THE PERFECT GENTLEMAN 1 Mr. Shores Trumpet Tune J. Shore Trumpet Tune Anonymous 2 Match G. Bingham Sybell H. Purcell 3 Johney Cock thy Beavor Anonymous 4 Italian Ground Anonymous Ground H. Purcell jigg G. Bingham

5 Suite n'8 M. Locke Pavan Ayre Courant Saraband 6 Ground after the Scotch Humour N. Matteis 7 Almand W. Byrd 8 Rowland W. Byrd 9 Volta W. Byrd 10 The Witches' Second Dance Anonymous Boffons J. Van Eyck 11 Sonata HWV 367a G. F. Hândel Largo Vivace Furioso Adagio Alla breve Andante A tempo di Minuet 12 Scarborough Fair Anonymous Scotch Air G. Bingham 13 Mr. Maule's favourite Anonymous King of the Faeries Anonymous 14 Sonata A. Parcharn

Patrick Denecker

Recorders :

1 Soprano in C after P. Borkens by Alec Loretto New Zealand

2 Soprano in C after Van Eyck by Sebastien Lemaire Belgium

3 Alto in G after 1711, Century examples by Stefan Blezinger Germany

4 Alto in F after P. Bresan by Fumitaka Saito Netherlands

5 Tenor in D (Voice flute) after J.C. Denner by Adrian Brown

Guy Penson

Harpsichords

A Flemish harpsichord after Andreas Rockers Antwerp 1640 by Chris Maene

B Flemish harpsichord after Rockers examples Antwerp ca. 1730 by Chris Maene

THE PERFECT GENTLEMAN

Dans son livre 'Music and Morals' du milieu du 19" siècle, H.R. Haweis nous définit la musique anglaise comme suit: Music in England has always been an exotic The Reformation music was all French and Italian; the Restoration music (1650), « French and halj German. No one will deny that Tallis, Farrant, Byrd, in Church music - Morley, Word, WilbYe, in the madrigal, made a most original use of their materials; but the materials were foreign, fôr all that. Purcell, the Mozart of his time, was largely French ... They did not writen for the people, the people did not cure for their music. The music of the people was ballads - the music qf the people is still ballads. Our national music vibrates between «When other lips» and «Champagne Charley». These ballads ofall kinds are not exotic: they represent the national music of the English people.

Toujours d'après Haweis, c'est sans doute le répertoire 'populaire' qui constitue en fait la vraie musique anglaise. Ce même répertoire servira d'ailleurs de point de repère pour bon nombre de compositeurs anglais ultérieurs. Ces chansons n'ont rien d'exotique, leurs caractéristiques principales étant une mélodie enchanteresse et harmonieuse et un rythme entraînant et vibrant.

Le choix des pièces qui fait l'objet de cet enregistrement démontre justement une symbiose parfaite entre cette musique 'populaire' ou du peuple et la musique 'composée'. La flûte à bec, étant l'instrument par excellence à la limite de ces deux cultures, se voit attribuer- et à juste titre -un rôle de premier plan.

En effet, la flûte à bec était l'instrument préféré des 'perfect gentlemen'. Quiconque appartenant à la haute société, désirant s'aventurer dans la musique, jouait de la flûte à bec. Pourtant la difficulté des pièces faisait souvent obstacle au musicien-amateur moyen. A remarquer aussi que l'on préférait de loin les airs écossais et irlandais. Ces mélodies, appartenant à la vie de campagne et 'à la rue', se faisaient accepter petit à petit dans les salons et les théâtres. Ces 'tories' sont les vraies racines de la musique anglaise!

A partir du milieu du 17""" siècle, l'Angleterre commençait à attirer un grand nombre de musiciens et de compositeurs du continent, le plus fameux d'entre eux étant G.F. Hândel. Ils y retrouvaient un climat favorable à leurs créations et se voyaient tout de suite débordés de travail. La ville de Londres en particulier accueillait bon nombre d'entre eux dans ses théâtres et ses maisons d'opéra.

Le style 'italien' détrônait peu à peu le style 'français', comme le témoigne Roger North dans ses 'Memoirs':

The decay of French music, in fàvour of the Italian, came on by degrees; its beginning was occidental, and occasioned by the arrival of old Nicholai Maiteis ; lie was a sort qfprecursor who made way for what was tofollow.

Cet 'immigré' Nicola Matteis, encouragé par des 'patroni', réussissait à s'intégrer parfaitement dans la société anglaise. Violoniste brillant et compositeur excellent, on l'a comparé au grand

Corelli. Charles Burney, pour sa part, lui attribuait le 'raffinement' du goût anglais. A part les suites contenant les mouvements de danse usuels, il nous a laissé des pièces descriptives et plusieurs Grounds comme celui intitulé Ground after the Scotch Humour évoquant l'atmosphère caractéristique de la musique écossaise.

