The King’s Musick (from the time of Henry VIII)
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- Опубликовано: 28 июн 2024
- 00:00 Pastime with good company (Henry VIII, 1491-1547) countertenor, tenor, harp, viola da gamba (1)
01:52 I love unloved (Anonymous) countertenor, tenor, 3 recorders, viola da gamba (2)
06:07 Fors solemant (Antoine de Févin, c.1470-c.1512) 3 recorders (3)
08:35 Puzzle canon III (John Dunstable, c.1390-1453) 2 violas da gamba, recorder (4)
09:57 Farewell my joy (Robert Cooper, c.1465-c.1540) tenor, 2 violas da gamba (5)
12:25 En vray amoure (Henry VIII) 4 recorders, harp (6)
13:31 Ah Robin, gentle Robin (William Cornysh, 1465-1523) countertenor, tenor, viola da gamba (7)
15:36 Taundernaken (Henry VIII) 3 bombardes, percussion (8)
18:03 Consort X (Anonymous) rebec, lute, percussion (9)
19:21 Consort IX (Anonymous) rebec, lute, percussion (10)
20:30 Consort XII (Anonymous) rebec, lute, percussion (11)
21:33 Ough warder mount (Anonymous) tenor, lute (12)
24:17 Consort II (Henry VIII) harp (13)
25:12 De tous bien plane (Hayne van Ghizeghem, c.1445-c.1497) countertenor, lute, 2 violas da gamba (14)
28:41 Gentil prince de renom (Henry VIII) countertenor, tenor, 2 bombardes, shawm (15)
30:27 The Duke of Somersettes Dompe (Anonymous) lute (16)
32:58 Warder mount (Anonymous) lute (17)
34:19 Pastyme (Anonymous) lute (18)
35:15 Helas madam (Henry VIII) countertenor, tenor, harp, viola da gamba, 3 shawms, percussion (19)
37:56 Consort VIII (Henry VIII) harp (20)
39:27 Why shall not I (Anonymous) viola da gamba, lute (21)
40:26 Consort XIX (Anonymous) viola da gamba, lute (22)
43:18 Madame d'amours (Anonymous) countertenor, tenor, 2 violas da gamba (23)
46:25 Pavin of Albart - Galliard (Anonymous) 4 recorders, harp (24)
48:55 Consort XIII (Henry VIII) viola da gamba, lute (25)
50:57 If love now reigned (Henry VIII) recorder, lute (26)
52:45 Consort XXI (Anonymous) recorder, lute, viola da gamba (27)
54:35 I have bene a foster (Cooper) tenor, 2 crumhorns (28)
57:10 Consort XVI (Henry VIII) rebec, lute (29)
58:26 Blow thi horn (Cornysh) countertenor, tenor, 3 crumhorns, percussion (30)
Ricercare-Ensemble für Alte Musik, Zürich
James Bowman: countertenor (1,2,7,14,15,19,23,30)
Nigel Rogers: tenor (1,2,5,7,12,15,19,23,28,30)
Michel Piguet: recorder, soprano bombarde, crumhorn, shawm (2,3,4,6,8,19,24,26,27,28,30)
Richard Erig: recorder, alto bombarde, crumhorn, shawm (2,3,4,6,8,19,24,28,30)
Nils Ferber: recorder, tenor bombarde, crumhorn, shawm (2,3,6,8,15,19,24,30)
Gabriel Garrido: recorder, percussion (6,8,9,10,11,19,24,30)
Christopher Schmidt: rebec, viola da gamba (4,5,9,10,11,14,23,29)
Jordi Savall: viola da gamba (1,2,4,5,7,14,19,21,22,23,25,27)
Françoise Stein: small harp (1,6,13,19,20,24)
Anthony Bailes: lute (9,10,11,12,14,16,17,18,21,22,25,26,27,29)
Art: detail of The Westminster Tournament Roll (1511), College of Arms, Harley Charter 83 H 1. Henry VIII and his court arriving at a joust in Westminster in February 1511.
The King and His Court
Henry VIII was born in Greenwich in 1491 and came to the throne in 1509. He was a clever, gay and handsome youth, well skilled in all manner of athletic games, though in later life he became coarse, fat and ungainly. He knew Latin, French and some Italian, was a talented student of mathematics and showed great interest in geometry and astronomy. As an athlete he excelled; he was one of the finest archers in the land, wrestled, jousted (in 1510 took part incognito in the jousts at Richmond as the Queen’s champion), hunted and enjoyed hawking.
