carols and court songs of the early tudor period

14
This article was downloaded by: [University of North Texas] On: 30 November 2014, At: 10:02 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK Proceedings of the Royal Musical Association Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ rrma19 Carols and Court Songs of the Early Tudor Period John Stevens M.A. Published online: 28 Jan 2009. To cite this article: John Stevens M.A. (1950) Carols and Court Songs of the Early Tudor Period, Proceedings of the Royal Musical Association, 77:1, 51-62, DOI: 10.1093/jrma/77.1.51 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jrma/77.1.51 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and

Upload: john

Post on 03-Apr-2017

212 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: Carols and Court Songs of the Early Tudor Period

This article was downloaded by: [University of North Texas]On: 30 November 2014, At: 10:02Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales RegisteredNumber: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

Proceedings ofthe Royal MusicalAssociationPublication details, includinginstructions for authors andsubscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rrma19

Carols and CourtSongs of the EarlyTudor PeriodJohn Stevens M.A.Published online: 28 Jan 2009.

To cite this article: John Stevens M.A. (1950) Carols and CourtSongs of the Early Tudor Period, Proceedings of the Royal MusicalAssociation, 77:1, 51-62, DOI: 10.1093/jrma/77.1.51

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jrma/77.1.51

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracyof all the information (the “Content”) contained in thepublications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis,our agents, and our licensors make no representations orwarranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness,or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinionsand views expressed in this publication are the opinions and

Page 2: Carols and Court Songs of the Early Tudor Period

views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsedby Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should notbe relied upon and should be independently verified withprimary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not beliable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands,costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever orhowsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connectionwith, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content.

This article may be used for research, teaching, and privatestudy purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction,redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematicsupply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expresslyforbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be foundat http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f N

orth

Tex

as]

at 1

0:02

30

Nov

embe

r 20

14

Page 3: Carols and Court Songs of the Early Tudor Period

14 April, 1951.

FRANK HOWES, M.A., F.R.C.M.PRESIDENT,

IN THE CHAIR.

CAROLS AND COURT SONGS OF THE EARLY TUDORPERIOD.

BY JOHN STEVENS, M.A.

MOST of you will already be familiar with the mediaeval ideaof the carol as a strict, metrical form. To others it may comeas a surprise to discover that the bravely all-embracingdefinitions of modern editors are, for the late Middle Ages,superflous. To poets and musicians of the fifteenth and earlysixteenth centuries a carol was not 'a song with a religiousimpulse, simple, hilarious, popular and modern,' but simply'a song on any subject, composed of uniform stanzas andprovided with a burden'1; this burden, a distinct formal unit,starts the piece and is repeated after each verse.

The carol was not the only song-form of mediaeval England;but it was by far the most important. From the fifteenthcentury more than one hundred and twenty carols, in Englishand in Latin, survive with their music, and even in the sixteenthcentury a large number of songs were still being written in thisform. Half the songs oftheFayrfax Book, a principal sourceof court-songs, are either carols or near relations.3 Incontrast, however, to fifteenth-century practice, the carols ofthe early Tudor period often diverge greatly from the standardform, and are composed in a variety of musical styles. Youare now going to hear two court-carols; their complete differ-ence in style, tone and mood, from each other and from thecarols of the fifteenth century, illustrates the rich diversity thatwas possible within the formal limits of the carol. The firstis Hey troly loly lo ! Mayde, whether go youl It comes, notfrom the Fayrfax Book, but from the other main source ofcourt-songs, British Museum Add. MS. 31922, which for con-venience I shall call Henry VIII's Book, since it contains manyof his compositions. Hey troly loly lo! shows with clarity twofavourite modifications of strict carol-form: (a) the initialburden is never exactly repeated, and (b) each verse is set todifferent music.

