Towards the end of the sixteenth century, and in the beginning of the
seventeenth, companies of English actors visited Germany to perform at
the courts of princes, and at public festivities. The Germans called
these actors 'Die englischen Comˆdianten' (The English Comedians); and
the musicians accompanying them they called 'Die englischen
Instrumentisten' (The English Instrumentalists.) Respecting the English
Comedians much has already been written by Shakespearean scholars. The
musical accomplishments of these strolling troupes have, however, not
received sufficient attention to satisfy musicians. Although they appear
not to have been remarkable, they are interesting inasmuch as they were
associated with the performances of Shakespeare's dramas, and also
because the English Instrumentalists have been, with few exceptions, the
only English musicians who ever visited Germany with the object of
gaining a livelihood in that country by displaying their skill.
Some notices of them are to be found in the historical records of the
German theatres, which have been published during the present century.
What induced these actors and musicians to leave their native
country?--Want of support at home. There were too many of them in
England. During the sixteenth century many were in the service of
English noblemen. It was a usual custom with the nobility to keep a
company of instrumentalists as well as actors; and to these were not
unfrequently added skilful tumblers, or acrobats, who seem to have
enjoyed great popularity. Strolling troupes of the latter visited the
provincial towns. W. Kelly, in his 'Notices illustrative of the Drama,
and other popular amusements in Leicester, during the 16th and 17th
centuries,' says: "The earliest notice we have of the visits of
companies of tumblers to the town is in 1590." These personages
undoubtedly also played on musical instruments. In the German records
alluded to, they are called _Springer_ (_i.e._ "Jumpers" or "Dancers"),
and it would appear that not all the English Instrumentalists, but only
the lowest class of them, combined the art of dancing and tumbling with
that of music. The majority were musical actors rather than professional
musicians; while others occupied themselves almost exclusively with
playing on musical instruments, such as the lute, treble-viol, viola da
gamba, recorder, cornet, trumpet, etc.
In a Proclamation of Queen Elizabeth, issued in the year 1571, these
strolling performers are mentioned in rather disreputable company: "All
Fencers Bearewardes Comon Players in Enterludes, and Minstrels, not
belonging to any Baron of this Realme, or towarde any other honorable
Personage of greater Degree; all Juglers Pedlers Tynkers and Petye
Chapmen; wiche said Fencers Bearewardes Comon Players in Enterludes
Minstrels Juglers Pedlers Tynkers and Petye Chapmen, shall wander
abroade, and have not Lycense of two Justices of the Peace at the
Feaste, whereof one to be of the Quorum, wher and in what Shier they
shall happen to wander ... shalbee taken adjudjed and deemed Roges
Vacaboundes and Sturdy Beggers;" etc.[45]
Some interesting details concerning the nature of the performances of
the English common musicians at the time when this Proclamation
appeared, may be gathered from 'A Dialogue betwene Custome and Veritie,
concerninge the use and abuse of Dauncinge and Mynstralsye, by Thomas
Lovell, London, 1581.' The book is written in verse. Custom defends and
excuses dancing and minstrelsy, which Verity attacks and abuses. As
regards the minstrels, Verity remarks:--
"They are accounted vagarant roges
By act of Parliament,
What reason why they should not then
Like Roges to Jaile be sent,
Except they doo belong to men
Which are of high degree,
As in that act by woords set downe
Expressly we may see.
To such, I think, but few of these
Vain Pipers doo pertain:
To men so grave a shame it were
Fond Fidlers to maintain.
A great disgrace it were to them,
Their cloth abrode to send
Upon the backs of them which doo
Their life so lewdly spend."
Respecting the performances of the minstrels, vocal as well as
instrumental, Verity says:--
"Their singing if you doo regard,
It is to be abhord:
It is against the sacred woord
And Scripture of the Lord.
But this doo minstrels clene forget:
Some godly songs they have,
Some wicked Ballads and unmeet,
As companies doo crave.
For filthies they have filthy songs,
For baudes lascivious rimes;
For honest good, for sober grave
Songs; so they watch their times.
Among the lovers of the trueth,
Ditties of trueth they sing;
Among the Papists, such as of
Their godlesse legend spring.
For he that cannot gibe and jest,
Ungodly scoff and frump,
Is thought unmeet to play with Pipe,
On tabret or to thump.
The minstrels doo with instruments,
With songs, or els with jest,
Maintain them selves, but as they use,
Of these naught is the best."
