they decided not to

E rbe s 19

continue singing. It could also, though/ be completely

without future. One churchman of the period wrote that for

a man "to bring up his son in a cathedral church is to make

him a beggar by profession." Since some churches kicked out boys

as soon as their voices changed without providing for their

future in any way, this negative viewpoint is justified.

Church musicians weren't always exclusively singers. Churches

would also hire instrumentalists to play for them, mostly on

special occasions, though some of the wealthier churches

regularly employed instrumentalists. For example, Canterbury

Cathedral often hired two cornett players and two sackbut players.

One of the main problems with a job in a church was that the

Reformation dissolved many monasteries, leaving quite a few

church musicians out of work. The churches that merely

converted to Anglicanism or some other Protestant religion

were able to hire musicians, but all of the newly established

religions had fewer church holidays, so hired fewer musicians

for special church occasions. This affected all of the

freelance musicians as well as those who worked strictly for

the church.

Musicians in England were generally respected only if

they had affluent employers like the royal family or a

nobleman. Professionals like the waits were considered to

be respectable since they had steady jobs and duties and

nice clothing bought from their livery allowance. Freelance

professionals were seen either as respectable citizens or

damaging vagabonds, depending on where they were. Minstrels

E r b e s 20

w e r e a l m o s t a l w a y s seen as v a g a b o n d s , and had the m o s t

d i f f i c u l t i e s in o b t a i n i n g e m p l o y m e n t of any type of m u s i c i a n

in E n g l a n d . C h u r c h c h o i r m e m b e r s w e r e s o m e t i m e s s e e n as

l i t t l e b e t t e r than b e g g a r s if t h e i r c h u r c h was p o o r , but

could be r e s p e c t e d if they c a m e from an a f f l u e n t c a t h e d r a l .

E v e r y t h i n g in the E n g l i s h m u s i c i a n ' s life was d e p e n d e n t on

t h e i r j o b . E v e n t r u l y g r e a t m u s i c i a n s w o u l d r e c e i v e v e r y

l i t t l e r e s p e c t if they w o r k e d as t r a v e l i n g m i n s t r e l s , and

m e d i o c r e p e r f o r m e r s would be t r e a t e d w i t h r e s p e c t if they

had a fine p a t r o n , a l t h o u g h v e r y few m e d i o c r e m u s i c i a n s

would be a b l e to o b t a i n o n e . E n g l a n d ' s r e m a r k a b l y

s t r a t i f i e d s o c i e t y a c c o r d e d e a c h m u s i c i a n w i t h the r e s p e c t

due his job and f i n a n c i a l s t a t u s , so t h e r e w a s no one

f e e l i n g t o w a r d all m u s i c i a n s b e c a u s e w a g e s c r e a t e d so m a n y

l i t t l e g r o u p s w i t h i n the h e a d i n g of " m u s i c i a n . "

Part 3

France and England

Erbes 21

The similarities between the musicians' lives in France

and England are great/ but there are also a few equally

great differences. Musicians in England usually received

less respect from general society and had fewer places to

find a job. French musicians were more generally respected

and accepted by their society. A job by job comparison

between musicians in France and England will illuminate both

the similarities and the differences, and will show that

the differences outweigh the similarities.

The lives and status of musicians who worked in the

royal courts were similar in both countries. French and

English musicians who had the good fortune of working for

royalty were respected and prosperous. Working for the

royal chapel, or Chapel Royal, was a wonderful life for

singers in either country, although chapel singers in France

were probably at a higher social level than those in England.

The King's Musick was a lot like the court instrumentalists

in France. The main difference between the two courts was that

instrumentalists in the King's Musick were not separated into

two distinct social groups, but were all on the same level

except for a few who received special favors from the king or

queen. In England there were fewer soloists and more ensemble

playing, so there was no need for a special group of

soloists.

Another way in which the musical lives of the two

countries were alike was is in the lives of the municipal

musicians. What they called municipal musicians in France

E rbe s 2 2

were basically the same as the town waits in England. The

difference was that the position in England was great deal

more stable and respectable. To have a set of waits was

considered a statement of high social status among the towns

of England, so the towns would be very reluctant to fire

their waits. Since the waits also often had a monopoly on

playing in their town, they did not always need wages at all.

