Variants of the bock, a type of

bagpipe Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, No ...

, were played in Central Europe in what are the modern states of

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

and the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. The tradition of playing the instrument endured into the 20th century, primarily in the Blata, Chodsko, and Egerland regions of

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

, and among the

Sorbs Sorbs (; ; ; ; ; also known as Lusatians, Lusatian Serbs and Wends) are a West Slavs, West Slavic ethnic group predominantly inhabiting the parts of Lusatia located in the German states of Germany, states of Saxony and Brandenburg. Sorbs tradi ...

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

. The name "Bock" (German for ''buck'', i.e. male

goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a species of Caprinae, goat-antelope that is mostly kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the ...

) refers to the use of goatskins in constructing the bag, similar to the common use of other goat-terms for bagpipes in other nations, such as the French cabrette, Spanish gaita and Polish koza.

History

The oldest written mentions of bagpipes in the

Lands of the Bohemian Crown The Lands of the Bohemian Crown were the states in Central Europe during the Middle Ages, medieval and early modern periods with feudalism, feudal obligations to the List of Bohemian monarchs, Bohemian kings. The crown lands primarily consisted o ...

comes from Zbraslav Chronicle (lat. Chronicon Aulae regiae, 1335 - 1339). The earliest description of the mouth-blown Bock is illustrated on plate XI and described by

Michael Praetorius Michael Praetorius (probably 28 September 1571 – 15 February 1621) was a German composer, organist, and Music theory, music theorist. He was one of the most versatile composers of his age, being particularly significant in the development of ...

in his treatise, ''Syntagma Musicum 2, De Organographia'' (Wolfenbüttel, 1619), plates issued separately as ''Theatrum Instrumentorum'' (1620).

Design

The drone of the Bock is usually pitched two octaves below the tonic of the

chanter The chanter is the part of the bagpipe upon which the player creates the melody. It consists of a number of finger-holes, and in its simpler forms looks similar to a recorder. On more elaborate bagpipes, such as the Northumbrian bagpipes or ...

. The single drone and single chanter have cylindrical bores and employ single reeds. The current variant of the Bock is generally

bellows A bellows or pair of bellows is a device constructed to furnish a strong blast of air. The simplest type consists of a flexible bag comprising a pair of rigid boards with handles joined by flexible leather sides enclosing an approximately airtig ...

-blown, which has the advantage of allowing the piper to sing along with their playing. These bellows-blown bagpipes are believed to have made their way into southern and western Bohemia in the first half of the 19th century. The chanter and drone terminate in amplifying bells of horn or brass, angled upwards. The top end of the chanter is often shaped in the form of a goat-head. In Egerland-style instruments, the drone hangs downward from the bag, whereas in the Bohemian variant, the drone extends backwards over the player's shoulder.

Makers and players

The instrument is now mainly played in the

, particularly

South Bohemia The South Bohemian Region () is an administrative unit (''kraj'') of the Czech Republic, located mostly in the southern part of its historical land of Bohemia, with a small part in southwestern Moravia. The western part of the South Bohemian Reg ...

Strakonice Strakonice (; ) is a town in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 22,000 inhabitants. Administrative division Strakonice consists of eight municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 census): *Strakonice ...

and in Western Bohemia around the town of

Domažlice Domažlice (; ) is a town in the Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 11,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monument reservations, urban monument reser ...

in the region known as Chodsko. As the instrument's revival continues, it is also gaining ground in

and

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

. In Chodsko, one of the most famous makers of the Bock (or ''pukl'' in the local Chod dialect) was Bolfík Šteffek (1842–1923), who lived and worked in Újezd. His son, Vuk Šteffek, (1879–1966) carried on the tradition of making and repairing the pukl. Jakub Jahn (1902–1978), who lived in the village of Ždanov, made about 50 Bock bagpipes. Perhaps the most sought after are those made by Jakub Konrady (1905–1987) of

; Konrady made more than 200 examples, and his sons, Jaromír (born 1944) and Stanislav (born 1946), continue in the tradition. Other makers in western Bohemia include Lubomír Junbauer (born 1950) of Stod, and Jan Hloubek (born 1958) of Klenčí.Bláha, Zdeněk. Sto Kusů Pro Sólo a Duo Dudy. Domažlice: OKS, 1990. page 2 The most prolific maker in the recent past is Miroslav Janovec of Malonice. Notable players of the instrument include the American musician Wayne Hankin, who has used it in the recordings of

Meredith Monk Meredith Jane Monk (born November 20, 1942) is an American composer, performer, director, vocalist, filmmaker, and choreographer. From the 1960s onwards, Monk has created multi-disciplinary works which combine music, theatre, and dance, recordi ...

References

{{reflist Bagpipes German musical instruments Austrian musical instruments Czech musical instruments

History

Design

Makers and players

See also

References