Un certain George Bingham, gagnant sa vie comme professeur privé, collectionnait et composait pour ses élèves un grand nombre de pièces à une ou à deux flûtes à bec. Plus tard, il les a fait éditer à Amsterdam (Pays-Bas). On y retrouve de vrais petits chefs-d'oeuvre de la littérature pour flûte à bec comme le Solo d'Andrew Parcham, une composition dans laquelle les différentes parties se succèdent sans transition et qui se sert d'une riche alternance d'états affectifs illustrant ainsi de manière parfaite la rhétorique musicale. Ces recueils sont la source unique en matière des pièces de ce genre.

Un autre genre très en vogue qui s'est imposé même jusqu'à la fin du 19""" siècle était la 'country dance'. A ce sujet, l'oeuvre de John Playford 'The English Dancing Master' (17,1 siècle) nous fournit un trésor 'inépuisable' en matière de musique de danse, d'ailleurs pour la plupart anonyme.

Ces airs préférés réapparaissaient plus tard dans les opéras et toutes sortes de pièces de théâtre. Les deux pièces anonymes Mr. Maule's favourite en King of the Faeries se situent dans, le même style. Au cours du 18""" siècle, la 'country dance' a trouvé son pareil en France en la ,contredanse'. La mélodie du chant populaire

Scarborough Fair, plus ancienne encore, apparaît au cours des siècles sous plusieurs formes.

Suite au traité important concernant les diminutions pour viole de gambe datant de 1659 de la main de Christopher Simpson, l'oeuvre 'The Division Flute' apparaît un demisiècle plus tard en 1706. L'auteur y démontre l'art de l'improvisation et de la diminution sur une basse ostinato. Les deux pièces An Italian Ground et Johney Cock thy Beavor sont sorties de ce recueil. Comme dans la musique de jazz, les variations multiples reprenaient, de façon improvisée, les thèmes retirés de danses célèbres ou de 'ballads'. Le Ground de H. Purcell est à cet égard une illustration parfaite et réservée. Le premier but de cette musique était de s'amuser et dans ce sens-là (presque) tout était possible. On donnait libre expression à l'inspiration et aux capacités techniques. Cette liberté dans la pratique entraînait de nouvelles expériences qui à leur tour engendraient d'autres pièces musicales.

Les Trumpet Tunes constituaient un genre préféré et très reconnaissable. Ces pièces en effet se voulaient imitatives de la musique pour trompette, devenue célèbre grâce à des virtuoses comme John Shore. En outre, l'intérêt pour la musique 'militaire' et 'guerrière' invitait à composer des marches et des Itrumpet tories' pour d'autres instruments encore. Dans ce cadre-là, on doit situer la pièce Sybell de H. Purcell, qui a recours à un extrait d'un opéra de Lully.

A part la musique religieuse, Matthew Locke s'occupait en outre de la musique pour théâtre, la 'incidental music'. Sa notoriété ultérieure pour tant comportait surtout ses recueils de musique instrumentale

Sa niusique faisait preuve d'une solidité, considérée néanmoins comme désuète par certains de ses contemporains. Quoi qu'il en soit, son ami H. Purcell lui devait beaucoup et lui succéda conime 'Composer in Ordinary te, the King'. Dans la petite Suite n' 8 de son recueil 'ffor seaverall ffriend,,,", les parties lentes, harmoniquement intéressantes (Pavan et Ayre), s'allient à des mouvements de danse plus légers comme Courant et Saraband.

Boffons excelle en matière d'art des variations, non pas sur un thème mais sur une basse.

Cette pièce 'contagieuse' a été reprise plus tard par le carillonneur aveugle d'Utrecht (Pays-Bas) Jacob Van Eijek et on la retrouve également dans quelques variations pour le virginal de Byrd et de Bull.

La Sonate HWV 367a de Hândel fait partie d'une série d'autographes qui sont conservés dans le Fitzwilliam Museum à Cambridge. Cette 'Sonata da Camera' italienne contient une 'Hornpipe' anglaise dans le second mouvement.

Patrick Denecker Traduction : Brigitte Hermans

THE PERFECT GENTLEMAN

In the middle of the 1911 century, H.R. Haweis, in his book «Music and Morals», described English music as follows :

Music in England bas always been an exotic ... The Rejormation music was all French and Italian, the Restoration music (1650), half>French and half German. No one will deny that Tallis, Farrant, Byrd in Church Music-Morley, Ward, Wilbye, in the madrigal, made a most original use of their materials; but the materials werejoreign, for all that. Purcell, the Mozart of his time, was largely French ... They did not write for the people, the people did not carefor their music. The music of the people was ballads - the music of the people is still ballads. Our national music vibrates between «When other lips» and «Champagne Charley». These hallads of all kinds are not exotic; they represent the national music of the English people.