His greatest love, however, was music. An enthusiastic and gifted amateur, music accompanied him wherever he went, on progress or campaign. He played the lute well, could manage organ and virginals, and possessed a strong sure voice. His favourite instrument, however, seems to have been the recorder; an inventory of 1547 boasts seventy nine of them, and we are told that whilst in the course of a progress in 1511, Henry amused himself “in shooting, singing, dancing, wrestling... playing at the recorders, flute and virginals...”.
He also composed and is credited with having written ballads, songs, instrumental pieces and masses. Unfortunately none of his masses have survived, although some songs and instrumental pieces still exist. His court was concerned with feasting and merry making, revels, disguisings, pageants and tilts. All this was balanced by outdoor activities such as hawking, riding and hunting. Henry’s courtiers were also his companions; he sang with Sir Peter Carew, discussed the universe with Thomas More, and rode and hunted with Lord Henry Stafford and Edward Neville. One account tells of how Henry and his friends burst into the Queen’s chamber at Westminster one morning dressed as Robin Hood's men to dance with the surprised ladies (no doubt, also to sing one of the many “foster” songs) and on other occasions dressed as Turks, or wearing brightly coloured costumes. Hardly a month went by without some celebration or festivity. Thousands of pounds were spent clothing and entertainments for the king and his court. Musicians were imported wholesale from abroad, and visiting ambassadors lavishly entertained. Later in his reign the pageants would take on political meanings and Henry was to grow into a noisy, extroverted overweight man with an obsession for fine clothes, jewelled rings, and an insatiable appetite for gambling and eating. Henry’s character changed much throughout his reign and as a man feared and revered by his chancellors he died on the 31st of January 1547.
The King’s Musicians
At the beginning of the sixteenth century the English court reflected a culture which had been in existence in France one hundred years earlier. The “courts of love”, chivalry, courtly “pastimes”... these were essentials in the court when Henry VII ruled. The same atmosphere pervaded through Henry VIII's (his son) reign until the late 1530’s, when Italian influences, imported via musicians coming from Venice and Milan, began to make their impression on English courtly life.
Musically, the two most important parts of the king’s court were the Chapel Royal, and the “Pryvat chambre”. The former was made up of twenty singing men and ten boys. The boys received a thorough instruction in all subjects, their teachers being members of the Chapel, such as William Cornysh (Master of the Children) and Robert Fayrfax. The Chapel Royal (which in its entirety also included clerical staff) accompanied the king on his travels until 1526 when it became apparent that long journeys would be much easier with a smaller entourage. After that, only the Master of the Children and six men (from the choir) were authorised to travel with the king and his court. The non-clerical musicians from Henry's court belonged to one of the following groups: Trumpeters, singers (minstrels) or players of stringed instruments. The trumpeters had the most important function because of their importance on ceremonial occasions, as they were responsible for announcing events at court with a fanfare or accompanying persons of rank. Other important wind players were the trombonists and shawm players - a combination that was in great demand for dance music at court. Only the players of stringed instruments were in the minority. Until 1526, there were only two rebec players and one harpist at court. In the same year, a rebec player and two viola and lute players from the continent appeared on the payroll. Their numbers steadily increased and when the king died, the secular musicians included the lute players Master Giles, the brothers Philip and Peter van Wilder and a group of six Italian viola players. There were also professional dancers at court, the most famous being Mark Smeton, who often had to dance for Anne Boleyn (Henry's second wife) in her chamber. The most important musicians were the keyboard players - they were valued for their skill and otherwise had little contact with the other musicians at court. They included John Heyward, Benedictus de Opitiis and Fra Dionisius Memo (from Venice, where he was organist at St Mark's).
William Cornysh and Peter van Wilder probably held the most responsible position among the musicians. Cornysh was Master of the Children at the Chapel Royal, and van Wilder was responsible for the instruments at Westminster. Of course, this also included administrative matters, some of them quite ordinary, such as the van Wilder's salary for shawms and trombones, and others that are quite surprising, for example when it says with regard to Cornysh: ‘Mr Cornysh, Paving, lead gutter for urinal and other things required at Greenwich’. This possibly refers to the tournaments that took place at Greenwich that year as it is unlikely that Cornysh was responsible for general repairs to the Chapel Royal!
