I - The art of music, Vol. 07 (of 14), Pianoforte and chamber music - 74

I

In giving an account of early chamber music we may confine ourselves to the consideration of early instrumental music of certain kinds, although the term at first did not apply to pure instrumental music alone. Chamber music in the sixteenth century meant instrumental or vocal music for social and private purposes as distinguished from public musical performances in churches or in theatres. In its modern sense chamber music applies, of course, only to instrumental ensembles, and it is therefore not necessary to dwell upon the vocal side of chamber music beginnings, except where, as in its incipient stages, music was written for both kinds of performances.[59] In searching for examples of early chamber music, therefore, we must above all consider all such music, vocal or instrumental, as was not composed for the use of the church or theatre. Properly speaking the accompanied art-songs of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, which were discussed in Vol. I, Chapter IX, of our narrative history, represent the very beginnings of artistic instrumental music that during the following three centuries developed into pure instrumental chamber music. In forwarding this development the dance music of the period and other instrumental compositions of the fifteenth century were important factors.

The fifteenth century dances such as the Pawirschwantz, the Fochsschwantz, and others, employed the polyphonic style peculiar to the vocal compositions of the time. They lacked inspiration and were of a restless character because of frequent changes of rhythm. There was little to distinguish them from each other; they were in fact, in the words of Michael Prætorius, ‘as like as eggs,’ and their general character was not different from that of the vocal compositions of the same period. Probably no modern ear could listen to them with enjoyment.

Presumably this music was to be played on any instrument, without differentiation. No single instrument was especially favored until the following century, when the perfection and the popularity of the lute helped to bring chamber music into existence. This instrument was indeed so highly perfected and the players so skilled that they were able to perform upon it even difficult polyphonic works. This gave an opportunity to the people to become acquainted, through private performances, with a great number of musical compositions. To satisfy the demands of their friends lutenists arranged and transcribed for their instruments all kinds of compositions, including even entire six-part masses. While these arrangements served their purpose they were probably not more satisfactory than the pianoforte arrangement of orchestral scores today. Pieces of polyphonic character were also composed directly for the lute, and bore such names as Ricercar, Fantasia, Præludium, Preambel, Trio, Trium, Toccata, Tartar le corde, etc. Besides this the lutenists produced a large amount of music in a more popular vein, popular tunes, dances, and descriptive pieces including ‘battles,’ ‘echoes,’ ‘bird-songs,’ in which the composer’s intention was often not self-evident.

This lute music must have been usually played in rooms of limited size, for the delicate tone quality of the lute would scarcely render it practical for accompaniments to dances. Hence we may conclude that this early lute music was played for its own sake. It is the earliest form of true chamber music and represents the beginning of absolute instrumental music in general.

We find already in this early chamber music the elements of artistic form. It is evident from the examination of numerous collections from the sixteenth century that composers for the lute applied the principle of contrast, being impelled thereto by a natural artistic sense. In Petrucci’s lute collection (1507-08), for example, a Ricercar is preceded by a sort of prelude-like Tartar le corde that in its rapid passages forms an evident contrast to the even and more simple style of the Ricercar. It is this tendency toward artistic contrast that helped to build up the cyclical forms of the suite and of the sonata.

Lutenists, in fact, preferred to combine their favorite songs and dances in groups of two, three, or more, which thus constituted the earliest suites. A suite of three dances is to be found in Petrucci’s collection. It contains a Pavane, a Saltarello, and a Piva. The Pavane (in common time) gives the melodic material for the two other movements (in triple time), a crude example of the use of a leading theme in the different movements. Attaignat’s French collection (1529) also contains a suite of three dances: Bassedance, Recoupe, and Tordion. Some German suites consisted of a slow movement (in triple time), and a second, more rapid, on the melody of the first. The individual pieces sometimes had no names, but frequently the slow movement was called Hoftanz, while the fast movement bore the designation Hupfauff. Other combinations of movements were Ein guter Hoftanz (in common time), Proportz darauf (in triple time), and Pavana, or Ein kunstreicher Gassenhauer, Ander Thyl, Proportz dritt Thyl. Toward the middle of the century, when movements increased in number, the suites ended with a postlude, such as a Toccata. The relation between the movements was evident not only in the common thematic material, but also in the use of the same key throughout. Later the dances were grouped under their different titles—all the Pavanes and Allemandes, for instance, being brought together. Not every kind of dance was regarded as suitable for combination with others. Such dances as Caluta a la Spagnola or a la Italiana, the Branle, the Morino, the Balletti, the Polish, ‘Welsh,’ French, Swiss, Hungarian, Bavarian, and Swabian dances are always found alone. The contrasted tempi of the better suites lent them a certain variety and lightness.