This Dialogue, the author of which is supposed to have been a Puritan,
concludes with Verity convincing and converting Custom.[46]
A grant under the Privy Seal of James I. for the issue of letters patent
in favour of Thomas Downton and others, on transferring their services
as players to the Elector Frederic, dated January 4th, 1613, contains
the following names of actors and musicians: Thomas Downton, William
Bird, Edward Juby, Samuell Rowle, Charles Massey, Humfrey Jeffs, Franck
Grace, William Cartwright, Edward Colbrand, William Parr, William
Stratford, Richard Gunnell, John Shanck, and Richard Price. These, and
"the rest of their Associates" were licensed and authorised as servants
of the Elector Palatine "to use and exercise the art and facultie of
playing Comedies, Tragedies, Histories, Enterludes, Moralls, Pastoralls,
Stage Plaies and such other like as they have already studied, or
hereafter shall use or study."
In a Patent of James I., licensing the performance of plays by his
Majesty's Servants at the private house in Blackfriars, as well as at
the Globe, March 27th, 1620, are mentioned: John Hemings, Richard
Burbadge, Henry Condall, John Lowen, Nicholas Tooley, John Underwood,
Nathan Feild, Robert Benfeild, Robert Gough, William Ecclestone, Richard
Robinson, and John Shancks. In a patent of Charles I., dating June 24th,
1625, which renews that of James I., we have, besides the names just
mentioned, Joseph Taylor, William Rowley, John Rice, Elliart Swanston,
George Birch, Richard Sharpe, and Thomas Pollard.[47]
The names are here given to enable the reader to compare them with the
names, often arbitrarily spelt, of the English actors and
instrumentalists in the German records.
The earliest account of the appearance of these foreigners in Germany
dates from the year 1556, when an English company of actors visited the
court of the Margrave of Brandenburg. In Berlin they found a
well-organized musical band belonging to the Elector Joachim II., the
regulations of which, dating from the year 1570, are still extant. In a
more comprehensive set of regulations issued by the Elector Johann
Georg, in the year 1580, the following instruments are specified as
being played by the Elector's musicians:--_Positif_, _Zimphonien_,
_Geygen_, _Zinckenn_, _Qwerpfeiffen_, _Schalmeyenn_, _Krumbhˆrner_,
_Dultzian_, _Trummeten_, _Posaunen_, _Bombarten_, ("Organ, spinets,
instruments played with a bow, cornets, small German flutes, shalms,
cormornes, a small bassoon, trumpets, trombones, bombardos."[48]).
In the beginning of the seventeenth century we find in the Elector of
Brandenburg's service some English musicians who had probably come to
Germany with the English actors. The following are mentioned in the
Prussian records, with their names more or less Germanized.
Johann Kroker (John Croker), Berlin, 1608. He must have been a rather
distinguished musician; for the Elector Joachim Friedrich made him
Vice-Kapellmeister, or second leader of the orchestra.
Johann Spencer. In a letter dated "Kˆnigsberg, July 14th, 1609," the
Elector Johann Sigismund recommends Johann Spencer to the Elector of
Saxony as an English musician who was recommended to him by the Duke
Franz von Stettin, and who had been for some time in Berlin. The Elector
adds that Johann Spencer's music had pleased him pretty well.[49] There
can hardly be a doubt that this musician is the same John Spencer who
was the director of a company of English Comedians travelling in Holland
and in Germany.
Walter Rowe (also written Roe) Berlin, 1614. A viola-da-gamba player of
some reputation. He must have been at least thirty-three years in the
service of the Elector, for he is still mentioned as a member of the
orchestra in 1647. About the year 1626 he resided for some time at the
court of the Duke of Mecklenburg-G¸strow. His son, Walter Rowe, was
likewise a musician in the Elector's orchestra at Berlin.
Lambert Blome (probably Bloom) is mentioned in the year 1621 as a
_Clarin-Bl‰ser_ (trumpeter) in the orchestra at Berlin.
Valentin Flood was, in 1627, engaged in Berlin, as player on the Treble
Viol.
John Stanley, a theorbo player, was, in the autumn of the year 1628, at
the court of the Elector of Brandenburg, and in the year 1631, entered
the service of the Landgrave Wilhelm of Hesse-Cassel.
Johann Boldt (probably John Bolt), Berlin, 1635. Cornetto player.
These musicians were not the only foreigners in the band of the Elector
at Berlin. Several Italians are mentioned in the records, and even one
or two Polish cither players. As early as in the year 1564, mention is
made of an Italian virtuoso, Antonio Bontempi, who was engaged as player
on the lute, theorbo, and cornetto.