Illustration: Hey Troly Loly Lo !*

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f N

orth

Tex

as]

at 1

0:02

30

Nov

embe

r 20

14

Page 4: Carols and Court Songs of the Early Tudor Period

52 Carols and Court Songs of the Early Tudor Period

The other court-carol, Affraid, alas, and whi so sodenli?, istaken from the Fayrfax Book; it is anonymous, but may be byBrowne, Davy, Cornyshe or Fayrfax himself. In contrast tothe light-hearted pastourelle, Hey troly loly lo\, the poem setis a solemn meditation on the Passion of Our Lord. Thecomplicated structure is as follows: Burden (in two sections);Verse I with refrain; Verse II (to different music) with the samerefrain; and so on, until the last verse, which has the usualrefrain followed by the second half of the initial burden. Theburden, you will notice, which is a distinct formal unit of itsown, is replaced between verses by a refrain.Illustration: Affraid, alas, and whi so sodenlii*

Although the carol must be defined as 'a song on any sub-ject', nevertheless from the very beginnings of its history it hadspecial associations and was performed on special occasions.Both in pagan and in Christian practice it was traditionallyassociated with the festivities of Christmas. However, whenwe come to early Tudor times, if one fact stands out, it is thatin the carols of the court song-books we have not so mucha particular kind of music ('hilarious' or otherwise) as a cross-section of the whole body of court-song. It is about thecourt-songs as a whole that I want to speak this afternoon.Where, and when, were they performed? And, a moredifficult question, what did they convey to their first hearers?

II

To be interested in the court-songs is, inevitably, to beinterested in the court. In apology for this truism I can onlysay that we are many of us liable to forget that music is alanguage in which men express their thoughts and desires, notmerely a complicated system of symbols to be manipulatedaccording to arbitrary conventions. Whatever our privatebeliefs are about the place of music in our society, we cannothope to understand the language of mediaeval music withoutknowing rather more about it than we shall ever discover fromobserving progressions of 'six-three' chords or the recurrenceof certain cadences.

There are, in addition, two important reasons why any studyof mediaeval music, as distinct from the music of other periods,should go hand in hand with a study of its background. Thefirst is that the sources of mediaeval music, the actual survivingpieces, are quite unrepresentative of the music we knowexisted. There is, for instance, an enormous gap in our

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f N

orth

Tex

as]

at 1

0:02

30

Nov

embe

r 20

14

Page 5: Carols and Court Songs of the Early Tudor Period

Carols and Court Songs of the Early Tudor Period 53

knowledge covering almost the whole repertory of secularinstrumental music. How, then, can we be sure that the songswhich survive really represent the songs which were sung?The second reason why the background must be studied is thatmediaeval people themselves always thought of Art as havinga Purpose.' Since they related music to the business of life,it is the least we can do to discover how and why.

One of the most important single facts about the music ofthis early period is that it was functional rather than expressive.I.do not mean for a moment to suggest that its first hearersnever felt the 'lift upwards and divine' which later ages havefelt. On the contrary we can only with difficulty imagine howviolent an emotional impact music may have made on mindsless liberally furnished than our own. But the certaintyremains that it was rarely the first duty of music to expressemotion for its own sake. Music had rather to be conceivedas part of worship, part of ceremony, part of an allegoricalentertainment or a moral play.

This point, obvious though seldom made, is quite in accordwith what we know of the place of the other arts in society."The Middle Ages,' in the words of Professor Huizinga, 'knewonly applied art. They wanted works of art only to makethem subservient to some practical use.' Portraits andeffigies are clear examples of this. Similarly Professor Robbinshas stressed 'the eminently practical nature' of the MiddleEnglish lyric, quoting the verses written for banquets andmummings and the devotional poems written to stir up thewills of faithful people.6

How then was music 'applied' in the life of the court?First and foremost there was its wide use in ceremonies ofall kinds. The pompous diplomatic meetings of heads ofstates (the Field of the Cloth of Gold is the best known) calledfor music. On these occasions the first moment of personalcontact between the potentates was acclaimed by an outburstof minstrelsy on each side—'suddenly the trumpets and otherinstruments sounded, so that never was heard such joy.'7 Ingeneral, all meetings between noble persons or their representa-tives, all important receptions, processions and journeys weresupported by music.

