Grove's dictionary of music and musicians

'
SONG 595
Ex. 3.
My LitUe Pretty One.
^^s^^SsI
My ly-tdl jure • ty one, my pretie bo • nl
12
one,
1 2 8
gl^Sg^^^^^SI
She is a joy-lie one, and genfle aa can
11 1 2 1 2
"With a beck she comes anon, with a wlncke she wll be g
jL 1 2 1
No donbt she is alone of all that ev - er I
2 3
indeed, there are atundant varieties of irregular
rhythm. But It may be held as a general conclusion
that the musical rhythm follows the
rhythm and metre of the words, and varies with
them. Compound time is very common in
English ballads, especially during and after the
reign of Charles II., and may be accounted for
by the influence of the French dance -music,
which Charles II. brought into England. In
modulations they exhibit but little variety. The
most frequent arrangement is the half-close on
the dominant, and the leading note preceding
the tonic at the end of the melody, as in The
'
hunt is up. ' In another arrangement the halfclose
is on the sub-dominant, and the penultimate
note is on the supertonic. In minor-key
ballads the relative major-key often takes the
place which is held by the dominant in majorkey
ballads. Another peculiarity of many old
ballads are 'burdens.' Sometimes the burden
was sung by the bass or basses underneath the
melody to support it, as in Sumer ' is icumen
in ; '
or it took the shape of ' ditties,' the end
of old ballads, introduced to eke out the words
of the story to the length of the musical phrase,
as in the 'Willow Song.' In this case the
burden was sung continuously by the same voice,
^^- *•
Solo.
Sir JEgJamore.^
Chorus,
mWla-moTe,
that var'Iiant knight. Fa la
Solo.
-^^^E^^^^^
lanky down dilly. And as he rode o'er hill and dale, .All
arm'd upon his shirt o2 mall,
rjE^j^^-jE^^^
Chorus,
Fa la lanky down dUly.
^ J". Stafford Smith's 'MuH, Ant.' i. 66, taken from the 'Merry
Drollery Compleat.
but in other instances it was taken up by the
chorus at the end of a solo song, or solo and
chorus combined, as for instance in the burden
of 'Sir Eglamore.' The burdens often consist
of meaningless syllables, as in ' It was a lover
and his lass,' or the last example quoted.^
With the advent of the 17th century there
commenced a period of transition in the history
of music, and more especially in the history
of Song. The change was marked by the
acceptance of many new principles in musical
composition, and by a steady growth of skill
in instrumental performances. But its most
distinguishing feature was an increase of attention
to the conformity of notes with words ; that
is, to the diligent study of everything that goes
to perfect what is called expression in music'
And this was the natural development of the
monodic revolution whose origin in Italy has
already been described.* But the success of
the new departure was at first as partial and
imperfect in England as elsewhere. In Burney's
words, Harmony and ' contrivance were relinquished
without compensation. Simplicity
indeed was obtained, but devoid of accent, grace,
or invention. . . . The first attempts at air and
recitative were awkward, and the basses thin
and unmeaning. Indeed the composers of this
kind of music had the single merit to boast of
aifording the singer an opportunity of letting
the words be perfectly well understood, as their
melodies in general consisted of no more notes
than syllables, while the treble accompaniment,
if it subsisted, being in unison with the voice
part, could occasion no embarrassment or confusion.'
5
Nothing was more significant of the change
coming over music in England at the beginning
of the 1 7th century than the numerous collections
of Ayres ' ' or Ayres and ' Dialogues ' for
solo voices, or for groups of voices accompanied
by the lute. These collections also were remarkable
for the dainty and delicate poems they
contained ; in many cases the poet and the
composer were one and the same person.^ Solo
songs with instrumental accompaniment had
been composed by Byrd,' but they were rearranged
for several voices when he published
them in 1588. The first collections of songs
published as solos appeared about the year 1600,
contributed by the most eminent composers of
this period, Jones, Eosseter, Morley,^ Coperario,
Ford, Ferrabosco, Campion and Johnson.^ The
2 For the above remarks on form, see Miss 0. Frescott's article
entitled Form or Desifftl in Vocal Music, MuMcaZ World. 1881.
3 Hnllah's Transition Period of Musical History, p. 1^
4 See MoNODlA.
B Burney's Sistory, vol. iii. p. 395.
6 For instance, Campion and Jones and perhaps Morley.
7 Twelve in the collection called
'
Fsalms, Sonets, and Songs of
Sadness and Pietie.'
B Morley's celebrated ' It waa a lover and his lass ' appeared in
his ' First booke of Aires or Little Short Songes to sing and play
to the Lute with the Base-Viol,' in 1600 ; and Nagel says that previously
in 16^ he had amuiged a series of canzonets by Italian
and English composers as a collection for one voice with lute.
Nagel, fl. 136.
9 Johnson's beautiful air, ' As 1 walked forth one summer's day,'
is given in Hullab's 'English Songs of the I7th and 18th Centmy.'