Although the English comedians most probably visited the Netherlands
before they made their appearance in Germany, we meet with them in
Holland not earlier than in the year 1604. A company, which in 1605
performed in Leyden, had previously been in Berlin, and was provided
with letters of recommendation from the Elector of Brandenburg.[50]
Moreover, there was a company of English comedians in Denmark during the
second half of the sixteenth century. Five of these, who in the old
documents are mentioned as Instrumentalists, probably because they were
chiefly musicians, arrived in the year 1586 at the court of Christian
II., Elector of Saxony. Leaving unnoticed those who are mentioned only
as actors, we find recorded in Dresden the following English
instrumentalists, whose names are copied as spelt in the German
documents:--
Tomas Konigk (Thomas King), Dresden, 1586. He had previously been in
Denmark.
Tomas Stephan (Thomas Stephen), Dresden, 1586.
George Bryandt (George Bryant), Dresden, 1586; also known as an actor.
Thomas Pabst (Thomas Pope), Dresden, 1586. He is supposed to have been a
personal acquaintance of Shakespeare.[51]
Rupert Persten (probably Rupert Pierst). Dresden, 1586.
These musicians are in their appointment designated as _Geyger und
Instrumentisten_ ('Fiddlers and Instrumentalists') and their duties are
prescribed as follows:--"They must be attentive and obedient, of good
behaviour at our Court; they must follow us on our travels if we desire
it. Whenever we hold a banquet, and also on other occasions, as often as
they are ordered, they have to attend with their fiddles and other
requisite instruments, to play music. And they must also amuse us with
their art of tumbling, and other graceful things which they have learnt.
They are expected to demean themselves towards us as behoves faithful
and attentive servants; which they have also promised, and bound
themselves to observe."[52]
John Price, who came to Dresden in the year 1629, was a _virtuoso_ on
the flute. The Elector of Saxony gave him a superior appointment in his
orchestra. Mersenne ('Harmonie universelle,' Paris, 1636) mentions him
as a brilliant player. The little flute which he principally used had
only three finger-holes; but he is said to have been able by various
expedients, or knacks, to obtain on it a compass of three octaves. He
had previously an engagement at the Court of W¸rtemberg, in company with
John Dixon, mentioned as an English instrumentalist, and with John
Morell, David Morell, and two other Englishmen, who probably were
comedians.
In the year 1626, a company of English comedians performed in Dresden,
among other pieces, Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet,' 'Hamlet,' 'King
Lear,' and 'Julius CÊsar.'[53] A troupe of English comedians, which in
the year 1611 visited Kˆnigsberg, consisted of thirty-five members,
nineteen of whom are designated in the records as actors, and sixteen as
instrumentalists.[54] No doubt most of those designated as actors were
also musical; but the circumstance of nearly one half of the troupe
being professional musicians sufficiently shows how greatly the
entertainments consisted of musical performances. Another proof of this
may be found in a record stating that in Hildesheim a company of English
actors gave representations in English.[55]
There were probably but few persons among the audience who understood
English. It may, therefore, be surmised that music constituted the chief
attraction of the entertainment. There was, however, also amusing
leaping and dancing, and the funny clown,--the English Jack-Pudding,
Dutch Pekelharing, German Hanswurst, French Jean Potage, Italian Signor
Maccaroni. The clown derives his nickname from the favourite dish of the
mob.
It is unnecessary, for the purpose of tracing the pursuits of the
English actors and instrumentalists, to follow them in their visits to
all the German towns which preserve records of them. Suffice it to
notice their stay in Cassel, where they arrived in the year 1600. The
Landgrave Moritz of Hesse Cassel took them into his service, and, in
1605, built for them a theatre in the form of a circus, to which he gave
the name Ottoneum, in honour of his eldest son, Otto. The walls of this
edifice were beautifully ornamented with frescoes.
However, in 1607, the Landgrave Moritz declared that he was tired of
"the confounded dancers and jumpers," as he called them; and he
dismissed the company from his service, with the exception of a few
clever members, whom he retained until the year 1613. The Landgrave
Moritz was a learned man, and likewise a poet and a musical composer.
His opinion is therefore not without some weight. The company, after its
departure from Cassel, perambulated for several years through Germany,
and appears to have found everywhere a good reception,--especially at
N¸rnberg, where, in 1612, their "new beautiful comedies" were much
admired.
Four names may here be given of English actors, who, in the year 1591,
set out to go to Germany with the avowed intention of improving their
impoverished circumstances. They are: Robert Brown, John Broadstreet (or
Breadstreet), Thomas Sackville and Richard Jones. As in the letter of
recommendation of these men, which has been discovered in the archives
of the Hague, their musical accomplishments are mentioned before their
other accomplishments,--it being stated that they intended to travel for
the purpose "of practising their profession by performing of music, feats
of agility, and games of comedies, tragedies and histories,"[56]--it
is evident that music must have been one of their most practised arts,
if not actually their original profession.
