GERMANY The wild side of German piping NEO-MEDIEVAL GERMAN PIPING NYONE who takes in one of Ger- many’s popular medieval markets or Afestivals is very likely to encounter a brazenly noisy, leather-loined, bared-torso style of piping that is unique, if not for its technical fi nesse, then certainly for its antics and its origins. Welcome to German neo-medieval folk: a vigorous pipes and drumbeats-led perform- ance genre — part apparent parody, part fantasy-inspired self-indulgence — that, having simmered for some years under the weakening grip of the German Democratic Republic’s communist regime, erupted into West Germany with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the country’s ensuing re- unifi cation. While early music was being politely expressed by classically-trained members of ba- roque consorts at sedate venues in the Federal FABULA AETATIS whips up some medieval market ambience … “It’s a kind of distant mirror to yourself and Republic of Germany, across the border in the it offers a lot of people space for fantasy and fantastical imagery, like Lord of the Rings, and a different way of GDR Roman Streisand was giving the High- looking at things — so it’s a re-creation scene, but across a relatively big gap.” land pipes an in-your-face makeover. If the wild man who occupied a big farmhouse where a retinue of pretty young acolytes. rumours, gossip and an admiring oral tradition he spit-roasted whole beasts, hosted feasts, He dropped the pitch of the Highland pipes are to be half believed, he was a charismatic irritated offi cialdom and was waited upon by to the old tonic of A, said Thomas Zöller, a PIPING TODAY • 42 PipingTodayIss32.indd 42 14/2/08 11:28:56 GERMANY The wild side of German piping Photo: Mike Paterson Photo: Mike Paterson professional piper and graduate of the BA The tenor drone or drones are supplied with ria, squalor and freedom — and it was a very (Scottish Music — Piping) degree course in turned, wooden plugs so they can be shut off intense time. Glasgow, Scotland, who now operates a pip- when they are played with other instruments. “After that, it exploded: a mixture of free- ing school, the Piping-Academy, in the town Their sound would be lost anyway, and the dom, fantasy and excitement. The wilder, of Hofheim, near Frankfurt. diminished demand for air makes it easier louder medieval music of the east contrasted “He changed the scale because medieval on the piper. with interest in the West where you had groups tunes were played with a minor third — some Said professional piper Brian Haase who like Ougenweide, a ‘Teutonic musical collec- tunes are in Dorian mode, which means you stars with leading neo-medieval groups like tive’ formed in the early 1970s that played need F sharp, some are in minor mode using Fabula Aetatis and Cultus Ferox: “There are ‘pastoral folk rock compositions with medieval F natural and you get both notes on the me- lot of stories about Roman Streisand. He infl uences’. It was a big band in Germany dieval German pipes by cross fi ngering on the was a part of the scene that kick-started the for a long time during the folk revival, and it upper hand. But you can’t get a major third; whole movement back in the 1980s in Eastern was more concerned with authenticity, and it’s always a minor third. It’s played with an Germany. quieter with recorders and seated audiences open fi ngering style. “I was only 13 when the wall came down, and so on.” “And he changed the drones, widening the so it was before my time but there are stories Said Thomas Zöller: “The markets have bore to take them down to A, and gave them about the diffi culties of the folk movement’s become very big. a rougher sound.” being connected with freedom. A piping “I tend to believe every culture needs a folk The chanter is conically bored and belled, colleague has told me about gatherings in tradition. It’s something people can feel they and there are usually two parallel-bored Leipzig. They would be picked up by the originate from and identify with. In countries drones: a big, showy bass drone with a widely- GDR police and driven home to where they’d where unbroken traditions have been handed fl ared bell that is carried over the shoulder, come from. down, there’s no need to go back 1,000 years and a smaller, less dramatically belled tenor “Immediately after the wall came down, to re-defi ne yourself and your musical origins, drone, also carried over the shoulder. A third there was a big, six-week gathering in Berlin so you probably won’t fi nd such a strong early