The King's Musick
(1460-1700)
About
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The King's Musick: A transcript of records relating to music and musicians (1460-1700) is a transcript of all music-related records of the British royal family written between 1460 and 1700. These records, collected from the Lord Chamberlin's Record Office, were first published by Henry Cart De Lafontaine in 1909, centuries after they were originally written. For the most part, the records pertain to the "maintenance and ordering of musicians attached to the English Court."
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Terminology
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While the records in this collection begin in 1460, the transverse flute and vertical flute are not found in any of the records until 1546 and 1603, respectively. The language used to refer to both instruments appears to be consistent throughout - the transverse flute is seems to be referred to as the "flute" and the vertical flute seems to be referred to as the "recorder" in every instance.
References to the "flute" in these records begin with the "Account of liveries, etc., at the Coronation of Edward VI" from February 20, 1546-7. Here, five musicians are listed as "The Flutes" - John de Severnacke, Guillam Troche Guillam Deventt, Piero Guye, and Nicholas Pewell. In general, most records pertaining to the flute are simply lists of musicians (oftentimes these same sets of musicians). The term "flute" sees relatively frequent use throughout this record collection, with the final instance of the term occurring in the "Warrant to swear the following as musicians for his Majesty's private musick in ordinary with fee and salary" from August 31, 1685. Here, one Monsieur Mario is simply listed as "For the Flute." It is also worth noting that one record, the "Account for liveries for the Household for the burial of Henry VIII" from February 21, 1547-8 does refer to the flute players as "Fluttes" but, as that term never occurs again in this work or any other surveyed work, it is most likely a simple misspelling and, as such, will not be considered a distinct term in this study. The vertical flute, meanwhile, doesn't seem to show up in these records until the first instance of the term "recorder" in the 1603 "Allowance of certain mourning livery to the following musicians for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth." Here, there are seven musicians listed as "Recorders" - Augustine Bassano, Arthur Bassano, Andrea Bassano Edward Bassano, Jeromino Bassano, Alphonso Lanier, and Robert Baker. This record also seems to mark the arrival of the five brothers from the Bassano family, a group of prominent Italian instrument makers and musicians. The five brothers listed here - Augustine, Arthur, Andrea, Edward, and Jeromino "formed a consort of ‘recorders’, which may have played other instruments including an early version of the mixed consort of Elizabethan times" according to Grove Music Online. There is also a separate listing for "Flutes" on the "Allowance of certain mourning livery to the following musicians for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth" which includes one "Peiro Guy." This is most likely the same "Piero Guye" from the aforementioned "Account of liveries, etc., at the Coronation of Edward VI" from February 20, 1546-7. The final instance of the term "recorder" is a very short record that simply reads "Warrant to pay £4 15s. to John Adson for a treble cornet and a treble recorder" dated 1635. It is worth mentioning that Adson was, according to Grove Music Online, an English wind player and composer who is thought to have played the treble corner and recorder mentioned here as an English court musician. |
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Additional Notes
It is worth concluding this section with a brief note on the limitations of this resource in the context of this study. Specifically, without any iconographic evidence or descriptions of which instruments are being specifically referred to in this records, there is some room for doubt. It is relatively difficult to know for certain, for example, that the term "flute" always referred to transverse flute and never the vertical flute. Since both terms were relatively common ways to refer to the vertical flute during this time period, it is possible that they may have been interchanged. However, there is no overwhelming evidence in these records in favor of this theory, as the musicians playing the "flute" and the musicians playing the "recorder" generally seem to be distinct from one another, as seen in the aforementioned 1603 "Account for liveries for the Household for the burial of Henry VIII." As such, it is most responsible to be conservative and assume that the term "flute" and "recorder" were always used in reference to the transverse flute and vertical flute respectively. And, since this source provides one of the only pre-16th century insights into British flute terminology, its importance to this study far outweighs its limitations and, thus, justifies its inclusion.
