HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The ''air de cour'' was a popular type of secular vocal music in
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
in the late
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
and early
Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...
period, from about 1570 until around 1650. From approximately 1610 to 1635, during the reign of Louis XIII, this was the predominant form of secular vocal composition in France, especially in the royal court.


Features

The first use of the term ''air de cour'' was in Adrian Le Roy's ''Airs de cour miz sur le luth'' (Book on Court Tunes for the Luth), a collection of music published in 1571. The earliest examples of the form are for solo voice accompanied by
lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck (music), neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lu ...
;Buelow, 2004, p. 156 towards the end of the 16th century, four or five voices are common, sometimes accompanied (or instrumental accompaniment may have been optional); and by the mid-17th century, most ''airs de cour'' were again for solo voice with accompaniment. Beginning in 1608, ''airs de cour'' were often taken from '' ballets de cour'', a form of ballet which was quickly becoming popular at the French court. Musically they were strophic, i.e. successive verses of the text were set with similar music. While the earlier music, especially that for multiple voices, was
polyphonic Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice ( monophony) or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords ...
, after about 1610 the music usually was homophonic, sung syllabically and without
meter The metre (or meter in US spelling; symbol: m) is the base unit of length in the International System of Units (SI). Since 2019, the metre has been defined as the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of of ...
, with a clear influence from the '' musique mesurée'' which developed in Paris around 1570. Collections exist which deviate considerably from these trends, however; several printers specialized in polyphonic ''airs de cour'' throughout the early 17th century, and there are eight volumes published by Le Roy & Ballard which are monophonic – for a single voice with ''no'' accompaniment. ''Airs de cour'' show surprisingly little influence from the Italian early Baroque trends of monody and the madrigal, either in its polyphonic or its concertato form. This is all the more surprising as Italian musicians often worked in France, and the polyphonic and concertato forms of madrigal were being deeply influential in
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
at the same time. Emotional expression in the ''airs de cour'', compared to that of the contemporary Italian madrigalists, is cool, classical and reserved, in keeping with contemporary French taste. Vocal range of the music is usually limited to one
octave In music, an octave (: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is an interval between two notes, one having twice the frequency of vibration of the other. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been referr ...
; dissonance and chromaticism are rare; and the overall simplicity of expression is striking. The influence of the ''air de cour'' extended beyond France. Collections were published in Germany, and more importantly in England, where translations were rather popular, as attested by the several publications and copies. There exists a delightfully titled publication: ''French Court-airs, with their Ditties Englished'', (Edward Filmer, 1629), The ''air de cour'' had considerable influence on the development of the English ayre. The atmosphere of these songs is very different from the English lute song, and the lute technique employs some novel features. There are notated ''strummings'' with the 1st finger, both up and down. There have been several articles on the finer points of this, as well as the exact meaning of the notation, in the English and French Lute Society Journals.


Composers

Composers of airs de cour included: * Adrian Le Roy (c.1520 – 1598) * Nicolas de La Grotte (1530 – c.1600) * Charles Tessier (ca.1550 – after 1604) * Jacques Mauduit (1557 – 1627) * Pierre Guédron (c.1570 – c.1620) * François Richard (c.1585 – 1650) * Antoine Boësset (1586 – 1643) * Étienne Moulinié (c.1600 – c.1669) * Jean de Cambefort (c.1605 – 1661) * Jacques de Gouy (c.1610 – after 1650) * Bénigne de Bacilly (c.1625–1690) * Joseph Chabanceau de La Barre (1633–1678) * Gabriel Bataille (c.1575 – 1630) * Michel L'Affilard (c.1656 – 1708) * Jean-Baptiste Drouard de Bousset (1662–1725)


Media


Discography

* Etienne Moulinie: Airs with lute tablature First Book (Musica Viva B000003XT6) * Etienne Moulinié, Airs de Cour (L'empreinte digitale, ed 13010) * Airs de Cour, La dispute des bergers/La pierre philosophale Les Arts Florissants/William Christie (Erato 3984-25485-2) * Airs de Cour Orinda: French renaissance songs, featuring Jennifer Lane can be listened to online (free and legally!) a
this site
* Antoine Boesset: Air Qui Produit Tant Des Choses
Boesset
by Monique Zanetti, Ensemble A Deux Violes Esgales * Amour Cruel: airs by Michel Lambert et Sebastien Le Camus / Suzie LeBlanc, Stephen Stubbs, Les Voix Humaines (ATMA ACD2 2216) * Cœur, airs de cour français de la fin du XVIe siècle, Vincent Dumestre, Le Poème Harmonique, (Alpha 213


Footnotes


References and further reading

* John H. Baron, "Air de cour", in ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', ed. Stanley Sadie. 20 vol. London, Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 1980. * Gustave Reese, ''Music in the Renaissance''. New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1954. * Manfred Bukofzer, ''Music in the Baroque Era''. New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1947. * Harold Gleason and Warren Becker, ''Music in the Middle Ages and Renaissance'' (Music Literature Outlines Series I). Bloomington, Indiana. Frangipani Press, 1986. * Jeanice Brooks, ''Courtly Song in Late Sixteenth-Century France''. Chicago, The University of Chicago Press, 2000. * The primary sources were published by the royal publishers Le Roy and Ballard. Garland has published many of them in facsimile in modern times. *George J. Buelow ''A history of baroque music'' Indiana University Press, 2004 pp. 156–158 *Diana Maury Robin; Anne R. Larsen, Carole Levin, ABC-CLIO, 2007


External links


musicologie.org
Air de cour {{DEFAULTSORT:Air De Cour 16th-century music genres 17th-century music genres Song forms French music history Renaissance music Baroque music European court festivities French royal court