SEVENTEENTH CENTURY MUSIC
by David Vavreck
Introduction and Bylaws
Interpretive
Clothing
Scottish Culture
History
Music and Dance
Military Life
Language
Bibliography, Sources
and Library Materials
First off, it must be pointed out that music was at least as large a part of 17th century society as it is now. The difference, of course, is that without recorded music, the people had to make their own. And they did. Most everyone could play an instrument (or several) or at the very least sing. Again, due to a lack of recorded music, people did not expect perfection, and they got in a lot more practice than we do. Just imagine if every time we listened to the radio or a CD that we would turn it off and exercise our own musical ability; I know I would be a much better performer if I did so.
Secondly, music has always traveled. By way of example, the Scottish Skene Manuscript for mandora (a small lute) was written by an amateur musician somewhere around 1620. It contains 115 (CHECK THIS) pieces. In addition to Scottish material, there is also music from England, France, the Low Countries, Germany, Spain, and Italy. This is typical in our period; in addition to Scottish books and manuscripts, those from England and France provide many examples of Scottish music.
Thirdly, musicians, too, have always traveled - and not just court musicians. Scots mercenary Captain Tobias Hume also happened to be a rather talented gambist (one who plays the viola da gamba). Judging from the two books of viola da gamba music he published in the early 17th century, he definitely saw service in Poland, and likely in Hungary (now Slovakia) as well. He includes music from these cultures in his books (especially Polish dances) along with Scots and English music, as well as a goodly number of his own compositions about both love and war. Also, it seems that the Schottische (i.e. Scottish dance) started appearing in Germany and Scandinavia right about the time of the Thirty Years War. It is likely that it was spread by soldiers.
Clann Tartan’s music guidelines set the goal of learning music of Scotland which predates 1700, and also other pre 1700 music from surrounding cultures. This not only replicates what the people we represent were doing, but the wealth of material available makes this easy enough to accomplish.
Martial music
For purposes of this article, this category includes both music used to convey orders as well as music otherwise associated the military.
Infantry used side drums to convey orders, often with fifes to break the monotony of both the march and life in camp (army life has often been described as months of tedium punctuated by moments of terror). Cavalry used valve-less trumpets (what we now call bugles) and kettledrums mounted on horseback to convey orders. Navies used trumpets and bo’s’un’s whistles (a boatswain was a petty officer, originally in charge of a ship’s boats, among other things). A large amount of 17th century infantry music survives, as does fair amount of cavalry music; I have not yet found any surviving naval music.
The “Scots March” for which only the music survives (we know from Monro that it was played at the Battle of Breitenfeld in 1631), and the “English March” (which we know was quite old by 1610, and was reinstituted by King Charles in 1632), for which only the drum beat remains, are appended or appear elsewhere in your manual.
Also, like Custer’s 7th Cavalry and “Garryowen”, particular regiments were beginning to be identified by certain tunes. A large number of regimental marches survive, but it is usually not possible to determine whether a given tune was actually used by a regiment or was composed in honor of a regiment (or its commander). One way or the other, “Prince Ruperts March” is connected to King Charles the First’s nephew, who led his uncle’s cavalry during the British Civil Wars; it appears in several books and manuscripts from the mid 1640s through the 1650s. “When Cannons are Roaring” is the official marching song of Col. Gaffneyis Regiment due to its being mentioned by Col. Robert Monro as a favorite of his Scots soldiers in his Thirty Years War memoir.
A third type of military music is that which simply has military men, life, whatever as a subject or theme. Sometimes, like several of the aforementioned Tobias Hume’s works, we even know that they were even written by a soldier.
