_With references to the same Words as they occur in the Text_
_Alarum, Alarums_ (of Drums), occurs as a stage direction about 72
times in fourteen of the historical plays, always in connection with
battle. It is found alone, as above, about 45 times, sometimes
qualified--_e.g._, Loud alarum, Low alarum, Short alarum, Alarum
within. _Alarums and Excursions_ occurs about 21 times, always in
fight. ['Excursions' merely means 'parties of men running about;' see
the stage direction _H. 6. A._ IV, vi. 'Excursions, _wherein_ Talbot's
son is hemmed about;' also _Id._ I, v, where the direction has
'Alarum. _Skirmishings_,' instead of the usual 'excursions.']
A few special cases are--Alarum _with thunder and lightning_, _H. 6.
A._ I, iv, 97; _Flourish and Alarums_, used by Rich. III. to drown the
reproaches of Q. Eliz., etc.; Alarum and _chambers_ [cannon] _go off_,
_H. 5._ Act iii. line 33 of the chorus, and again _Id._ end of scene
1; Alarum _and cry within_, 'Fly, fly, fly,' _Jul. Cæs._ V, v; Alarum
afar off, _as at a sea fight_, _Ant._ IV, x.
Out of the 72 cases in the stage directions, 70 mean a call to battle
by _drums_. There are only two exceptions, where the Alarum is
identified with trumpets, _H. 6. B._ II, iii, 92, and _Troil._ IV, v,
112, 117.
Skeat gives the original of the term as 'all'arme' (Ital.) a war cry
of the time of the Crusades. For the _form_ of the word, he compares
_arum_ (arm) and _koren_ (corn).
_'Alarum' in the text._
The word is used 13 times in the text of Shakespeare; and in 6 of
these it refers to _drums_, as in the stage directions _H. 6. A._ I,
ii, 18, I, iv, 99, II, i, 42; _R. 3._ I, i, 7; _Cor._ II, ii, 76; _H.
5._ IV, vi, 35.
But in two of the remaining examples, alarum is distinctly said to be
_trumpets_, _H. 6. B._ II, iii, 93 and V, ii, 3; while other more
extended meanings are found--_e.g._, in _Venus and Adonis_, l. 700,
where it refers to the noise of the dogs hunting the hare; in
_Macbeth_ II, iii, 75 and V, v, 51, where alarum is used of a Bell;
also in _Lucrece_, 433, of Tarquin's 'drumming heart' 'giving the hot
charge,' and _Othello_ II, iii, 27, of Desdemona's voice, which Iago
says is 'an alarum to love.'
_Flourish_, either simply in this form, or 'Flourish of Trumpets' (six
times) or 'Flourish of Cornets' (twice), occurs about 68 times in
seventeen plays.
Out of these, it is used some 22 times for the entrance or exit of a
King or Queen; 12 times for the entrance or exit of a distinguished
person not a king; 10 times in the public welcome of a Queen or great
general; 7 times it marks the end of a scene; 6 times heralds a
victorious force; twice announces the proclamation of a King; twice
signalises the entrance or exit of Senate or Tribunes; and twice gives
warning of the approach of Play-actors [See Section VI., at end], or
the commencement of a Play. [Players in Hamlet, and Pyramus and Thisbe
in _Mids. Nt._].
Some solitary uses are where Rich. III. orders a Flourish to drown the
reproaches of Qu. Eliz. and the Duchess of York; the occasion of the
betrothal of H. V. and Katherine of France; and the public welcome of
the three Ladies in Coriolanus. The last is _A Flourish with drums and
trumpets_, which occurs several times. In Grove's Dictionary (under
'Fanfare') is given a seven bar Flourish which is believed to be of
Charles II.'s time, and is still used at the opening of Parliament.
[Appendix.]
'Flourish' in the text is only found twice. In _Richard III._ IV, iv,
149, 'A flourish, trumpets!--strike alarum, drums!' we have a clear
definition of the two terms mentioned; and in _Merchant_ III, ii, 49,
'even as the flourish when true subjects bow To a new-crowned
monarch;' a reference to the principal use of the Flourish, which was
to signify the presence of Royal persons.
_Trumpets_, _A trumpet sounds_, _Trumpet sounded within_, _Drums and
trumpets_, _Flourish of Trumpets_ (6 times).
One or other of the above occurs some 51 times in twenty-two plays,
either alone, or in connection with Sennet, discharge of cannon, etc.