I cannot elaborate here these ceremonial occasions; theyinclude, besides those mentioned, tournaments and otherchivalric exercises, funerals and executions, banquets.weddings,royal entries and many others. Even if there were nothing tosay about the way in which music was used, its sheer bulkwould be impressive. Whereas today ceremony and therefore

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f N

orth

Tex

as]

at 1

0:02

30

Nov

embe

r 20

14

Page 6: Carols and Court Songs of the Early Tudor Period

54 Carols and Court Songs of the Early Tudor Period

ceremonial music play a negligible part in our lives, in earlyTudor times they were inescapable, particularly in courtcircles. These were the occasions on which a courtier fromhis youth up would hear music. But granted that music waswidely used, it occupied a markedly subordinate position.A reading of the chronicles and household orders leaves one inlittle doubt about this; the prime grace of noble ceremonieswas the display of costly clothing and jewellery. One foreignerwrites of an important reception that 'all wore such massivegold chains that some might have served for fetters on afelon's ankles.'8 Other things essential to the 'noble game',with its elaborate ritual, were expensive food and plate atbanquets, and expensive servants at all times. To put theextreme case then, music was there to draw attention to some-thing worth seeing. To do this adequately it had to be, inBacon's phrase, 'sharp, loud and well-placed'; that is, it hadto be in itself a gaudy noise. Thus loud instruments, trumpets,clarions, sackbuts, drums, bells, organs and choirs, were verymuch in evidence.

But, more than this, in order to dignify (or, in their express-ive word, to 'worship') the ceremony, music had itself to beworth seeing. It is difficult for us to recapture the frame ofmind of earlier listeners, who always connected hearing musicwith seeing it. Musicians not only appeared in elaboratestage settings but they had to fit the setting and to draw out itsallegorical meaning; they were often elaborately dressed, inorder to reflect credit on their noble patrons; and their instru-ments were decked out with banners and sometimes evenwith jewels.

Coming now to consider the particular place of vocal musicin court ceremonies, we find, naturally, that its importancevaries. While songs had, apparently, little part to play intournaments or 'running at the ring,' they were often promin-ent at royal entries, banquets, and various processional rites.Royal entries were the shows put on by towns and cities as anexpression of loyal welcome to their distinguished visitors.Endless care, ingenuity and expense were lavished upon them(often the city's income was mortgaged for years), and as theking or prince went in procession through the main streets hewas confronted at each important stage with a 'sight,' anallegorical tableau, mounted on a 'pageant' or scaffold. Sing-ing formed a substantial part of the music in many royalentries; Henry V, for example, was welcomed back into theCity after the victory at Agincourt by the heavenly host singing'Benedictus qui venit,' by 'patriarchs syngyng Cantate Dom-

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f N

orth

Tex

as]

at 1

0:02

30

Nov

embe

r 20

14

Page 7: Carols and Court Songs of the Early Tudor Period

Carols and Court Songs of the Early Tudor Period 55

ino,' by '12 apostles syngyng,' by 'angels syngyng Nowell,noweH,' and by a chorus of beautiful virgins singing in English'Welcome, Henry the fifte, Kynge of Englond and of Fraunce.'*It is not easy to decide exactly what the musical effects were,but we may suppose that at this entry the various chorusessang their Latin canticles to plainchant and their English songsto popular tunes, both perhaps with discant. On the otherhand, when Anne Boleyn was welcomed into London for hercoronation (1533), the 'queere of singing-men and of children,'which 'sang new ballets made in praise of her grace' from theroof of St. Martin's, would probably have sung part-music.10

Choral singing was, then, a feature of these royal entries,and it was clearly 'applied' music in all the various sensesI have already noted. Like the carefully prepared speechesand posies, the songs would be appropriate to the matter inhand. Moreover, the 'sight,' the tableau, was still the mostimportant thing, and the singers had to act their part in it: thepatriarchs, for instance, sent a flight of sparrows and otherbirds fluttering round the king as he passed; and the angelswere boys wearing feathers and flinging down gold coins andboughs of laurel.

Of the other ceremonies in which songs were performed, thewassail on Twelfth Night, the conferring of a knighthood,'going to fetch in May,' and so on, there is only time to men-tion one—a royal May game of 1515." This 'Maying' wasa sophisticated version of the popular pastime, and scores ofcourtiers and court servants were given special clothing totake part in it. They included Robin Hood, Friar Tuck andMaid Marian,Lady May 'and her four ladies', and six childrenof the Chapel Royal, who were dressed as ladies. Aftera banquet in a wood, at which music and songs were per-formed, the king's procession started homewards escortinga 'triumphal car' full of singers and musicians and drawn bygriffins with human faces. It was met by a chariot bearingLady May and by her four ladies on horseback; they 'salutedthe kyng with divers goodly songes and so brought hym toGrenewyche.' The chronicler Hall's conventional phrase issignificant. The songs, whenever introduced, were to 'salute'the noble action of the king and his court in 'going to fetchin May.'