A final type of music which could be construed as military music is anything which can be documented as having been sung or played by soldiers in our period, regardless of its subject. In spite of the many thousands of surviving documents from our period, surprisingly few works can definitely make this claim. A handful of these documented during the British Civil Wars are presented in Winstock. In addition, we also know that Gustav Adolph had his soldiers all sing “Ein Feste Burg” (likely, but not certainly, to be one of Martin Luther’s compositions, and known in modern English translation as “A Mighty Fortress is Our God”) before the Battle of Lutzen 16 Nov 1632. The soldiers were accompanied in this case by cavalry trumpets and kettledrums. Also, Spanish Hapsburg troops were particularly fond of “Viva la Guerra par Mar y Tierra” (which I have been unable to find).
Dance Music
There were many different styles and types of dance music in our period. Our dancers focus on country dances from John Playford’s “English Dancing Master”, which went through 18 editions between 1651 and ca. 1728, adding new dances and tunes with almost every new edition (“English” was dropped from the title after the first edition). The total number of dances and their tunes in this series is 528, with 410 of them appearing before 1700. With Playford, each dance is written to a specific tune, and each tune has only one dance. The steps are by and large very simple, as is the music. And the music is not just there for the rhythm; when the music changes, so do the steps. Although published in London, “Dancing Master” contains a large number of Scots tunes. Rounds were the most popular form of country dance in the early 17th century, being slowly replaced by set dances as the century progressed.
Country dances were not only popular amongst the rural population, but were also all the rage amongst city and court from the late 16th to the early 19th century (George Washington was quite fond of country dancing).
There were also many varieties of court dance, which were also danced in the country.
Highly choreographed Morris dancing is now mostly confined to the British Isles, but there are several late 16th century examples from France and Germany. In the British Isles, Morris dancing dates from the 15th century, when it was apparently imported from the Duchy of Burgundy as a court dance.
Often a round in our period, (usually) bell-wearing dancers often held handkerchiefs or engaged in mock sword combat. Morris dances also occur in which a boy or man danced solo, sometimes in blackface. Dancing with staves does not occur until the late 17th century, by which time (possibly through Playford’s influence) Morris dancing evolved into set dancing.
By the early 16th century, Morris dancing became a popular rural activity, especially for fundraisers for parish churches. By the late 16th century, agricultural feasts became an excuse to dance as well. Incidentally, there is absolutely NO evidence whatsoever that there ever was any connection between Morris dancing and pre-Christian or “pagan” anything.
Almains, as the name implies, originated in Germany (Almany and Allemagne are old names for Germany - “Herman the German” in New Ulm is a statue of the leader of the Allemanni who defeated the Romans in the first century). This is a slow stately dance.
Bransles (the French name - called Brawls in English, and Brangils in Scots) originated either as French country dances, or were courtly imitations thereof. Their popularity spread throughout western Europe, including Scotland. They tended to be rather animated, even wild, and often included pantomiming of animals, laborers, and such.
Currents were another speedy dance, which in this case originated in Italy.
Pavans and Galliards were usually danced in pairs, the pavan being slow and very stately, followed immediately by the quick galliard, full of leaps. Again, these spread throughout Europe (at least as far as Hungary), including Scotland. These were the origin of the dance suite, the movements in concertos, etc.
Harp Music
There were three main styles of Celtic harp music, which translate from Gaidhlig as ???
Ports (airs) were quite popular, and several ports by Ruadhri Dall (“Blind Rory”) O’Keane survive from the 17th century. Although an Irishman, Rory spent almost his entire professional career, from about 1600 to his death about 1653, in Scotland. Burns wrote his “Ae Fond Kiss” - one of his best - to the tune of one of Rory’s Ports.
Lute Music
Seven 17th century lute manuscripts survive in Scotland, with a total of over 500 pieces of music. In almost every case, they were written by amateur musicians. They would write down a piece they recently heard before they forgot it, or would work out a variation on a tune and ink it in. The lute was the most popular instrument not only in Scotland, but all of Europe, in our time. Because they were about as popular amongst the peasants as at court, there is almost no musical genre that does not survive in arrangements for lute. The lute’s golden age in England was from roughly 1590 to 1630.
