Description
The November 2022 talk by Dr Amanda Babington was originally entitled "What did Bonnie Prince Charlie play on his Musette?" It turns out that the answer could be, "Quite possibly, nothing!"In a fascinating piece of historical detection, Amanda tells the story of the Musette, an inquiry stimulated by the rather worn-looking Musette in the West Highlands Museum to which is attached a plaque that reads ‘Charles Edward Stuart, last PRINCE of the Royal House of Stuart’. Today, the Musette is a little-known instrument with some similarities to the Northumbrian Pipes and Irish Uilleann Pipes. The Musette fell out of fashion after the French Revolution because of its aristocratic connections.
After telling the story of the Musette, Amanda provides a detailed consideration of the evidence that Charles Edward Stuart himself owned one, and a summary of the musicians who composed music for it. She concludes that the evidence that the Prince personally played the Musette remains circumstantial. However, Amanda continues her quest to find a first-hand account of him playing the instrument, which she believes may exist in one of the smaller archives. Her talk ends on a positive note - whatever the outcome of her research, she has already unveiled a great deal of unpublished information on the evolution of the Musette, the composers associated with it, and its role in court and social life in 18th-century France and Italy.
| Period | Nov 2022 |
|---|---|
| Held at | 1745 Association |