CHAPTER XIV
THE BEGINNINGS OF CHAMBER MUSIC
The term ‘chamber music’; fifteenth-century dances; lute music, early suites; vocal ‘chamber music’—Early ‘sonatas’: Gabrieli; Rossi; Marini; etc.—Vitali, Veracini, Bassani and Corelli; Corelli’s pupils; Vivaldi; Bach and Handel.
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.
