Songs Without Words: Keyboard Arrangements of Vocal Music in England, 1560-1760

283 Pages·2016·3.75 MB·English

by  Sandra Mangsen

Songs without Words
Keyboard arrangements of vocal music flourished in England S
Keyboard Arrangements of
between 1560 and 1760. Songs without Words, by noted harpsichordist
o
and early-music authority Sandra Mangsen, is the first in-depth Vocal Music in England, 1560–1760
n
study of this topic, uncovering a body of material that is remarkably
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varied, musically interesting, and indicative of major trends in
musical and social life at the time. s

Mangsen’s Songs without Words argues that the pieces upon
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which these keyboard arrangements were based constituted a
shared repertoire, akin to the jazz standards of the twentieth i
t
century. In Restoration England, the ballad tradition saw tunes
h
and texts move between oral, manuscript, and printed transmission
o
and from street to playhouse and back again. During the eighteenth
u
century, printed keyboard arrangements were aimed particularly at
female amateur keyboardists and helped opera to become a widely t

popular genre.
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Songs without Words considers a wide range of model pieces,
including songs of many kinds and arias and other numbers from
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operas and oratorios. The resulting keyboard versions range from
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simple and pedagogically oriented to highly virtuosic. Two central
d
issues—the relationship between an arrangement and its model
s
and the reception and aesthetics of arrangements—are explored
in the framing chapters. The result is a study that will be of great
interest to scholars, performers, and anyone who loves the music
of the late Renaissance, Baroque, and early Classic eras.
Sandra Mangsen is professor emerita of music at the University
of Western Ontario.
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Cover image: Philippe Mercier, The Sense of Hearing, 1744–47. Yale Center for A
British Art, Paul Mellon Collection. N
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S
E
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668 Mt. Hope Avenue, Rochester, NY 14620-2731, USA
PO Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 3DF, UK
www.urpress.com
SANDRA MANGSEN
Songs without Words
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Eastman Studies in Music
Ralph P. Locke, Senior Editor
Eastman School of Music
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A complete list of titles in the Eastman Studies in Music series may be found
on the University of Rochester Press website, www.urpress.com
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Songs without Words
Keyboard Arrangements of Vocal
Music in England, 1560–1760
Sandra Mangsen
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Copyright © 2016 by Sandra Mangsen
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under current legislation, no
part of this work may be photocopied, stored in a retrieval system,
published, performed in public, adapted, broadcast, transmitted,
recorded, or reproduced in any form or by any means, without the
prior permission of the copyright owner.
First published 2016
University of Rochester Press
668 Mt. Hope Avenue, Rochester, NY 14620, USA
www.urpress.com
and Boydell & Brewer Limited
PO Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 3DF, UK
www.boydellandbrewer.com
ISBN-13: 978-1-58046-549-6
ISSN: 1071-9989
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Mangsen, Sandra, author.
Title: Songs without words : keyboard arrangements of vocal music in England,
1560–1760 / Sandra Mangsen.
Other titles: Eastman studies in music ; v. 133.
Description: Rochester, NY : University of Rochester Press, 2016. | Series: Eastman
studies in music, ISSN 1071-9989 ; v. 133 | Includes bibliographical references
and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2 016013761 | ISBN 9781580465496 (hardcover : alkaline paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Keyboard instrument music, Arranged—England—History
and criticism. | Arrangement (Music)—England—History. | Vocal music—
England—History and criticism.
Classification: LCC ML728 .M36 2016 | DDC 786/.1382420942—dc23 LC record
available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016013761
A catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.
This publication is printed on acid-free paper.
Printed in the United States of America.
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In memory of Lenore Coral (1939–2005)
scholar, librarian, friend
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Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xiii
Abbreviations xv
Introduction 1
1 Ballads Transformed 12
2 Arias Domesticated: The Ladys Entertainment and Other Early
Eighteenth-Century Anthologies 59
3 With Their Symphonies: William Babell and The Ladys
Entertainment Books 3 and 4 93
4 Opera Remix: Babell’s Suits of 1717 119
5 After Babell: Arrangements for Ladies and Gentlemen 156
6 Afterthoughts 189
Appendix: The Ladys Banquet (Second Series): Contents,
Concordances, and Dissemination 199
Notes 219
Bibliography 239
Index 251
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Illustrations
Examples
1.1 “He a Lone in Joyes my hart,” J-Tn N-3 35 f. 12v 19
1.2 “The Nightingale,” F Pc Rés 1186 fol. 35v 26
1.3 “Daphne,” set by Giles Farnaby, opening measures 30
1.4 Three keyboard settings of “Fortune my Foe,” opening measures 34
1.5 “Lachryme,” F-Pc Rés 1186 fol. 155v 38
1.6 Four settings of “Lachrimae,” opening measures 42
1.7 Four settings of “Lachrimae,” excerpts from part 3 51
2.1 “Around her see Cupid fl ying” (Camilla), keyboard setting 67
2.2 “What should alarm me” (Thomyris), keyboard setting 75
2.3 Three arias from Thomyris, keyboard settings 81
2.4 “What should alarm me” (Thomyris), aria 86
3.1 Three settings in The Ladys Entertainment, book 3 98
3.2 Melodic incipits from suite in The Ladys Entertainment, book 4 103
3.3 “E vano ogni pensiero” (Hydaspes), aria and keyboard setting 105
3.4 “Mostro crudel” (Hydaspes), aria and keyboard setting 110
4.1 “Si t’intendo” (Croesus), violin part and keyboard setting 125
4.2 “Questo conforto solo” (Antiochus), aria and keyboard setting 126
4.3 Prelude, set 3, from Babell’s Suits [1717] 140
4.4 Melodic incipits from four arias in set 3 of Babell’s Suits [1717] 144
4.5 “Si lietto, si contento” (Antiochus), aria and keyboard setting 145
4.6 “Nume Alato” (Etearco), aria and keyboard setting 148
4.7 “Hor la tromba” (Rinaldo), keyboard setting 149
4.8 “Si, si t’amo caro” (Teseo), keyboard setting 151
5.1 “A Favorite Minuet by Mr. Handel” 161
5.2 “Oh my Treasure,” keyboard setting 162
5.3 Three keyboard settings in The Ladys Banquet, book 5 172
5.4 Four versions of “Con forza ascosa” (Vespasian) 181
5.5 “Sono I zerbini” (Venetian Ballads) 187
Figures
1.1 “The Nightingale” as Broadside Ballad (Roxburghe 1.296, 1.297) 28
2.1 Musicks Hand-maid: New Lessons and Instruction for the Virginals or
Harpsychord (London: Playford, 1678), Title Page 62
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