On 18 of these occasions it announces the entrance or presence of a
King or Royal personage; 13 times it figures as part of the
proceedings in Duels; 10 times signifies the entrance or exit of
principal persons, not royal, great generals, etc.; 3 times precedes a
public procession, with Royal persons in it; twice it is connected
with the advent of Royal Heralds; and once with the arrival of Players
(_Shrew_, Prologue. See also Flourish).
Thus 'Trumpets' divides the honours with 'Flourish' as the mark of
Royalty.
Examples of the use of the term in the text are numerous, and are
found in most of the plays. They are not generally of very special
interest.
_Music, Music plays, Music within._
This direction is found 41 times in twenty-two plays, half of which
are comedies.
In 8 cases we have _Music_ during a speech or dream of one of the
characters; 7 times as the symphony or the accompaniment to a Song; 7
times in Wedding processions or Pageants; 6 times for Dancing; and 5
times during a banquet.
To give a just idea of the amount of Stage Music considered necessary
in or near Shakespeare's time, there must be added to the above, all
the stage directions in other terms--_e.g._, _Hautboys_, which is
found about 14 times.
Here are a few relics of Stage Music before Shakespeare's day.
The playing of the minstrels is frequently mentioned in the old
Miracle Plays, and the instruments used were the horn, pipe, tabret,
and flute. In the Prologue to the Miracle Play, Childermas Day, 1512,
the minstrels are requested to 'do their diligence,' and at the end of
the Play to 'geve us a daunce.'
In Richard Edwards's _Damon and Pithias_ [Transcriber's Note:
'Pithias' is correct for the title of this play], acted in 1565,
there is a stage direction. "Here Pythias sings and the regalles
play." Also, when Pythias is carried to prison, "the regalls play a
mourning song." Thus the Regal, a tiny organ that could be easily
carried about, was considered a proper instrument for the stage. In
the old Comedy, Gammer Gurton's Needle, 1566, mention is made by one
of the characters of the music between the acts--
"Into the town will I, my friendes to visit there,
And hither straight again to see the end of this gere;
_In the meantime, fellowes, pype up your fidles_: I say take them,
And let your friends hear such mirth as ye can make them."
In Gascoyne's _Jocasta_, 1566, each act is preceded by a dumb show,
accompanied by "viols, cythren, bandores, flutes, cornets, trumpets,
drums, fifes, and still-pipes." In Anthony Munday's comedy _The Two
Italian Gentlemen_ (about 1584), the different kinds of music to be
played after each act are mentioned--_e.g._, 'a pleasant galliard,' 'a
solemn dump,' or 'a pleasant Allemayne.' A little later, Marston, in
his _Sophonisba_, 1606, goes into considerable detail as to the music
between the Acts; after Act I., 'the cornets and organs playing loud
full music'; after Act II., 'organs mixed with recorders'; after Act
III., 'organs, viols, and voices'; after Act IV., 'a base lute and a
treble viol'; and in the course of Act V., 'infernall music plays
softly.' Fiddles, flutes, and hautboys are mentioned by other
dramatists as instruments in use at the theatre at this time.
Rimbault's Introduction to Purcell's opera 'Bonduca' gives the names
of twenty-six Masques and Plays produced between 1586 and 1642 (when
the theatres were closed), all of which contained important music.
Amongst them are Jane Shore, by Henry Lacy, 1586, with music by
William Byrd; seven masques by Ben Jonson, dating 1600-1621, four of
which had music by Ferrabosco; a masque by Beaumont (1612) with music
by Coperario; a play Valentinian, by Beaumont and Fletcher (1617) set
by Robt. Johnson; The Triumphs of Peace by Shirley (1633), with music
by William Lawes and Simon Ives; several other masques, set by Henry
Lawes, who did the music to Milton's _Comus_ (1634), etc. The list
also includes Shakespeare's _Tempest_, with Robt. Johnson's music, two
numbers of which, viz., 'Full fathom five,' and 'Where the bee sucks,'
are printed in Bridge's Shakespeare's Songs, with date 1612.
_Retreat_, or _A Retreat sounded_, generally with Alarum, or
Excursions, or with both.
_Retreat_ by itself occurs only three times, but in company with
Alarums and [or] Excursions may be found in 16 other places. The whole
19 cases occur in eleven plays.
The word explains itself. The actual notes of a Retreat of
Shakespeare's time are not known.
In the text it has the same meaning.
_H. 6. A._ II, ii, 3. 'Here sound retreat, and cease our hot pursuit.'
_H. 6. B._ IV, viii, 4. 'Dare any be so bold to sound retreat or
parley, when I command them kill'?
