The Theorbo and Continuo Practice in the Early English Baroque

Author(s): Edward Huws Jones

Source: The Galpin Society Journal, Vol. 25 (Jul., 1972), pp. 67-72
Published by: Galpin Society
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/841338
Accessed: 30-11-2015 22:07 UTC

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/
info/about/policies/terms.jsp

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content
in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship.
For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Galpin Society is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Galpin Society Journal.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 138.73.1.36 on Mon, 30 Nov 2015 22:07:55 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 EDWARD HUWS JONES

The Theorbo and Continuo

Practice in the Early English
Baroque
unfigured bassesof
English solo
songs of the earlier
part of the
THE
17th century are intended to be realisedon the theorbo-lute, not
on the harpsichord,virginals or organ. This is apparentfrom various
contemporary sources. First,the seriesof Playford publicationswhich
begins with the AyresandDialoguesof 1653 all refer to the songs as to
be sung 'to the theorbo-lute or bass viol'. Even after the keyboard
continuo became establishedthe theorbo lingered on. Thus Playford's
AmphionAnglicusedition of Blow (17oo) designates'A thorough bass
to each song, figured for Organ, Harpsichord, or Theorbo-Lute'.
Even twenty years later the OrpheusBrittanicus(1721) volumes carry
the same inscription. The designation '... or bass viol' seems a little
austere.Perhapsthe gamba would employ division techniquesand the
fairly complex double-stopping associated with lyra-viol. But more
probably the designationis a sales gambit; publisherssuch as Playford
were trying to extend their public, and so were anxious to make things
seem as easy as possible. (Playford's tendency towards simplification
for the sake of the amateursis exemplified in Musick'sDelight uponthe
Cithren(1666),' Restored and Refined to a more Easie and Pleasant
manner of Playing than formerly: And set forth with Lessons Al a
Mode ...' (quoted by Lefkowitz, WilliamLawes,London, 1960, p. 36).
A second piece of evidence is in the poetry of the period. Song is
referred to frequently, especially in Cavalier poetry; and where the
poets mention the accompaniment it is always lute, with or without
viol. Thus Herrick writes:
Rare is the voice itself; but when we sing
To th'lute or viol, then 'tis ravishing.
A third indication of the instrumentsused to accompany the voice is
in accounts of court appointments. For example, from 1635 William
Lawes was Musician in Ordinary 'for ye lutes and voices'--with no
mention of harpsichord.Yet Lawes could certainly play the clavier,
for it was his practice to direct his consort music from the organ.
Fourthly, as late as 1676, Thomas Mace writes of the theorbo:
67

This content downloaded from 138.73.1.36 on Mon, 30 Nov 2015 22:07:55 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 . .in
. spiteof all ficklenessandnoveltyit is stillmadeuseof, in the
bestperformances of music,(namely,vocal music).
(Musick'sMonument (1676),p. 207.)
Lastly,thekeysof thesongsthemselvesbearthisout;thegreatmajority
of Carolinesongs are in G-the key to which the theorbois tuned.
The 1o3 songs comprisingthe first book of the Treasury of Musick
(1669) have the followingkeys:
36 in the key of G (majoror minor)
29 in the key of D (usuallyminor)
22 in the key of C (usuallymajor)
9 in the key of F (major)
7 in the key of A (usuallyminor)
Thusmostof thesongsarein G or the closelyrelatedkeysof D andC;
F and A, being less compatiblewith theorbotuning,are represented
by only 16 songs.

