Velt-Schalmey
Alternate name(s)
- Treble shawm
- Deutsche Schalmei
- Schalmey
- Deutsche Schalmey
- Soprano shawm
Maker
Richard Haka
Date1690 ca.
Place MadeAmsterdam, Netherlands, Europe
Serial No.none
SignedStamped on bell and long joint (body): (in banner) R. HAKA / [wide-model fleur-de-lis]MarkingsThe fleur-de-lis mark also appears in three other places: (1) about 40 mm from the top of the finial; (2) below the sixth finger hole; and (3) on the fontanelle.
DescriptionBoxwood with brass rings and decorative fontanelle. The Velt-Schalmey, often called Deutsche Schalmey, were made during the late 18th century in Germany and, as in this example, in Amsterdam. Compared to the older shawms, these instruments had a sleeker design, narrower bores, and a sweeter, more restrained sound. Eventually they were replaced by the newer oboe, which was more expressive and could play in a wider range of keys. Richard Haka was the founder of the renowned Amsterdam school of woodwind instrument-making. His apprentices included Coenraad Rijkel, Abraham van Aardenberg, and Jan Steenbergen.
DimensionsLength without pirouette: 621 mm
Length with pirouette: 655 mm
ProvenancePurchased in 1988 from Tony Bingham, London, England.
Published References"Major Double-Reed Exhibition in August," Newsletter of the American Musical Instrument Society XVII, no. 1 (February 1988), p. 10.
Phillip T. Young, Loan Exhibition of Historic Double Reed Instruments (Victoria: University of Victoria, 1988), no. 4.
"1988 Acquisitions at USD Music Museum," Newsletter of the American Musical Instrument Society XVIII, no. 1 (February 1989), p. 10.
"Lobby Exhibit Features Recent Acquisitions," The Shrine to Music Museum Newsletter, XVI, no. 4 (July 1989), p. 3.
Phillip T. Young, 4,900 Historical Woodwind Instruments: An Inventory of 200 Makers in International Collections (London: Tony Bingham, 1993), p. 119.
Jan Bouterse, "The Deutsche Schalmeien of Richard Haka," Journal of the American Musical Instrument Society 25 (1999), pp. 65, 70, 74, 79, 80-81.
David Schulenberg, Music of the Baroque (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), p. 268.
Bruce Haynes, "'Sweeter than Hautbois': Towards a Conception of the Schalmey of the Baroque Period," Journal of the American Musical Instrument Society 26 (2000): 57-82.
Jan Bouterse, Dutch Woodwind Instruments and their Makers, 1660-1760 (Utrecht: Koninklijke Vereniging voor Nederlandse Muziekgeschiedenis, 2005). Includes comprehensive study of extant Haka instruments, including the NMM's example.
Credit LineBoard of Trustees, 1988
Object number04545
On View
Not on view