_H. 4. A._ V, iv, 159. 'The trumpet sounds retreat; the day is ours.'
_H. 5._ III, ii, 89. _Macmorris_, 'the work ish give over, the trumpet
sound the retreat.'
_March, Dead March._
There are 18 marches provided for altogether; 4 are Dead Marches; 3
National--viz., English, French, and Danish; and 11 ordinary military
marches.
Probably all are identified with _Drums_, without any other
instruments. For the three national marches, see _H. 6. A._ III, iii,
30 and 33 [Transcriber's Note: Added missing scene number], and
_Hamlet_ III, ii, 91.
Hawkins gives (Hist., p. 229) the text of a Royal Warrant of Charles
I., ordering the revival of the ancient 'march of this our English
nation, so famous in all the honourable achievements and glorious wars
of this our kingdome in forraigne parts [being by the approbation of
strangers themselves confest and acknowledged the best of all
marches].' The warrant goes on to say that this ancient war march of
England 'was, through the negligence and carelessness of drummers, and
by long discontinuance, so altered and changed from the ancient
gravitie and majestie thereof, as it was in danger utterly to have
bene lost and forgotten.' It appears that 'our late deare brother
prince Henry' had taken steps to have the old march restored, at
Greenwich, in 1610; 'In confirmation whereof' the warrant orders all
English or Welsh drummers to 'observe the same,' whether at home or
abroad, 'without any addition or alteration whatever.' 'Given at our
palace of Westminster, the seventh day of February, in the seventh
yeare of our raigne, of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland.'
Then follows the march, expressed both in musical notes and
onomatopoetic words. It consists of a Voluntary, and then seven lines
of 'The March,' each of which ends with a 'pause.' The first line is
given thus--Pou tou Pou tou [fermata symbol over next word] poung. The
next three lines are very similar. Line 5 is more elaborate, and the
last two lines run as follows:--
_R R R R_ [fermata symbol over next word] poung.
_R R R_ pou _R R_ pou tou pou _R_ tou pou _R_ [fermata symbol
over next word] poung potang.
See the appendix for the translation into musical notes, which is
given in the warrant itself, but the accuracy of which is
questionable.
It seems pretty clear that this ancient march of England is of a
period long anterior to the warrant of Charles I. Several passages of
that document point to this. At any rate, it was so old as to have
almost dropped out of knowledge in 1610.
Hawkins gives an interesting note, in which he mentions that the
characteristic of the old English march of the foot was 'dignity and
gravity,' in which it differed greatly from that of the French, which
is given by Mersennus (_b._ 1588) as 'brisk and alert.'
There is a curious story of a conversation between Marshal Biron, a
French general, and Sir Roger Williams, a gallant Low-country soldier
of Elizabeth's time. The marshal observed that the English march
_being beaten by the drum_, was slow, heavy, and sluggish. 'That may
be true,' answered Sir Roger, 'but slow as it is, it has traversed
your master's country from one end to the other.'
The references in Shakespeare all go to confirm the opinion that the
March was played by drums alone--_e.g._, _H. 6. C._ I, ii, 69, where
the stage direction is _A march afar off_, which is immediately
followed by 'I hear their _drums_.' Again, in the same play, Act IV.,
sc. vii. line 50, '_Drummer_, strike up, and let us _march_ away. [_A
march begun._]
_Hautboys._ This is an important musical term, and occurs about
fourteen times in eight plays. It always implies a certain special
importance in the music, and is generally connected with a Royal
banquet, masque, or procession. In six cases, at least, the direction
has some special qualification--_e.g._, Hautboys playing _loud_ music;
_A lofty strain or two_ to the hautboys; Trumpets and hautboys
sounded, and drums beaten _all together_. In _Ant._ IV, iii, 12,
Hautboys supply the supposed ominous 'music in the air.'
The term is closely connected with 'Music,' the remarks on which apply
equally to the present case. (See above, on 'Music,' and the music of
16th century plays).
Not long after Shakespeare's time, orchestral music for the theatre
consisted of stringed instruments only (_i.e._, the violin family,
violins, violas, violoncellos, and the sole surviving 'viol,' the
double-bass) with harpsichord, for general use; while in the more
important pieces, hautboys, and sometimes flutes as well, were added,
playing, as a rule, with the 1st and 2nd violin parts. This, at any
rate, is the case in Purcell's operas. (Purcell died 1695). Thus the
word Hautboys represented very nearly the climax of power to 17th
century ears. Anything beyond this was supplied by the addition of
trumpets, though this was rare; while Drums were very occasionally
used.
