Documentationfor

ClearorCloudy

AlutesongbyJohnDowland(1600),and

arrangedforlateperiodalfabeto-stylefive-courseguitarbyJohannvonSolothurn

DocumentedandperformedbyJohannvonSolothurn

Contents

I.Abstract/Introduction

II.Theoriginallutesong

III.Thefive-courseguitar

IV.Thearrangement

V.Summary

VI.ContactInformation

VII.References

Appendix

AppendixA:FacsimileexcerptsfromJohnDowlands“SecondBookofSongs”(1600)

ListofFigures

Figure1:Facsimileof“ClearorCloudy”fromJohnDowland’s2ndBookofSongs

Figure2:ComparisonofFrenchtablatureforluteandmodernstaffnotation

Figure3:AlfabetochartfromtheBezonManuscript(1599)

Figure4:AlfabetochartfromMontesardo(1606)

Figure5:ComparisonofMontesardo’salfabetonotationtomodernstaffnotation

Figure6:AlfabetosolofromSanseverinoalfabetobook(1620)

Figure7:Montesardo’salfabetochart,transcribedtomodernstaffnotationandtablature

Figure8:Comparisonoftheoriginalluteaccompanimentandthealfabetoarrangement

Figure9:Completealfabetoarrangementof“ClearorCloudy”byJohannvonSolothurn

I.Abstract/Introduction

Thesong“ClearorCloudy”byJohnDowlandwasoriginallypublishedin1600,inDowland’sSecondBookofSongsorAyres.Thepieceasoriginallypublishedisalutesong,withtheluteintendedasvocalaccompaniment.

Duringthelateperiod,thefive-courseguitar(guitarraspagnola)wasgainingpopularity.Thereareahandfuloflute-style(plucked)piecesforthefive-courseinstrumentfromthemid-1500s,buttowardstheendoftheSCAperiod,webegintoseealfabeto-style(strummedchords)musicfortheguitar(manuscriptandprint,inadditiontoaAmat’schordtreatiseof1597).Whilethefive-courseguitarwasgainingpopularityinSpainandItaly,andwouldeventuallyreplacethevihuela,JohnDowlandwascomposinglutemusicinFranceandEngland.

MyinterestinbothDowland’smusicandthefive-courseguitarnaturallyledmetohypothesizehowaSpanishambassadortoEnglandorFrancemighthavehandledDowland’smusicontheirfive-courseguitar(assumingtheylefttheirvihuelainSpain).So,IsetouttoarrangesomeofDowland’slutesongsinamannerthataSpaniardaccustomedtoplayingalfabetochordsontheirguitarmighthaveplayedtheminourperiod.Here,Iwilldocumentmyfive-courseguitaralfabetoarrangementoftheDowlandlutesong,“ClearorCloudy.”

Whenperformingthepiece,Ioftenplaytheaccompanimentonaclassicalguitar.Forthisparticularperformance,however,IwillperformthepieceontheinstrumentforwhichIarrangedit,areproductionfive-courseguitar.WhileIdonotfeelthatperformingthepieceontheperiodreproductioninstrumentactuallyimprovestheperformance,itismyhopethatusingtheinstrument(whichisinferiortothemodernguitarinmanyways)willhelpsetthemoodforwhatIbelievetobeaperformancethatcouldhaveoccurredinperiod.

II.Theoriginallutesong

“ClearorCloudy”wasoriginallypublishedinJohnDowland’sSecondBookofSongsin1600(Figure1).TheSecondBookisacollectionoflutesongs–artsongswrittentoluteaccompaniment.TheluteaccompanimentwaswritteninFrenchtablature.SeeFigure2belowforacomparisonoftheFrenchtablaturefortheluteandmodernstandardnotation.FrenchtablaturewasthemostcommonstyleoftablatureusedbyEnglishandFrenchlutenistsandfour-courseguitaristsduringtheSCAperiod.Dowland,Morley,LeRoy,etc.allusedFrenchtablatureintheircompositions.Inshort,Frenchtablatureusesletters,asopposedtonumbers,torepresentfretsoftheinstrument.Forexample,theletter“b”abovetheuppermostlineofthelutetablatureindicatesthattheperformershouldplaythefirstfretofthefirststring(thenote“F”asplayedonamodernguitar).NotevaluesweretypicallyhalvedforprintinginFrenchtablature,asshowninFigure2.ForamorethoroughdiscussionofFrenchtablature,pleaserefertoTyler(1980)andTylerandSparks(2002).

