Dear Tony, Many thanks for checking my translation of Moulinié's "Cessez amants de servir Angelique".
What I find interesting is the rubric (for want of a word) which shows the pitch relationship between the voice and the lute. There are many lute songs where the singer's part is written in an easy-to-read key (one flat or no flat in the key signature), and the singer needs to sing to the pitch of the lute, whatever that pitch may be. There are various ways of showing what the pitch relationship is, all (as far as I can think) expressing the singer's first note in terms of the lute. Bossinensis (1509 and 1511) puts it into words, e.g. "La voce del sopra al terzo tasto di la sottana", which means "The voice [singing] the top part [starts] at the third fret of the second course." Early 16th-century songs like those published by Bossinensis are essentially polyphonic (even if Bossinensis has played around with the polyphony to suit the lute), and so they don't really work sung down an octave by a tenor. I believe that they have to be sung at the written pitch (allowing for transposition to match the pitch of the lute). In other words, these songs should be sung by a high voice: by a woman, or by a man singing countenor. For lute songs from the end of the 16th century onwards, the texture tends to be less polyphonic. The lute may sometimes suggest polyphony, but its role is more in the manner of providing chords to support the singer. In England, the lute accompaniments of composers like Campion, Coprario, and Ferrabosco II are more in the nature of continuo realisations than strict intabulations of a polyphonic original. Even with Dowland, where the lute accompaniment is often a good deal more than mere chord filling, the emphasis is still on a solo voice accompanied by an instrument, not a polyphonic song where the lute acts as a substitute for the lowest voices. These later songs work well with the voice part sung down an octave by a tenor, especially if the bass line is re-inforced by a bass viol, as was so often the case in England. Transposing voice parts were less common in England than on the Continent, but they did exist here. They were very common with the early 17th-century French airs de cour. In England and France they preferred to show the singer's first note in tablature before the start of the lute accompaniment. It is clear from this initial note at which octave the song should ideally be sung. An example I think I may have mentioned before on this list is Robert Hales' "O eyes leave off your weeping". In the Turpyn Book of Lute Songs the song is in D minor, and the singer's first note (d") followed by the first note of the lute accompaniment looks like this: _h_________ ________d__ ________a__ ___________ ________c__ ___________ In Robert Dowland's _A Musicall Banquet_ (London, 1610) the song is in C minor. The singer's part is written at the same pitch as it is in the Turpyn manuscript, but it should be sung in C minor, and the singer transposes down a tone. (Should anyone think that Robert Dowland had a lute in a' in mind instead of a standard mean lute in g', they need only look at the separate bass part, which is in C minor. It has to be a lute in g'.) Here are the singer's first note and the first chord of the lute accompaniment, as Dowland printed it: ________a__ _|_a_|__b__ ________d__ ___________ ________a__ ___________ In other words, the scribe of the Turpyn manuscript had a soprano in mind, whereas Robert Dowland envisaged a tenor. Turpyn and Dowland consistently stay at their respective octaves for other songs in their books, Turpyn always opting for a soprano, and Dowland for a tenor. Bearing all this in mind, I found it interesting that the singer's first note in Moulinié's "Cessez amants de servir Angelique" is given at tenor pitch. I hadn't given a thought to the sentiments of the song, so I am grateful to you for pointing out that the words of "Cessez amants" should be sung by a man. It confirms the conclusion I had reached by considering the singer's tablature cue. Best wishes, Stewart. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Tony Chalkley" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Lute Net" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "Stewart McCoy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Saturday, May 29, 2004 10:08 AM Subject: Re: Translation of Moulinie air de cour needed > Deat Stewart, > > Your translation looks fine to me - I don't know where the accent on the à > came from, because, as you say, it makes no sense, all the more so as it > wouldn't have had an accent at that time if it meant "to". Why do you find > it "interesting" that it should be for a man to sing - (I take it you mean > "slightly surprising") - the sentiments as in another Amaryllis song > (Boësset) are clearly male? > > Yours, > > Tony
