=English Schools to Henry VIII=.—Popular music, both vocal and
instrumental, was an early English institution. The many Folk-songs
which have come down from a very early period bear witness to the
English love of conviviality. Dance tunes, sometimes based on these
Folk-songs, were played on the instruments of the minstrels, which,
as early as 1484, included the clavichord; and the fact that such
instruments were cultivated by people of higher rank is shown by the
record that James IV of Scotland and his queen purchased clavichords
to play upon, in 1503, while the queen of Henry VII of England bought
a clavichord for her private use in 1502. The virginal is spoken of
in the reign of Henry VII; Henry VIII (reigned 1509-1547), who was an
accomplished musician, played upon both these instruments, and also
wrote music for them.
=To Queen Elizabeth’s Time=.—Edward VI (r. 1547-1553) had three duly
appointed virginal players among his court musicians; and after
Elizabeth (r. 1558-1603) ascended the throne, the virginal increased
in popularity; indeed, its name was formerly thought to have been
derived from her as the virgin queen; although the fact that the
instrument was spoken of as the virginal before her reign makes its
derivation from its popularity among young ladies the more probable.
Queen Elizabeth, as well as her sister Mary, received instruction in
virginal playing during her early youth, and became an accomplished
performer; and instances are shown of the former’s great pride in this
accomplishment. In the course of her illustrious reign, when all
the arts flourished to a remarkable degree, and when great wits and
litterateurs vied with each other in the genius of their productions,
the art of music received its share of attention also. The fact that
musical degrees were early given at the great universities, Oxford and
Cambridge, tended to raise the standard of musical knowledge, and to
produce a number of composers who were especially gifted in the more
serious Church forms of writing. Many such, connected with the Royal
Chapel and the court, wrote excellent anthems and secular part-songs;
and now, attracted by the popularity of the instrument, they began to
give a more worthy setting to the folk and dance tunes played on the
clavier.
=Dance Tunes=.—A clavier composition is extant, dated 1555, by =William
Blitheman=, an English church composer, consisting of a chorale-like
melody in whole notes, accompanied first by a flowing eighth-note
figure, and next by triplet quarter notes, with a third voice added
later. Such a serious style prefigured the variations upon dance tunes,
which were especially cultivated by =William Byrd= (1538-1623). In such
variations the melody was first harmonized in simple fashion, and was
afterwards played several times in the same part, with slight changes,
while the accompanying parts were varied in rhythm and style, becoming
generally quicker in tempo. To modern ears the result is monotonous,
as the same key and time signature is maintained throughout; but the
variety in presentation must have been grateful after the simplicity of
the dance tunes.
=The Virginal Book=.—Other popular forms were the Fancie, in which
several melodic subjects were imitated in the various voices; and
the Pavane, a dance in common time, whose theme was repeated in the
following Galliarde, a dance in triple time. These and other forms
are used in a curious collection of clavier pieces now preserved
at Cambridge, and known as Queen Elizabeth’s Virginal Book. This
collection, consisting of four hundred and eighteen manuscript pages,
written on a six-lined staff, contains seventy compositions by Byrd,
besides others by most of the composers of the Elizabethan era, like
Tallis, Dr. Bull, Giles, Farnaby and many others.
=Leading Elizabethan Composers=.—Byrd was a pupil of =Thomas Tallis=
(d. 1585), the renowned church composer, and together they were made
organists of Queen Elizabeth’s Chapel, in 1575, receiving also the sole
right to print music. Another musician who deserves special mention
is =Dr. John Bull= (1563-1628), who won world-wide fame as organist
and clavier player, finally becoming organist at Antwerp Cathedral,
which post he held until his death. His clavier compositions show great
technical fluency. =Orlando Gibbons= (1583-1625), a Doctor of Music at
Oxford, and organist at Westminster Abbey, wrote excellently in the
prevailing style. Shakespeare testifies to the popularity of clavier
playing at this time in one of his sonnets, where he speaks of the keys
as
“O’er whom thy fingers walk with gentle gait.”
Although these early English composers wrote with musical solidity,
their compositions can scarcely be said to have added much to the
development of the instrumental style, or to clavier technic; and,
in fact, they amounted to little more than a side issue in music,
withdrawn from the general advancement, and valuable chiefly as
curiosities. The melodies were apt to be wearisome, through monotonous
repetitions, the rhythms to lack variety, and the modulations to appear
chiefly in the form of unsuccessful attempts.
=The Parthenia=.—During the first half of the 17th century the virginal
retained its popularity, although political turmoils prevented much
positive advancement in music. The “Parthenia,” a volume containing the
first printed collection of virginal music, appeared in 1611, composed
of twenty-one pieces by Byrd, Bull and Gibbons; and a similar volume
followed, with compositions for virginal and bass viol, by Robert Hole.
=Purcell=.—In the reign of Charles II (1660-1685) music again came
to the fore, and was ably promoted by =Henry Purcell=, who was born
in the year when Cromwell died, 1658, and died in 1695. Purcell is a
shining figure in English musical history, through his ability as an
opera composer, in which capacity he produced bright and pithy works,
thoroughly English in spirit, and healthy in tone. He published a
volume of twelve clavier sonatas in 1683, with parts also for two
violins and a bass viol, founded on the model of the Italian violin
sonatas, each having an Adagio, a Canzona, a slow movement and an Air.
