The kingdom of minstrels

Reviews

This is a welcome book. First of all because of the appearance: a good binding, a perfect page layout, well labeled illustrations, very readable texts with well-considered footnotes, a place index, a personal index, etc. Secondly, however, and above all, because of the content, which on the one hand illuminates the representational and musicological aspect, but on the other hand is also sophisticated in terms of popular science.

And indeed, the material is of considerable size. The history of minstrels in Alsace has long been described by authors who wrote it as a brief overview in the 19th century. treat. If you follow Vogeleis, who is still the bible of Alsatian music history today, the bibliography on the subject has hardly increased since then, either because it was simply ‘cloned’ or because only short essays were published in specialist journals.

The importance of the work is based on the thematic overview starting from the question of the origins, organization and working conditions of the regional brotherhood, which is called by the somewhat medieval term ‘minstrels’. In total, there are 11 chapters in three major sections. It begins with the report that deals with the establishment of the fraternal institutions, a process that cannot be dated precisely but that took place occasionally at the Council of Basel, and was – probably – modeled on other regional communities (e.g. the boilermakers or the shoemakers). The first sovereign document granting the lords of Ribeaupierre a guardianship over the itinerant musicians dates back to 1481, but their role became more and more important in this distant epoch, as it is proved by documents of Maximilian I and his father Bruno towards the end of the 14th century. underline. The territory that was transferred to them is precisely circumscribed as Alsace between the ridge and the Rhine, the forest of Haguenau and the foothills of the Jura, which incidentally invites us to reflect on the identity of this region, which is not necessarily the ‘Upper Rhine’, on the two banks – the right, incidentally, had its own brotherhood centered on Riegel in Breisgau and under the official protection of the Counts of Württemberg (1458). Incidentally, the center of the Middle Alsatian brotherhood can be assumed to be Ribeauvillé (first, it seems, Villé) as its headquarters, although a decree of Guillaume II of Ribeauvillé actually establishes three ‘cercles’ (circles), in the north around Bischwiller or Rosheim, in the south around Alt-Thann (p.48). In his capacity as patron saint of ‘flying’ musicians, the Lord of Ribeauvillé apparently levies a hefty fee (the story of which could be told in more detail) and exercises the authority vested in him with the help of an organization headed by a ‘Pfifferkunig’.

Even if the list of masters remains incomplete, it can be concluded that they acquired a great reputation, mainly in the modern period – the last of the line was Francois Joseph Wuhrer (who held the office of organist and French schoolmaster) between 1787 and the Revolution and who received his musical training with the French gendarmerie in the garrison of Lunéville.

The brotherhood, which placed itself under the protection of the Virgin, which played a central role especially on the occasion of the pilgrimage of Dusenbach – and is written down in the statutes of 1606 – had altars in several other places (especially in Alt-Thann or in Strasbourg). Did the ups and downs associated with the Reformation have an impact on minstrels? The question remains. On the other hand, the fraternal functioning can be fairly well traced since the order of 1494, renewed, among others, in 1606 (complete text in both languages in a printed version of 1784 on pages 72-75). One learns about the regulations that established a great institutional continuity (for example, by returning the insignia and the best instrument of a deceased brother as a kind of bequest to the fraternity) and, of course, the discipline and duties of the association.

The activities of the brotherhood are widely described against the background of the archives visited (pp.220-221), as well as the main development in modern times, especially in the 18th century. On what precedes this, much could undoubtedly be found elsewhere – in the minutes of Obernai or in the scattered legal yearbooks and in the decrees issued by the municipal authorities (such as those of Council XXI in Strasbourg, which are a veritable gold mine in this field). The author describes the heyday of this brotherhood, especially Pfiffertag, which is the subject of an extensive chapter (fortunately with a map showing the places of origin of the 135 participants in this annual meeting, p. 126), but unfortunately the choice of images is very scarce here. The central question of the coexistence of a popular culture and an official high culture is the focus of the last three chapters of the book: the excursus on repertoire could be enlarged, especially on the changes in keys, melodies, dance steps, instruments. What about the migrations of Alsatian musicians to other cultural regions, e.g. to French countries and vice versa, before the French conquest? Likewise with the shepherds’ festival of Froideval near Belfort at the beginning of May or with the numerous kilbs of the region?
The abundance of the executed work of H. Büsemeyer must not obscure the view for what still remains to be done or to be put right (in the index Guillaume and Wilhelm von Rappoldstein are different persons; Werner Burggraf p.44 becomes Burggraf Werner etc.). The contribution of archaeology and heraldry can be improved in several ways. Thus, the excavations of the Serpent drugstore in Strasbourg (whose publication is announced by Maxime Werlé) have revealed frescoes of the 14th century. brought to light, which depict several musicians. Likewise, the author could have reproduced the bagpipe, which serves as a chivalric emblem of the lands of the Ribeaupierre, and which dates back to the 16th century. originates and is kept in the archives of Innsbruck.

published in Revue d’Alsace No. 131, 2005 by Georges Bischoff