In the year 1603, Lord Spencer was sent by James I. on a special embassy
to Prince Frederick, Duke of W¸rtemberg, to invest him with the Order of
the Garter. Among Lord Spencer's retinue were four skilful musicians,
who appear to have been picked English instrumentalists, to judge from
the praise bestowed on them by Erhardus Cellius in his account of the
visit, which was published at T¸bingen in the year 1605. The following
quotation is a translation, the narrative of Erhardus Cellius being
originally written in Latin:--"The royal English musicians whom the
illustrious royal ambassador had brought with him to enhance the
magnificence of the embassy and the present ceremony [the Duke's
investiture of the Order of the Garter], though few in number, were
eminently well skilled in the art. For England produces many excellent
musicians, comedians and tragedians most skilful in the histrionic art;
certain companies of whom, quitting their own abodes for a time, are in
the habit of visiting foreign countries at particular seasons,
exhibiting and representing their art principally at the courts of
princes. A few years ago, some English musicians coming over to our
Germany with this view, remained for some time at the courts of great
princes; and their skill, both in music and in the histrionic art,
procured them such favour that they returned home liberally rewarded,
and loaded with gold and silver."[57] Erhardus Cellius was Professor of
Poetry and History at T¸bingen.
There remain to be noticed a few English musicians who came to Germany
about the time of the visits of the English comedians, but who appear
not to have been connected with any of the companies.
John Dowland, a _virtuoso_ on the lute, and also a composer,
visited about the year 1585 the Courts of Hesse-Cassel and of
Brunswick-Wolfenb¸ttel. Afterwards, he was for some time lutenist in the
service of the King of Denmark, where perhaps he may have associated
with the English comedians. John Dowland was evidently a personal
acquaintance of Shakespeare, who has immortalized him in his 'Passionate
Pilgrim':--
"If music and sweet poetry agree,
As they must needs, the sister and the brother,
Then must the love be great 'twixt thee and me,
Because thou lov'st the one, and I the other.
Dowland to thee is dear, whose heavenly touch
Upon the lute doth ravish human sense;
Spenser to me, whose deep conceit is such
As passing all conceit, needs no defence.
Thou lov'st to hear the sweet melodious sound
That Phoebus' lute, the queen of music, makes;
And I in deep delight am chiefly drown'd
Whenas himself to singing he betakes.
One god is god of both, as poets feign;
One knight loves both, and both in thee remain."
To conclude that Shakespeare must have been a practical musician,
because he wrote beautiful poetry on the charms and power of music,
would be as bold as to assume from certain passages in his dramas that
he was originally a lawyer, a soldier, a tinker or a horse-dealer.
Indeed, regarded as a critical opinion, his beautiful sonnet on Dowland
is less valuable than the judgment of Dr. Burney, who remarks: "After
being at pains of scoring several of Dowland's compositions, I have been
equally disappointed and astonished at his scanty abilities in
counterpoint, and the great reputation he acquired with his
contemporaries, which has been courteously continued to him either by
indolence or ignorance of those who have had occasion to speak of him,
and who took it for granted that his title to fame, as a profound
musician, was well founded."[58]
John Bull, another English musician of some reputation, was a virtuoso
on the harpsichord and organ. Perhaps the circumstance of his playing
these instruments kept him aloof from the English Comedians on the
continent; otherwise his restless and unsettled life would have fitted
him well for their companionship. Born in Somersetshire, about the
middle of the sixteenth century, John Bull, in the year 1601, made his
first journey to Holland, France and Germany, where his organ
performances, and even his compositions, found admirers. Having returned
to England, he went, in 1607, a second time to the continent with the
object, it is recorded, of restoring his shattered health,--or perhaps,
as Dr. Burney surmises, to improve his shattered financial condition. He
died in Germany. Sir John Hawkins, in his 'History of Music,' gives two
Riddle Canons by John Bull, written in the shape of a triangle. The
anecdote about the marvellous skill of this musician, exhibited by his
adding forty more parts to a song composed in forty parts,[59] is so
absurd as hardly to provoke a smile from anyone acquainted with the
theory of music. John Bull has also been praised for having composed
some pieces for the Virginal so difficult that even pianists of the
present day are startled by his rapid passages in thirds and sixths.
But, considering how rude and unmelodious these contrivances are, he
would deserve greater praise if his music were easily executable,
impressive, and better suited for the instrument for which it was
composed, than is the case. If R. Clark's statement, according to which
John Bull was the composer of the English National Anthem, were correct,
he would have a greater claim to consideration than he deserves at
present. The composers of old popular tunes are seldom known; it is
therefore only proper to regard the whole nation as the composer of its
principal national tune, if its origin has not been definitively
ascertained; and in this sense it is perhaps right to assign the
composition of the English National Anthem to John Bull.