Figure1:Facsimileof“ClearorCloudy”vocalandluteaccompanimentfromDowland’sSecondBookofSongs.

a

b

Figure2:a)Facsimilecopyoffirst3measuresof“ComeAgain”fromJ.Dowland(1597)

b)Luteaccompanimentforfirst3measuresof“ComeAgain”transcribedtostandardnotation

III.TheFive-CourseGuitar

Thefive-courseguitar(alsoreferredtoastheSpanishguitar“chitarra/guitarraspagnola”andoftencalled“BaroqueGuitar”)hadfivecourses,orpairs,ofstrings.Itisadirectdescendentofthefour-courseguitar(“renaissanceguitar”)andappearstohavebeendevelopedinthemid-16thcentury(Tyler1980,1997,2002).Both4-courseand5-courseguitarssharethefigure-eightshapeoftheSpanishvihuela,andappeartohaveevolvedfromthatinstrument.TheinstrumentreferredtobyFuenllanain1554asa“vihueladecincoordenes”isverylikelythefive-courseguitar,asthemusichecomposedforitwaswrittenforaninstrumenttunedtothesameintervalsastheguitar(differentthantheluteandvihuela).Thefive-courseinstrumentwas(or,became)largerbodiedthanthefour-courseguitar,butwasstillsmallerbodiedthanthemodernguitar.Thefive-courseguitarwastunedtothesamesetofintervalsasthemodernguitar(atleastinitially),withthe4thand5thcoursestunedasoctavepairs(Amat,1596).Theinstrumentwasstrungwithgutstringsandhadtiedgutfrets.TheprintingofAmat’s5-courseguitartreatisein1596indicatesthattheinstrumentwaslikelyquitepopularbythelate1500s.Theguitarseemedtolargelyreplacethevihuelabytheearly1600s.Theearliestsurviving

5-courseguitardatesfrom1581(RoyalCollegeofMusic,London)andhasavaultedback.Alarger5–courseguitarwithaflatbackandbuiltc.1590alsosurvivesispreservedattheRoyalCollegeofMusic,London(TylerandSparks2002).

IV.Alfabeto

Alfabetowasanalternativetotablature,wherevariouslettersandsymbolswereusedtorepresentcertainchordsontheguitar.Thelettersusedtodepictalfabetowereinnowayrelatedtothemodernchordnames,althoughthealfabetochordsthemselvesareequivalenttothoseplayedtodayonthemodernguitar(minusthe6thstring).Bytheearly1600s,numerousalfabetobookswereprinted.Thereareatleastthreesurvivingpre-1600alfabetomanuscripts,includingone,theMatheoBezonMSfrom1599,withanalfabetochart(Zuluaga,2013).

ThealfabetochartintheBezonmanuscript(Figure3)matchestheprintedchartcontainedinMontesardo’s1606guitarbook(Figure4),exceptthattheBezonMSismissingsomeofMontesardo’schords.ThechordsthatareincludedinBezonMS,however,areidenticaltothoseinMontesardo.AlthoughMontesardoisjustpost-period(by6years),IbelievetheinformationcontainedinhispublicationispertinenttotheSCAmusician.Montesardoprovidesinsightintohowtheguitarhadlikelybeenplayedforsometime.Hedoesnotinventanewalfabetosystem,ratherhedevisesawaytodepictrhythmpatternswiththealfabetonotation.Figure5belowshowsanexampleofagalliardfromMontesardo,andthemodernstaffnotationofthesamepiece.Inadditiontoshowingthechordandstrummingrhythm,Montesardo’snotationalsotellstheguitaristwhethertouseanupstrokeordownstrokewhenstrumming(lettersbelowthebarlineinFig.5aaredownstrokes,lettersabovethelineareupstrokes).Inthissystem,rhythmisdepictedbywhetherthelettersareupperorlowercase(lowercasechordsarehalfthenotevalueasuppercase)anddots(similartodottednotesinmodernnotation).Montesardo’ssystemisnotutilizedbylateralfabetosources,asamoreefficientsystemofdepictingrhythmevolvedbythe1620s(seeFigure6foranexample),buthisworkisinvaluableinprovidinguswithinformationonhowtheguitarwaslikelystrummedinperiod.ModernstaffnotationandtablatureofMontesardo’salfabetochartispresentedinFigure7.

