“O’er whom thy fingers walk with gentle gait.”
Although these early English composers wrote with musical solidity, their compositions can scarcely be said to have added much to the development of the instrumental style, or to clavier technic; and, in fact, they amounted to little more than a side issue in music, withdrawn from the general advancement, and valuable chiefly as curiosities. The melodies were apt to be wearisome, through monotonous repetitions, the rhythms to lack variety, and the modulations to appear chiefly in the form of unsuccessful attempts.
The Parthenia.—During the first half of the 17th century the virginal retained its popularity, although political turmoils prevented much positive advancement in music. The “Parthenia,” a volume containing the first printed collection of virginal music, appeared in 1611, composed of twenty-one pieces by Byrd, Bull and Gibbons; and a similar volume followed, with compositions for virginal and bass viol, by Robert Hole.
Purcell.—In the reign of Charles II (1660-1685) music again came to the fore, and was ably promoted by Henry Purcell, who was born in the year when Cromwell died, 1658, and died in 1695. Purcell is a shining figure in English musical history, through his ability as an opera composer, in which capacity he produced bright and pithy works, thoroughly English in spirit, and healthy in tone. He published a volume of twelve clavier sonatas in 1683, with parts also for two violins and a bass viol, founded on the model of the Italian violin sonatas, each having an Adagio, a Canzona, a slow movement and an Air. Later he published other sonatas, besides suites and separate pieces for the clavier. Upon the advent of Handel, however, the English composers became, for the most part, mere imitators of his style, which had so caught the national ear as to well-nigh eclipse all other kinds of music. The early English school, therefore, can be said to have had its last exponent in the person of Purcell.
Rise of the French School.—In France a school of clavier compositions developed during the brilliant reign of Louis XIV (1643-1715), which did much toward imparting elegance and polish, besides characteristic rhythms and technical figures, to clavier music. The head of this school and the personal teacher of many succeeding clavier composers and players was Andre Champion de Chambonnières (d. 1670), who became court clavier player to the king. He is said to have been master of a full tone on the harpsichord attained by none other than himself; he also published two books of clavier compositions, written in the pure harmonic style, and showing the tendency toward brilliant embellishments which became a characteristic of his successors. Of his pupils, Jean Henry d’Anglebert (d. 1691), was clavier player at court, and published in 1689 a book containing clavier arrangements of airs and dances from the operas of Lully, with rules for their execution.
The Couperin Family.—Two, at least, of the famous musical family of Couperin also came under the instruction of Champion. These were Louis Couperin (1630-1665), and François Couperin (1631-1701), who, with their brother Charles Couperin (1638-1669), and his son François Couperin, called “le Grand ” (1668-1733), were all at various times organists of the church of St. Gervais, at Paris. The Couperins may be considered as classic composers for the clavier, as their style, though having an harmonic basis, was mostly in the line of instrumental voice writing. The first-named published three suites of dances for clavier; and the second was eminently popular as a teacher.
François Couperin.—François Couperin, “le Grand,” deserves special attention, and has been called the first great composer distinctively for the clavier. He was a pupil of the organist Thomelin, and rose quickly to so commanding a position as player of the organ and clavier that, in 1701, he was appointed court clavier player and organist at the Royal Chapel. He was very accurate as a composer; and in the four books of clavier pieces which he published successively, he gave minute directions for interpreting the wealth of ornamentation with which his melodies are surrounded. Most of these pieces are written in two voices, with the upper melody most prominent; and they reflect the artificial show and glitter of the French court in their endless turns and embellishments. Yet for this very reason they have amplified the resources of clavier compositions, preparing the way for composers like Scarlatti, Bach and Handel. Many of them show the French taste toward attaching definite meaning to music, by their fanciful titles, like “La tendre Nanette,” “La Flatteuse”—a custom followed by others of this school. Couperin wrote also a treatise on clavier touch, and was one of the first to make use of the thumb in playing.
Louis Marchand (1669-1732) was a brilliant though dissipated figure in clavier playing. Becoming organist at the court of Versailles, he lost the post through his reckless habits, and, going to Dresden, he was somewhat subdued in his conceit by the evident superiority of Bach. On his return to Paris, he became exceedingly popular as a teacher, although his extravagant style of living brought him finally to poverty. His pupil, Louis Claude Daquin (1694-1772), received through him an appointment as organist at the church of St. Paul, in preference to Rameau, of whose superiority Marchand became jealous. Daquin published a number of rather superficial clavier pieces.
Jean-Phillippe Rameau.