Another English musician, Thomas Cutting, went to Denmark in 1607. He
was a lutenist. There is no record of his having been in Germany. John
Abell, an English singer and lutenist, gave concerts in Holland,
Germany, and Poland, at the time of Charles II., consequently, after the
period of the English Comedians' visit to the Continent.
It is a remarkable fact that, previous to the appearance of those
musicians in Germany, England had already been visited by foreign
musicians, whose talents, considering the positions obtained by several
of them, must have had considerable influence upon the taste of their
English colleagues. There were five German musicians in the service of
Richard III., in the year 1483; eighteen foreign musicians in the
service of Henry VIII.; and as far as can be made out from the corrupt
spelling of the names, the bands of Edward VI. and of Queen Elizabeth
contained about as many foreigners as that of Henry VIII. The Dutch
lutenists, Philip van Welder and Peter van Welder, held a superior
position in the band of Edward VI. The former had already been engaged
by Henry VIII. as teacher on the lute to the royal children. The
distinguished lutenist Jacques Gaulter (or Gouter), in the service of
Charles I., was a Frenchman.
The generally acknowledged superiority of the foreign musicians explains
the dissatisfaction with the popular taste expressed in the works of
several English musicians. Already John Dowland complains in his
Prefaces of being neglected. Matthew Lock, in his 'Little Consort of
three parts, containing Pavans, Ayres, Corants, and Sarabands, for Viols
or Violins,' London, 1657, remarks: "For those mountebanks of wit, who
think it necessary to disparage all they meet with of their own
countrymen, because there have been and are some excellent things done
by strangers, I shall make bold to tell them (and I hope my known
experience in this science will enforce them to confess me a competent
judge), that I never yet saw any foreign instrumental composition (a few
French Corants excepted,) worthy an Englishman's transcribing." John
Playford, in his 'Musick's Delight on the Cithren,' London, 1666,
complains: "It is observed that of late years all solemn and grave
musick is much laid aside, being esteemed too heavy and dull for the
light heals and brains of this nimble and wanton age; nor is any musick
rendered acceptable, or esteemed by many, but what is presented by
foreigners: not a City Dame, though a tap-wife, but is ambitious to have
her daughters taught by Monsieur La Novo Kickshawibus on the Gittar,
which instrument is but a new old one, used in London in the time of
Queen Mary." Again, in his 'Introduction to the Skill of Musick,' John
Playford complains: "Our late and solemn musick, both vocal and
instrumental, is now justl'd out of esteem by the new Corants and Jigs
of foreigners, to the grief of all sober and judicious understanders of
that formerly solid and good musick." This is copied from the edition
published in 1683; the first edition appeared in 1655. Christopher
Simpson, in his 'Compendium of Practical Musick,' London, 1667, boldly
asserts: "You need not seek outlandish authors, especially for
instrumental musick; no nation, in my opinion, being equal to the
English in that way; as well for their excellent, as their various and
numerous Consorts of three, four, five and six parts, made properly for
instruments," etc. Thus also Christopher Simpson, at the conclusion of
his 'The Division Violist, or an Introduction to the Playing upon a
Ground,' London, 1659, says: "And here I might mention (were it not out
of the Rode of my Designe,) divers others [besides Mr. John Jenkins];
most eminent men of this our nation, who, for their excellent and
various compositions, especially for instruments, have, in my opinion,
far outdone those nations, so much cryed up for their excellency in
Musick."
The preference given by these musicians to their own music does not,
however, throw much light upon the question: Of what kind was the music
played by the English instrumentalists, who accompanied the comedians on
the continent?
A satisfactory answer to this question may be obtained from an
examination of the secular music popular in England about three hundred
years ago, and from the stage directions in the dramas performed by the
strolling actors.
As regards the diffusion of musical knowledge in England at the time of
Queen Elizabeth, the historical records contain contradictory
statements, which however may, with some discrimination, be reconciled
with each other. It is well known that England possessed at that period
some estimable composers of sacred music who would probably have
obtained a hearing on the continent, had they not been obscured by the
excellent Flemish and Italian church composers. Some intelligent
foreigners who made a trip to England, at the time of Queen Elizabeth,
praise the music which they heard in the principal churches of the
country. Paul Hentzner, a German scholar, who visited England in the
year 1598, remarks in his journal: "The English excel in dancing and
music, for they are active and lively, though of a thicker make than the
French." He subsequently expresses a less favourable opinion of the
musical taste of the English: "They are vastly fond of great noises that
fill the ear, such as the firing of cannon, drums, and the ringing of
bells."[60] This statement accords with a remark of Dr. Burney in his
History of Music, Vol. III., p. 143; and likewise with Handel's advice
to Gluck, when the latter, after the performance of his opera 'Caduta
de' Giganti' in London, anno 1746, complained of want of success: "For
the Englishman you must compose something which is powerful, and which
acts upon his tympanum."[61] Music was also called noise. For instance,
in Shakespeare's Henry IV., Part II., Act 2, Scene 4:--
'And see if thou canst find Sneak's noise; Mistress Tearsheet would
fain hear some music.'
