Lute song

The English lute ayre#

In England, the lute song was usually called an “ayre”, possibly borrowed from the French word, air. The first written record of the lute songs or ayres is a 1597 publication First Booke of Songes or Ayres, which was composed by John Dowland. This is considered the beginning of the popularity of the lute songs, that set the standard for other composer’s songbooks of English ayres. The music was printed on the page, so that when placed in the center of a table it could be read by the performers around the table. John Dowland’s ayres, like other composers, used music from dance forms such as pavane, galliard and jig, for the melody. Philip Rosseter, court musician, composer, and theatrical manager, published a collection in 1601, A Book of Ayres, with composer and poet Thomas Campion. The compositions were short, homophonic songs with minimal phrase repetition with their own lyrics. The last book published was by John Attey in 1622, called First Book of Ayres. The format of these songbooks was intended to be performed with a solo voice and an accompaniment, but some did include variations for multiple voices and additional instruments. It is possible that lute songs were composed before these books were published, but the written record of such songs starts with John Dowland. The consort song, popular in England during the reign of Henry VIII, leads to some consideration that the lute songs were composed prior to 1597. Other composers of lute songs during this time include John Danyel, Robert Jones, Pilkington and Alfonso Ferrabosco.

The French air de cour#

In France, the lute song was called “air de cour”. The first airs were not homophonic or solos, but rather polyphonic and for up to four voices. In 1571, Adrian LeRoy published the first collection of airs de cour, a collection of 22 airs with lute accompaniment. In 1582, Composer Didier LeBlanc released a collection of 43 short airs that were strophic form, homophonic and ametric structure. Composer Jean Planson, published 38 short airs in 1587, much like Leblanc; however, his had an ABB form. In the 17th century the popularity of the airs grew. The simple solo strophic melodies were a favorite at the court of Louis XIII (1610–1643). During this time many volumes were released from the Royal court and others. The general form was strophic, with a vocal range of one octave and a tonal harmony, with text usually from pastorals. Other composers of airs were Antoine Boesset, Jean Boyer, Jean-Baptiste Boessert, and Francois Richard.

References#

• Fortune, Nigel; Greer, David. “Air” in ibid., i, 180–182.
• Reese, Gustave (1954). Music in the Renaissance. New York City: W. W. Norton & Company. .