This May game compels us to recognize that any distinctionbetween ceremonies and entertainments must, so far as theearly Tudor court is concerned, be more or less arbitrary.Spectacle, the thing seen, is the key to both; but, what is moreimportant, the entertainments as a whole were conducted with

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f N

orth

Tex

as]

at 1

0:02

30

Nov

embe

r 20

14

Page 8: Carols and Court Songs of the Early Tudor Period

56 Carols and Court Songs of the Early Tudor Period

the same passionate decorum as the ceremonies. Courtlyentertainments, of course, had their riotous moments, their'wildmen' or 'woodwos,' their conies let loose in the hall; butthey were.in essence, like ceremony, a channel for 'the aspira-tion to realize a dream of beauty in the forms of social life.'"

The most fantastic and elaborate of these entertainments arebest known by the contemporary term, 'disguisings.' Theywere, in effect, mechanized 'masks'; the courtly dancers,instead of walking in, were wheeled in. The first disguising atPrince Arthur's marriage celebrations, in 1501, was in thetradition of courtly love. It consisted of three 'pageants' ormoving stages: the first a castle containing the to-be-desiredladies; the second a ship bringing ambassadors, Hope andDesire; the third 'a great hill,' bringing the knights of themount of love who assaulted the castle. '*

There is no need to repeat that the same elements of displayare present here, and for the same reasons, as in ceremony;or, that music's function was to assist the display. The musicused was largely instrumental, but songs were sometimesintroduced to escort the 'pageant' down the hall, a duty whichusually and more suitably fell to instrumental musicians.Another use of song was to comment on the occasion beingcelebrated.14

I have stressed the social function of music because it isa long way removed from a common idea of secular music inthis period as primarily an informal, private and amateurconcern.15

However, I am beginning to feel some danger of leavingyou with the impression that music was never made fordiversion or heard because it was pleasurable to hear. Suchan impression would be quite false. To take an obviousexample: banquets on the grand scale were always graced withtwo sorts of music; firstly, the ceremonial music which markedthe 'honourable service' of each gargantuan course; andsecondly, the incidental music which was played while thecourse was being eaten:

"The feast then commenced, and lasted more than three hours . . . Inthe centre o f the hall there was a stage on which were some boys, some o fwhom sang, and others played the recorder, rebec and harpsichord."16

Even this incidental music had its social context; 'manythynges,' wrote a thirteenth-century author, 'bene necessaryeand worshyppe the supper . . . the viii is myrthe of songe andof instruments of Musike.'" In more modern terms, anexpensive luxury like music was part of the vast apparatus of

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f N

orth

Tex

as]

at 1

0:02

30

Nov

embe

r 20

14

Page 9: Carols and Court Songs of the Early Tudor Period

Carols and Court Songs of the Early Tudor Period 57

'conspicuous consumption' necessary to the royal or nobleestate. However, we can safely regard this background music(and often it was vocal music) as a comparatively emancipatedart, one less closely bound up with movement and event thanceremonial music.

There was, too, in the spoken drama, in moralities and inter-ludes, plenty of scope for music of pure entertainment. Wemay note, in parenthesis, one of the striking facts about theplays: that music is given a dramatic function, and almostinvariably the same one; music, in brief, is the most convenientway of symbolizing loose life in general and sexual aberrationin particular. Nevertheless we can imagine that the originalaudiences did not always take the lesson seriously; they werewilling to be amused, and amused they were. Sometimessongs were introduced on the very lightest pretext, merely tobeguile the time. In 'Roister Doister,' for instance, TibetTalkapace, Madge Mumblecrust and another maid sing overtheir needlework.'8

Finally, music was made for diversion on numerous moreprivate occasions. We know that professional recitals (thereis no more appropriate word) were given, especially by foreignvirtuosi, Dionisius Memo, Peter Carmelianus, and Benetd'Opitiis, on such instruments as the organ, harpsichord andlute. Songs, however, were not often performed, so far as wecan tell, on these occasions; and one of the curious facts aboutthis court, where virtuosity of every kind was admired andrewarded, is that there is scarcely a hint in the records of anydistinguished solo singer or performance.