The stage direction in Shakespeare may be taken to mean--'Let the
hautboys be added to the usual band of strings.' In the last of the
above examples, _Coriol._ V, iv, 50, we have the extreme limit of
power of this time provided for--viz., trumpets _and_ hautboys _and_
drums, _all together_. It is interesting to notice the wording of
Menenius's description of this stage music. 'The trumpets, sackbuts,
psalteries, and fifes, Tabors and cymbals.' The 'sackbut' was merely
our modern slide trombone, while the rest of these instruments were in
common use in the 16th century, except the Psaltery, which Kircher (b.
1601) says is the same as the Nebel of the Bible. The picture he gives
is remarkably like the dulcimers which may be seen and heard outside
public-houses to this very day, _i.e._, a small hollow chest, with the
strings stretched across it. An instrument of this kind could be
played with the fingers, like a harp, or with a plectrum, like a
zither, or with two little knob-sticks, like the dulcimer. Mersennus
(b. 1588) also identifies the Psaltery with the Dulcimer.
In the text, the Hautboy is only named once, in _H. 4. B_ III, ii,
332, near the end of Falstaff's soliloquy, on old men and lying, where
he says that Shallow was such a withered little wretch that _the case
of a treble hautboy_ was a mansion for him, a court.
The 'treble' hautboy corresponds with our modern instrument, and was
the smallest in size of the hautboy tribe, of which only two now
survive--viz., the Oboe proper, and its cousin, which is a fifth lower
in pitch, and correspondingly larger, and which has curiously picked
up the name of Corno Inglese, Cor Anglais, or English Horn. None the
less it is the Alto Hautboy. The tenor and bass of the family have not
survived. Hautboys in four parts were the backbone of the French
regimental bands in Lully's time--_i.e._, about 1670. [Appendix.]
The spelling of the word in the old editions of Shakespeare is
'hoeboy,' which is very like the modern German Hoboe.
_Sennet._ This is a rare direction, and is found only nine times in
eight plays, as against sixty-eight 'Flourishes' and fifty-one
'Trumpets.' The notes of a sennet are unknown. Three times it marks
the entrance or exit of a Parliament, three times is used in a Royal
or quasi-royal procession, and the remaining cases are royal, or near
it.
In the 1st Folio of Hen. V., the word is spelt _senet_, but in later
ones, _Sonet_, as if the former were a misprint. In Marlowe's Faustus
(published 1604), Act iii. sc. i., we find '_sound a sonnet_' [enter
Pope, Cardinal, etc.]. Also the French Cavalry of 1636 used trumpet
calls named _Sonneries_. These seem to point to a derivation of the
word from _sonare_, and thus the spelling ought to be _sonnet_, not
_sennet_.
But other forms are found--Synnet, Signet, Signate, which may be
proper derivatives of _signum_, and thus make this trumpet call 'a
signal,' instead of 'a sounding'; or (which is as likely) may be
corruptions, perhaps of the somewhat featureless form 'Synnet,' caused
by a misunderstanding of the original misspelling 'senet.'
In the text of Shakespeare the word does not occur.
_Cornets_, or _Flourish Cornets_ (only twice).
This is also rare, occurring only eight times in four plays. One case
only is in war, the others being all connected with Royal or triumphal
processions.
The term is by no means synonymous with Trumpets. The Cornet was an
entirely different instrument, and the use of it accordingly is very
much more limited in these stage directions. There were two
instruments called Cornet, the one with a reed, a coarse sort of Oboe
which was nearly obsolete in the 17th century; the other, with which
we are concerned, a sort of Horn (hence its name), with a cup
mouthpiece, and finger holes for the intermediate notes of the scale.
Hawkins gives pictures of a treble, a tenor, and a bass cornet, copied
from Mersennus, who remarks that the sounds of the cornet are
vehement, _but_ that those who are skilful, such as Quiclet, the royal
cornetist (_i.e._, of France, 1648) are able so to soften and modulate
them, that nothing can be more sweet.
Many people now living will remember the Serpent, a large, black,
curly instrument, of thin wood covered with leather, which helped to
play the loud bass in oratorios, within the last fifty years. This
Serpent was a true Cornet in every respect. It may now commonly be
seen in Exhibitions, Museums, and curiosity shops, for it has been
entirely superseded by the Bass Tuba and the Euphonium.
In the text the word Cornet does not occur.
