What forms did he use in his compositions?
What characteristics did he show in his playing?
Tell about the work of Durante, Alberti and Paradies.
Give the successive stages of development from the 16th to the 18th century.
LESSON XXVII.
The Early English and French Clavier Schools.
English Schools to Henry VIII.—Popular music, both vocal and instrumental, was an early English institution. The many Folk-songs which have come down from a very early period bear witness to the English love of conviviality. Dance tunes, sometimes based on these Folk-songs, were played on the instruments of the minstrels, which, as early as 1484, included the clavichord; and the fact that such instruments were cultivated by people of higher rank is shown by the record that James IV of Scotland and his queen purchased clavichords to play upon, in 1503, while the queen of Henry VII of England bought a clavichord for her private use in 1502. The virginal is spoken of in the reign of Henry VII; Henry VIII (reigned 1509-1547), who was an accomplished musician, played upon both these instruments, and also wrote music for them.
To Queen Elizabeth’s Time.—Edward VI (r. 1547-1553) had three duly appointed virginal players among his court musicians; and after Elizabeth (r. 1558-1603) ascended the throne, the virginal increased in popularity; indeed, its name was formerly thought to have been derived from her as the virgin queen; although the fact that the instrument was spoken of as the virginal before her reign makes its derivation from its popularity among young ladies the more probable. Queen Elizabeth, as well as her sister Mary, received instruction in virginal playing during her early youth, and became an accomplished performer; and instances are shown of the former’s great pride in this accomplishment. In the course of her illustrious reign, when all the arts flourished to a remarkable degree, and when great wits and litterateurs vied with each other in the genius of their productions, the art of music received its share of attention also. The fact that musical degrees were early given at the great universities, Oxford and Cambridge, tended to raise the standard of musical knowledge, and to produce a number of composers who were especially gifted in the more serious Church forms of writing. Many such, connected with the Royal Chapel and the court, wrote excellent anthems and secular part-songs; and now, attracted by the popularity of the instrument, they began to give a more worthy setting to the folk and dance tunes played on the clavier.
Dance Tunes.—A clavier composition is extant, dated 1555, by William Blitheman, an English church composer, consisting of a chorale-like melody in whole notes, accompanied first by a flowing eighth-note figure, and next by triplet quarter notes, with a third voice added later. Such a serious style prefigured the variations upon dance tunes, which were especially cultivated by William Byrd (1538-1623). In such variations the melody was first harmonized in simple fashion, and was afterwards played several times in the same part, with slight changes, while the accompanying parts were varied in rhythm and style, becoming generally quicker in tempo. To modern ears the result is monotonous, as the same key and time signature is maintained throughout; but the variety in presentation must have been grateful after the simplicity of the dance tunes.
The Virginal Book.—Other popular forms were the Fancie, in which several melodic subjects were imitated in the various voices; and the Pavane, a dance in common time, whose theme was repeated in the following Galliarde, a dance in triple time. These and other forms are used in a curious collection of clavier pieces now preserved at Cambridge, and known as Queen Elizabeth’s Virginal Book. This collection, consisting of four hundred and eighteen manuscript pages, written on a six-lined staff, contains seventy compositions by Byrd, besides others by most of the composers of the Elizabethan era, like Tallis, Dr. Bull, Giles, Farnaby and many others.
Leading Elizabethan Composers.—Byrd was a pupil of Thomas Tallis (d. 1585), the renowned church composer, and together they were made organists of Queen Elizabeth’s Chapel, in 1575, receiving also the sole right to print music. Another musician who deserves special mention is Dr. John Bull (1563-1628), who won world-wide fame as organist and clavier player, finally becoming organist at Antwerp Cathedral, which post he held until his death. His clavier compositions show great technical fluency. Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625), a Doctor of Music at Oxford, and organist at Westminster Abbey, wrote excellently in the prevailing style. Shakespeare testifies to the popularity of clavier playing at this time in one of his sonnets, where he speaks of the keys as