Music in the Elizabethan era

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Music in the Elizabethan Era, or Elizabethan Music, refers to music during the sixteenth century. It was then a major form of entertainment.

Contents 1 Background 2 Religion 3 Queen Elizabeth 4 Musicians 5 New composers 6 Instruments 7 Example recordings 8 References

[edit] Background

Music played an enormous part of life in the 1500s. Music was so highly regarded that one was not considered to be a gentleman unless he was able to sing tolerably. An anonymous man in 1597 said, “a guest to remain from singing was considered very rude (From Gail B. Stuart’s Life in Elizabethan London).” For people to judge others on whether they participated in song must have meant that music was very important in determining the qualities of a man. Not only did the ability to sing make you a gentleman but you also had to be able play an instrument and dance. Again such emphasis must only mean that music was a large part of life during the 1500s.

Music had a role in all parts of the day. Starting in the home, music was centralized around the dinner table. At night it was highly anticipated for the time when a family would sit down and participate in song. Their music was probably influenced from native folk music. Some music was published and printed during the Elizabethan era but it is not likely that a commoner would have such copies. Most homesteads had at least one instrument, usually a viol or a lute. Music was very popular with the upper and middle class as well. Noblemen employed his own musicians and those in the middle class households had at least one servant who was capable of playing a musical instrument.

Elizabethan Music was known for its steady rhythm and its polyphony, which is a main theme that is established then played in more complex ways. Songs sung included a four to five part harmony with multiple melodies weaving throughout one another, similar to baroque music. It was also known for its reflection of moods and emotion. true that As musicianship during the sixteenth century was popular and widespread, it was broken down into five main categories: church music, court music, town music, street music and theatre music.

[edit] Religion

Church was a major significance for music in the 1500s. The puritans wanted to do away with all church music but the will of the people to sing only made it more predominant. Many composers that wrote for the church also wrote for the royalty. The style of the church music was known as choral polyphony. Hundreds of hymns were written for the church. Many of those are still sung today. It is “doubtless (that) your worship requires music (Pg. 121 Life in Elizabethan Days I).” At the most elegant of weddings, usually those of the nobility, the processional included musicians who played lutes, flutes, and viols. It was very common of that time for commoners to have music played for them whenever they wanted as well.

[edit] Queen Elizabeth

Queen Elizabeth I fancied music and also knew well how to play instruments. She could play the lute and virginal, a small form of a harpsichord. It was essential to understand the art of music.Queen Elizabeth encouraged composers and musicians, employing over seventy musicians and singers. In court life you were expected to be able to dance and play. Dancing was considered part of propriety by Queen Elizabeth.

[edit] Musicians

Town musicians were known as Waits. They were the equivalent to that of a modern town’s band. The Waits have been in existence as far back as the medieval period. They were known for their high-pitched pipes. The role of the Waits were to perform at public occasions of the viewing pleasure of the town. They were to play original composed music.

Street musicians or traveling minstrels were looked down upon. They were feared and soon grew out of style and were replaced by the tavern and theatre musician. Street music was common to be heard at markets and fairs. The music was usually light and quick. They performed using fiddles, lutes, recorders, and small percussion instruments attracting crowds whenever they played. The songs they played and sang were traditional favorites, “a far cry from the sophisticated and refined music of the Elizabethan court." [1]

Theatre became increasingly popular when music was added. Location on stage meant everything to a theater musician. The location gave certain effects to the sound produced. This could the impression of distance or providing an atmosphere to the plays and performances done. Theatre music became even more popular with the rise of William Shakespeare in 1556.

[edit] New composers

As a result to music popularity and importance, many new composers started to make themselves known. William Byrd (1539-1623) was considered by most modern authorities “the greatest of all the Elizabethan composers (from Gail B. Stuart’s Life in Elizabethan London).” He was the leading composer of religious music. Many of his songs still exist today. William Byrd was the chief organist and composer for Queen Elizabeth. Also during the sixteenth century were John Bull (1562 – 1628), best-known organist of the Elizabethan era, and John Dowland (1563 - 1626), leading composer of lute music. John Dowland published his first book of songs or Ayres in 1597. It became a bestseller. Henry VIII, Elizabeth’s father, was also an extremely accomplished musician. He even composed his own music. Professionals were not the only ones composing. Many commoners as well as nobility took pleasure in creating and writing music rather than singing or playing it.

Music was starting to be taught in schools and universities such as The English Madrigal School. A madrigal was the most common form of secular vocal music. “The poetic madrigal is a lyric consisting of one to four strophes of three lines followed by a two-line strophe (www.encyclopedia.com).” The madrigal school was brief but contributed to the intense growth of the music in England. Many famous and less famous composers emerged from the Madrigal School. The English Madrigals were a cappella, light in style, and generally began as either copies or direct translations of Italian models. Most were for three to six voices. Other composers include Robert Johnson, John Taverner, Thomas Morley, Orlando Gibbons, and John Blitheman.

[edit] Instruments

As more and more composing was being done more and more instruments were being created and gaining in popularity. Music was so important that the need of newer and more of a variety of instruments was critical. The most popular instrument was the virginal, a small type of piano. Different instruments were now used in combinations, “as in a modern orchestra,” to create emotion. “Music therefore became far more expressive during the Elizabethan era (from [2]).”

Instruments of the 1500s could be broken down into four main types: string, wind, percussion, and keyboard. The lute was a very popular stringed instrument. It was the earliest form of guitar. The lute had three main strings running down the length of the body. It was normally used in story telling. A smaller form of the lute was also used known as the cittern. There was also the rebec, a kind of squeaking fiddle. It was very popular at rustic dances. Then there was viol. The viol, similar to the violin, had deep ribs in the interior body and had a flat back. There were four main sizes: treble, tenor, bass, and double bass. The most popular of the viol was the bass also known as the Viola Da Gamba, which was played against the knees.

The wind instruments included the big clarions, trumpets, sackbuts (trombone), recorders, and flutes. The trumpets were used for the announcement of the arrival of royalty. A shorter version known as the cornet was sometimes also used. The flute had a sweet and solemn tone. There were three different types of flutes. The large flute could be up to four feet long. There were small flutes known as shawms; the fife was a wooden pipe with eight finger holes. There was also an instrument called hautboy, which was an early version of the common oboe. Percussion was normally just various forms and sizes of drums and bells. The keyboards were the organs, spinets, harpsichord, and virginal.

Other Elizabethan instruments included the organ portative, which was a type of accordion. There was also the organ and the harp.

[edit] Example recordings

[edit] References

1. Stuart, Gail B. (2003). Life in Elizabeth London. Lucent Books.
2. Tostado, Dillon J. (1990). History Via Frankenbush. Leo Print International.
3. Lace, William W. (1995). Elizabethan England. Lucent Books.
4. Davis, William S. (1930). Life in Elizabethan Days. Harper and Row.
5. Palmer, R R., Joel Colton, and Lloyd Kramer (2002). A History of the Modern World. New York: McGraw Hill Company.
6. Alchin, L.K. "Elizabethan Music" from [3]. Retrieved Jul. 16, 2005