schalmei

English

Alternative forms

• schalmey

Etymology

From German Schalmei, from Middle High German schalmīe, from Old French chalemie. Compare Middle English shalemye.

Noun

schalmei (plural schalmeis)

1. (music) A shawm or chalumeau.
   • 1908, The Literary Digest, page 415:

     Viols, bassoons, schalmeis (ancestors of the clarinet), horns, trumpets, kettle-drums, and other instruments afterward used in the orchestra were known in the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries, but there were no organizations of them.

   • 1980, Journal, International Double Reed Society, page 4:

     In 1689 it was ordered in Chemnitz that schalmeis were to be played only by town musicians.

   • 2003, Bert Oling, Heinz Wallisch, The Complete Encyclopedia of Musical Instruments, Chartwell Books, →ISBN, page 97:

     This instrument, also called the pommer, is a forerunner of the oboe. it has a narrow, conical bore and a double reed that is held between the lips of the player, as in older schalmeis that had no wind-cap.

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch schalmeye.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sxɑlˈmɛi̯/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: schal‧mei
• Rhymes: -ɛi̯

Noun

schalmei f (plural schalmeien, diminutive schalmeitje n)

1. shawm

Derived terms

• schalmeien