Of course, it was not only the professional musicians who made music; music was also played when people sat together and chatted or when good manners demanded it. Henry, for example, sang and played for envoys from foreign countries or while travelling through England. These amateurs must have made music behind closed doors, as there is no record of them doing so, or was this even a ‘pastime in the chamber in company?’. Most of the pieces from the collection that we have selected for our recording could certainly have been performed just as easily by amateurs as by professional musicians.
The king's musical instruments
Like all royal courts, the court of the Tudor king had a large collection of instruments for the use of court musicians and talented amateurs at court. Henry's collection was particularly rich and was housed in various locations in and around London. The following list gives an overview of the instruments available at his death:
Greenwich:
1 regal with case
1 regal and virginal
1 virginal
1 ivory horn
Westminster
(in the studio next to the Belle Chambre):
1 antique horn inlaid with silver
2 copper horns
(under the administration of Philip van Wilder):
3 organs
5 double regals
13 regas
7 double virginals
25 lutes
21 cornetts
2 clavichords
19 viols
5 Spanish viols or gitterns
79 recorders
6 drum flutes
76 transverse flutes
1 whistle for hand drummer
17 shawms
11 crumhorns
13 dulceuses
6 bagpipes
Hampton Court:
2 portatives
2 regals
1 virginal
7 crumhorns
Windsor:
1 double regal
The More:
2 virginals (old)
1 regal (defective)
Newhall:
1 large organ
1 virginal (very old and broken)
1 old lute
Nottingham Castle:
1 old organ
The Guarderobe of the Robes:
17 horns
St James House:
1 organ
Westminster (in the small studio):
1 antique horn
The music of the king
I. Songs
Most of the music presented on this disc comes from a songbook which reflects musical life at court at the beginning of Henry VIII's reign. Thirty of these pieces are said to have been written by Henry himself, while others were composed by his court musicians. In addition to the polyphonic songs from England, the collection contains numerous instrumental pieces (dances and canons) and ¨hits¨ from the continent. The King's compositions include songs, short instrumental pieces and a longer version of ¨Taundernaken¨. This is one of the best-known melodies of the time, and Heinrich's version is just one of many. Another can be found in the ¨Odhecaton¨ (published by Petrucci in Venice in 1501) and differs considerably from Henry's version. Henry certainly knew this publication through his visitors from Italy and his court musicians. It was exceptionally popular and, as the songbook shows, also very well known. ¨Gentil prince¨ seems to have initially existed as a three-part piece and appears in this form in the ¨Odhecaton¨. Henry certainly composed one additional voice, as his name appears in the English version. This also applies to ¨Helas madam¨. The rather complicated third voice will have been added later. The melody and text appear for the first time in Antonius de Arenas' “Ad Suos Compagnones, qui sunt de persona friantes; Bassas Dansas...” from 1536, where this piece is listed as Basse danse. Henry's version shows some changes in the melodic line, although these were certainly made before the third part was added. ¨Pastime with good company¨ perfectly reflects the atmosphere at Henry's court (hunting, singing and dancing) and is certainly rightly called the ‘Ballad of the King’. It is quite possible that this song was not written entirely by Henry. It is very similar to Richafort's ¨De mon triste desplaisir¨, which was published in the collection ¨Trente et quatre chansons musicals¨ by Attaignant in 1529 and certainly served as a model.
As you can see, the influence from the continent was very strong. Numerous non-English songs are included in this collection. ¨Ough warder mount¨ is a German tenor song and can be found in other, mainly continental versions. An interesting English source is ¨Appendix 58¨, where it appears under the title ¨Warda mut¨ (actually a rather tasteless interleaving of tenor and bass parts and ornamental cadences). Another song on this disc is ¨De tous bien plane¨ by Hayne von Ghizeghem; this like many others is from the ¨Odhecaton¨ and has an additional voice in addition to the three-part version.