We can now, perhaps, sum up our conclusions so far aboutthe place of music in the early Tudor court: art-music (that is,the music of fully trained musicians) was primarily a socialluxury conducted by professionals and applied to courtly ends;it is in this light that the court songs and carols must be con-sidered. I have said 'conducted by professionals,' for you willhave noticed that on all the occasions so far mentioned,banquets and plays, 'disguisings' and royal entries, the pro-vision of music was exclusively the duty of professionalmusicians, or of semi-professionals, such as actors and trainedservants. Sir Thomas Elyo t's stricture must be taken seriously:

"a gentilman, plainge or singing in a commune audience, appaireth hisestimation: the people forgettinge reference, when they behold him in thesimilitude of a common seruant or minstrell."1'

inThere is, however, another side to the question: we may well

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f N

orth

Tex

as]

at 1

0:02

30

Nov

embe

r 20

14

Page 10: Carols and Court Songs of the Early Tudor Period

58 Carols and Court Songs of the Early Tudor Period

ask whether all this 'professional and 'applied' music is notmerely the reflection in the social world of a wealth of creativeand practical activity among amateur musicians at court.In fact, were not the court songs, in particular, performed asoften by courtiers for their private amusement as in publicby professionals? Time, unfortunately, will not allow me todeal fairly with this question, and I can barely do more thanoffer you some tentative conclusions about the state of amateurmusic in the court circle.

It seems probable that the extent of musical literacy (that is,of the ability to read mensural music, which was still a com-plicated art) has been over-estimated, with regard both to thecourt and to the nation as a whole. Despite the example ofHenry VIII himself and of a few highly placed clerics, theperiod 1485-1530 provides little or no evidence that the artsof composition or of instrumental chamber-music flourishedamong amateurs. This is important, because a society wherethese arts, both dependent on advanced musicianship, arepractised, will certainly have its part-songs.

Singing there certainly was. There is a well known story ofSir Peter Carew which testifies to the place of singing among'courtly exercises':

". . . Sir Peter Carew having a pleasant voice, the king would often useto sing with him certain songs they call Freemen Songs as namely, 'Bythe bancke as I lay,' and fAs I walked the wode so wylde.'2"

But it is not certain that the usual interpretation ofthree-man song' and of the amateur tradition in general is altogethercorrect. There are admittedly some sure indications thatpart-singing 'by note,' 'peevish pricksong' in fact, was notunknown. Robert Fayrfax would not have given the king' a pricksonge book' and 'a balet boke limned'" unless hecould make use of these presents. But there can be no doubtthat improvised singing was far more common.

The importance of systems of improvisation in the music ofthe late Middle Ages can hardly be exaggerated: fa-burden,discant, countering, faining, figuration and gymel are all termswhich, in the right context, may refer to improvised singing.John Skelton, to give only one example, talks of 'countering ofcarols in metre and verse.' 'English discant' and 'fa-burden'are the best understood of these systems; in them the addi-tional parts were supplied not 'by ear* but by the methodknown as 'sight' or 'feigned sight.'22 This use of visual aidsis illuminating from our point of view because we are com-pelled to realize that there was an intermediate stage of

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f N

orth

Tex

as]

at 1

0:02

30

Nov

embe

r 20

14

Page 11: Carols and Court Songs of the Early Tudor Period

Carols and Court Songs of the Early Tudor Period 59

musical literacy and a whole repertory attaching to it. At thisstage problems of rhythm (the problems of mediaeval notation)did not arise. When discanting on a plain-song melody ora popular tune, the rhythms, whether measured or unmeasured,were already in the mind of the singer.

The custom of improvisation also enables us to understandbetter the wealth of popular tunes known within the courtcircle. Contemporary poetry and plays, and the repertory ofart-music, prove beyond a doubt that such tunes were well-known; improvisation suggests one good reason why. Thesepopular tunes formed the basis for a widespread practice ofimprovised singing, and this practice was the staple of part-singing by amateurs. It seems also likely that many of thepart-songs in the drama followed this same tradition: thus,in 'Hickscorner' Frewyll says:

*. . . now, "Hey troly, loly!"Let us se who can descaunt on this same.'

