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English Cavalier Songs, 1620–1660
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 January 1959
Extract
I cannot pretend that the adjective ‘cavalier’ in my title has much significance beyond colouring what would otherwise have been an even more drab title. Nevertheless, I believe that ‘cavalier’ is perhaps a fair description of the most important song-writers of the period; Nicholas Lanier, the Lawes brothers and John Wilson (if not of the probably pro-Cromwellian Colemans); and their performing and listening public, including the occasional roundheads. As in other spheres, the musical origins of the developments later in the century can be traced to the early part of the reign of King James I. Many surviving manuscripts as well as printed collections leave little doubt that the Italian madrigal—not monody—was well known in England from 1588 onwards. The only monodies printed here were those in Robert Dowland's Musical Banquet (1610) which included two by Caccini, one by Megli, and one anonymous piece. Notari's book of 1613 was also printed in England, though probably composed in Italy for the most part. Neither of these books can have exerted much influence, although Caccini's ‘Amaryllis’, which Dowland printed, became popular.
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References
1 c. 1602–1606; See Bertolotti, A., Musιci alla Corte dei Gonzaga in Mantova, 1890, p. 80f.Google Scholar
2 Sainsbury, W. N., Original Unpublished Papers illustrative of the Life of Sir Peter Paul Rubens, 1859, p. 322, note 50.Google Scholar
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