CHAPTER 2: THE INSTRUMENTS

2.1    Richard Haka and His Invoice

Richard Haka (<1646–1705)^[1] was an English-born woodwind instrument-maker based in Amsterdam, considered the patriarch of the Amsterdam school of woodwind making.^[2] Specifically, he was probably the first Dutch maker to stamp his instruments^[3] and, according to Jan Bouterse, “[t]here is consequently no evidence of a continuous tradition in double-reed woodwind instrument production”, despite some surviving instruments predating Haka.^[4]

A 1934 report by Otto Thulin (1886–1959), a conservator of the Göteborgs Stadsmuseum,states that Haka had sent several instruments between 1682 and 1688 to the Swedish navy.^[5] Only one invoice, dated 15 June 1685, survives (Figure 2.1.1),^[6] addressed to a Mr Dittelar and Johan Otto of Calmar, survives. It is separated into three parts: “Teutscher schalmeijen”, “Fransche haubois”, and “Fleutte deuse”.^[7] At the end of the invoice, Haka includes charges for reeds, a bocal, and boxes. This study concerns the first two categories of Haka’s invoice (Figure 2.1.2).

Figure 2.1.1: Richard Haka's 1685 invoice to the Swedish Navy.^[8]

Figure 2.1.2: Details of Figure 2.1.1 showing two of Haka’s instrument labels.

2.2   The Velt-Schalmei

There are three instruments in the “Teutscher schalmeijen” category: two sizes of shawms and a bass dulcian. Haka’s type of shawm is what is now called a Deutsche schalmei^[9] or velt-schalmei^[10] and is narrower than the typical Renaissance shawm in both bore and turning profiles. The former term can refer to any European shawm or bombard with a conical bore, as early as the three 1594 shawms of the Freiberg Cathedral which are kept in the Grassi Musikinstrumenten-Museum Leipzig.^[11] Many, but not all, surviving instruments were originally fitted with a key. Aside from having six finger holes (and possibly keys), Deutsche schalmeien have two or three resonance holes in the bell.^[12]

The instrument was not exclusive to the Republic, implied by the term “Teutscher” used in Haka’s invoice. In the manuscript catalogued as Christ Church Mus 1187, the James Talbot Papers, it is described as a Saxon instrument, “used Much in German Army, etc. Sweeter than Hautbois. Several sizes & pitches.” The treble size of this “schalmey(e)” is supposedly in two parts whereas the instrument described as an “English hautbois” or “Waits treble/tenor” (depending on the size) is in one part and is an earlier type of shawm in C.^[13] Aside from Haka’s instruments, there are 33 surviving Deutsche schalmeien.^[14]

The term, “velt-schalmei”, is one of the terms that was used historically for the instrument, describing its function as an outdoor instrument. The term was even used in a newspaper notice (Figure 2.2.1)^[15] referring to a death hoax which was probably perpetuated by Haka’s nephew,^[16] Coenraad Rijkel (ca. 1664–1726) who was contracted to study under Haka for seven years starting at the age of 15.^[17]

Figure 2.2.1: A declaration commenting on rumours of Haka’s death (1691).^[18]

Ten of Haka’s velt-schalmeien survive: nine in the “discant”^[19] size and one in the “midelbas”^[20] size (Figure 2.2.2). The descants’ lowest note is a written D₄ ranging between A-1 and A-2,^[21] though one exemplar at Yale University’s Collection of Musical Instruments survives with a key for low C which was certainly not made by Haka. As none of them have an original groove in which to insert a key, their fontanelle is purely decorative. The bore and turning are both slender — the minimal bore being only 4.0–4.6mm — but with a long, flared bell. The instruments also bare a peg hole in their bells to hold a pirouette in place when the instrument is not in use. The instrument at Yale has a surviving pirouette, though its lack of craftsmanship brings its authenticity into question.^[22] The only surviving alto instrument by Haka has a nominal pitch of G. It is uncertain whether its key is original and its fontanelle, pirouette, and bell peg are missing.^[23] According to Piet Dhont, it plays around A-1.^[24] Only three other alto Deutsche schalmeien survive.^[25]

Figure 2.2.2: A descant velt-schalmei (BK-NM-11430-82)^[26] and alto velt-schalmei (BK-2010-18)^[27] by Haka.

