 | |
| Classification | Double reed |
|---|---|
| Related instruments | |
Theshawm (/ʃɔːm/) is aconical bore,double-reedwoodwind instrument made inEurope from the 13th or possibly 12th century to the present day. It achieved its peak of popularity during the medieval andRenaissance periods, after which it was gradually eclipsed by theoboe family of descendant instruments inclassical music. It is likely to have come toWestern Europe from theEastern Mediterranean around the time of theCrusades.[1] Double-reed instruments similar to the shawm were long present in Southern Europe and the East, for instance theancient Greek, and laterByzantineaulos,[2][3] the closely relatedsorna andzurna,[4] and the Armenianduduk.
The body of the shawm is usually turned from a single piece of wood, and terminates in a flared bell somewhat like that of atrumpet. Beginning in the 16th century, shawms were made in several sizes, fromsopranino togreat bass, and four- and five-part music could be played by a consort consisting entirely of shawms. All later shawms (excepting the smallest) have at least one key allowing a downward extension of the compass; the keywork is typically covered by a perforated wooden cover called thefontanelle.[citation needed] Thebassoon-like double reed, made from the sameArundo donax cane used for oboes and bassoons, is inserted directly into a socket at the top of the instrument, or in the larger types, on the end of a metal tube called thebocal. Thepirouette, a small wooden attachment with a cavity in the center resembling a thimble, surrounds the lower part of the reed—this provides support for the lips andembouchure.[5]
Since only a short portion of the reed protrudes past the pirouette, the player has only limited contact with the reed, and therefore limited control of dynamics. The shawm'sconical bore and flaring bell, combined with the style of playing dictated by the use of a pirouette, gives the instrument a piercing, trumpet-like sound, well-suited for outdoor performances.
InEnglish the name first appears in the 14th century. There were originally three main variant forms, (1)schallemele (shamulle orshamble), (2)s(c)halmys (shalemeyes orchalemyes, all plural forms inMiddle English), and (3)sc(h)almuse (orschalmesse), each derived from a corresponding variant inOld French:chalemel,chalemie, andchalemeaux (the plural ofchalemel), each in turn derived from the Latincalamus ('reed'), or itsVulgar Latin diminutive form,calamellus. Calamus, in turn, derives from Ancient Greekκάλαμος (kálamos), "reed, cane".
(The name of a somewhat different reed instrument, thechalumeau, also shares this etymology.) The early plural forms were often mistaken for a singular, and new plurals were formed from them. The later reduction in the 15th and 16th centuries to a single syllable in forms such asschalme,shaume,shawme, and finally (in the 16th century)shawm, was probably due to this confusion of plural and singular forms.[6]
InGerman the shawm is calledSchalmei (or for the larger members of the familyBombard—also in English in the 14th century—later corrupted toBombhardt and finally in the 17th century toPommer)[7] This is borne out by the very similar names of many folk shawms used as traditional instruments in variousEuropean nations: in Spain, many traditional shawms with different names can be found, such as the Castilian, Aragonese, and Leonesedulzaina (sometimes calledchirimía, a term that derives from the same Old French word asshawm); the Valencian andCatalan shawms (xirimia,dolçaina, orgralla) or the Navarresegaita. InPortugal there is an instrument calledcharamela; and the name of theItalian shawm isciaramella (or:cialamello,cennamella).[8]
However, it is also possible that the name comes from theArabicsalamiya (سلامية), a traditional oboe fromEgypt, as the European shawm seems to have been developed from similar instruments brought to Europe from the Near East during the time of theCrusades. This Arabic name is itself linguistically related to many other Eastern names for the instrument: the Arabiczamr (زمر), the Turkishzūrnā, the Persiansurnāy, the Chinesesuona, the Javanesesaruni, and the Hindusahanai orsanayi.[4]
By the early 16th century the brash tonality of the medieval shawm had been modulated by a narrowing of the bore and a reduction in the size of the fingerholes. This also extended the range, enabling the performer to play the notes in the secondoctave. Larger sizes of shawm were built, down to the great bass in B♭, two octaves and a major third below the soprano in D. However, the larger sizes were unwieldy, which made them somewhat rare.
The smaller sizes of shawm, chiefly the soprano, alto and sometimes the tenor, were more often coupled with theRenaissance trombone, orsackbut, and the majestic sound of this ensemble was much in demand by civic authorities. The shawm became standard equipment fortown bands, orwaits, who were required to herald the start of municipal functions and signal the major times of day. The shawm became so closely associated with the town waits (die Stadtpfeifer in German andI pifferi in Italian) that it was also known as the wait-pipe.