Of the English composers presented here, William Cornysh is represented with the most works. ¨Ah Robin¨ is an excellent setting of Sir Thomas Wyatt's poem. This song in canon form is probably based on a folk song from this period. The arrangement of such a song certainly found favour at court, especially in Cornysh's version. The second song by Cornysh is ¨Blow thi horn hunter¨ and belongs to the ‘forester's songs’. The frequent mention of hunting, bows and arrows is a poor disguise for erotic ambiguities, which must have been commonplace at Henry's court. The constant reference to the green forest, hunting and shooting makes these songs ideal for performance not only at court - they were also on the programme at the annual May Day celebrations. One of the two songs written by Cooper is also a forester's song. ¨I have been a foster..¨, laments an ageing forester, ¨...every bow for me is too big; mine arrow nigh worn is...¨ As sad as the mood is, the meaning of the words is clear. ¨Farewell my joy¨ is a farewell song. The lover leaves his lady. Such a song was probably part of the programme of a courtly event.
In one of the anonymous songs, ¨I love unloved¨, a man's unrequited love finds a rather pathetic expression. Love played an important role at Henry's court. One had to be in love, and even unrequited love satisfied the curiosity of the court. Everyone had their ideal. Sun and light, all unattainable things in general, were just right when it came to describing the object of affection. This is expressed in an almost admirable way in ¨Madame d'amours¨, perhaps the most interesting song in the collection. It displays a richness like none of the songs in this book and conveys the feelings of courtly love in the language of the court.
II. Instrumental music
Numerous instrumental pieces, some of them untitled, are inserted between the songs. They belong to different styles. Some are dance-like (Consorts VII, IX, X, XII), others are more polyphonic (XVI), while others seem to be written-out improvisations. The titled instrumental pieces are all unusual in some way. It is very interesting to find a composition by John Dunstable at such a late date. His ¨Puzzle canon¨ (one of the many included in this book) consists of two complete parts and has a clef in place of the tenor part with the following wording: ¨A dorio tenor hic ascendens esse videtur quater per genera tetracordum refitetur¨ (The tenor ascends from the dorian and is repeated in four different tetrachords). ¨En vray amoure¨ shows dance-like traits and could very well be a basse danse - the most popular dance at Henry's court. ¨Fors solemant¨ is a version of Ockeghem's ¨Fors seulement l'attente¨ and, like the other pieces from the continent, exists in several versions.
The pieces for lute and Pavin and Gaillard of Albart are taken from two other books dating from the end of Henry's reign.
The two Pavin-Gaillard pieces represent the new Italian style and are based on the theme of ¨Belle qui tiens ma vie¨, which later appears in the ¨Orchesography¨ (a treatise on dance by Thoinot Arbeau, published in 1589). This version here is for five instruments.
The pieces for lute cannot be dated with certainty before 1540. ¨Pastyme¨ is an instrumental version of the ‘Ballad of the King’ - ¨Pastime with good company¨ -and has only minor differences and a surprising ending! In ¨Warda mut¨, the bass and tenor parts of ¨Ough warder mount¨ are merely performed instrumentally. ¨The Duke of Somersette's Dompe¨ is the most demanding of the three pieces for lute. It consists of six variations over ostinato bass. An earlier version can be found under the title ¨Padoana¨ in Vincenzo Capirola's lute book from 1517, another in Hans Neusiedler's book from 1540 with the title ¨Ein sehr guter welscher tantz im abzug¨. Dompe (or dump) was the name of a recognised instrumental form. There were two types: merry dompe and doleful dompe. Contemporary literature often refers to it. The Duke of Somerset for whom this piece was written was Edward Seymour. He received his title in 1547, was sent to the Tower twice and finally hanged in 1552. It is possible that the play was given a new title to celebrate Seymour's appointment as Duke.
Anthony Bailes
EMI Electrola C 063-30119 (1974)
❤@@calefonxcalectric
I love this music it’s so beautiful
maravillosa musica
wonderful music to mark the beginning of the weekend
Heaven escaping from noise of rock and rap.
❤
Henry was indeed a monster, as king. But he was not reared to rule. His brother, the Prince of Wales, died and Henry was next in line: he possessed all the extremities of a Royal Prince, without the moderation engendered by the exigencies of (future) rule. Once crowned, with the power of state behind him, he saw no reason to change, or moderate.
I love this music even I’m not a king I am a actually a prince and I’m not lying
A monster but not the musik.
Beautiful music even though Henry VIII was a heretic who founded his own Church and destroyed the Christian unity.
What a pity, a terrible disaster.
"Catholics", of any kind, are not "Christians"!