It may be supposed that the popular taste for loud music was some
centuries ago much the same as it is at the present day, where quantity
is often more thought of than quality. But, there are some records from
which it would appear that the cultivation of music was universal among
the educated classes. Henry Peacham in his 'Compleat Gentleman,' London,
1634, enumerates with the many requisite accomplishments of a gentleman,
some practical and theoretical knowledge of the art of music. However,
he does not describe the gentleman as he finds him, but, as in his
opinion he ought to be. To conclude from his description that in the
seventeenth century every English gentleman was musical, would be as
unwarrantable as to conclude from Lord Chesterfield's well-known advice
to his son to leave violin-playing to the professional musicians, that
in the eighteenth century Englishmen of education considered it
derogatory to play on a musical instrument.
In Thomas Morley's 'Introduction to Practical Musick,' London, 1597,
which is written in dialogue, Philomathes says to Polymathes, in the
beginning of the discourse, that recently when at a party he could not
join in their madrigal singing after supper "euery one began to wonder.
Yea, some whispered to others, demaunding how I was brought up: so that
vpon shame of mine ignorance, I goe now to seeke out mine old friend
master Gnorimus, to make my selfe his scholler." This statement appears,
however, to be in contradiction with one made about the same time in
another instruction book, entitled 'The Schoole of Mvsicke; wherein is
tavght the perfect Method of trve fingering of the Lute, Pandora,
Orpharion, and Viol-da-Gamba; with most infallible generall rules, both
easie and delightfull. Also a Method how you may be your owne instructor
for Prick-song, by the help of your Lute, without any other teacher:
with lessons of all sorts for your further and better instruction. Newly
composed by Thomas Robinson, Lutenist; London, 1603.' This book likewise
is written in the form of a dialogue, the persons in conversation being
"Knight" and "Timothevs." In the beginning of the dialogue Knight
remarks: "In mine opinion I think it impossible to be a good Musitien,
except a man be seene in all the seauen liberall Sciences; for I know
many great clarkes in Diuinitie, Phisicke, Law, Philosophie, etc., that
haue small, or no knowledge at all in Musicke, nay, some quite reject
it."
No doubt, these statements of two professional musicians contradictory
to each other, as to the cultivation of music by English gentlemen
towards the end of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, must not be taken
literally, but rather as what the authors thought an ingenious and
elegant manner of proving that their works supplied a want. Thus, Thomas
Morley teaching vocal music, maintains that every young gentleman is
expected to be a singer; and Thomas Robinson, teaching the lute and the
cither, expresses his dissatisfaction that many gentlemen know nothing
about musical instruments,--indeed, nothing of music. Moreover, Thomas
Robinson is a "Student in all the liberall Sciences;" we know this from
his own statement on the title-page of his 'New Citharen Lessons,'
London, 1609; and being a learned man, he considers it impossible to be
a good musician without being versed in "all the seauen liberall
Sciences."
The fact that there is no English book dating from the sixteenth,
seventeenth, or eighteenth century, which contains descriptions with
illustrations of the different musical instruments formerly in use in
England, while a considerable number of such books were published on the
continent, sufficiently proves, if other testimony were wanting, that
instrumental music was not so much cultivated in England as on the
continent. The English books of instruction for certain instruments were
generally but poor compilations got up by the publishers themselves. The
illustrations of musical instruments given in Hawkins's 'History of
Music' have most of them been copied from Luscinius and Mersenne.
Hawkins appears to have been unaware that these instruments, of which he
gives descriptions derived from foreign sources, were formerly also in
use in England. At any rate, he mentions several of them by their German
names, without giving their English names.
Some English musicians who at the time of James I. visited the
continent, Italianised their names, a rather unpatriotic act to which
they probably would not have thought of resorting, had they not become
convinced of the superiority of the continental music. John Cooper
called himself Giovanni Coperario; and Peter Phillips, who lived for a
time in the Netherlands, altered his name into Pietro Philippi.