Although Haka’s velt-schalmeien are the only surviving Dutch models, he was certainly not the only maker making them in the Republic. An advertisement from 1691 (Figure 2.2.3)^[28] states that Jan Jurriaensz van Heerden (1638–1691)^[29] was making “Velt-scharmayen” in his workshop, De Gekroonde Fagot.^[30]

Figure 2.2.3: A newspaper advertisement for van Heerden’s workshop (1691).^[31]

Shawms are also depicted in the margins of Rijkel’s visitor card (Figure 2.2.4) among other instruments. Several shawms were sold in inventory sales, but most records do not indicate their origin — and it is not known whether the instruments sold were velt-schalmeien or older shawms. However, the 1768 sale of the property of a Mr de Jong van Campes Nieuwland in Middelburg included “Een Schalmey door Terton in een Koker”,^[32] referring to the instrument-maker Engelbert Terton (1676–1752).^[33] Unlike Haka’s instruments, some shawms in the Republic had seven finger holes: “daar sijn seven gaten tot seven vingeren / gelijk in de Fluijten / maar achter is geen gat tot de duim”.^[34]

Figure 2.2.4: Details of Rijkel’s visitor card (ca. 1705), designed by Ignatius Lux (fl. 1650–1694).^[35]

The third instrument listed amongst the “Teutscher schalmeijen” is the “bas dulsian”,^[36] of which there are no extant Dutch exemplars. Fortunately, several Dutch artworks depict dulcians, usually played by putti (Figure 2.2.5). Haka’s instruments would almost certainly have had a nominal pitch of F. Bass dulcians of this period typically have two keys; one key to play low F and another to play low E.

Figure 2.2.5: Detail from the title page of an arrangement of Jean-Baptiste Lully’s (1632–1687) tragédie en musique, Persée, titled Ouverture avec tous les airs de violons de l'opera de Persée (1682).^[37]

Haka’s surviving velt-schalmeien play in a range between A-1½ and A-1, with some experiments of reed and staple setups going as low as A-2.^[38] In Haka’s invoice, the descant variety is referred to as being in trompettenton.^[39] If the alto instruments in this shipment were intended to play together with the descant instruments, it can be assumed that the term, trompettenton, refers to a pitch centre at A-1 or slightly lower. Unlike the velt-schalmeien, the bass dulcians are described as “Coor mes:”.^[40] This may be related to an incident in Lüneberg in 1652, when a 1553 organ in A-1 by the Dutch maker Hendrik Niehoff (ca. 1495–1560) was rebuilt by Friedrich Stellwagen (<1635–1659), raising the pitch to A+1 to be “Chormässig”.^[41] If the velt-schalmeien were in A-1 and the bass dulcians were at A+1, this would mean that the three instruments could play together if the dulcians were treated as having a nominal pitch of G in A-1, like the alto velt-schalmeien. Realistically, though, there is no certainty about what “mes:” — an abbreviation — means.^[42] Haka’s invoice also includes “twee Partije Muciek Stucken verschotten”.^[43] If found, this music could suggest how the dulcian was used alongside the shawms, either through transposed parts, choice of keys, or ambiti.

2.3   The French Hautbois

There are three instruments in the “Fransche haubois” category: two sizes of oboes and a bassoon. The origin of these instruments is shrouded in mystery, largely because the term hautbois can refer to several types of instruments in French, including both what would today be considered shawms and oboes. The oboe was developed between the 1640’s and 1670’s in France, with the Philidor and Hotteterre families considered the founders of the school of French “haubois”.^[44] This new form of the hautbois differs from shawms by being constructed in three parts, two or three keys (one for low C and the other(s) for E-flat), and six finger holes.^[45] Oboes from the Republic in the period of study are mainly A2 and A3 type instruments,^[46] with double holes for the third and fourth fingers. Only three surviving Dutch eighteenth-century oboes have a single hole for the third and/or fourth finger, all of which are later than the period of study.^[47]

The “discant hautbois” of Haka’s invoice refers to an oboe with a nominal pitch of C. Haka’s oboes had two main pitch centres: A-1 and A±0 (Figure 2.3.1). These two sizes were likely made concurrently for different practices.^[48] The oboes sent to Sweden were in Coortoon. Assuming that the “coor” portion of coortoon relates to the indication given to the dulcian on the invoice (with A-1 being an appropriate pitch for working with singers), the pitch of the French oboes sent to Sweden could be A-1.

Figure 2.3.1: An A-1 oboe (BK-2018-68)^[49] and an A±0 oboe (BK-2018-67)^[50] by Haka.