You will now hear a popular song in three versions: first,the tune sung as a solo; then, the tune with two improvisedparts above it in the style of 'English discant'; and lastly,a five-part setting of it from Henry VIII's Book with the tunein the middle part. And I were a maid was certainly popular,for a fifteenth-century carol in an Oxford manuscript, SwetJhesusJIs cum to us, is headed 'A song in the tvne of andI were a mayd etc.'3*

Illustration: And I were a maid.

To sum up these sketchy remarks about the 'other'—theamateur—side of the picture, although we cannot yet bedogmatic, there are good reasons for doubting whether writtenpart-songs were much sought after by amateurs at the turnof the century.

IV

I have tried as far as I could to let the status and function ofmusic, and especially of music for singing, emerge of their ownaccord from this all too brief account of musical life, pro-fessional and amateur, at court. But it is natural, in con-clusion, to ask whether the surviving songs themselves lendany support to the view of art-music as primarily 'a socialluxury conducted by professionals and applied to courtlyends.' The answer is that they do.

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f N

orth

Tex

as]

at 1

0:02

30

Nov

embe

r 20

14

Page 12: Carols and Court Songs of the Early Tudor Period

60 Carols and Court Songs of the Early Tudor Period

The two principal sources of court-songs are the onesalready referred to: the Fayrfax Book and Henry VIII's Book.The Fayrfax Book contains forty-nine songs and carols, ofwhich a few are now incomplete. The old-fashioned black-and-red notation demands trained musicians; the style of themusic suggests not only skilled singers, but also skilled instru-mentalists who double or replace the voices in the rhythmicalcodas which occur in almost every song. It will never bepossible to state dogmatically that a particular song belongedto a particular ceremony or entertainment; and we may doubtwhether the original intention was as strict as that. But it isnot simply wild guessing to suppose that the massive carolsof the Passion (Affraid, alas, for example) were performed inecclesiastical procession; that political songs such as Fromstormy wyndis and grevous wethir belonged to solemn secularceremonies; that the virtuoso love-songs and satirical songswould have made admirable banquet-music; or that sucha dramatic dialogue as / hue, I hue, and whom hue yelrequired the setting of a 'disguising.' If the Fayrfax Book wasnot a professional song-book, it is difficult to imagine one.

Henry VIII's Book, on the other hand, has a very differentcharacter. It contains, besides fifty-two songs in English,many instrumental pieces, foreign chansons, and a fewabstruse puzzle-canons. The usual account of this manuscriptis that it was Henry VIII's own book for use in select company.Certainly, the songs as a whole are more suitable for perform-ance by amateurs than the songs of the Fayrfax Book; and ifamateurs did sing from music, as we can be sure some did,these songs would not tax their strength too much. A solution,however, that meets the various difficulties is that we have herea fair copy, a library copy, compiled in the manner of ananthology from several sources. One of these sources must,surely, have been a professional working book of topical andoccasional pieces. Such a song as this, for example, can havehad only a limited application:

'Adew, adew, le companyI trust we shall mete oftener.Viue le Katerine et noble Henry!Viue le prince, le infant rosary!' **

Henry's first son was born on New Year's Day, 1511, and diedseven weeks later. The wording of this song suggests that itmay have been written for the exit of one of the 'pageants' inhis birthday celebrations. Most of the songs, however, havea more general appropriateness; their brevity, effectiveness,

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f N

orth

Tex

as]

at 1

0:02

30

Nov

embe

r 20

14

Page 13: Carols and Court Songs of the Early Tudor Period

Carols and Court Songs of the Early Tudor Period 61

and courtly themes exactly fit the requirements of the vividsocial occasions described in the first half of this paper.

In conclusion I should like you to hear three more shortsongs. They are all from Henry Vffl's Book. Madamed'amours is an exception to the light, and often trivial, char-acter of the English songs. In its slow-moving and complexnature it is fitter for the leisure of a feast than the excitementsof a 'disguising.' The poem is uninspired but its musicalsetting reaches a rare level of expressiveness. It will be sungas a solo by Wilfred Brown.

Illustration: Madame a"amours.*6

Next, the burden only of a Christmas carol written byRichard Pygott, Master of the Children in Wolsey's chapel.I introduce it here for the best of all reasons—causa pul-chritudinis.