Figure3:AlfabetochartfromtheBezonManuscript(1599) Figure4:AlfabetochartfromMontesardo(1606)

a.

b

Figure5:a.GalliardfromMontesardo(1606)

b.chordsandrhythmof5a,inmodernnotation(fromDean,2009)

Figure6:Alfabetosolofrom1620(B.Sanseverino).Typicalofalfabetointhelater1600s(post-Montesardo)

Figure7:Montesardo(1606)alfabetochart,inmodernstaffnotationandtablature.

V.TheArrangement

Toderivethearrangementpresentedhere,Iinitiallystudiedtheoriginalluteaccompaniment.Mygoalwastoproduceanalfabeto(strummedchord-style)arrangementofthesong,soIlookedatthechordswithintheoriginalluteaccompanimentandthentransposedtheoriginalstaffnotationandchordstoakeymoresuitableforthefive-courseguitar(Figure8).IattemptedtousetherhythmicelementsandchordmovementoftheoriginalDowlandpieceasmuchaspossible,whilemaintainingthetypicallystrictstrummingpatternsdocumentedinextantalfabetosources(e.g.Montesardo1606,Figure5).Thisarrangementrepresentsabestguess,basedontheresourcesbrieflymentionedaboveandothers,

astohowthisDowlandlutesongmighthavebeenplayedbyafive-courseguitaristinPeriod.Thefinalarrangement,alongwithmodernstaffnotationforthechords,andalfabetoarrangementinMontesardo’snotation,isincludedinFigure9.

Figure8:Comparisonofluteaccompanimentandalfabetoaccompanimentforthefirstmeasureof“ClearorCloudy”

Figure9a:Page1of“ClearorCloudy”alfabetoarrangement

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Alfabetonotation

Figure9b:Page1of“ClearorCloudy”alfabetoarrangement

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VI.Summary&ContactInformation

“ClearorCloudy”waspublishedinDowland’sSecondBookofSongsin1600.Thealfabetoarrangementof“ClearofCloudy”presentedinthisdocumentationrepresentsmyinterpretationofhowaDowlandpiecemighthavebeenplayedonthefive-courseguitar,inperiod,byacapablemusicianwhocouldreadlute/vihuelatablatureinadditiontoplayingtheguitar(oratleast,hadaverygoodear).Ihopeyouenjoyedtheperformance.Ifyouwouldliketodiscussfurther,Icanbecontactedat:

JohannvonSolothurn(mkaJohnSurber)

Johann_von_solothurn@yahoo.com

VII.References

Amat,JaunCarlos(1596).GuitarraEspanola,yvandolaendosmanerasdeGuitarra…Lerida.

Brayssing,Gregoire(1553).QuartLivredeTabulaturedeGuiterre.Paris.

Dean,Alexander(2009).TheFive-CourseGuitarandSeventeenthCenturyHarmony:AlfabetoandItalianSong.Ph.D.dissertation.UniversityofRochester.NewYork.

Dowland,John(1597).TheFirstBookofSongsorAyresoffoureparts,withtablatureforthelute.London.

Dowland,John(1600).TheSecondBookofSongsorAyresof2,4and5parts…London.

Fuenllana,Miguelde(1554).Libromusicaparavihuela,intituladoOrphenicaLyra.Seville.

GirolamoMontesardo(1606).Nvovainventioned’intavolaturapersonareliballettisopralachitarraspagniuolasenzanumerienote…FlorenceNadal,David(1997).LuteSongsofJohnDowland.DoverPublications.Mineola,NY.Tyler,James(1980).TheEarlyGuitar:AHistoryandHandbook.OxfordEarlyMusicSeries.OxfordUniversityPress.London.176p.

Tyler,James(1997).TheGuitaranditsPerformancefromtheFifteenthtoEighteenthCenturies.PerformancePracticeReview,vol.10,no.1,art.6.p.61–70.

Tyler,JamesandPaulSparks(2002).TheGuitaranditsMusic:FromtheRenaissancetotheClassicalEra.OxfordEarlyMusicSeries.OxfordUniversityPress,Inc.NewYork.322p.

Zaluaga,Daniel(2013).Spanishsong,chitarraallaspagnola,andthea.bi.ci:MetheoBezonandhis1599alfabetosongbook.ResonanceInderdisciplinaryMusicJournal.Spring2013.www.resonancejournal.org.

AppendixA

Dowland’s2ndBookofSongs:CoverandCompleteScorefor“ClearorCloudy”