Piffaro presents At the Sign of the Crumhorn

Susato (born c.1510 and dying sometime after 1570) was a busy composer noted for his dances, and he was also a highly-in-demand musician. But one of his most enduring legacies was as a skilled and savvy music publisher. Susato published and distributed his own works and those of many others, and all of this printed music could be purchased in his Antwerp shop, which had a crumhorn on its sign.

A Renaissance signature

In her excellent, readable program notes, Priscilla noted that though you may not know his name (I didn’t), you’ve likely heard something in a movie, commercial, or video game that took inspiration from his compositions. At the Sign of the Crumhorn featured more than 30 pieces in seven sets played by the six Piffaro regulars: Héloïse Degrugillier, Grant Herreid, Priscilla Herreid, Greg Ingles, Sian Ricketts, and Erik Schmalz. As always, each played a variety of horns, winds, strings, bagpipes, and percussion instruments.

The crumhorn (meaning “bent horn”) itself may require a little detour. This woodwind is one of more than 50 instruments in Piffaro’s “instrumentarium”. Because its double reed is placed inside the cap, players can’t access it with their mouth, and since it has only nine notes it isn’t as versatile as some others. But its distinctive buzzing tone is a signature sound of a Renaissance wind band.

The concert’s first set was titled A Familiar Tune, featuring three of the dances for which Susato is best-known by players and afficionados of early European music. To open, an ensemble of four crumhorns was accompanied by the lute. In the concert’s second set, Hot Off the Press, five works by some star composers of the era were featured, including pieces by Orlande de Lassus (1532-1594), Thomas Crequillon (c.1505-1557), and Josquin des Prez (c.1450-1521), considered by his peers (and still today) to be one of the greats.

Meditation, amateurs, and memory

At the heart of the concert was a reflective fourth section, A Mealtime Meditation, featuring six works. Godt is mein licht was by Jacobus Clemens non Papa (c.1510-1555), who clearly has one of the most interesting names of the period. This Clemens work (and others like it, all published by Susato) were psalms set to the era’s popular music and meant to be sung at home. Part of this set also recreated a short concert played in church after evening service, where an especially beautiful duet setting of Languir me fais (“You make me languish”) provided a welcome reflective moment.

After intermission were works dedicated “To the lovers of the noble science of music.” Always an innovative marketer, Susato published this 1544 collection of his own chansons, new versions of his and other composers’ already famous tunes. But in another publishing coup, he created this collection specifically for amateur musicians and music lovers, designing the pieces to be played by either two or three people, depending on who might be available.

Works in the section titled Of Blessed Memory featured four settings of the iconic Renaissance piece Mille regretz, published by Susato in his seventh book of chansons. This collection paid tribute to the massively influential Josquin after his death and included Musae Jovis by Nicolas Gombert (c.1495-c.1560), where the chant “circumdederunt me” (“groans of death surround me”) weaves elegiacally in and out of the secular polyphony.

Musicians keep innovating

Susato witnessed the quick rise of printing, a new technology, and he took great advantage of it. At this concert, it was striking to see the audience hearing his music filmed for streaming online, which Susato himself would probably have appreciated. And it was also striking to realize how, 500 years later, musicians still follow pathways trod by Susato and his peers. The music composed, published, or distributed by this highly successful 16th-century professional was a reminder of how today’s musicians continue to craft their often-varied careers.

The impeccably played dances and chansons, the excellent program notes, and a printed Listening Guide (a new Piffaro feature) created a vibrant gateway into the long-ago era when this Antwerp musician lived and worked and plied his trade(s). The concert is now streaming online through November 15, so audiences can again visit Tielman Susato at the sign of the crumhorn.

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