Ballads
Ballads were often written to pre-existing ballad or dance tunes that the masses already knew. Usually, the music was not printed; the reader was directed to sing the ballad “to the tune of…” They were often topical; ballads about political events, military engagements, criminal trials and executions, and other newsworthy events were common. In fact, ballad mongers and ballad singers were a primary means by which news was spread (although weekly newspapers existed in Germany during the Thirty Years War, they did not begin to occur in the British Isles until the 1690s or so). These ballads were sold very cheaply, and were aimed at the increasingly literate urban populations of the 17th century. Tens of thousands of 17th century broadside ballads still exist, and several thousand of these have been published and are accessible at any large library (Roxburgh and Pepys collections, for example). Also, many ballads were published in chapbooks (pamphlets) which were sold by chapmen (my favorite Scots term for this traveling salesman is “dustiefoote”).
Apart from the news, ballads could simply tell a story. These range from a few minutes long to the fantastic “Graysteil”, one the finest literary works Scotland ever produced. This story, the best documented tale in Scotland from the late 15th to early 18th centuries, tells of arms, revenge, love, lust, and magic. “Graysteil” is only known to have been publicly performed once since the 18th century. I have done it myself (privately) and clocked it at about 3 hours. Before you go into panic mode, consider it as a period movie. A good tale is well worth sitting quietly for three hours - you do it frequently at the movie theater or in front of your television.
Part Songs
Part songs were tremendously popular amongst the poorer sort in our period, especially while spending time at the tavern. There were several types including rounds, catches, and freemen’s songs.
With rounds, the same words and the same music are sung at different times, like “Three Blind Mice”, the earliest version of which is appended to this article.
Freemen’s songs, usually with three voices, have the same words sung at the same time, but to different notes, often with the melody not being carried by any one voice, but rather migrating from one to another. Popular from the early 16th century.
With catches, different words are sung to different tunes at the same time, and are often quite comical. Several books of catches were published in the 17th century.
Glee clubs, which performed all these varieties of part music, were common from the mid 17th until the mid 20th century.
The Waits
These were ensembles employed by most cities, and many larger towns, throughout western Europe. They played for special occasions, such as parades, visits from dignitaries, and festivals - they were a civic pride thing. Usually, they played in consort (i.e. a family of the same instrument, such as soprano, alto, tenor, and bass shawms). Waits provided the first free public concerts in western history. In the 1630s, Presbyterian authorities attempted to abolish the Waits in Scotland, one city at a time, but they met with such intense public resistance that they gave up. A fair amount of their music survives.
Market Songs
People selling things in the markets often had to compete against other vendors selling the same goods or services. One common way to try and attract customers was to come up with a short ditty, often only a line or two long. Many of these street jingles survive. The principal is the same as those guys shouting “Beer! Cold beer here!” at the Metrodome. You might not be looking for a beer, but when you discover there is one readily available…
Religious Music
In Kirk, the Presbyterians sang Psalms almost exclusively; like English Puritans, they did not approve of hymns in our period. There were several Presbyterian Psalters published for use in Scotland in our period (1559, 1564, 1615, 1635, 1646, 1650) which had a limited number of tunes - as few as 12 - to facilitate singing; there are, after all, 150 Psalms.
There was also Anglican Archbishop Laud’s 1638 work. When King Charles tried to force its use in Scotland, riots broke out, and the end result was the British Civil Wars.
Outside of church, religious-themed songs were also very popular. They were often religious lyrics written to pre-existing secular tunes. Several collections of these were published in Scotland: “Guide and Godlie Ballates” by the Wedderburn brothers in 1567, the “Buke of Godly Sangs” in 1599 and 1621 (alas, I have not yet gotten my hands on copies of either of these works to examine) and quite a few are contained in William Forbes’ “Songs and Fancies”, the first book of secular music published in Scotland (Aberdeen, 3 editions: 1662, 1666, and 1682).