Lute music gradually ‘went out of fashion,’ as Thomas Mace, himself a composer for the lute, remarked, because it was ‘a very chargeable instrument’ and ‘the hardest instrument in the world.’ In the meantime certain composers were writing chamber music for which no special instrument was indicated. Of this class of instrumental compositions we may mention especially a Canzon da sonare a 4, by Florentino Maschera from his Libro primo de canzoni da sonare a 4 (1593). It is called La Capriola and is written for basso, tenore, alto, e canto. Maschera’s canzonas are among the earliest printed specimens of independent instrumental compositions. Their phrase structure is very irregular. One canzona, for instance, has an introduction of twenty-one measures, followed by a longer piece of six periods of 22, 21, 18, 19, and 23 measures. On the whole, Maschera’s instrumental compositions are vocal in character and polyphonic in style. Almost the same may be said of the Canzoni and Sacræ Symphoniæ of Giov. Gabrieli (1597), although his Sonata con tre violini and canzoni a 6 (two violins, cornetto, tenore, trombone and bass) (1615) show an advance in instrumental writing. In Gabrieli’s Sonata piano e forte, we meet for the first time the term ‘Sonata.’ This composition is scored for a double choir of instruments, the first consisting of a cornet and three trombones, and the second of a violin and three trombones. These two choirs are employed antiphonally. Gabrieli usually preferred to score his sonatas and canzonas for eight instruments in two choirs, but not infrequently he wrote from four to twenty-two parts in one or three choirs.

In comparing Gabrieli with Maschera we get the impression that while Maschera’s canzonas are song-like, Gabrieli’s polyphonic style represents rudimentary symphonic music.

A link in the evolution of chamber music form is to be found in the Fantasie overo Canzoni alla Francese per suonare nell’organo ed altri stromenti musicali a 4, by Adriano Banchieri (1603). In some of these pieces the first part corresponds with the third, the second part appearing as a kind of middle movement, an arrangement that shows the elements of the three-part form of the modern sonata.

We have seen that chamber music included dances (single and in suites) and compositions of free invention. The names of the former class of pieces clearly expressed and described the character of the music. The terms applied to compositions of free invention, however, were not strictly defined, and compositions with scarcely any difference between them were variously entitled Sonata, Fantasia, Simphonia and Canzona. To illustrate the uncertain terminology of the time we may quote the following from Prætorius’ Syntagma Musicum (1618): ‘In my personal opinion there is still some difference between Sonatas and Canzonas. Namely, Sonatas contain serious, solemn and pompous music, in the manner of Motettes; while the Canzonas briskly, quickly, and merrily pass away.’ Sometimes, however, the term ‘Sonata’ conveyed the idea of music that was played at banquets and for dancing.

Currently with the rise of music of free invention, dances and suites were further cultivated, as we see from the large number of such compositions extant. The dances of Melchior Franck (1603) were sometimes of polyphonic phraseology, sometimes of lively flowing melodies, with irregular structure, and we find a Galliarde by Johann Ghro (1604) consisting of periods of 13—11—11 measures. Similar pieces by Brade (1607), Thomas Simpson (1617), Erasmus Widman (1618), and others, showed more or less skill in handling their musical materials. Besides single dances, we find also several interesting and valuable collections of suites. I. H. Schein’s Banchetto musicale, 1617, a series of twenty suites, contains very characteristic examples of the suite in five movements. We may quote here the beginnings of the five movements of his tenth suite:

Similar to Schein’s suites in the character of their variations are those by Paul Bäuerl, edited six years earlier. Variations in suites were so popular that in a work by Andreas Hammerschmidt (1639) the author gave instructions for playing ‘Gaillarde on the 1, 2, 7, Pavane.’ Change in the order and in the number of the single movements is to be found in the suites of Johann Neubauer (1649). They contain only four movements, Pavane, Gaillarde, Balletto, and Courante. The Balletto stands for the Allemanda and Tripla, having two parts, the first in common, the second in triple, time.

The four movement form of suite was adopted by Froberger (1649), and by K. Briegel (1652). After the middle of the century composers began to include in their suites movements that were not dances, such as Canzonas, Symphonias, Sonatas, Sonatinas or Præludia. The earliest examples of those are by I. R. Ahle (1650), Martin Rubert, Joh. Jak. Löwe (1658), Diedrich Becker (Musikalische Frühlingsfrüchte, 1668), Joh. Rosenmüller (Sonata da camera, 1667), Joh. Petzolds (Leipzigische Abendmusik, 1669), Esajas Reusser (Suites for two violins with continuo, containing the following movements: Allemande, Courante, Sarabande or Gavotte, Gigue, with an Adagio—called Sonata—as introduction, 1670). Thus through the mixture of ‘suites’ with ‘sonatas’ the way was prepared for the classical chamber-sonata.