Robert Hopp wrote:

> You will find there our new "Quercus Game 98" where everybody
> can play in answering (on-line form) to the question :
> what does "Musette" mean?

This is what I know about it:

Musette is one of the French words for bagpipe.  The other term is
cornemuse.  The main difference lies in the way the bag is provided
with air.

A cornemuse is played by air which is blown by the player into the
bag by mouth, using a pipe.  A musette also is played by air, but the
bag is filled by means of small bellows, powered by arm movement.

Musette also is the name of an old dance, originally accompanied by
the bagpipe, the musette.  The dance inherited its name from the
instrument.  Many dances started as a folk dance, and were adapted by
the "upper classes".

And by the composers, working for them.  A good example can be found in
Bach's third English suite, where in the score a dance is remarked with
"a la musette".

In the 19th century in France there often was a dance-party, called
"bal champetre", which also was called "bal musette".  The dance party
was named after the instrument that was used for playing the dance
music, the musette.  Later on the accordion was used.  The typical
colour of the sound of these so called "accordeon-musette" is popular
up to now, and is called "valse musette".

Musette has a third meaning: a register in a church organ, with conical
tongued pipes, 8- and 4-feet.  It also is found as a register on a
harmonium.

Musette, to end with, also is found in the name of an instrument, the
musette de poitou, another name for the hautbois de poitou, a member of
the oboe-family.

And I guess we should add a fifth meaning, shouldn't we: a small
mechanical organ, built by Robert Hopp !

Jan Kijlstra

 [ That's wonderful, Jan, thank you!  You _do_ love your books,
 [ don't you!  :-)   -- Robbie