As regards the national music of England at the time of the strolling
instrumentalists, the inquirer may obtain reliable information by
examining an old collection of popular tunes entitled 'The Dancing
Master; or Directions for dancing Country Dances, with the Tunes to each
Dance, for the Treble Violin.' The first edition was published by John
Playford, about the middle of the sixteenth century. The work, which
consisted of only one volume, became popular, and went through many
editions with enlargements, until, at about the year 1700, it extended
to three volumes containing nearly one thousand tunes. It may be
surmised that this collection comprises nearly all the airs of the
secular songs which were popular in England at the time of the
Instrumentalists. It must be remembered that most of the airs of songs
were also used as dance-tunes, and that comparatively but few of the
dance-tunes in the earlier editions of the collection are instrumental
pieces not derived from vocal music. Whether all these melodies are of
English origin is another question. Some are known to be Welsh, others
Irish, others Scotch; and some appear to have been derived from the
continent. Some of the dances are of foreign origin, and most probably
they became first known with the tunes which belonged to them when they
were introduced into England. Afterwards, new tunes were composed to
them, which more or less resembled the old ones. Irrespective of all
those tunes in the 'Dancing Master,' which are apparently not English,
there still remains a considerable number of specimens which may be
accepted as genuine English tunes. They should be examined just as they
are published, without modern harmony or any other arrangement which
obscures their original character. Some of them are certainly odd. Take
for instance the 'Cushion Dance,' with its melancholy tune, in which the
dancers converse in song with the musicians.
[Music: JOAN SANDERSON, OR THE CUSHION DANCE.
AN OLD ROUND DANCE.
"_Note._--The first strain twice; the second once; and the last as oft
as is required."]
"This dance is begun by a single Person (either Man or Woman) who taking
a Cushion in their Hand, dances about the Room; and at the end of the
Tune they stop and sing, _This Dance it will no further go_. The
Musicians answer, _I pray you good Sir, why say you so?_ Man, _Because
Jean Sanderson will not come too_. Musician, _She must come too, and she
shall come too, and she must come whether she will or no_. Then he lays
down the Cushion before a Woman, on which she kneels, and he kisses her,
singing, _Welcome Jean Sanderson, welcome, welcome_. Then she rises,
takes up the Cushion, and both dance, singing, _Prinkum-prankum is a
fine Dance, and shall we go dance it once again, once again, and once
again, and shall we go dance it once again?_ Then making a stop, the
Woman sings as before, _The Dance_, etc. Musician, _I pray you Madam_,
etc. Woman, _Because John Sanderson_, etc. Musician, _He must_, etc. And
so she lays down the Cushion before a Man, who kneeling upon it salutes
her, she singing, _Welcome John Sanderson_, etc. Then he taking up the
Cushion, they take hands and dance round, singing, as before; and thus
they do till the whole Company are taken into the Ring. And if there is
Company enough, make a little Ring in the middle, and within that Ring
set a Chair and lay the Cushion in it, and the first Man set in it. Then
the Cushion is laid before the first Man, the Woman singing _This
Dance_, etc. (as before) only instead of--_come too_, they sing--_go
fro_; and instead of _Welcome John Sanderson_, etc., they sing _Farewell
John Sanderson, Farewell, Farewell_; and so they go out one by one as
they came in. _Note:_ The Woman is kiss'd by all the Men in the Ring at
her coming in and going out, and likewise the Man by all the Women."
The popular tunes of almost every European nation possess certain
features of their own which the student of national music can ascertain
and define. To pronounce upon the original home of any one national tune
is of course often as hazardous as to pronounce upon a man's native
country from his physiognomy. There are Germans who look much like
Englishmen, but a number of Germans seen gathered together would not
easily be mistaken for Englishmen. The same may be observed in every
nation. We may occasionally meet with an Englishman who has the
appearance of a Frenchman, a Chinese, or a Gipsy; but an assembly of
Englishmen reveals a certain family-likeness appertaining to the English
race. Thus also a collection of the popular tunes of a nation generally
exhibits certain predominant peculiarities which enable us to determine
whence the tunes came. Those in the 'Dancing Master,' regarded
collectively, do not exhibit any family-likeness which it would be
possible to indicate by words or by musical notation. They appear to
have sprung from as many sources as the words of the English language.
The language has, however, a strongly marked individual character from
the various adopted words having become Anglicized; while the musical
compositions of Englishmen bear no stamp by which they could be
recognized as English.
The English instrumentalists played, of course, chiefly the popular
tunes of their time. It is unnecessary to explain in detail how the
music was introduced into the dramatic performances. The works of
Shakespeare, with which the reader is presumably familiar, show this
sufficiently. They likewise contain many instances of the admission of
popular songs or ballads,--such as Desdemona's "Sing willow, willow,
willow;" Ophelia's "How should I your true love know?" or the Clown's "O
mistress mine where are you roaming?" in Twelfth-night. Also vocal music
composed for two or more voices was occasionally introduced,--even the
jocular catch, which was especially relished in England, and which
Shakespeare ridicules (Twelfth-night, Act II., Scene 3):--
'_Sir Toby Belch._--Shall we rouse the night-owl in a catch that
will draw three souls out of one weaver? shall we do that?'
