The musette de cour, also called the Baroque musette, is a type of Baroque bagpipe. It is known for having a short, round shuttle-drone and two chalumeaux. Both the chanters and the drones have a round shape inside and use a double reed, creating a soft sound similar to an oboe. The instrument is played using a bellows.

The term "de cour" is not found in the names of the instrument in original musical scores. Title pages often refer to it simply as a musette, which can sometimes cause confusion with the piccolo oboe, also called the (oboe) musette.

History

The musette first appeared in France at the end of the 16th century. Over the next 100 years, several families who made musical instruments improved its design. The Hotteterre family made the most famous changes. Martin Hotteterre added a second pipe called the petit chalumeau, which increased the instrument’s range by six semitones. The bourdon, originally used to play music based on specific scales, became simpler as other parts of the instrument grew more complex. The final version of the musette could play all notes in an octave and a half, starting from F above middle C. The bourdon provided continuous low notes for the pitches C, D, and G.

The term "de cour" means the instrument was connected to the French royal court and aristocracy in the early 17th century. At that time, people admired unusual or foreign elements, so traditional instruments like the bagpipe, hurdy-gurdy, and galoubet appeared in music for both professional and amateur musicians. The musette may have been popular because it used a bellows instead of being played with the mouth, as it was considered improper for women to play mouth-blown instruments. However, Borjon de Scellery noted that poorly trained musette players often made exaggerated facial expressions.

During its peak popularity, the musette (like the hurdy-gurdy) was used not only in small group music but also in large compositions such as operas. It was often linked to characters like shepherds and peasants in pastoral scenes. After the French Revolution, the musette quickly lost popularity, while simpler bagpipes remained common in folk music. This change made it hard for music scholars studying French baroque music in the late 19th century to believe that the same instrument could have been used in both simple folk music and complex court compositions.

Since the 1970s, the "authentic performance" movement, which aims to recreate music as it was originally played, has helped restore the musette. Skilled instrument makers like Rémi Dubois (from Verviers, Belgium) have rebuilt original versions of the instrument. This has allowed modern audiences to hear works such as Chédeville’s "Pastor Fido" (based on Vivaldi’s "The Four Seasons"), chamber music by Boismortier, and Rameau’s opéra-ballet "Les Fêtes d'Hébé" as they were originally intended.

Chalumeaux (chanters)

The front page of Borjon de Scellery's Traité (1672) shows a shepherd surrounded by several musical instruments. Among them is an early version of the musette, which has a single chalumeau with six finger holes and no keys. The first large illustration in the book shows a chalumeau with seven finger holes and three keys, allowing it to play notes over a range of one octave.

The second large illustration shows a more advanced version of the musette. It includes a grand chalumeau with five keys and a petit chalumeau with six keys. In Jacques Hotteterre's Méthode (1738), the final common form of the instrument is shown. The petit chalumeau is the same as in de Scellery's work, but the grand chalumeau now has seven keys.

The petit chalumeau, as noted earlier, was added by Martin Hotteterre. Though physically attached to the grand chalumeau and sharing the same body, it has its own reed and operates as a separate pipe. The lowest note on the petit chalumeau is an A flat, one semitone lower than the higher A on the grand chalumeau. Keeping both chalumeaux in harmony and balanced is a challenge for players.

The grand chalumeau is open, meaning it always produces sound. The petit chalumeau is closed, like the Northumbrian smallpipes, and only sounds when a hole is opened or a key is pressed. Both chalumeaux use a "closed" fingering system, which means only one hole is opened at a time (except when playing certain musical decorations).

Bourdons (drones)

The musette drone is designed like the rackett and bassoon, with a short cylinder that contains airways that loop back on themselves. Each airway has openings (similar to finger holes) that are uncovered by moving sliders. These sliders are attached to four runners. The two lowest notes share the same airway, so they cannot be played at the same time.

Early musettes had up to nine runners and twelve sliders, allowing musicians to play music in various modes and maintain a drone using the main note of the mode. As chalumeaux evolved and could play all notes in a scale, it became possible to play music in different modes starting from the same note. This reduced the need for many drone notes, and the bourdon was made simpler. However, the bourdon still has four or more separate reeds that must be regularly adjusted to stay in tune.

Repertory

The musette was played by both professional musicians and amateur players, including members of ensembles and orchestras in the courts or homes of nobles. Music written for the instrument includes simple copies of popular songs, such as folk-dances in Borjon de Scellery's Traité and songs from operas in Hotteterre's Méthode, as well as more difficult pieces by famous composers of the time. Most of the music written for the musette is not meant for a single player; music for two people is the most common, followed by music for three people. Much of the music available for the musette was described as suitable for other instruments, such as the hurdy-gurdy, recorder, or transverse flute, or for these plus the oboe or violin. Modern editions, usually for the recorder, allow people to explore musette music, though the original sound of the instrument, including the drone(s), is needed to hear it as the composer intended.

Composers who wrote for the musette include Bâton, Boismortier, Buterne, Chédeville (l'Ainé and le Cadet), Corrette, Delavigne, Hotteterre "le Romain," Naudot, and Rameau. Interest in the musette was mostly limited to French composers, even though the calm dance style with the same name was more widely known. For example, Telemann's orchestral suites include both Lyra (hurdy-gurdy) and Musette movements, and a Musette appears in the Anna Magdalena Bachbüchlein.

Borjon de Scellery's Traité mentions the petit chalumeau and includes it in illustrations but focuses on the grand chalumeau, featuring mostly dance tunes and popular songs. Hotteterre's Méthode covers the full range of the developed musette and includes examples from popular operas, as well as original pieces to help players improve their skills. Both works teach how to read music, with de Scellery providing examples in standard notation and musette tablature, and offering advice on basic care. These books assume that readers live in Paris or a large provincial town, where they can easily find instrument makers and teachers for help.

Types

Musette de cour – Regular musette, can reach as low as f'

Musette d'amore – Lower in pitch, with range reaching as low as d'

Musette à ravalment – Lowest type of musette, reaching as low as c'