|
English music has followed an often idiosyncratic,
stop-and-go course of development. Fertile periods of native
composition and performance (including early 15th- and later
16th-century church music; vocal and instrumental consort
music concentrated in the Elizabethan Age; and a 20th-century
musical "renaissance") have alternated with long
periods dominated by Continental musicians and influences,
especially in the 14th, 18th, and 19th centuries. At other
times musical development has been interrupted by political
and religious upheavals--notably, the break between the Anglican
and Roman churches in 1529, and the turmoil of the 17th-century
Civil Wars and Commonwealth period.
Most of the greatest English composers, particularly such
early figures as John DUNSTABLE, John TAVERNER, and Henry
PURCELL, assimilated European techniques while bringing native
idioms to a unique level of artistry. The standard musical
period labels (baroque, classical, and so on), which have
evolved to distinguish historical stylistic qualities primarily
in Italian, German, and French compositions, often prove less
meaningful when applied to English music. Frequently more
revealing are relationships between musical developments and
contemporary British political, social, and artistic currents.
Middle Ages
PLAINSONG was brought to the British Isles from the Continent
in the late 6th century. Between the 13th and 16th centuries
a variant of the Catholic liturgy and its music was widespread
throughout the British Isles. These English plainchant melodies
became the themes of many polyphonic sacred works. The first
important center of English sacred POLYPHONY was the cathedral
in Winchester. The Winchester Troper, two 11th-century manuscripts
containing more than 170 examples of two-voice ORGANUM (the
earliest type of polyphony), is the oldest large collection
of polyphonic music. Secular song, by contrast, was apparently
less popular in medieval England than on the Continent. A
unique 13th-century example is the anonymous "Sumer is
icumen in," an ingenious four-part CANON with two additional
voices fitted to English and Latin texts.
The 15th century marked a high point in the development of
English polyphonic techniques and of English musical influence
in Europe. The major source for this repertoire is the Old
Hall manuscript, which contains about 150 Mass movements,
motets, and non-liturgical devotional music written between
1350 and 1420 by Dunstable, Lionel Power, and other English
composers. These works evidence a thorough familiarity with
Continental polyphonic and rhythmic techniques, but they also
feature distinctively English stylistic qualities that would
be widely imitated elsewhere: a more harmonic (less polyphonic)
orientation; a preference for full-sounding sonorities, notably
in the use of continuous parallel thirds and sixths in many
passages; and a partiality to what one would call the major
mode over other modal variants, suggesting early steps in
the centuries-long evolution of TONALITY.
During the same period secular songs finally took hold in
England. Dunstable's 60 known works, which cover all of the
major genres and forms of his time, include several secular
examples. A unique English medieval and early Renaissance
genre of both monophonic and polyphonic song was the CAROL.
In addition to the familiar religious carol, often associated
with Christmas, other variants were used to accompany processions
and dances.
Tudor Church Music
Composers of the Tudor era (1485-1603) produced much of the
finest English sacred music, often expanding conventional
European four-part textures to five or six vocal lines. Early
16th-century performance standards were high, with polyphonic
works sung daily in cathedrals and in university and court
chapels.
A three-way struggle for control of the Anglican church between
"mainstream," Roman Catholic, and Puritan factions--the
latter demanding simple, functional worship music--resulted
in abrupt shifts in English liturgical music throughout much
of the 16th and 17th centuries. Thomas TALLIS and William
BYRD wrote exquisite choral works for both Roman Catholic
Masses and Anglican services. An important English genre of
the 11th through 18th centuries was the choral ANTHEM, the
musical centerpiece of many Anglican services and similar
in function to the Roman Catholic motet. Stylistically similar
secular anthems were performed at coronations and other public
ceremonies.
Secular Music of the Renaissance and Restoration
The 15th and 16th centuries, and especially the Elizabethan
era (1558-1603), were a golden age of English instrumental
music and secular song. English CONSORT MUSIC--for homogeneous
or mixed instrumental ensembles of two to eight strings and/or
winds, by such composers as Byrd and Orlando GIBBONS--was
renowned throughout much of Europe. Keyboard dances, variations,
and similar works by the English virginalists (including Byrd,
Thomas MORLEY, and John BULL) achieved comparable recognition.
The English MADRIGAL flowered briefly but brilliantly at the
end of the Elizabethan Age in clever part-songs by Morley,
Thomas WEELKES, Byrd, Gibbons, and others. Similarly engaging
solo songs with lute accompaniment were written by John DOWLAND.
The Civil Wars (1642-49) and the repressions of the Commonwealth
(1649-60) severely disrupted English musical life. Polyphonic
sacred music and theatrical productions were banned by Oliver
Cromwell's government, and most church organs were destroyed.
But even during the artistically more open Restoration period
that followed, Italian techniques of BAROQUE MUSIC, dominant
in most of Europe, were slow to take hold in England. FRENCH
MUSIC was more in favor, and Italian forms were fully mastered
only by Purcell, who wrote the sole English baroque operatic
masterpiece (Dido and Aeneas) as well as much incidental music
for MASQUE and serious dramatic productions. His work, which
also includes anthems and instrumental music in both English
and Italian forms, is distinguished by a simultaneous grace
and depth of musical thought.
After Purcell, English music was dominated by Continental
techniques and foreign musicians for almost 200 years. Historians
have long puzzled over the sudden decline and long drought
in native composition, which was relieved for a time by the
work of George Frideric HANDEL. Although he achieved early
success in London with his Italian operas, it was his English
ORATORIOS (notably Messiah), combining operatic elements with
English choral traditions, that had a lasting impact on British
and other music.
The only 19th-century British works to gain a wide following
outside of England were the 14 satirical operas of GILBERT
AND SULLIVAN.
Twentieth Century
A revival in native English art music began with the romantic
orchestral works of Frederick DELIUS and Sir Edward ELGAR.
Though thoroughly schooled in German and French techniques,
both Ralph VAUGHN WILLIAMS and Gustav HOLST sought inspiration
in the traditions of English folk song and Tudor music. More
recent British music has been characterized by a stylistic
eclecticism and a special interest in theatrical genres. Benjamin
BRITTEN excelled at opera and other vocal genres. Michael
TIPPETT, though most familiar in America for his orchestral
works, has also contributed significantly to the renewal of
British opera. Peter Maxwell DAVIES and Harrison BIRTWISTLE
have developed thoroughly contemporary but highly personal
musical styles while drawing freely from English musical practices
from the Middle Ages to the present day.
Since the 1890s, British scholars and performers have played
a leading role in the revival of historically faithful performances
of music from the Middle Ages through the early 19th century.
Many of today's finest ensembles and soloists specializing
in period performances (a notable example is the Academy of
Ancient Music) are resident in and around London. Other evidence
of the vitality of current English musical life can be seen
in the many yearly festivals of opera and other genres throughout
the country, and in the support by London audiences for four
major symphony orchestras.
 |
 |
|
- 