Before the discovery of a still shawm aboard the shipwreck of theMary Rose, instrument historians had been puzzled by references to "still shawms", or "soft" shawms, that were said to have a sound that was less shrill than earlier shawms.[9] The still shawm disappeared from the musical scene in the 16th century; the instrument found on theMary Rose is the only surviving example. A reproduction has been made and played. Combined with a pipe andtabor, it provides a "very effective bass part" that would have produced "rich and full sound, which would have provided excellent music for dancing on board ship".[10]
The shawm was reserved almost exclusively for outdoor performance—for softer, indoor music, other instruments such as thecrumhorn andcornamuse were preferred. These were double reed instruments fitted with a capsule that completely enclosed the reed, which softened the sound but still did not allow for any variation in dynamics.
Known by the Spanish termchirimia, the shawm remains an important ritual instrument amongMaya peoples of HighlandGuatemala. Accompanied by a drum, the chirimia is frequently used in processions and in certain ritual dances, such as the Dance of the Conquest (Baile de la Conquista), and this is still played today.
A tenor shawm in C with a single key [without the customary lower extension to G], with a range of a perfect twelfth, was described as anicolo according toMichael Praetorius in hisSyntagma Musicum II (1619), pages 23 and 36, but was not illustrated. Praetorius does, however, illustrate in Plate 13 in the supplementary volume of illustrations, theTheatrum instrumentorum (1620), along with crumhorns, abassett:nicolo which has the outward appearance of a capped shawm with four keys, but in fact conceals a mostly cylindrical bore. (The range of the bassett: nicolo descended to the A below great C and was just over four feet in length; a shawm of this range, i.e., with a conical bore, would require more than 9 feet of bore length.)[citation needed]
The shawm inspired the later 17th-centuryhautbois, an invention of theFrench musicianMartin Hotteterre (d. 1712). He is credited with devising essentially a brand-new instrument, one which borrowed several features from the shawm, chiefly its double reed and conical bore, but departed from it significantly in other respects, the most important departure being the fact the player places his lips directly on the reed with no intervening pirouette. Around 1670, the new Frenchhautbois began replacing the shawm in military bands, concert music and opera; by 1700, the shawm had all but disappeared from concert life, although as late as 1830 shawms could still be heard in German town bands performing their municipal functions.[11] Curiously, the Germans andDutch continued to manufacture an ornate version of the shawm, calleddeutsche Schalmey, well after the introduction of the Frenchhautbois. Several examples of this instrument survive in European collections, although its exact musical use is unclear.[citation needed]
The 16th-century proclivity for building instruments in a full range of sizes was naturally extended to the shawm, but the extreme length of pipe of the bass instruments meant that few were built and played, due to their cumbersome size.[citation needed] A solution was devised whereby the bore was in effect "folded back" upon itself, creating a much more manageable instrument. The new instrument is often referred to as thedulcian, and was calledcurtal in England,[12]fagott orfagotto in Germany and Italy, andbajón in Spain.[citation needed] The dulcian, like the first oboes, employed direct lip-to-reed contact, which allowed for much greater control over the sound than was offered by shawms. This led to the dulcian becoming very popular, serving as a bass both to the other shawms and even to indoor ensembles that did not feature shawms, afforded by its ability to play quietly. The dulcian was the forerunner to thebassoon, which like the oboe was a Baroque invention.[citation needed]
Thecharumera (チャルメラ), orcharumeru (チャルメル), is a double-reed instrument in traditionalJapanese music descended either from shawms brought to Japan by PortugueseChristian missionaries,[13] or possibly Iberian traders in the 16th century.[14] It is sometimes used inkabuki theatre performances. It is also strongly associated in popular culture with street vendors oframen, who played a distinctive melody on it to attract customers.
The single reed or clarinet mouthpiece was known to other ancient peoples, and I should not venture to assert that it was not known to the Greeks. But the evidence of both art and literature indicates that it was the double reed that was standard in the Classical period. Under the Hornbostel-Sachs system, therefore, theaulos should be classified as an oboe. It must be admitted that 'oboe-girl' is less evocative than the 'flute-girl' to which classicists have been accustomed, and that when it is a question of translating Greek poetry 'oboe' is likely to sound odd. For the latter case I favor 'pipe' or 'shawm.'
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