Illustration: Quidpetis, ofiliV

Lastly, a lively and patriotic song, Englond, be glad! It endsthis paper aptly for two reasons: firstly, it is a court-song inabbreviated carol-form—Burden, Verse and shortened Burden;and secondly, it shows music as 'an active agent in socialaffairs.' It clearly refers to one of Henry VHTs invasions ofFrance, probably to his 'personal' invasion, complete withchapel and household musicians, in 1513. At what stage inthe 'voyage a-war' would it have been performed? Perhapsby soloists at some indoor ceremony of departure. But itsounds well in chorus, and the whole Chapel may have sung itat the more pompous moments of their outward journey.

Illustration: Englond, be gladl2*

It remains to thank the singers who have sung the illustra-tions so understanding^: Ina Bubb, soprano; John Whitwortb,counter-tenor; Wilfred Brown, tenor; and John Hoban,baritone.

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f N

orth

Tex

as]

at 1

0:02

30

Nov

embe

r 20

14

Page 14: Carols and Court Songs of the Early Tudor Period

62 Carols and Court Songs of the Early Tudor Period

< R. L. Greene, The Early English Carols (1935), Intro, xxiii.* B.M. Add. MS. 5465: complete transcription in Early Tudor Songbooks,

edition in preparation by writer.3 B.M. Add. MS. 31922 f. 124v.-128: complete transcription of this MS.

in Early Tudor Songbooks. The song is in a different hand from therest of the MS.

4 Add. MS, 5465 f. 58v.-63.> See, for example, J. Tinctoris, Complexus Effectuum Muslces (in

Coussemaker Scriptorum iv. section L).6 J. Huizinga, The Waning of the Middle Ages (Eng. edition 1924) 224.

R. H. Robbins, On the Medieval Eng. Religious Lyric (unpubl. disserta-tion, Cambridge 1937) i. 18.

t Letters & Papers, Foreign & Domestic of the reign of Henry VIII iii. Pt. 2,under date 11 June 1520.

8 Letters <S Papers, Venetian: ii. Entry 445: reception of a Papal ambassa-dor in St. Paul's.

9 R. Withington, English Pageantry (1918-20) i. 132-135 and notes.E. K. Chambers, The Medieval Stage (1908) ii. 168.

m Hall's Chronicle {pi. Ellis) 798ff." Rawdon Brown: Four Years at the Court of Henry VIII (1854) i. 78.

Hall, 582.L P Domestic: ii. Pt. 2, p. 1481—under date May 1515.

11 Huizinga: op. cit. 30.»* P. Reyher: Us Masques Anglais (1909) 500.»• e.g. a topical 'disguising' in 1518: L & P Ven. ii. under date 9 Oct. 1518.»J contrast G. Hayes: King's Mustek (1937) ch. 1. Hayes describes the

"King's Mustek" as "the most unselfconscious & spontaneous of allformal music" etc., etc.

tt Rawdon Brown op. cit. ii. 102.see also G. Cavendish: Life of Wolsey (ed. Singer 1825) i. 49.

»? Oxf. Hist, of Music: Introductory Vol. (1929): Ch. 8: Social Aspectsby E. J. Dent, p. 202.

»« Representative Eng. Comedies (general ed. Gayley, 1903) 118-119, fromRoister-Doister.

'9 Sir Thomas Elyot: The Boke named The Governor (ed. Foster Watson,1907) 27.

n The Life of Sir P. Carew: Archaeologia xxviii. 113."LAP Domestic ii. Pt. 2 p. 1441ff The King's Book of Payments under

date Jan. 1518 etc." M. Bukofzer: Geschichte des englischen Diskants (1936).»3 Specimens of the Pre-Shaksp. Drama (ed. J. M. Manley 1897) i. 409

from Hickscorner.** Greene: op. cit. No. 93. Add MS. 31922 f. 106v-107.« Add. MS. 31922 f.74v.-75: lacks bass part.»6 Add. MS. 31922 f. 73v.-74: MS. has words throughout Voices I, D AIV,

incipit only in II.*i Add. MS. 31922 f. 112v.-U6.« Add. MS. 31922 f. lOOv.-lOl.

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f N

orth

Tex

as]

at 1

0:02

30

Nov

embe

r 20

14