[This blog is part of one of my assessments for a music history course that I am currently taking. At the moment we are covering the Baroque period across Europe, and these blogs are a series of thoughts from my lectures and readings. The cartoon images are mine and can be used as long as it is cited back to me.]
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| Bach, Vivaldi and Scarlatti hanging... Poor Lully |
Bach. Handel. Scarlatti. Vivaldi. Names that we can gladly
hold up a large sign to labelled ‘Baroque’. Only with deep reflection and
perhaps a quick Google search can we find some French names: Lully (don’t let
the name deceive you, he’s Italian-born) or Lambert, but none of these are the ‘greats’
for the general public. Considering that being a musician in France during the “Baroque”
period could be one of the highest paying and most reliable jobs (cue a sad
sigh of any musician today), we should be surprised at the lack of renown of French
names. But, perhaps there is good reason for this.
1 – “If it aint Baroque, don’t fix it”
Among contemporaries and historians in France, it has been
argued at length whether music during the period of seventeenth and eighteenth
century should be labelled Baroque. As with all music periods the name heavily
generalizes everything and lumps together what are more often than not
completely different styles from across different cultures.
For instance, the word Baroque inspires the image of very
structured, ornamented music that remains simple but beautiful (cue Vivaldi’s Four
Seasons). The French pieces of this time can be said to fit in to this mold,
but yet do not.
D’Anglebert’s, ‘Chaconne, Mr. De Lully’ takes ornamentation
to a whole new level as described by Wendy Heller, with basically every beat including a trill on either one
or both hands of the harpsichord, the ornamentation often being left to the
performers ‘good taste’ (although if you have not been gifted with ‘good taste’
you should talk to someone who does. Also, the rhythm for this piece is
uniquely French, and named inégalité for a reason. Notes which are written as
equal value would be interpreted by the performer to be played with much
liberty, swinging the rhythm in a strong-weak fashion, another feature only
found in French music.
French historians such as Norbert Dufourcq argue that music
of this period cannot be named baroque, for the most accurate description of
music is Classique. The term encapsulates the fashion of the music being much
more subtle than in other areas of Europe, to match the high level of class
displayed at the French court.
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| Ornamentation Table from Jean Henry d'Anglebert, Pièces de clavessin (1689) |
2 - What’s language got to do with it?
A practical reason as to why there is such a dramatic
difference in the seventeenth and eighteenth century between music from France
and music from other areas can be linked to the language itself. More rhythmic
differences can be found particularly in pieces that are sung (or where
instruments are to play the melody as if being sung).
This can be seen in Michel Lambert’s ‘Par mes chants’, where
the rhythm is obscured for emotive purposes, and where the pace constantly
shifts in response to the words between duple and triple meter, as noted by Heller. The French
language affects pieces such as this as the emphasis falls on the second to
last or last syllable of the verse. Unlike Italian, English or German Baroque
pieces, the French preferred syllabic writings, placing a higher value on a
flow of emotions rather than obeying rules of meter. Not that the French ever
have.
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| Michel Lambert, 'Par mes chants' (1689) |
So, can this music be classed as Baroque, or do we need to
redefine our standards of labeling periods?
Something to keep in mind is our recent past. Last week I
purchased a CD that is labelled “Pure 80s” which presents what a group of
editors decided would be a generalized form of hits during the prescribed decade.
Now, comparison time: Baroque music spans across about 150 years. This is ten.
Baroque music extents across many languages and countries. With the exception
of a particularly languid Julio Iglesias song, these are all either English or
American groups. Does all the music of the 80s sound like the tracks on my
discs? No way. Does all the music we have from the Baroque period sound like
Handel’s Masses or Bach’s Concertos? Of course not.
So there is, of course, a place for composers of Louis XIII-XV’s
court among the labeling of Baroque. As for our opinion of what Baroque should
sound like, rising above the sense of style and flamboyant meter, French music
from the era remains elegant and structured, heavily ornamented, and most of
all has a courtly grace which can indeed match any sign-posted Bach, Handel, Scarlatti
or Vivaldi piece.
Further reading:
Wendy Heller, Music in the Baroque (New York: Norton, 2014), pp. 112–121.
Catherine Massip, ‘Paris, 1600–61’, in The Early Baroque Era: From the Late 16th Century to the 1660s, ed. by Curtis Price (Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1993), pp. 218–228.
James Anthony, French Baroque Music from Beaujoyeulx to Rameau (Portland: Amadeus Press, 1997), pp. 10-11.
Catherine Massip, ‘Paris, 1600–61’, in The Early Baroque Era: From the Late 16th Century to the 1660s, ed. by Curtis Price (Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1993), pp. 218–228.
James Anthony, French Baroque Music from Beaujoyeulx to Rameau (Portland: Amadeus Press, 1997), pp. 10-11.