After some punning, Sir Toby, Sir Andrew Aguecheek and the Clown sing
together a catch.
_Enter_ Maria.
'_Maria._--What a caterwauling do you keep here? If my lady have
not called up her steward, Malvolio, and bid him turn you out of
doors, never trust me.'
In 'Hamlet,' Act III., Scene 2, strolling actors are introduced, and
with them musicians playing on hautboys and recorders. In the
representations of the English comedians in the Ottoneum, at Cassel,
anno 1606, the instrumentalists always struck up after each act.[62] No
doubt they played, besides their English tunes, also the most popular
ones of Germany, which would ensure them a more favourable reception.
Travelling musicians who perform in public, almost invariably find it to
their advantage thus to meet the taste of their audience. And it
appears, likewise, very probable that the English Instrumentalists, on
their return home, entertained their audience in England with the
popular tunes, and perhaps some more elaborate pieces, with which they
had become acquainted on the Continent, and which to the English public
would possess the charm of novelty.
However this may be, the position of the Instrumentalists at home, after
they had discontinued their continental tour, was by no means enviable,
to judge from 'The Actors' Remonstrance, or Complaint for the silencing
of their profession and banishment from their severall Play-houses,
London, 1643,' in which the dejected actors remark: "Our Musicke that was
held so delectable and precious, that they scorned to come to a Taverne
under twentie shillings salary for two houres, now wander with their
instruments under their cloaks, I meane such as haue any, into all
houses of good fellowship, saluting every roome where there is company
with, Will you haue any musike Gentlemen?"[63]
The English comedians in Germany generally performed in the German
language. This must have been funny,--perhaps not the least so in
pathetic passages, solemn admonitions, or in reflecting monologues,
where even the slightest foreign pronunciation is apt to transform the
sublime into the ridiculous. Here brevity must have been often
desirable, and the falling in of the band may have afforded relief.
Thus, the English Instrumentalists, although they have exercised no
influence upon the cultivation of the art of music, are certainly
interesting, inasmuch as they have assisted in the earliest
representations of the dramas of Shakespeare.
[Illustration]
[45] 'The English Drama and Stage, under the Tudor and Stuart Princes,
1543-1664, illustrated by a series of Documents, Treatises, and Poems.
Printed for the Roxburgh Library, London, 1869.' P. 22.
[46] 'Extracts from the Registers of the Stationers' Company of works
entered for publication between the years 1570 and 1587; with notes and
illustrations by J. Payne Collier.' Vol. II., London, 1849. Printed for
the Shakespeare Society. P. 142.
[47] 'The English Drama and Stage, under the Tudor and Stuart Princes;
London, 1869.' P. 50.
[48] 'Geschichte der Oper and des Kˆniglichen Opernhauses in Berlin, von
L. Schneider; Berlin, 1852.' Anhang, P. 15.
[49] 'Geschichte der Oper, etc., in Berlin, von L. Schneider; Berlin,
1852.' Anhang, P. 25.
[50] 'Shakespeare in Germany, by Albert Cohn, London, 1865.' P. lxxviii.
[51] 'Shakespeare in Germany, by Albert Cohn; London, 1865.' P. xxvii.
[52] 'Zur Geschichte der Musik und des Theaters am Hofe zu Dresden, von
Moritz F¸rstenau; Dresden, 1861.' Vol. I., P. 70.
[53] 'Zur Geschichte der Musik und des Theaters am Hofe zu Dresden, von
Moritz F¸rstenau; Dresden, 1861.' Vol. I., P. 96.
[54] 'Shakespeare in Germany, by Albert Cohn; London, 1865.' P. lxxxiv.
[55] 'Shakespeare in Germany,' P. lxi.
[56] 'Shakespeare in Germany,' P. xxix.
[57] 'England as seen by Foreigners in the days of Elizabeth and James
the First, by W. B. Rye; London, 1865,' P. cvi.
[58] 'A General History of Music,' by C. Burney; London, 1789. Vol.
III., P. 136.
[59] Hawkins's 'History of Music.' London, 1776. Vol. III., P. 319.
[60] 'England as seen by Foreigners in the days of Elizabeth and James
I. By W. B. Rye; London, 1865.' P. 3.
[61] 'C. W. Ritter von Gluck, von Anton Schmid; Leipzig, 1854.' P. 29.
[62] 'Geschichte des Theatres und der Musik in Cassel,' von W. Lynker;
Cassel, 1865. P. 243.
[63] 'The English Drama and Stage, under the Tudor and Stuart Princes,
1543-1664, illustrated by a Series of Documents, Treatises, and Poems.
Printed for the Roxburgh Library, London, 1869.' P. 263.
[Illustration]