MILITARY AND DRUM MUSIC IN
16TH-CENTURY SCORES
In Spain, no scores of
16th-century military drum music have survived, unlike in France, where we have
Thoinot Arbeau's Orcheseographie of 1589. [1]
However, while there are no
direct written sources of military music, remnants of military music from the
Spanish Monarchy have survived in the scores of other works. One example is the
ensalada La Justa by Mateo Flecha (1485-1553), written in the form of
octosyllabic redondillas. Although hardly any printed music by this composer
survives, this genre of song must have been very popular in 16th-century Spain,
to the point that Covarrubias mentions it in his Tesoro de la Lengua española o
castellana of 1610.
SALAD, the vegetable dish served at the table… And because salads contain many different herbs, salted meats, olives… they called a genre of songs "salad," songs with various meters and like centos, collected by various authors. These are composed by the Chapel Masters to celebrate Christmas festivities, and we have many excellent ones from the old authors, such as El Molino, La Bomba, El Fuego, La Justa, El Chilindrón, etc.
These scores were true centos,
that is, fragments of musical pieces combined to create a new work. And that's
where the military music comes in.
Let's look at a couple of
examples:
Yes, in a medley by Mateo Flecha
called La Justa (de Torneo) there are military bugle calls. That military
music, in turn, was published in France by Jacques Moderne, in 1544, under the
name La Bataille.
In Mateo Flecha's medley La Justa
(de Torneo) there are military bugle calls. How do we know this? Because that
military music, in turn, was published in France by Jacques Moderne [2],
in 1544, under the name La Bataille. Is it Spanish war music? For a long time,
the French claimed it as their own, but it isn't. It's Spanish music, actually
from around 1530.
For that reason, when Prince
Philip made his auspicious journey [3] to his possessions in Flanders,
Germany, and Italy before becoming King, Tielman Susato, a Flemish music
publisher from Antwerp, evidently composed a collection of dance music for him
called Danserye (published in 1551), in which one of the pieces was a pavane-like
version of that Battle, with the music cited in Mateo Flecha's ensalada.
Everyone knew it was music of Spanish origin at that time.
 |
| Brussels, Bibliothèque Royale Albert Ier. We see a courtly dance similar to the one performed before Prince Philip, in which he most certainly participated. |
 |
| Beginning of the Pavane La Bataille, in the Jacques Moderne edition. |
Clearly, on that journey, the
drums and fifes, accompanying the flags, played a prominent role in the parades
(called ommegang in Flemish, meaning "walk around"), a festive
procession organized in various Flemish cities, as the chronicler of the
journey, Juan Calvete de Estrella, tells us. On this occasion, on June 2, 1549,
the Sunday after Ascension, Emperor Charles, the prince, and the queens with
their ladies went to the town hall ("casa de la villa"): "to
see a most solemn procession that takes place every year through the
town"... in which the first section of the procession was military:
corselets, "with their flag and fifes and drums," halberdiers,
arquebusiers, and crossbowmen. [4]
Ommegang of 1606, similar to that described in 1549 by Juan Calvete. We see the processional parade led by the Flag, fifes, and drums, in front of the military section of corselets and arquebusiers. Detail from the painting by Denis van Alsloot, in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
This battle music also gave rise
in the 16th century to a religious liturgical typology, the Battle Mass, such
as those by Cristóbal de Morales (1500-53) or Francisco de Guerrero
(1528-1599), veritable Parody Masses that quote fragments of military music. These,
in turn, would serve as the basis for compositions of Battles for the organ,
already at the beginning of the 16th century, such as the Battle of Morales, by
Correa de Arauxo (1585-1654).
But there are also other
compositions by Mateo Flecha, such as the War, with military touches as musical
quotations in the form of a cento. This practice of quoting earlier music in
other works that did not necessarily have to be military was very common in
Renaissance music and is known in musicology as a Quodlibet.
Therefore, even though the
original military music has not been preserved, we do know that this is
military music. This is evident from the context in which it is mentioned, the
names of pieces like "Battle," and the fact that they sound wonderfully
well played on the military instruments of the time. Furthermore, in the sung
works, the singers refer to drums, fifes, and trumpets. In reality, when Mateo
Flecha mentions these instruments in his songs, he is creating a musical
onomatopoeia of the military calls, but with the human voice.
Moreover, in the sung works, the
singers refer to drums, fifes, and trumpets. In reality, when Mateo Flecha
mentions these instruments in his songs, he is creating a musical onomatopoeia
of the military calls, but with the human voice.
It never ceases to amaze us that
the earliest surviving military drum music in Spain, dating from the early 17th
century, is included in a work about tournaments or jousts, where the drums
gave the orders. But we'll see that in another post.
[1] This work serves as the basis for our post on this blog called SIGLO XVI: MARCANDO EL PASO CONCERTADO CON EL ATAMBOR (I)
[2] Le Difficile des chansons,
published by J. Moderne (Lyon, 1544)
[3] For more information about
the Felicísimo Viaje, see the blog:
https://www.delacuadra.net/escorial/jrfland2.htm
[4]
https://www.historicalsoundscapes.com/en/evento/1014/bruselas
