12 - Musical Culture in Middelburg in the Times of Isaac Beeckman

Summary

Abstract

This chapter gives a first, overall impression of musical culture in Isaac Beeckman's hometown Middelburg and its environment. Middelburg's long musical tradition, the Reformation, the explicit presence of musical instruments in Beeckman's times, the activities of important instrument builders, including the Grouwels and Burgerhuys families, domestic music making, and several individuals, including Jacob Cats and Adriaan Valerius, are discussed. Public as well as domestic music making are described. Music appears to have been omnipresent in Beeckman's time in Middelburg and the developments as described in this essay must have made a lasting impression on him.

Keywords: Isaac Beeckman, Middelburg, music, keyboard instruments, cultural history

Isaac Beeckman has paid much attention to music all his life, and it seems likely that the seed for this fascination was laid during his youth. Middelburg appears to have had a lively musical culture in Beeckman's times; yet, it has never been mapped out. This essay aims to give an impression of a number of aspects related to music in Beeckman's hometown and its environment, and in doing so, to sketch a background that may have influenced Beeckman in his earlier years.

Although it is difficult to determine with certainty to what extent Beeckman possessed musical talent, the many remarks related to music in his Journal reveal a profound interest that is beyond any doubt. Beeckman does not discuss polyphonic music from the Renaissance in his Journal. By contrast, much attention is paid to Genevan Psalms, in particular relating to questions of modality, intonation, the practice and notation of leading tones (musica ficta), correct harmonization, etc. Born in 1588 in the Reformed milieu of a city in which many Protestants had settled down after the fall of Antwerp in 1585, this cannot come as a surprise. The explicit presence of keyboard instruments (organs, harpsichords) and bells (the introduction of the carillon) in Middelburg as well as the tuning of keyboard instruments seem to have aroused Beeckman's serious interest: he discusses matters of tuning (and the differences between organs and harpsichords related to this) rather in depth. The ‘floating’ of a pitch which is out of tune (against a properly tuned tone) is described by him with a fine term, wywauwen – in Dutch serving as an onomatopoeic word.