Nevertheless,Carolinesong today continuesto be thought of as

realisedon the harpsichord or organ:on recordingsandin editionsof
the music,for example,the two HenryLawespiecesin Musicof the
CourtHomesandCitiesofEngland, vol. 3, HQS 1146;andRoy Jesson's
realisationsof Dialoguesby William and Henry Lawes (PennState
MusicSeries).This lack of authenticityis partlybecauseharpsichord
andorganaretodaymoreeasilyavailablethanlute. But thereis alsoa
more seriousreason: the tendencyto look back at Carolineand
Commonwealthmusicas if from the time of Purcell,and to see the
music of the older period as in general'pre-Purcellian'. Yet to see
Carolinesong in termsof Purcellis as distortingas to see Purcellin
termsof Handel.A harpsichord accompaniment usinga HighBaroque
type of continuous figuration, obtrusive word-painting,registration
changesand so on, perhapsappropriateto the more robustlyhyper-
bolicalPurcell,will overpowerCarolinesong.
Harpsichord continuodoes not seem to have beenestablisheduntil
the lastyearsof the i7th century.Continuorealisation uponthe organ
wasestablished the
by beginning of the Civil War,butnot harpsichord
or virginals.Thus Playford'spublicationof WalterPorter'sFirstSet
of AyresandMadrigals for 2, 3, 4 and5 voices(1639)is 'with a through
bass;for the organ or theorbo-lutethe Italianway'. The use of the
organin this (morepolyphonic)context,like its usein consortmusic,
is to assistensemble.Sacredmusichad habituallyusedorganaccom-
paniment,but with the wholesaledestructionof organsin the Civil
War the alternativeof a theorbo-luteaccompanimentwas given
point, as in Walter Porter'sSecondset of Psalmsor Anthems for two
68

This content downloaded from 138.73.1.36 on Mon, 30 Nov 2015 22:07:55 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
voices,to theorganortheorbo-lute (1657).Only severaldecadesafterthe
Restorationwas the harpsichordused to accompanythe solo voice;
one of the firstmentionsof suchan accompaniment in Playfordis his
Banquet of Music . . . with a thorough-bassfor the theorbo-lute,
bass-viol,
or
harpsichordorgan(1688).
Thereare two reasonsfor England'sslownessto follow the Italian
leadin harpsichord continuo.The firsthasto do with the solo art-song
tradition.SinceHenryVIIItheluteayrehadbeenpractisedin England.
The formwasoriginallyderivedfromItalianmodels,but therewasno
Italiancounterpartto the schoolof lutenistsong-writerswhich flour-
ishedin Englandat the beginningof the I7th century.The Caroline
developmentof solo song, while influencedby Italianmonody, was
firmlybasedon thislute ayretradition.Thisaccountsnot only for the
persistenceof the lute as accompanyinginstrument,but also for the
lyrical,song-likeelementsin Caroline'RecitativeMusick'.
The secondis a social-economic reason.Harpsichords wereimmov-
able and expensive,lutesportableand relativelycheap.Italianrecita-
tives were sungby virtuosoprofessionalsingersattachedto the mag-
nificentestablishments of Italianprinces,and in a concertcontext;
English 'Recitative Musick', like the lute ayre, was largelyprivately
performed. For while a nouveau-riche countrygentlemanlike William
Grenecould affordto patronisea Danyel, or on a more ambitious
scale EdwardSeymourcould maintaina householdincludingboth
Coperarioand Ferrabosco, Englandhad no Mantuaor Parma.This
generalization has one strikingexception-the sumptuousmasquesof
theJacobeanandCarolinecourt,in which the musicalresourceswere
as lavishas the sceneryandcostumes.But while courtmasquescame
to an end (thelast,Davenant'sSalmacida Spolia,wasin 1640)domestic
musiccontinued,with lute andviol as the basicinstruments.

Sincethe theorbois so centralto both the theoryand the perform-

anceof earlyEnglishBaroquesong,it is worthconsideringthe nature
of the instrument.In the Elizabethanperiod the lute, like other
instrumentsthenin use,formeda family:mandora,lute, theorboand
chittarrone.Macedescribesthe process:
... in formertimes... they had to theirlutesbut few strings;viz.
to some Io, some 12, andsome 14 strings;whichthey findingto be
so greata convenience,stayednot long til they addedmore,to the
numberof 24, wherewe now restsatisfied;only uponmy theorbos
I put 26 strings,for somegood reasonI shallbe ableto give in due
time andplace.
(Musick'sMonument, p. 39.)
69