French municipal musicians did not have the status attached

to their existence within a town, and were often fired if

their town was poor. They also did not have the ability to

forbid all competition, so could not go without wages and

were often fired so the town could hire either better or

cheaper players. In England there were also centuries of

tradition behind the existence of the wait; this tradition

did not exist in France. However, the lifestyles of the two

groups were similar, except for the greater stability and

respectability of the position in England.

Before going on to the major differences between the

musicians in the two countries, it is interesting to note

that many of the musicians in England received a livery

allowance separate from their salary so they could be

attired with clothes fitting to their status. The

waits received this allowance, as did the Chapel Royal and

some church choir members. No musicians in France ever

received a livery allowance. This indicates either that the

English cared more for looking respectable than the French

or that they simply cared more for clothes. Another

E rbe s 2 3

possibility is that the English were paid lower wages in

general and so needed a livery allowance just to be able to

buy clothing fitting to their station.

The major differences in the lifestyles and status of

French and English musicians begin to be seen with a

comparison of the lives of the average church choir member,

England did not have the advantages gained from the French

m a_ t. r e . French choirboys, once educated in a m a^ tr j^e /

could support themselves through their music or as churchmen

no matter what class they were born into. English choirboys were

educated by their choirmaster, and may have ended up with no

profession at all once their voices changed since the church

did not always find ways to supply their future livelihood.

The social status was also very different. All church choir

members in France were respected, and it was the most common

Renaissance musical profession. In England, choir members

were seen as holding a low social status akin to menial

laborers unless they worked in an affluent church. Both

countries' churches received an upset because of the

Reformation, but it seems that the French churches had less

changes in the number of church holidays and the number of

churches. The difference was probably caused by the fact

that the French government did not really support the

Reformation, while the English government changed everything

religious in their country when they established the

Anglican religion as the national religion. Because of this

difference, church choir members in France had much more

E r b e s 24

s e c u r i t y in t h e i r p o s i t i o n s t h a n E n g l i s h c h o i r m e m b e r s .

T h e p a t r o n a g e s y s t e m s w e r e c o m p l e t e l y d i f f e r e n t in

F r a n c e a n d E n g l a n d , It w a s t h r o u g h t h e m a i s o n t h a t m u s i c i a n s

in F r a n c e r e c e i v e d p a t r o n a g e . T h e r e w e r e m a n y m a l i s o n s

t h r o u g h o u t F r a n c e ; t h e y h a d g r e a t i n f l u e n c e o n t h e l i v e s o f

m u s i c i a n s . In E n g l a n d / h o w e v e r , v e r y f e w m u s i c i a n s r e c e i v e d

a n y s o r t of p a t r o n a g e , a n d e v e n f e w e r a c t u a l l y b e c a m e p a r t

of a w e l l - o f f E n g l i s h m a n ' s h o u s e h o l d . T h e r e w a s a s i m i l a r

i n c r e a s e in s o c i a l s t a t u s in b o t h c o u n t r i e s if o n e h a d a

m u s i c i a n in o n e ' s e m p l o y , b u t it w a s l e s s i m p o r t a n t in

E n g l a n d . O d d l y e n o u g h g i v e n t h a t f a c t , an E n g l i s h m u s i c i a n

l i v i n g w i t h h i s e m p l o y e r w o u l d r e c e i v e a g r e a t d e a l of h o n o r

s i n c e h e w a s s u c h a r a r i t y , w h i l e a F r e n c h m u s i c i a n l i v i n g in

a m a i s o n w o u l d r e c e i v e n o e x t r a s o c i a l s t a t u s d u e to h i s

p o s i t i o n t h e r e .

A n o t h e r l a r g e d i f f e r e n c e c a n b e s e e n w h e n c o m p a r i n g t h e

l i v e s a n d s t a t u s of t r a v e l i n g m u s i c i a n s in t h e t w o

c o u n t r i e s . T r a v e l i n g m u s i c i a n s in E n g l a n d h a d t o d e a l w i t h

t h e p o s s i b i l i t y o f b e i n g a r r e s t e d a n d p u n i s h e d f o r

v a g a b o n d a g e . M i n s t r e l s h a d t h e l o w e s t s o c i a l p o s i t i o n of a l l

E n g l i s h m u s i c i a n s , a n d t h e h a r d e s t t i m e m a k i n g a l i v i n g .