The “tenor Hautbois” refers to a larger form of the previous instrument, with a nominal pitch of F. Two such instruments by Richard Haka survive and are owned by the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien. As the strict policies of this organisation prohibit playing these instruments and the publication of comprehensive measurements, it is not possible to determine the pitch centre of Haka’s surviving tenor oboes. However, the tenor oboe of Hendrik Richters supposedly has a remarkably similar bore profile to the two Haka instruments in Vienna.^[51] This instrument plays around A-1½, though Richters’s descant oboes have all been documented to play at A-1 or higher.^[52]

Figure 2.3.2: The four joints of a bassoon by Haka.
Top: wing joint (L), bass joint (R). Bottom: bell (L), boot joint (R).^[53]

The final instrument listed on Haka’s invoice that will be considered in this study is the bassoon. On the invoice, it is unusually listed as “dulsian Basson in 4 Stucken”.^[54] Haka is an important figure in the history of the bassoon as the one surviving exemplar (Figure 2.3.2), housed in the Schlossmuseum Sondershausen in Germany, is “probably the earliest datable Baroque bassoon”.^[55] Four-piece bassoons of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries have a nominal pitch of F and typically have three or four keys; one key for low B or B-flat, one key for low D, one key for low F, and usually a key for G-sharp/A-flat.^[56] The current G-sharp/A-flat key on Haka’s bassoon was made in 1985, and it is unknown whether the previous key (now missing) was original, let alone the hole underneath it.^[57] Two fingering charts for a three-keyed bassoon survive (one in the Talbot Papers which gives the fingerings of three notes,^[58] and the other in Joseph Majer’s 1732 treatise)^[59] but there are numerous contemporaneous examples of four-keyed bassoons, including one by Rijkel — the only other surviving bassoon from the Republic in the period of study. Rijkel’s visitor card (Figure 2.3.3) also depicts a bassoon with a G-sharp/A-flat key, though it is on the wrong side of the instrument likely due to an engraving error.^[60]

Figure 2.3.3: Detail of Rijkel’s visitor card, designed by Ignatius Lux, depicting a bassoon.^[61]

Haka’s bassoon does not survive with an original bocal, a key part of determining the approximate pitch centre. With recently-made bocals, a pitch centre of both A-1 and A-2 have been produced.^[62] It seems unlikely that the bassoon sent to Malmö would have a pitch centre as low as A-2 as it would have probably been in the same pitch as the descant and tenor oboes of the invoice, particularly if all of Haka’s surviving descant oboes are in either A-1 or A±0.

2.4   The Kleine Schalmei

Aside from the six double-reed instruments listed on Haka’s invoice, there is a seventh instrument by Richard Haka that will be discussed in this study. As there are no written historical references to this instrument, I have chosen to adopt the nomenclature used by the oboe maker, Lucas van Helsdingen, kleine schalmei.^[63]

Figure 2.4.1: A kleine schalmei (BK-NM-11430-81)^[64] by Haka.

               There is one surviving instrument of this kind (Figure 2.4.1) and it is a uniquely Dutch instrument with currently uncertain historical functions. A distinct instrument in its own right, it cannot be considered another of Haka’s velt-schalmeien, nor an oboe. There are great differences in the bore dimensions between other types of instruments (Figure 2.4.2),^[65] as well as differences in the outer construction of the instruments. This includes the materials used; the velt-schalmeien are all made from boxwood and brass,^[66] whereas the kleine schalmei is made from ebony and silver.^[67] The kleine schalmei plays well at A±0.^[68] Furthermore, shawms of this period — at least in the Republic — are described as not having a thumb hole,^[69] which is unique to the kleine schalmei.

Figure 2.4.2: The bore profiles of two velt-schalmeien and the kleine schalmei, all by Haka.

Figure 2.4.3: The bore profiles of two oboes and the kleine schalmei, all by Haka.

             The kleine schalmei, despite its top joint bearing some resemblance to Haka’s oboes’ outer profile, also functions differently to an oboe. And despite the kleine schalmei playing well at A±0, the bore profile of its top joint is more similar to that of the longer A+1 oboes,^[70] rather than the A±0 oboes^[71] (Figure 2.4.3). Although its acoustic length is longer than that of Haka’s A±0 oboes, the kleine schalmei’s tone holes are very large (like a shawm) and would make the pitch high enough to play in A±0.^[72] The kleine schalmei’s lowest note is a C♯₄, unlike the oboes’ C₄.

               There are several features of the kleine schalmei which, when seen in combination, are unique to the instrument. These are: that it has only one key, which is covered by a fontanelle; it has a thumb hole, six single finger holes, and no holes in the bell; the bell is short and wide; and that some of the outer profile resembles that of early A-type oboes (including pirouette-like turning at the top of the instrument, the shape and degree of the baluster of the top joint, and a bulb around the socket of the middle joint). The one extant instrument is also heavily-decorated with silver furnishings. For these reasons, it is neither simply a type of Deutsche schalmei nor an oboe; the kleine schalmei is its own type of instrument, outright.

Summary

[1] Another Richard Haka of “Keysers graft” was buried in Amsterdam’s Oude Kerk on 22 November 1709, but it was likely a son of his.

To Chapter 3: Conflicting Terminology