Musette de cour
The final form of the musette is fully chromatic, with a range of an octave and half starting from F above middle C; the bourdon provides drones for C, D and G. The qualification de cour refers to the instrument's connection with the French court and aristocracy of the early seventeenth century.
"Exotic" - in the sense of imported or out of place - elements were fashionable, resulting in the appearance of traditional instruments such as bagpipe, hurdy-gurdy and galoubet in compositions for professionals and amateurs alike.
After the French Revolution, the musette seems to have fallen rapidly out of favour while simpler forms of bagpipe remained popular as folk-instruments.
The "authentic performance" approach generally familiar from the 1970s onward, plus skillful restoration of original instruments by makers such as Rémi Dubois (Verviers, Belgium), has made it possible to hear works such as Chédeville's "Pastor Fido" (based on Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons"), chamber-music by Boismortier and even Rameau's opéra-ballet "Les Fêtes d'Hébé" in their original form.
As the chalumeaux developed and became fully chromatic, it became possible to play music in different modes but starting on the same note; fewer possible drone-notes were needed, and the bourdon was simplified.
As a result, the music written for the instrument ranges from simple transcriptions of popular tunes – folk-dances in Borjon de Scellery's Traité, songs from current operas in Hotteterre's Méthode – to quite demanding pieces by the best-known composers of the day.
Modern editions, usually for recorder, give people the chance to discover a lot of musette music, though it needs the drone(s) to be heard as the composer intended.
The Méthode by Hotteterre covers the full range of the developed form of the instrument, and as well as examples taken from popular operas includes a number of original compositions designed to extend the player's skill in specific areas.
Both these works also teach how to read music, de Scellery providing examples in standard notation and in musette tablature, and advice on basic maintenance.