T h e y w e r e f o r b i d d e n e m p l o y m e n t in m a n y t o w n s b e c a u s e of t h e

w a i t s ' a n d p r o f e s s i o n a l s ' m o n o p o l y o n t o w n j o b s , a n d a l s o

h a d to d e a l w i t h t h e c o m p l e t e s o c i a l s t i g m a of b e i n g a

m i n s t r e l in E n g l a n d . T r a v e l i n g m u s i c i a n s in F r a n c e h a d

f e w e r s o c i a l s t i g m a a t t a c h e d to t h e i r p o s i t i o n in s o c i e t y .

T h e p o s i t i o n of m i n s t r e l d i d n o t r e a l l y h a v e a F r e n c h

Erbes 25

counterpart. It is the two countries 1 philosophies about

music that are behind this difference.

Frenchmen believed that music was a force for the good/

a means of instilling virtues in the young and exhilarating

the spirit. This belief was the driving force behind much

of French society's views on musicians and their status. The

English had a much different view. They thought music was

a frivolous pursuit/ which could possibly lead to such lapses

in manners as "over-enthusiasm/ performance in public, and

iC , t

neglect of public affairs." The Puritan religion's gain in

popularity and power after the Reformation strengthened this

point of view a great deal. There was also a fear that

music could be a bad influence on society/ that it could

incite people to lewd and rowdy behavior that would mar the

respectability of England. The French/ always the more

sensual nation/ did not fear that music would corrupt

society/ but/ rather, reveled in the joys it could bring.

The dichotomy of these two beliefs is behind the

differences between the status of musicians in these two

countries. Musicians in France generally had better jobs

and more respect because music itself was more respected

in France than in England. English musicians had to

constantly struggle with society's perception of them as a

possible threat to society. Despite the difficulties,

though, musicians in both countries continued to sing and

play because they were dedicated to their art. Michael

Tilson Thomas, an American conductor/ once related

E r b e s 26

t h i s s t o r y :

A w i s e f r i e n d of my f a t h e r ' s had said to m e :

"You s h o u l d not go into m u s i c u n l e s s it is

a c o m p u l s i o n . In the end all you r e a l l y h a v e

as a c e n t e r is the m u s i c i t s e l f . M a k e sure that

you h a v e to be w i t h it e v e r y d a y . If t h a t ' s

t r u e t h e n you s h o u l d b e c o m e a m u s i c i a n . " U

T h i s w i s e f r i e n d g a v e a d v i c e that m u s i c i a n s t h r o u g h o u t the

ages w o u l d h a v e d o n e w e l l to f o l l o w / b e c a u s e b e i n g a

m u s i c i a n ^ in any c o u n t r y or t i m e , w a s , and is, not e a s y . The

only c o n s i s t e n t r e w a r d for a m u s i c i a n is the joy r e c e i v e d

from the m u s i c i t s e l f . All e l s e is t r a n s i t o r y and

u l t i m a t e l y u n i m p o r t a n t . So the s t r u g g l e for s u r v i v a l f o u g h t

by m u s i c i a n s of the R e n a i s s a n c e and B a r o g u e p e r i o d s in b o t h

F r a n c e and E n g l a n d was c o m p l e t e l y w o r t h w h i l e b e c a u s e they

kept m u s i c a l i v e .

Part 4

Instruments

Erbe s 2 6

I 'I'M -

W A I T S ( p l a y i n g s h a w m s , c o r n e t t s , and a s a c k b u t )

Erbes 27 Shawm - double-reed instrument like the modern bassoon or

oboe. The shawn was also called the hautbois and both the wait and the wait-pipe because it was the principle instrument of the waits.

SHAWMS

X8M

Full range of shawms

Erbes 2 8

ALTO RECORDERS

CRUMHORN

E r b e s 29

mm i^

C rumhorn - a double-reed instrument like the shawm, but the reed is enclosed in a reed cap which enables the instrumentalist to simply blow into a slit in top of the cap in order to play it.

®= *-j—ft

X.1 UUl j1. " M.I 'fiu'iw i mtm >

TRUMPETS \9

Erbes 30

«#»»"^-ftjT.jj'Jr*i:*•.w<«

Tenor

Alto

Mu t e Cornett

Straight Cornett

Standard Cornett

C o r n e t t i n o

Cornett - most versatile wind instrument of the Renaissance, the cornett has a mouthpiece much like a modern trumpet 1s.