drone, pitched higher than the tenor, is some- where people lived out a whole ‘medieval’ music tradition. times added, lying across the player’s arm. thing — the dress, music, wildness, eupho- “But in Germany where, due to the Nazi PIPING TODAY • 43 PipingTodayIss32.indd 43 14/2/08 11:29:09 GERMANY era and that recent history, and people having capturing their audiences with a very wild and identification problems, leapfrogging back to lively performance… they are leaping about the medieval period provides a solution. It’s a and moving and very testosteronic in their kind of distant mirror to yourself and it offers appearance. a lot of people space for fantasy and fantastical “Some of the most successful professional imagery, like Lord of the Rings, and a different bands have taken it to another level, combining way of looking at things — so it’s a re-creation it with electric guitar, double basses and drum scene, but across a relatively big gap. kit and have created this genre called medieval “Because of this, the markets have become rock: In Extremo, Tanzwut, Schandmaul… a big thing appreciated by a lot of people in “They do big gigs in Germany and inter- Germany. Each year, almost all of the old towns nationally with pyrotechnics, fire, three or hold a medieval market. There are costumed four pipers, a whole rock band line-up, a bit jugglers, story-tellers, art shows and presenta- of bouzouki or harp maybe, but mostly pipes tions, traditional trades and crafts, even jousting and a rock band. And they combine it with and martial arts, and they usually have two or techno.” three stages for music and musicians walking around as well. CLEMENS Bieger has been making pipes for “There’s typically a procession at the begin- eight years. He has a studio in Hattersheim, ning and a big finale in the evening with the Okriftel, having learned his skills in the work- musicians all playing together, with bands shop of Kurt Reichmann, a prominent hurdy playing individually on stage or in the street gurdy maker in Frankfurt. “He first showed me between. It’s all there. lathe work and wood turning. “There are two or three big organisers who “At the same time, Thomas Zöller, a good are contracted to mount medieval markets in all friend of mine, began teaching and I came up the different towns, and they book the bands. with the idea of making simple practice instru- “There are maybe 10-20 big medieval bands ments for learners, so I began teaching myself, in Germany and a lot of small bands. largely by trial and error.” “Some of the troupes you see at the markets Clemens Bieger travelled to Scotland, and are very concerned with authenticity when asked pipe makers Nigel Richard and Julian it comes to costumes, weapons and all these Goodacre whether either could offer him an things, and do a lot of work to achieve it,” said apprenticeship that would let him learn the Thomas Zöller. “But you also get people doing craft. whatever appeals to them. “Nigel had just employed someone and “You might get an ensemble that sets out to Julian already had someone working with him. play early music in a way its members believe But they were both very nice to me, very open is more authentic, and they maybe incorporate and helpful, and that was very encouraging,” a dudey or hümmelchen (traditional German Photo: Mike Paterson he said. PIPER BRIAN HASSE … “I’m not sure where it’ll go. bagpipes), but you would find them performing The big thing that is needed in German medieval piping is “From Nigel Richard I learned how to use their concert in the local church — you won’t improvement in the technical area”. a metal-turning lathe to make pipes. You get see ensembles like this on the market stage. great precision and some processes are really “There, it’s the people playing these chunky the instrument.” much easier to do, but you are a bit limited in medieval pipes, an invented instrument, going Said Thomas Zöller: “The main difference in the design because you often have to stick to for the fun and the dancing.“ Germany is that there’s greater awareness of the quite rectangular designs. You have to find a connection between the piper and the instru- design that presents nice optics. I admire Nigel’s IT was at such a market in Leipzig in 1995 ment because there is a lot of show happening. designs: he’s worked on it very carefully. that Brian Hasse, then training as a telecom- A Scottish piper stands or marches and it is very “And I spent some time with Julian Goodacre munications engineer, was first attracted to the precise and accurate.