Audsley lists Cornamusa, Cornemuse and Cornemeuse, describing them as follows:

This name, which was originally used to designate an instrument of the Bagpipe family, has been occasionally applied by Italian and French organ-builders to a labial [flue] stop stop of 16 ft. pitch. Examples are rare, but one exists, according to Hopkins, on the second manual of the Organ in the Church of Santissimo Crocifisso, at Como. It is evidently a covered stop of wood, and probably derived its name from the drone-like character of its tone.

Williams describes Cornamusa as “A regal toy-stop found fairly commonly in most areas at the end of the 16th cent., imitating the two-note drone (F-C?) of a small bagpipe, Zampogna (It.) or Musette (Fr.).” Regarding the same name, Grove adds “leaving the hands free to play ‘zampogna’ or ‘musette’ music.” The name Zampogna comes to us only from a specification given by Williams (see below). We assume it to be essentially a synonym.

Examples

No examples are known of the toy-stop regal form of Cornemuse or Cornemeuse. Contributions welcome.

Zampogna (3-pipe bagpipe), Solo; Trapani, Italy; la Grassa 1836-46.

Cornamusa, manual; Chiesa di San Filippo, Castelfranco di Sopra, Italy; Bruschi 1652. This example is a regal, playing three notes imitating a bagpipe.

Bibliography