' I f . H P W T M t i U f e W M t

zd>

RENAISSANCE FLUTES

E r be s 3 1

R E B E C

Rebec - early bowed i n s t r u m e n t , p r e d e c e s s o r to the v i o l i n

The rebec had four gut s t r i n g s and was carved

out of one piece of wood with the s o u n d - b o a r d

added .

Erbes 3 2

Viol da G a m b a - b o w e d s t r i n g i n s t r u m e n t , w i t h f r e t s

like a m o d e r n g u i t a r , that was p l a y e d

w i t h the v i o l h e ld b e t w e e n the legs

like a c e l l o . T h e r e w e r e t h r e e m a i n

s i z e s and r a n g e s - t r e b l e , t e n o r , and

b a s s .

V I O L DA G A M B A

-JS

y1 Msmsm

22

Erbes 3 3

LUTE

Lute - plucked string instrument much like the modern guitar. The lute was the principle instrument for chamber music in the Renaissance.

V-W;

-25

V IRGINAL

Virginal - plucked keyboard instrument like the harpsichord

that was very popular in England and may have

been named after Queen E l i z a b e t h , the Virgin

Queen. The other possibility is that it was

named after the young maidens who usually

played it.

E r be s 3 5

M-

2Li

HARP

Endnotes

E rbe s 3 6

^ Hendrik Willem van Loon, quoted in r u o_t a t i o , ed. Dr. Laurence J. Peter (New York: Bantam Books, 1997) 24 3 .

2 . . . Isabelle Caseaux, £rench_Mus2.c_in_the_Fi f teenth^and

££nth^Cen^ur^e^ (New York: Praeger Publishers, Inc., 1975) 15.

3 Charles Clary Onion, T h e _ S o c _1_ S _t a_ t u £ _ o f__M u £ i c a_ n i n h_C e n^U£^_F r a n c e (Ann Arbor, Michigan:

University Microfilms, Inc., 1959) 52.

^ Maria V. Coldwell, "Jongleresses and Trobairitz: Secular Musicians in Medieval France," Wome n_M^k n£__M u s__i c j_

t: i2n.J__JiJ__5p._Z_J_5._5 C)., ed. Jane Bowers and Judith Tick (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1986) 4 1 .

5 Robert M. I sherwood, Mu£j^c_^n_£he_S e r v^ce_o£_t he_K _inc[j___ F£a,n c e_ in_ t_h e _S e v e n_t e e n ;t h_C e n_t ur_y_ (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1973) 30.

^Robin Mathews, quoted in P£ t e r s __Q u o t a t i o n s , ed. Dr. Laurence J. Peter (New York: Bantam Books, 1997) 167.

alter Woodfill, M u c a n£_ J^n^ E n £ 1 i_ s h_ S o c e _t m (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton

University Press, 1953) 9.

® Woodfill 4.

David C. Price, Pitrons_and_Musicians_of_the_En£Hsh (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1981)

27 .

* Woodf i11 144.

""Price 9 .

KX Michael Tilson Thomas, quoted in The_Musi.c_Lover^s Q u o t a _t i o n_B o o k , eds. Kathleen Kimball, Robin Peterson, and Kathleen Johnson (Toronto, Canada: Sound and Vision, 1990) 28 .

'^Alexander Buchner , M lL_^n£^£u m e n_t j_ An

iiiH s_t j: e d_H i£;t o r_2_ (New York: Crown Publishers, 1973) 27.

•VB uchner 99.

^David Munrow, M _i<3<3 le_ Ac[e s_££ c3 s a_n c e (London: Oxford University Press, 1 976 ) 41.

E r b e s 3 7

l ( p B u c h n e r 1 1 0 .

^ M u n r o w 4 7 .

' ^ M u n r o w 6 6 ,

{(f M u n r o w 7 1 .

2 ^ M u n r o w 5 5 .

M u n r o w 2 8 .

22. B u c h n e r 2 8 .

p 7

S e r g i o P a g a n e l l i , M u s i c a _1__I E i t r u m e n t s ^ f r o m _ t h e

I i £ I l i L i £ £ i l I l £ £ _ t o _ t ^ h e _ J _ 2 ^ ] l _ £ £ n t. u r ( M i l a n , I t a l y : T h e H a m l i n

P u b l i s h i n g G r o u p / 1 9 6 6 ) 8 4 .

2 ^ B u c h n e r 1 4 6 .

^ B u c h n e r 2 0 9 .

2 ( p P a g a n e l l i 1 3 6 .

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