New Evidence for the Origins of Timpani in Western Europe

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New Evidence for the Origins of Timpani in
Western Europe

• Susan Forscher Weiss
• Johns Hopkins University
• Ichiro Fujinaga
• McGill University

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Outline

• What really happened in 1457
• Discovery in Siena
• Implications and Conclusions

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1457 Marriage betweenMagdalena (daughter of
Charles VII) King Ladislaus
Ladislaus the Posthumous(144057)

• Charles VII of France(140361)

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Earliest evidence of kettledrums in Western Europe

• Grove Music Online TimpaniIn the earliest
  known report, mounted kettledrums were seen in
  the magnificent entourage of a Hungarian envoy to
  France in 1457. The size and sound of these
  instruments prompted a Father Benoit to say that
  he had never before seen such drums like large
  cauldrons ... carried on horseback.

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Earliest evidence of kettledrums in Western Europe

• Titcomb (1952) The Kettledrum in Western Europe
  Ph.D. dissertation
• Farmer (1950) Military Music
• Both refer to Benoit as the Archbishop of Cologne.

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Lorigine de la tres illustre maison de
LorrainePublished at Toul in 1704by Benoit
Picard, Capucin(16631720)
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Lorigine de la tres illustre maison de
Lorraine(1704, p. 425)
chronique M. S. de Lorraine
arrived in Nancy in July 1457
received at the gate of S. Nicolas
We have never seen such drums like big cauldrons,
which were carried on the horses.
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Kettledrums in the East

Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, Département des
ManuscritHariri, Maquamat (Persian, 1237)A
Pligrim Caravan on the Road to MeccaMS Arbe
5847, fol. 94v
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Kettledrums in the East
Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, Département des
ManuscritHariri, Maquamat (Persian,
1237)Mounted Trumpeters and a Kettledrummer MS
Arbe 5847, fol. 19
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Lorigine de la tres illustre maison de
Lorraine(1704, p. 425)
chronique M. S. de Lorraine
arrived in Nancy in July 1457
received at the gate of S. Nicolas
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Nancy (17th C.)
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Nancy Porte St. Nicolas, today
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Lorigine de la tres illustre maison de
Lorraine(1704, p. 425)
chronique M. S. de Lorraine
arrived in Nancy in July 1457
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Lorigine de la tres illustre maison de
Lorraine(1704, p. 425)
chronique M. S. de Lorraine
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La chronique M. S. de Lorraine

• Montagu (2002). Timpani and Percussion. Note
  35Père Benoit de Toul, citing the chronicle M.
  S. de Lorraine, with no further detail of the
  source... The sentence... is quoted... by George
  Kastner (1848)... by Curt Sachs (1930)... and
  thence by Herbert Tobischek (1977)..., but none
  seems to have traced the original chronicle for
  further information.

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Augustine Calmet (16721757)

• French Benedictine
• Wrote popular comment-aries on the Bible
• Histoire ecclésiastique et civile de la Lorraine
  (Nancy,1728)
• Also on vampires...

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Histoire ecclésiastique et civile de
Lorraine(Ecclesiastical and Civil History of
Lorraine) Augustin CalmetVol II (1728) Nancy
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Histoire ecclésiastique et civile de Lorraine
p. 857
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Histoire ecclésiastique et civile de Lorraine
Calmet (1728)
Lorigine de la tres illustre maison de
LorraineBenoit (1704)
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Histoire ecclésiastique et civile de Lorraine
Calmet Vol I (1728)
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Histoire ecclésiastique et civile de Lorraine
(1728) Vol I, Col LXV
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Histoire ecclésiastique et civile de Lorraine
CalmetVol III (1728)
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Histoire ecclésiastique et civile de Lorraine
(1728) Vol III
La Chronique de Lorraine, depuis l'an 1350 ou
environ, jusqu'a l'an 1544
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La Chronique de Lorraine, Chapter XXXIX
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Remember the year1457
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Villa SpelmanThe Johns Hopkins Unviersity Center
for Italian Studies (Florence)
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Siena Palazzo Pubblico
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Sala della Pace
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Ambrosio Lorenzetti (12901348)Effects of Good
Government
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Sala del Mappamondo
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Simone Martini (12841344)Maestà (1317)
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Simone Martini (12841344)Guido Riccio da
Fogliano (c. 1328)
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Sala del Mappamondo
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Battle of Val di Chiana

• Lippo Vanni 1363-73

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Lippo Vanni Angel ChoirSan Leonardo al Lago (c.
1360-70)
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Lippo Vanni Betrothal of Virgin

• San Leonardo al Lago
• Two trumpets
• Nakers

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Lippo Vanni Betrothal of Virgin

• San Leonardo al Lago (detail)
• Two trumpets
• Nakers

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Lippo Vanni Betrothal of Virgin

• San Leonardo al Lago (detail)
• Two trumpets
• Nakers

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The Kettledrum

• Nomenclature
• Laces, Snares, Sticks, Knobs, and Screws
• Size

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Kettledrums Mounted on Animals15th-century
Persian
Baltimore, The Walters Art Gallery, Zafarnamah
(Persian, Late 15th Century) Mounted Trumpeters
and Kettledrummers MS W648, fol. 75v
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Naqqara

• Nakers (English) Nacaire (French)
  Nacchera, (g)naccheroni, (Italian) Nacara
  (Spanish)

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NakersStrapped around the player
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Nakers on Horseback Roman dAlexandre (c. 1338)

• BodleianMS 264 fol. 90v

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Laces and SnaresLippo Vanni (c. 1350)
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Sticks Lippo Vanni-Persian Connection
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Knobs and ScrewsVirdung Musica Getutscht
(Basel, 1511)
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Leonardo da Vincis futuristic kettledrum(c.
1480)
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Different Size of Drums

• Mughal painting (c. 1640)

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Small mounted drum (Late 15th century)
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Huge Drums

• Mughal painting (c. 1640)

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Val di Chiana
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The Battle at Val di Chiana (1363)

• Florentine battles to dominate Tuscany
• Nicolò da Montefeltro led the Florentine Company
  of the Hat made up of mercenaries from Brittany
  and England.
• Francesco Orsini, led the Senese San Paolo
  company
• Orsini and his army take as their captive
  Commander Montefeltro

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Trumpet players
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Name of the drummer!

• Giovanni di Domenico

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Conclusions

• Clear account of events in 1457.
• Discovery of large horse-mounted bowl-shaped
  drums in a fresco by Lippo Vanni in Siena
  painted 136373.
• Implications of wider use of large drums in the
  late Middle ages, particularly in military events
  and on horseback.

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Hungarian Envoy
Left Prague 10 October
Arrived Tours 8 December
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Prague to Tours via Nancy

• Prague to Tours 828 miles
• Prague to Nancy 476 miles (58)
• Nancy to Tours 352miles (42)
• Left Prague 10 October 1457
• Arrived in Tours 8 December 1457
• Traveled for 60 days
• Arrived in Nancy mid-November
• They left on 1 January 1458 and returned to
  Prague on 14 February 45 days

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Tours (1572)
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Banquet at St. Julien22 December 1457
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Requiem at St. Martin29 December 1457