Piper (musician)
The piper (or Pfeiffer ) is the medieval name for a musician.
In the Middle Ages, wind instrument players were called pipers. Later it was the general name for musicians. They were musicians who partly played the flute and partly also the fiddle . As traveling musicians they had no rights and formed brotherhoods from which the musicians' guilds later emerged.
In France and southern Germany, larger regional associations were established in which a piper king was also appointed. This mostly happened through the ruling authorities. In 1355, Emperor Karl IV appointed the fiddler Johannes Rex omnium histrionum . The Pfeifer held annual court sessions (the so-called Pfeifergericht) or Pfeifertage.
Since the 15th century, a certain genre of piper has emerged. The town pipers were instrumentalists in the service of the towns. They were employed not only for the festivities and entertainment, but also to train musicians. This training was designed according to the form of the craft. The Stadtpfeifer ( Stadtzinkenisten ) were under the direction of a Stadtmusikus (Stadtzinkenmaster). City whistles existed in part until the 20th century (e.g. in Silesia).
See also
swell
- ↑ Der Große Brockhaus, Vol. 14, p. 431, Mannheim 1933
- ↑ Musicians' guilds . In: Meyers Konversations-Lexikon . 4th edition. Volume 11, Verlag des Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig / Vienna 1885–1892, p. 933.
- ^ Meyers Lexikon, Leipzig 1926