_Tucket._ Rare, only _seven_ times in six different plays. This is one
of the several trumpet calls we have noticed. It seems to have been a
French term, _toquet_, or _doquet_, and this is defined by Littré, as
_quatrième partie de trompette d'une fanfare de cavalerie_--that is,
the name 'toquet' was applied to the fourth trumpet in a cavalry
fanfare. Mr Aldis Wright, in his Clarendon Press Edition of Hen. V.,
gives Markham, quoted by Grose in 'Military Antiquities,' which
explains 'Tucket' as a trumpet signal, which, 'being heard simply of
itself without addition, commands nothing but _marching after the
leader_.' Certainly in Shakespeare it seems to be used as a _personal_
trumpet call--_e.g._, _Merchant_ V, i, 121, Lorenzo says to Portia,
'Your husband is at hand; I hear his trumpet--'_i.e._, the 'tucket
sounded' which is indicated in the stage direction. Other cases of
the use of the Tucket are quite similar--for instance, the return of
Bertram, Count of Rousillon, from war; the arrival of Goneril
(_Cornwall._ What trumpet's that? _Regan._ I know't, my sister's:) or
the embassy of Æneas. Once it is used to herald Cupid and the masked
Amazons, in _Timon_; and twice at the entrance of Montjoy, the French
Herald, in _Hen. V._
The derivation of the word from _toccare_, and its connection with
_tocco di campana_, _tocsin_, and _tusch_, have already been explained
in the notes on Hortensio's music lesson to Bianca. (See Sec. II.)
In the Appendix is given an Italian Tucket of 1638, and a French one
of 1643.
In the text the word is only found once--viz., _H. 5._ IV, ii, 35,
where the Constable of France orders the trumpets to 'sound the
tucket-sonance, and the note to mount,' which fits in with Markham's
definition, for the passage appears to recognise the tucket as in some
sort a _preparatory_ signal.
It is perhaps worth noting, that of the seven tuckets in the stage
directions, only one, Goneril's, is supposed to be an English one. In
the single instance just given of its use in the text, it is a
_French_ general who uses the word. Perhaps this may be regarded as
confirming the view of its foreign origin.
_Parley_, or _Trumpets sound a parley_, either alone, or with
_Retreat_. This call is named in the stage directions 7 times in five
plays, viz.--_H. 6. A._ _three_ times; _H. 6. B._ once; _R. II._ once;
_H. 4. A._ once; and _H. 5._ once. It means either a trumpet call
announcing an _embassy_ from one party to the other, or for
_cessation_ of hostilities during the fight itself. Of course the name
is derived from _parler_, with a reference to the proposed 'pow-wow'
of the opposing forces.
The notes of a parley do not appear to exist.
[Perhaps a little light may be got out of the symphony to Purcell's
duet in King Arthur, 'Sound a Parley ye fair.']
In the text, the word is used several times. In three cases, _John_
II, i, 205, 226 [Transcriber's Note: Added missing scene number] and
_H. 5._ III, iii, 2, 'the parle' means the conference of the parties
itself, not the trumpet call summoning them. In the rest, 'parle' or
'parley' simply means the sound of the trumpet, as explained above.
_H. 6. B._ IV, viii, 4; _R. 2._ I, i, 192, III, iii, 33; _H. 6. C._ V,
i, 16; _Othello_ II, iii, 23.
_Horns_, or _Horns wind a peal_, or _Horns winded_.
This is very rare. Seven times in only four plays, one of which is the
doubtful _Titus Andronicus_.
Three times it is used of hunting horns, _Titus_ II, ii, and _Id._ l.
10, and in the Induction of the _Taming of the Shrew_; twice as a part
of Lear's lessened state, _Lear_ I, iii and I, iv; once announcing the
Post from England, _H. 6. C._ III, iii; and once blown by Talbot as a
military signal at the forcing of Auvergne Castle gates, _H. 6. A._
II, iii.
The 'peal' of horns referred to in _Titus_ II, ii, 10 is a technical
term in forestry for a particular set of notes on the horn. Méhul
(1763-1817), in his overture 'Le jeune Henri,' introduces several old
French hunting fanfares, which perhaps may give an idea of what was
meant by 'Horns wind a peal.' [See Appendix.] Also in Purcell's 'Dido
and Eneas,' No. 16 (date 1675), in the scene between the Sorceress and
the two witches who are plotting the destruction of 'Elissa,' at the
words 'Hark! the cry comes on apace,' the violins give an imitation of
a hunting call.
The only instance of the use of the word 'peal' in the text is in the
same passage, _Titus_ II, ii, 5, where Titus tells his hunters to
'ring a hunter's peal.' Here we have a last example of punning on a
technical term of music.