Later he published other sonatas, besides suites and separate pieces
for the clavier. Upon the advent of Handel, however, the English
composers became, for the most part, mere imitators of his style, which
had so caught the national ear as to well-nigh eclipse all other kinds
of music. The early English school, therefore, can be said to have had
its last exponent in the person of Purcell.
=Rise of the French School=.—In France a school of clavier compositions
developed during the brilliant reign of Louis XIV (1643-1715), which
did much toward imparting elegance and polish, besides characteristic
rhythms and technical figures, to clavier music. The head of this
school and the personal teacher of many succeeding clavier composers
and players was =Andre Champion de Chambonnières= (d. 1670), who
became court clavier player to the king. He is said to have been
master of a full tone on the harpsichord attained by none other than
himself; he also published two books of clavier compositions, written
in the pure harmonic style, and showing the tendency toward brilliant
embellishments which became a characteristic of his successors. Of
his pupils, =Jean Henry d’Anglebert= (d. 1691), was clavier player at
court, and published in 1689 a book containing clavier arrangements
of airs and dances from the operas of Lully, with rules for their
execution.
=The Couperin Family=.—Two, at least, of the famous musical family of
Couperin also came under the instruction of Champion. These were =Louis
Couperin= (1630-1665), and =François Couperin= (1631-1701), who, with
their brother =Charles Couperin= (1638-1669), and his son =François
Couperin=, called “le Grand” (1668-1733), were all at various times
organists of the church of St. Gervais, at Paris. The Couperins may be
considered as classic composers for the clavier, as their style, though
having an harmonic basis, was mostly in the line of instrumental voice
writing. The first-named published three suites of dances for clavier;
and the second was eminently popular as a teacher.
=François Couperin=.—François Couperin, “le Grand,” deserves special
attention, and has been called the _first great composer_ distinctively
_for the clavier_. He was a pupil of the organist Thomelin, and rose
quickly to so commanding a position as player of the organ and clavier
that, in 1701, he was appointed court clavier player and organist
at the Royal Chapel. He was very accurate as a composer; and in the
four books of clavier pieces which he published successively, he gave
minute directions for interpreting the wealth of ornamentation with
which his melodies are surrounded. Most of these pieces are _written
in two voices_, with the upper melody most prominent; and they reflect
the artificial show and glitter of the French court in their endless
_turns_ and _embellishments_. Yet for this very reason they have
amplified the resources of clavier compositions, preparing the way for
composers like Scarlatti, Bach and Handel. Many of them show the French
taste toward attaching definite meaning to music, by their fanciful
titles, like “La tendre Nanette,” “La Flatteuse”—a custom followed by
others of this school. Couperin wrote also a treatise on clavier touch,
and was _one of the first to make use of the thumb in playing_.
=Louis Marchand= (1669-1732) was a brilliant though dissipated figure
in clavier playing. Becoming organist at the court of Versailles, he
lost the post through his reckless habits, and, going to Dresden, he
was somewhat subdued in his conceit by the evident superiority of Bach.
On his return to Paris, he became exceedingly popular as a teacher,
although his extravagant style of living brought him finally to
poverty. His pupil, =Louis Claude Daquin= (1694-1772), received through
him an appointment as organist at the church of St. Paul, in preference
to Rameau, of whose superiority Marchand became jealous. Daquin
published a number of rather superficial clavier pieces.
[Illustration: JEAN-PHILLIPPE RAMEAU.]
=Jean-Phillippe Rameau=, the last and greatest light of this school,
has even greater fame as an opera composer. He was born at Dijon in
1683, and displayed so great musical talent when a mere child that,
although his parents had intended him for another profession, he was
finally sent to Italy to study music. After spending some time there,
he joined the orchestra of an opera troupe, traveling about France and
gaining an insight into dramatic composition. Upon going to Paris he
studied with Marchand, who recognized and feared his talent, and who
finally was the means of his leaving Paris. Later, however, he obtained
an organ position outside of Paris, and soon attracted attention
not only by his playing, but also by the publication, in 1726, of a
treatise on Harmony. In this he _reduced_ the study of _chords_ to
a _scientific foundation_, and won his title of the name of creator
of the modern science of Harmony. Returning to Paris, he now secured
an organ position there, and set to work upon the series of dramatic
productions which made him the foremost opera composer of his day,
superior even to the popular Lully. In 1737, he published another
theoretical work, in which the principles of Equal Temperament, which
J. S. Bach had adopted fifteen years before, were so clearly stated as
to make their establishment permanent for future composers. Rameau’s
theories were the subject of much controversy in his day; but many
distinguished contemporaries, like Rousseau and Voltaire, were his warm
partisans. He died in 1764.
=Rameau’s Clavier Works=.—His numerous _clavier compositions_ show
great advance in freedom of expression, and are written mostly in
_three parts_, with an occasional succession of full chords. Many of
these have _descriptive titles_, such as “La Poule,” in which the
cackling of a hen is cleverly imitated. Others are in the form of dance
suites. The order of Prelude, Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, Gigue was
made the basis of these suites as well as those of Couperin, although
this order admitted of considerable variation; and no other principle
of Unity appears in them, with the exception of a _common key_.
=End of the Early French School=.—The growing importance of the German
school now came to be felt in France so strongly that the French school
came to lose its individuality. We therefore turn our attention to the
important developments in instrumental music which were effected in
Germany.