[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
with two bars of dominant pedal on E, returns to an E major chord in b.
20, and is then taken up with a contrapuntal point that features the
expressive four-note gure E B C B. Note also how Dowland achieves
39
Dowland: Lachrimae (1604)
a sense of climax by pushing the top note of the Cantus up a step in each
strain, from c , to d , and nally to e .
The tear motif
Several writers have claimed to nd models for the tear motif. Otto Mies
and Diana Poulton respectively suggested Créquillon s chanson Cessez
mes yeulx and Cauleray s En esperant .8 But the semitone falls in the
wrong place in the former, and occurs unobtrusively in the middle of a
phrase of the latter. More promisingly, Rudolf Henning suggested
Rore s madrigal Quando lieto sperai , which sets a slightly elaborated
tetrachord to the words lagrime dunque .9 John Ward questioned the
need to search for a model, but o ered the opening of Smith s Pavan
(actually pavana Bryches ), a single-line division part in the Arundel
part-books, as well as the observation that the tones a g f e also form the
basis of most Romanesca discants .10
The problem with this line of enquiry is that, by itself, the falling tetra-
chord is a commonplace, a standard emblem of grief. Lionel Pike has
drawn attention to its occurrences in madrigals by Giovanni Gabrieli,
Marenzio, Wert, Monteverdi and others, as well as Josquin s Mille
regrets and Victoria s 1572 setting of O vos omnes , and it is familiar as
the standard form of the Passacaglia ground bass, which became asso-
ciated with laments in the 1620s and 30s.11 Its chromatic form was also
developed as a grief emblem in ascending as well as descending forms,
notably in Dowland s Forlorn Hope and Farewell fantasias.12
Clearly, to establish a credible connection between Lachrimae and
earlier compositions we need more than four notes in common. In fact,
there are two works probably known to Dowland that use the complete
tear motif the two tetrachords connected by the minor sixth. David
Pinto has drawn attention to Lassus s setting of the words Laboravi in
gemitu meo in Domine ne in furore tuo , the rst of his Psalmi Davidis
poenitentiales (Munich, 1584) (see Ex. 4.2).13 Like Lachrimae , the
passage is in Tone 3 with phrygian leanings, and sets a highly relevant
text: I am weary with my groaning; all the night long I make my bed to
swim; I water my couch with tears . There is no direct evidence that
Dowland knew Lassus s cycle, though there is another connection
between Lachrimae and the Seven Penitential Psalms, as we shall see.
40
The seven Passionate Pavans
Ex. 4.2 O. Lassus, Laboravi in gemitu meo , bb. 1 4, from Domine ne in
furore tuo
La - bo-ra-vi, la - bo-ra - vi, la - bo - ra - vi
La - bo-ra-vi, la - bo- ra -vi, la - bo - ra - - vi
La - bo-ra- vi, la - bo-ra - - - vi
La - bo-ra - vi, la - bo - ra - vi
La - bo-ra- vi, la - bo-ra - vi
Dowland would certainly have known the other work, Parto da voi,
mio sole from Marenzio s third book of six-part madrigals (Venice,
1585), for it was reprinted as Now I must part in Musica transalpina
(1588), and it has been suggested that the original Italian text was the
inspiration for the text of Dowland s song Now, O now I needs must
part from The First Booke.14 We should not be surprised that Dowland
looked to Marenzio for inspiration. He travelled to Italy in 1595 to study
with the Italian and extolled his virtues in The First Booke, even printing
a rather inconsequential letter from him, not thinking it any disgrace to
be proud of the judgement of so excellent a man . Furthermore, he based
part of his song Would my conceit that rst enforced my woe from The
First Booke on Marenzio s Ahi, dispietata morte .15
Parto da voi, mio sole , also in Tone 3, contains the complete tear
motif using the same pitches and virtually the same rhythms, though it is
in the Altus rather than the Cantus, and the last note is a G natural rather
than G sharp. What makes the passage more signi cant is that the tear
motif is accompanied by rising gures in the Cantus and the Sextus
similar to (a) at the beginning of Dowland s Altus and Tenor (see Ex.
4.3). Another madrigal by Marenzio, the ve-part Rivi, fontane, e umi
from the anthology Le gioie musicali (Venice, 1589), also begins with a
rising idea similar to (a) accompanying a version of the tear motif in
paired imitation that is strikingly similar to the opening of Verae .16
Dowland used this contrapuntal version of the motif in the third strain
41
Dowland: Lachrimae (1604)
Ex. 4.3 L. Marenzio, Parto da voi, mio sole , bb. 1 3
Par - to da voi,
Par - to da voi,
Par - - to da voi, par - to da voi,
Par - to da voi,
-
Par to da voi,
Ex. 4.4 L. Marenzio, Rivi, fontane, e fiumi , bb. 1 3
Ri - - - - - vi, fon - ta - - ne,
Ri - - - - - vi, fon - ta - - ne,
Ri - - - - - - vi, fon - - ta -
Ri - - - - vi, fon - ta - - -
of Tristes and the opening of Amantis . Note also the falling quavers in
the Tenor, b. 2, similar to (b) in Antiquae (see Ex. 4.4). Of course, we
have no means of knowing how conscious any of these borrowings were,
though at the very least they suggest that Dowland was immersed in the
music of his great continental contemporaries.
Musical rhetoric
Why was Dowland attracted to Marenzio? At rst sight it is strange that a
famous lutenist at the height of his powers should want to travel to Italy
to study with a madrigal composer a genre to which he never contrib-
uted, so far as we know. Dowland was doubtless caught up by the enthu-
siasm for the Italian madrigal in Elizabethan England. Marenzio, the
42
The seven Passionate Pavans
most famous madrigalist of his generation, was particularly venerated in
England. He dominated the printed anthologies Thomas Watson s [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl karpacz24.htw.pl
with two bars of dominant pedal on E, returns to an E major chord in b.
20, and is then taken up with a contrapuntal point that features the
expressive four-note gure E B C B. Note also how Dowland achieves
39
Dowland: Lachrimae (1604)
a sense of climax by pushing the top note of the Cantus up a step in each
strain, from c , to d , and nally to e .
The tear motif
Several writers have claimed to nd models for the tear motif. Otto Mies
and Diana Poulton respectively suggested Créquillon s chanson Cessez
mes yeulx and Cauleray s En esperant .8 But the semitone falls in the
wrong place in the former, and occurs unobtrusively in the middle of a
phrase of the latter. More promisingly, Rudolf Henning suggested
Rore s madrigal Quando lieto sperai , which sets a slightly elaborated
tetrachord to the words lagrime dunque .9 John Ward questioned the
need to search for a model, but o ered the opening of Smith s Pavan
(actually pavana Bryches ), a single-line division part in the Arundel
part-books, as well as the observation that the tones a g f e also form the
basis of most Romanesca discants .10
The problem with this line of enquiry is that, by itself, the falling tetra-
chord is a commonplace, a standard emblem of grief. Lionel Pike has
drawn attention to its occurrences in madrigals by Giovanni Gabrieli,
Marenzio, Wert, Monteverdi and others, as well as Josquin s Mille
regrets and Victoria s 1572 setting of O vos omnes , and it is familiar as
the standard form of the Passacaglia ground bass, which became asso-
ciated with laments in the 1620s and 30s.11 Its chromatic form was also
developed as a grief emblem in ascending as well as descending forms,
notably in Dowland s Forlorn Hope and Farewell fantasias.12
Clearly, to establish a credible connection between Lachrimae and
earlier compositions we need more than four notes in common. In fact,
there are two works probably known to Dowland that use the complete
tear motif the two tetrachords connected by the minor sixth. David
Pinto has drawn attention to Lassus s setting of the words Laboravi in
gemitu meo in Domine ne in furore tuo , the rst of his Psalmi Davidis
poenitentiales (Munich, 1584) (see Ex. 4.2).13 Like Lachrimae , the
passage is in Tone 3 with phrygian leanings, and sets a highly relevant
text: I am weary with my groaning; all the night long I make my bed to
swim; I water my couch with tears . There is no direct evidence that
Dowland knew Lassus s cycle, though there is another connection
between Lachrimae and the Seven Penitential Psalms, as we shall see.
40
The seven Passionate Pavans
Ex. 4.2 O. Lassus, Laboravi in gemitu meo , bb. 1 4, from Domine ne in
furore tuo
La - bo-ra-vi, la - bo-ra - vi, la - bo - ra - vi
La - bo-ra-vi, la - bo- ra -vi, la - bo - ra - - vi
La - bo-ra- vi, la - bo-ra - - - vi
La - bo-ra - vi, la - bo - ra - vi
La - bo-ra- vi, la - bo-ra - vi
Dowland would certainly have known the other work, Parto da voi,
mio sole from Marenzio s third book of six-part madrigals (Venice,
1585), for it was reprinted as Now I must part in Musica transalpina
(1588), and it has been suggested that the original Italian text was the
inspiration for the text of Dowland s song Now, O now I needs must
part from The First Booke.14 We should not be surprised that Dowland
looked to Marenzio for inspiration. He travelled to Italy in 1595 to study
with the Italian and extolled his virtues in The First Booke, even printing
a rather inconsequential letter from him, not thinking it any disgrace to
be proud of the judgement of so excellent a man . Furthermore, he based
part of his song Would my conceit that rst enforced my woe from The
First Booke on Marenzio s Ahi, dispietata morte .15
Parto da voi, mio sole , also in Tone 3, contains the complete tear
motif using the same pitches and virtually the same rhythms, though it is
in the Altus rather than the Cantus, and the last note is a G natural rather
than G sharp. What makes the passage more signi cant is that the tear
motif is accompanied by rising gures in the Cantus and the Sextus
similar to (a) at the beginning of Dowland s Altus and Tenor (see Ex.
4.3). Another madrigal by Marenzio, the ve-part Rivi, fontane, e umi
from the anthology Le gioie musicali (Venice, 1589), also begins with a
rising idea similar to (a) accompanying a version of the tear motif in
paired imitation that is strikingly similar to the opening of Verae .16
Dowland used this contrapuntal version of the motif in the third strain
41
Dowland: Lachrimae (1604)
Ex. 4.3 L. Marenzio, Parto da voi, mio sole , bb. 1 3
Par - to da voi,
Par - to da voi,
Par - - to da voi, par - to da voi,
Par - to da voi,
-
Par to da voi,
Ex. 4.4 L. Marenzio, Rivi, fontane, e fiumi , bb. 1 3
Ri - - - - - vi, fon - ta - - ne,
Ri - - - - - vi, fon - ta - - ne,
Ri - - - - - - vi, fon - - ta -
Ri - - - - vi, fon - ta - - -
of Tristes and the opening of Amantis . Note also the falling quavers in
the Tenor, b. 2, similar to (b) in Antiquae (see Ex. 4.4). Of course, we
have no means of knowing how conscious any of these borrowings were,
though at the very least they suggest that Dowland was immersed in the
music of his great continental contemporaries.
Musical rhetoric
Why was Dowland attracted to Marenzio? At rst sight it is strange that a
famous lutenist at the height of his powers should want to travel to Italy
to study with a madrigal composer a genre to which he never contrib-
uted, so far as we know. Dowland was doubtless caught up by the enthu-
siasm for the Italian madrigal in Elizabethan England. Marenzio, the
42
The seven Passionate Pavans
most famous madrigalist of his generation, was particularly venerated in
England. He dominated the printed anthologies Thomas Watson s [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]