CHAPTER 4: IN COURTS

4.1    The Hague

In the period of study, the Court of The Hague was headed by William III, Prince of Orange (1650–1702, r. 1672–1702) who was the Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel. From 1689, he was also the King of England, Scotland, and Ireland which led to him rarely visiting the Republic from then on.^[1] One could not characterise his Dutch court as one of plentiful music-making;^[2] however, there are certainly traces of the presence of double-reed instruments at his court.

Figure 4.1.1: Bal in het Huis ten Bosch ter ere van de verjaardag van de prins van Oranje^[3] (ca. 1686) by Daniël Marot I (1661–1752).^[4]

Figure 4.1.2: Detail of Figure 4.1.1, showing oboes, bassoons, and a violin band.

One key piece of iconography (Figures 4.1.1 and 4.1.2) shows an oboe band (“de Speelders op de Haubo”/“les Haubois”) playing for a ball alongside a violin band (“de Violisten”/”les Violons”), led by someone holding a baton and what seems to be a score. The ball was held by William III’s wife, Mary II, the then-Princess consort of Orange (1662–1694, r. 1677–1694), for his birthday.^[5] There are four oboists and two bassoonists, as well as 14 violinists/violists, and four bass violinists. Based on the playing angle, if the disposition of instruments is identical on both sides of the ensemble, they are all playing descant oboes (like those in Figure 2.3.1). One oboist is not playing, making it possible to see his reed (Figure 4.1.3). The violin band, the director, and at least one bassoonist are clearly equipped with a sword each, implying they had other functions at the court.

Figure 4.1.3: Detail of Figure 4.1.1 depicting a resting oboist and his reed.

After becoming King of England, Scotland, and Ireland, William III brought over several of his musicians for a tour to the Republic. The first mention of this tour is a list of musicians (called “servants”) from 8 December 1690, designated “to attend his Majesty” on his journey to the Republic. This list includes “five Hooboys”, unnamed. Another document from that December states that their salary was £40 per year and that they were paid “travelling charges” of 3 shillings per day. Each of them was given an advance payment of £20 for this tour,^[6] which would last 103 days, from 1 January to 13 April 1691.^[7] These “Five Hautboys” were mentioned again, in an undated document from between April and June 1691. They were named here as George Sutton, “Francis Larich”/“La: Rich” (François La Riche, 1662–ca. 1733),^[8] “Granvelle”,  “Bresong” (Pierre Bressan, 1663–1731),^[9] and “Baptist”. These musicians were described as “Hoboys only for this voyage & not to bee established but to bee payd for attending His Ma^ie into Holland”, meaning that they were no longer fixed employees of William III’s court.^[10] It is unclear whether these five oboists’ instruments consisted of various sizes of French oboes or simply five treble oboes.

Early into William III’s rule, 16 members of the Private Music were fired straight after a 1690 performance of Queen Mary’s birthday ode, Arise, my muse, including Henry Purcell (1659?–1695). La Riche and James Paisible (ca. 1656–1721),^[11] both oboists, were among these, and were to be replaced due to their Roman Catholic faith.^[12] This did not mean that William III would no longer employ oboists in England, as a warrant from 23 June 1691 stated that liveries were to be provided for “four hautboyes”, as well as “three trumpeters, a kettle-drummers [sic] […] and two drummers”, who were with the Earl of Marlborough’s Troop of Guards.^[13]

4.2   Leeuwarden

Two relevant stadtholders ruled over Friesland and Groningen in the period of study: Henry Casimir II of Nassau-Dietz (1657–1696, r. 1664–1696) and John William Friso (1687–1711, r. 1696–1711). While there is relatively little known about the musical happenings of the court in Leeuwarden, more is known about the presence of double-reed instruments there than in The Hague.

An undated letter from Amsterdam-based composer, Johannes Schenck (1660–≥1712), to Henry Casimir II states that Schenck has found a bassoon and three “haubois”, as well as three new “operas”,^[14] for the court.^[15] This letter would have been written in 1696 or earlier as Schenck moved to Düsseldorf that year,^[16] and that was the year of Henry Casimir II’s death. Presuming that the “haubois” in question are oboes, this would mean that one-per-part four-part music would be playable with the set-up of three oboes (likely one being a tenor instrument) and one bassoon, as is shown in a carving on the bell of an oboe stamped — but not necessarily by — “W: BEUKERS”^[17] (Figure 4.2). This bell depicts two descant oboes, a tenor oboe, and a bassoon playing from partbooks and can be dated to the 1690’s based on the clothing of a dancer carved on the other side of the bell.^[18] The maker of this instrument is unknown as the stamp covers another stamp, but it is probably not by the Amsterdam-based Willem Beukers, neither Senior nor Junior.^[19]

Figure 4.2: The bell of an oboe (O58639), stamped “W: BEUKERS”.^[20]

Arguably the most important composer in Friesland in this period was Johann Christian Schickhardt (ca. 1681–1762) who worked under both stadtholders. He left for Hamburg by 1711 but maintained a connection to the Republic, publishing several of his works in Amsterdam at the publishing house of Estienne Roger (ca. 1665–1722) and his successors.^[21] Sales of his scores are listed in seven different newspaper advertisements of the period — all in 1709 and 1710 — and 18 publications of his works for oboe are listed in Appendix A, including a now-lost Principes du hautbois, contenant des airs à deux hautbois sans basse (1712). Five tunes of his are also included in The Compleat Tutor to the Hautboy (1715), published by John Walsh in London.^[22]

Of the five relevant publications which were certainly published prior to Schickhardt’s move to Hamburg, only one combines oboe with other non-continuo instruments, and that is his Six Sonates, Op. 5 for flute,^[23] two oboes, viola da gamba, and continuo.^[24] Of the four other publications, three are for oboe and continuo and one is for two oboes and continuo.^[25] Roger’s publications of Schickhardt’s music between 1711 and 1725 include similar instrumentations (see Appendix A for exact instrumentation per publication) but it is uncertain whether this is a reflection of the performance practice in Friesland or Hamburg.

There may also be a Frisian oboe method from around 1730, titled Friesche Oboeboekje.^[26] References to this work can only be found in secondary sources, and attempts to locate this manuscript have been unsuccessful.^[27]

The more extensive documentation of double-reed music related to the Frisian court — at least, in comparison with the court of The Hague — may indicate the popularity of the instrument in the region if Schenck was tasked with procuring instruments for the court. The fact that there are several works for oboe by a court composer may be testament to the fact that the instrument was, indeed, used in the court — perhaps even the very same instruments that were found by Schenck. What is, unfortunately, missing is evidence for how the three oboes and bassoon were used in combination at the court, particularly as there are no surviving obligato bassoon parts by Schickhardt, nor any surviving Frisian publications from the period which refer to the bassoon.

Summary

To Chapter 5: In Theatres