Three newly discovered Ieorg Wier crumhorns

Abstract

The discovery of two incomplete crumhorns by Ieorg Wier (1485–1549) in Spain in 2009 (a discant in g, a tenor-alt in c with no windcaps, and just the windcap of a bass), as well as the discovery in 2006 by William Waterhouse of another tenor crumhorn in the museum at Ronse, Belgium, supplement Barra Boydell’s 1979 and 1982 studies of Wier’s surviving crumhorns. I have compared the two new crumhorns with their cousins of similar dimensions in several museums. The measurements of the 30 extant instruments show that Wier was making instruments to a consistent pattern, following the proportions of the second golden series and correlating with German foot measurements. There follows a discussion of the modern nomenclature of soprano, alto in g, tenor and bass versus the original naming discant, tenor-alt and bass, as suggested by Michael Praetorius. A revised list of the 30 extant Ieorg Wier crumhorns with their ranges and pitches can now be established. This study sheds new light on the corpus of the earliest known crumhorn-maker, whose first surviving instruments date from 500 years ago.