Martial Music in the Middle Ages
Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2008 5:56 am
I had the strange coincidence, -desperate for movies to watch and short of time to shop for them- of watching in close succession "The 300 Spartans" (1962) and "Waterloo" (1970) (Christopher Plummer must be one of the coolest actors EVER out there)
I noticed, the Spartans with their flutes. (Thucydides describes the Spartans marching to the sound of flutes at Mantinea so as to maintain the pace, so does Xenophon)
Of course, martial music really comes of age with the Age of Reason, recall thes scene from Barry Lyndon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfvCjLgb ... re=related
and closely associated in the English Speaking world with the "redcoats"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPq_ZKT1vyQ
Then the Napoleonic armies [img]http://my.telegraph.co.uk/VirtualContent/87459/20070722192552.jpg[/img]
Coming straight from the earlier models, or the goose bump raising scene of the Black Hat regiment advancing in support of Buford's cavalry on the first day at Gettysburg, from the movie of the same title. (1993)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYjfQP96X1w
Now I am aware that in these cases the armies were based on contingents of infantry who depended upon coordinated field displacements, as opposed to mounted knighthood and a sort of, kinda like, less important body of infantry, that while numerically significant, did not become relevant as a battle-winning force until let's say Crecy. (Ok I'll give you Courtrai even though they were technically more urban militias than an army)
So are there references to, or perhaps even extant pieces of "knightly" martial music...?
Rowan of Needwood
I noticed, the Spartans with their flutes. (Thucydides describes the Spartans marching to the sound of flutes at Mantinea so as to maintain the pace, so does Xenophon)
Of course, martial music really comes of age with the Age of Reason, recall thes scene from Barry Lyndon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfvCjLgb ... re=related
and closely associated in the English Speaking world with the "redcoats"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPq_ZKT1vyQ
Then the Napoleonic armies [img]http://my.telegraph.co.uk/VirtualContent/87459/20070722192552.jpg[/img]
Coming straight from the earlier models, or the goose bump raising scene of the Black Hat regiment advancing in support of Buford's cavalry on the first day at Gettysburg, from the movie of the same title. (1993)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYjfQP96X1w
Now I am aware that in these cases the armies were based on contingents of infantry who depended upon coordinated field displacements, as opposed to mounted knighthood and a sort of, kinda like, less important body of infantry, that while numerically significant, did not become relevant as a battle-winning force until let's say Crecy. (Ok I'll give you Courtrai even though they were technically more urban militias than an army)
So are there references to, or perhaps even extant pieces of "knightly" martial music...?
Rowan of Needwood