This content downloaded from 138.73.1.36 on Mon, 30 Nov 2015 22:07:55 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
The larger members of the family carried a variable number of
diapasons,which gave greater range and sonority. These had a longer
string-length than the stopped courses and were accommodated by a
separatepeg box. On the theorbo there were six stopped courses,each
of two unison strings (and thus the theorbo lacked the single treble
string, or chanterelle,
which gives the renaissancelute one of its charac-
teristic tonal qualities). The stopped courses gave a range of G to
about d". The diapasoncourses were tuned in octaves, and descended
diatonically from F. Ideally, the theorbo would have seven diapason
courses, down to G'. Thus the instrument had an overall range of
about three and a half octaves.
The theorbo supersededthe renaissancelute as the instrument for
accompanying the voice around the third decade of the I7th century-
at just the same time as the thorough-bass, written in staff notation,
was displacing the polyphonic lute accompaniment written in tabla-
ture. This was no coincidence.The theorbo is characteristicallybottom-
heavy: the diapasons,as Mace observes, 'sound so strong and so long'
in proportion to the stopped courses. The bass line would stand out
in the realisation, even without the help of a bass-viol. In this the
theorbo is unlike not only the lute, but also harpsichordor organ; of
all the instrumentsthen in use the theorbo could give the most satis-
factory realisationof the basso continuo. The tradition of improvised
realisation upon the theorbo has, of course, been lost. The style of
realisationmay be reconstructedalong the lines of the Elizabethanand
Jacobeanlute ayre, and perhapsalso the lighter Carolineand Common-
wealth instrumental music. But such a reconstruction cannot be
completely confident, especially regarding Caroline recitative as
opposed to the ballad-style songs. Mace's Musick's Monument'is a
valuable source in this process of reconstruction,for in ChaptersXLII
and XLIII, 'Concerning the Theorbo', he discusses'the nature of the
instrument' and gives instructions for theorbo realisation. Though
published in 1676, Musick's Monumentis a fairly reliable guide to
Caroline and Commonwealth practice because of its retrospective
character;Mace writes in his introductory verses (p. 33):
The world is grown so slight; full of New Fangles.
And takes their chief delight in Jingle Jangles.
He gives, in tablature,twenty-one examples of ways of realising the
perfect cadence, 'breaking your parts in way of dividing-play', and
several longer passages involving the use of first inversions. These
bassesare figured but we are warned that this is not always the case.
Mace also suggests that the figures need not be followed slavishly, but
may be supplemented by the player; on occasion
70

This content downloaded from 138.73.1.36 on Mon, 30 Nov 2015 22:07:55 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 ... he must forsake his rule; and instead of concords, pass through
all mannerof discords,according to the humour of the compositions
he shall meet with.
Most strikingin these examplesis the idiomatic use of the instrument,
in the running figuration, delicate and nimble chordal patterns,
guitar-like broken chords and strumming, and the characteristically
ornamented final chord. Also, the freedom of octave displacement
exploits the instrument'sdiapasonregister.

ss
Thorough-
Ex. I. Realisation of cadence, Musick'sMonument,p. 223. (Theorbo
part transcribedfrom tablature.)

Theorbo

Thorough-bass

..__-. . ....? II-

.. . ...

Ex. 2. Realisation of a more extended thorough-bass,Musick'sMonu-

ment,pp. 228-9. (Theorbo part transcribedfrom tablature.)
71

This content downloaded from 138.73.1.36 on Mon, 30 Nov 2015 22:07:55 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 The styleof realisationis ornamental,andin thisis quiteunlikethe
accompanimentof the lute ayre. This ornamentalnatureis partly
becauseMace'sexamplesare in the abstract,ratherthan appliedto
specific songs; as we have seen, the skilled theorbo-manwould
certainlyfit his realisationto the mood of the song, and integratehis
accompanimentto the vocal line. An improvisedrealisationcan of
necessitybe littlemorethanornamental, but Mace'stypeof ornament-
ation is influencedby a furtherfactor:idiomaticfigurationis much
easierto playthanthe polyphonyof the luteayre,andMaceis anxious
to maketheorboandlute moreaccessibleinstruments-thesectionof
the book is called'TheLuteMadeEasy'.Thisis one of the lessreliable
aspectsof Musick'sMonument as a guide to the earlierpractice;the
skilledlutenistsat the Carolinecourt,suchas the celebratedGaultier
brothers,would certainlyhave been less willing to compromisethe
instrument.
As a guideto a modernkeyboardreconstruction of Caroline,Com-
monwealthand early Restorationrealisation,Mace'sexamplesare
discouraging.Forthe styleis so obviouslyinimitableon anythingbut
lute, theorboor guitar.For, while a keyboardrealisationmay make
gesturestowardsauthenticity,the nimblequaverruns,widely spaced
chords,arpeggiatedfiguration,andso on, canonly reallycome off on
the instrumentwhich originallyproducedthem.

NOTE
I Facsimileedition by Iditions du Centre Nationalede la Recherche
Scientifique, 1958.

72

This content downloaded from 138.73.1.36 on Mon, 30 Nov 2015 22:07:55 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions