Grove's dictionary of music and musicians

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SONG 587
Berggreen, A. r. 'Folke-Sange og Melodier' (vol. i.). Copenhagen,
1869.
Davidsson. Olafur. 'lalenzkar Skemtanir.' Copenhagen, lSSS-92.
'
8augl)6k hius islenzka Studentafjelags.' Beykjavik, 1894.
Filet, Baymond. NouveUea ateMvbs dea Missions scientifiquxs et
Utt&raires (vol. vli. pp. 243-271). Faria, 1897.
Panum and Behrend. mustrieret Juusikhistorie (vol. i. p. 44, haa a
reference to the Tvisimgur). Copenhagen, 1897-1905.
Hammerich, Angul. Studien iiber istdndiacJie Musik. {Sa/tmneLh&nde,
I.H.&., I. ill. 1900.)
Thuren, Hjalmar. Ttmz, IHcMung vml Sesamg avf den Fdrliem,
(Thia contains many Icelandic songa.) Smnmeiiiiimde, I.M.G.,
III. ii. 1902.
The Nbthbelands
Under this comprehensive term are included
the countries which extend from the North
Sea to the Somme in France, comprising
Holland, Flanders, Belgium, the Walloon
country and the chief part of the old province
of Artois. The population is partly Teutonic,
represented by the Flemings ;
partly of Romance
origin, represented by the Walloons. Two
languages are spoken—Dutch and French, for
Flemish is nearly akin to Dutch, and the
Romance dialect spoken by the Walloons is
closely allied to French, which is the official
language of Belgium. Still, until the 19th
century when Holland and Belgium were
formed into independent kingdoms, the Netherlands
was practically one country. In dealing
with the folk-songs, however, a distinction
must be made, as each division of the country
possessed its own songs. Yet even so , the
subject is confusing, for while the official
designation of Netherlands ' ' is retained by
what we now call Holland, the
'
Spanish
Netherlands,' which in the 16th and early 17th
centuries played so important a part in history,
and gave birth to the finest songs, comprised
rather the districts of Flanders and Belgium.
Again, the songs of the North of France and
Flanders, and the Low German and Dutch
songs, have so much in common, that to write
the history of one is to write the history of
the other.'
The Trouvires oi the 11th and 12th centuries,
with their langne d'oil, belonged equally to
Northern France and to Belgium, and as they
have already been mentioned under Feanoe
it is unnecessary to refer to them again here.
Further, the Old French and Flemish schools
of music were practically identical, and the
Gallo - Belgian School, whose most successful
period lies between 1360 and 1460, was considered
by other nations as French, and the
composers indiscriminately called GalU (see
ante, p. 542). But with the Netherland School
proper we are treading on dififerent ground.
This school penetrated into every cultured
country in Western Europe, formed schools of
its own, identified itself with other nationalities,
and was held in universal esteem until, in the
latter part of the 16th century, the Italians
became the leading musical nation in Europe.
This great school, however, was essentially
polyphonic, and with it and its chief repre-
1 See ConsBemaker'B Chants des Flamande de France \ and
B3hme's 'AltdeutschesLiederbuch.'
sentatives (such as Okeghem, Obreeht, Josquin
des Pr^s, Goinbert, Orlandus Lassus, and others)
this article is only indirectly concerned. These
prefatory remarks will explain to some extent
the complex character of the history of song in
the Netherlands.
Among the earliest traces of the langue d'oil
is the Cantique de ' S** Eulalie ' (without music),
preserved in the Valenciennes Library, and belonging
to the 9th or early 10th century.^
This language of the Trouvires was spoken in
Northern France and Belgium for some centuries,
and during the 11th, 12th, and 13th numerous
songs were composed which, with their melodies,
still exist. With regard to the Flemish songs,
F^tis says it is more difficult' to decide with
certainty whether they are as old as they are
reputed to be. Of these, one famous song, to
judge by the ' character of the poetry, reaches
back to the Norman traditions of the 10th
century.^ It is known by the name of ' Heer
Halewijn,' and Willems, who published the
song in 1836 with the original text, says it is
still heard in Brabant and Flanders. ^ The
many versions of the melody make it impossible
to date it with accuracy, but the following (in
the Hypomixolydian mode) is considered the
oldest and purest :-—
1
Ex. 1. Heer Halewijn.
Lip:^!'^.
f
1
L»=
Heer Halewijn zong een Ue-de-kljn, al die dat hoor-de
^^ggg^ggggg^^ggl
wou blhem zijn, aldiedathoor-dewoubihemzijn.
Although it is true that the ' of the
representative Netherland School (1425-1625)
was polyphonic, it is a mistake to suppose that
the work of these learned contrapuntists was
the only form of music prevailing in the country
at this time. National songs existed contemporaneously
with it ; and the tunes these
great masters used as themes for their glorious
masses, motets, and polyphonic chansons were
practically their own folk-songs. That such
historic French and Flemish tunes as 'L'Homme
*
arme,' 'Cents mille ecus,' Forseulement,'
* Je me demands,' 'Myn Hert,' ^ '
Het daghet,' ^
were not merely worthy of local recognition is
proved by their constant use throughout Europe.
2 Fdtis, llUtoire G&n. de la Mug. iv. 485.
3 Ibid. V. 55 et seq,
4 Oscar Fl eisclier, in ^n Kapitel verglelcJiender Sfusikwissenschaft
(Sam,meU>dnde. I.M.G. , I. i. 1899), showsthe resemhlance between the
Halewijn melody and a Brittany ballad, 'Die drei Monnlken
' (see Villemarqud, p. 185), and the melody of a hymn, Sidus solare,'
from a Neapoliton MS. of the 11th and 12th centuries, and diHcusses
which is the older.
6 F. van Dnyse corroborates thia by saying that Pol de Mont
'
(poet and folk-lonst) heard the Halevijuslied ' in 1896 in the
environs of Lenwen. (See Set oude Nederlamdadhe Lied, i. 13.) In
this standard work Dnyse practically includes all the songs found
in the Netherlands with the words and tune of each, and their
variants. The valuable preface explains the verse metre, rhythm,
scales, and general form, and is indispensable to the student,
f Used by Pierre de la Rue in a 4-part chanson. See Ambros,
iiij 241.
7 Used by Clemens noii Papa in a 3-part chanson. Bee I>uyse,
i. 124.