Funeral Music
There were both instrumental music and songs specifically for funerals, several of which pieces survive. Of course, they tend to be slow and sad. See the “Irish Ho-Hoane” from the Fitzwilliam Virginal MS (1609 - 1619) in the appendix (ochon in Gaelic more or less means alas). Also amongst the Irish, at least, there were professional mourners known as keeners (usually women) who hired out to mourn the dead. I have not found any keenings collected before the 20th century (keen - caoine in Gaidhlig - means lament). There are, however, several period works which are laments for specific individuals, most notably a harp lament for King Charles written upon his execution in 1649.
Labor Songs
Amongst these are wauking songs (subject of another article in your Manual), which were sung while wauking wool (which seem to have been collected in the late 19th and 20th centuries, so they may or may not be as old as our period). Also, there were sailors’ songs to be sung while doing repetitive tasks such as rowing, hoisting, or hauling in the anchor; of those French Voyageur songs which can be dated, the vast majority date to the 17th century. Also, those most important workers, mothers, had their lullabies, a handful of which survive.
Ensemble Music
Although there is little place for highbrow music in an army camp (though an officer wanting to impress a visitor might arrange a higher form of entertainment than is usually available), it is important to know that art music was in a transitional phase in our period. Renaissance style was giving way to the Baroque, and music ensembles were growing, which led to the development of louder instruments replacing softer ones: flutes replaced recorders, violins replaced viols, and the piano replaced the earlier, much quieter keyboards. Vivaldi, Telemann, and Bach were in the future, but Monteverdi was already experimenting with the new style. Ballet and Opera were part of the new music. In most cases, this music was only accessible to merchants and nobles; apart from performances by the Waits, there were no free public concerts until about 1700.
Bibliography
Arbeau, Thoinot (penname of Jehan Tabourot). Orchesographie. Langres, 1589.
Barlow, Jeremy, ed. The Complete Country Dance Tunes from Playford’s Dancing Master (1651 - ca. 1728). Faber Music Ltd., London 1985.
Chappell, William and J. W. Ebsworth, eds. The Roxburgh Ballads. Eight volumes, London 1871 -1899. Reprint, AMS Press, NY 1966
Cofone, Charles J. F., ed. Elizabeth Rogers Hir Virginall Booke. Dover, NY 1975.
Dauney, William. Ancient Scottish Melodies. Contains 85 of the 115 (CHECK) pieces in the manuscript.
Dean-Smith, Margaret, ed. Playford’s English Dancing Master 1651. Facsimile reprint. Schott & Co., London 1957.
Forbes, William. Songs and Fancies. (1st edition) Aberdeen, 1662.
Forbes, William. Songs and Fancies. (3rd edition) Aberdeen, 1682.
Hume, Tobias. Musicall Humours. London, 1605.
Hume, Tobias. Captain Humes Poeticall Musicke. London, 1607.
Knudssen, Peter. Psalms of the English Civil War 1642 - 1650.
Knutson, Charles. “Early Scottish Popular Songs” in Clann Tartan Manual, ed IV. Minneapolis, 199?
Knutson, Charles. The Skene Manuscript. (Check title) Rose and Pentagram, Minneapolis, 199?. Contains Dauney‘s selection of 85 pieces, transcribed for fife
Langer, Herbert. The Thirty Years War. Dorset Press, NY 1990
Maitland, J. A. Fuller and W. Barclay Squire, eds. The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book. Reprint of an 1899 edition. Dover, NY 1963
Monro, Robert. Monro his Expedition with the Worthy Scots Regiment called Mac-Keys.
Playford, John.
Ravenscroft, Thomas.
Ravenscroft, Thomas.
Ravenscroft, Thomas.
Smith, Joseph. “Wauking Songs of Scotland”. in Clann Tartan Manual edition IV. Clann Tartan, Minneapolis, 19??
Vavreck, David. Music of the Straloch Manuscript, vol. 1: the Graham ??? Copy. Barnes and Noble, forthcoming.
Vavreck, David. Music of the Straloch Manuscript, vol. 2: a reconstruction of the lost portion. in preparation.
Winstock, Lewis. Songs and Marches of the Roundheads and Cavaliers. 1971