According te, Haweis, it is the common man's repertory which constitutes real English music, something which later English composers were te, continually acknowledge. The songs of this repertory are anything but exotic, characterised as they are by attractive melodies and rousing rhythms. The collection of picces on this recording shows a perfect symbiosis between popular and art music. In tact the recorder itself occupies a position on the dividing fine between these two cultures, which makes it an ideal instrument for this literature.

The recorder was exceptionally suited for «perfect gentlemen», being played by men of rank wishing to travel the highways and by-ways of music. High technical demands however, placed some of the literature beyond the reach of the model amateur musician. Noticeable was the preference for Scottish and Irish melodies, which made their way from the country-side, via the streets and drawing-rooms, to the salons and theatres. The roots of English music are to bc found in these melodies and dance-tunes.

From the middle of the 1711 century onwards, England exerted a strong pull on musicians and composers from the continent, of whom Hândel was the most famous. There they found what they were looking for: a market-place for their compositions and, more importantly, work in abundance. It was particularly to London that large numbers of continental composers flocked, finding work in the many theatres and opera-houses there.

Gradually the French style began to give way te, the Italian, as witnessed by Roger North in his memoirs:

The decay qfFrench music, in favour (if the ludion, came on bv degrees; its bcginning was accidental, and occasioned ffil the arrival of old Nicholai Matteis; he was a sort ofprecursor who made wayfor what was to.follow.

This Nicola Matteis was one of many immigrants who, encouraged by several «patroni», were able te, work themselves into English society. He was an exceptional violinist and composer, likened by connoisseurs to Corelli. Even Charles Burney credited him with the refining of English taste. Besides suites the usual dance forms, he also composed descriptive pieces and several containing Grounds, such as after the Scotch Humour, in which bc evokes a typical Seottish atmosphere.

One George Bingham, who probably earned lus living as a private teacher, collected and composed pieces for one and two recorders for his pupils, which he later had published in Amsterdam. Gems of the recorder literature are to be found here, including Andrew Parcham's Solo, a thoroughly worked out piece which, with its rich alternation of affects, serves as a perfect example of musical rhetoric. Bingham's collections provide the sole source for similar works.

Another genre which was to remain fashionable until well into the 19" century was the country dance. An in~exhaustible treasure-trove of mostly anonymous dance music was provided by John Playford in the 171" century in his «The English Dancing Master». These tunes were so popular that they regularly turned up in operas and other thcatre music. Both the anonymous Mr. Maule'sfavourite and King ofthefaeries belong here. During the course of the 1811 century, the country dance even received its French counterpart: the contredanse. The still older tune of the popular Scarborough Fair continued to surface through time in many guises.

Following in the footsteps of the important treatise on divisions for viol by Christopher Simpson in 1659, there appeared in the 18th centory «The Division Flute~~, demonstrating the art

of improvising diminutions and variations on an ostinato bass. An Italian Ground and Johney Cock thy Beavor are to bc found here. Many variations incorporate quotations from other wellknown dances and ballads, a procedure amicipating jazz techniques. The Ground for harpsichord by Purcell is a modest example. All of this music was performed within the context of amusement, in which (almost) anything was possible. The player gave rein to his inspiration and technique, and this freedom gave birth to new experiments which in turn gave birth to new music.

Immediately recognizable and much in demand, were the socalled Trumpet Tunes. These pieces imitated the melodic style of trumpet music made popular by such virtuosos as John Shore. The interest in military and battle music led to more marches and trumpet music being composed for other instruments than for the trumpet itself! Purcell used already existing material in Sybell, another trumpet tune based on a fragment from one of Lully's operas.

As well as church music, Matthew Locke provided plays with music, or «incidental music» but was later better known for his collections of instrumental music. His style is thoroughly sound, a trait for which he was branded by sonne as oldfashioned. One thing is certain: Henry Purcell, a gond friend, learnt much from Locke's works and succeeded him as «Composer in Ordinary to the King». The short Suite nr.8, taken from the collection 4for seaverall ffriends», reconciles the harmonically interesting slower movements (Pavan and Ayre) with the lighter dance forms such as the Courant and Saraband. Boffons, is a small example of great art, a set of variations, here upon the bass line rather than S the melody. The blind Jacob Van Eijck of Utrecht, carillon player and recorder virtuoso, left us his version of this catching piece, of which examples also exist by Byrd and Bufl for the virginals.The Sonata HWV 367a by Hândel is one of a cries of autographs which are to be found in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. This Italian sonata da Camera includes as its second movement an English Hompipe.

Patrick Denecker Translation: Ludmila Tschakalova