Cromorne

The CROMORNE was greatly appreciated from the 14th to the 17th century to accompany traditional songs, sacred music, dances and plays. It was played most often by professional musicians in royal palaces and large municipal formations. In a set of cromornes, each instrument covers a register. Professionals usually had a full set.

The cromorne probably originated in northern Italy towards the end of the 15th century, but it soon spread to Germany.

It is referred to in the archives of 1593-94 of the city of Trier in Germany. The sentries of the city were to play a wood, in particular the cromorne, morning, noon and evening, from the tower of the church.

Cromorne is a French woodwind reed instrument of uncertain identity, used in the early Baroque period in French court music. The name is sometimes confused with the similar-sounding name crumhorn, a musical woodwind instrument probably of different design, called "tournebout" by French theorists in the 17th century.