"In mid-16th-century France the pious middle classes and
even on occasion the worldly courtiers were wont to sing psalms in elegant
French translations by the court poet, Clément Marot. Since Marot had not
made his translations for narrow sectarian reasons, both Catholics and
Protestants used them, either for devotional purposes in their own homes, or
for their own edification, singing the simple straightforward tunes to which
the translations had been set, either monophonically or accompanied with
lute, guitar, harpsichord, or some other similar instrument. Even though
numerous notices recommend or describe the practice of singing psalms and
other "sainctes chansonettes" to the lute, no collection of this sort
appeared in print until 1552 [not true, see below,
DW], when Adrian Le Roy published his Tiers
livre de tabulature de luth, contenant vingt & un Pseaulmes, Le tout selon
le subjet. This was two years before Guillaume Morlaye published his
intabulations for voice and lute of the psalms à 4 by Pierre Certon,
Psaumes de Pierre Certon réduits pour chant et luth par Guillaume Morlaye
(1554), the only other collection of psalms with lute printed in France
in the 16th century."
Howard Mayer Brown
NOTE: modern
editions: - Adrian Le Roy:
Psaumes. Tiers livre de tabulature de luth
(1552); Instruction (1574). Edition and transcription by Richard
de Morcourt.
(Paris: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 1962)
(Pss. 1, 3, 5, 9, 14, 19, 24, 33, 43, 46, 50, 72, 91, 101, 104, 113, 114,
128, 130, 137, 143)
- Psaumes de Pierre
Certon réduits pour chant et luth par Guillaume Morlaye (1554). Historical
Introduction by François Lesure; Transcription and Commentary by Richard de
Morcourt. (Paris Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris, 1957).
(Pss. 6, 32, 33, 2, 13, 130, 114, 143, 137, 46,
Simeon, 3) -- The 1555 edition (Cinquante Pseaulmes... Pierre
Certon publ. LeRoy/Ballard )contains all Marot Psalms and Canticles.
Christopher Dalitz (see below) informed
me that the original psalm books for voice and lute by Morlay (1554) and Le
Roy (1552) have been made available by the Bavarian State Library (BSB):
HOWEVER, before Certon/Morlaye and Adrian Le Roy published these
intabulations for lute, already some had appeared in print in Lyon:
1547 - Tabulature de
lutz, en diverses formes de Fantasie, Bassedances, Chansons, Pavanes,
Pseaulmes, Gaillardes. Composées par divers musiciens, & entablées, selon le jeu du lutz par M. Francescho Bianchini
venetiano. Lyon, J. Moderne. [RISM 1547/27 -
Pogue, p.197]. Three Psalms are present:
f° 18 In domino confido [ps. 11, Veu
que du tout en Dieu] A. Mornable
f° 20 Domini est terra [ps. 24, La
terre au Seigneur appartient] A. Mornable
f° 22 Benedic anima mea dominum [ps. 104, Sus, sus
mon ame] P. Certon
For people familiar with the way vocalmusic was treated in the
16th-17th century, it will come as no surprise that there are many more to be
found. Just to mention some:
Eustache du Caurroy: Fantaisies (publ. 1610),
several (of the 43, how many?) are based on Psalm melodies
These phantasies can be played on lute, but are
basically instrumental.
Just listen to Psalm 46 (Hesperion XX)
Nicolaes Vallet: Een en twintich Psalmen Davids
(1615): 21 Psalms for voice and lute
fragment from Ps. 69 (Peter Söderberg - Lute) lute and
voice:
Nicolaes Vallet: Regia pietas, hoc est Psalmi
Davidici
(1620): all (150) Psalms with variations for lute solo
The Complete Works of Nicolaes Vallet are published
in facsimile, ed. L.P. Grijp (Utrecht: Dutch Lute Society, 1986-1992)
In another collection (Secretum Musarum, the secret of the Muses,
1615, f° 22) Vallet also published a lute-intabulation of "A Ton bras droit"
(= Psalm 110, verse 5), based on the composition by Claude Lejeune (last
Psalm in the Dodecacorde). On the CD Psaumes et Chansons de la
Réforme Eric Bellocq supposedly plays this piece (track 22). However
this is not the case. In reality he plays "Quand on arrestera la course
coutumiere" (Secretum Musarum
f° 21), also a composition of Claude Lejeune (no psalm but an
Octonaire de la vanité et inconstance du Monde). Discovery made with the
help of Christoph Dalitz (see below).
The German translation of the Marot/Bèze Psalter by Ambrosius Lobwasser, also
created a - albeit contested - popularity of the Geneva melodies, resulting - of
course - in music. Vallet also was aware of the German market since he provided
the titles in four languages (in this order!): Latin, French, German, Dutch.
Clearly aiming at the German market we find:
Matthaeus Reymann, Cythara Sacra sive psalmodiae davidis as usum
testudinis (Cologne, 1613)
Daniel Laelius, Testudo Spritualis continens Psalmos Davidis, juxta
melodias Gallicas sive Lobwasseri ad
testudinis usum non ineleganti modo accommodatos (Arnhem, 1617).
And even in the 21st century this tradition continues
This is a collection of six two part ricercars having a cantus firmus in the
lower part that is taken from the 16th century Genevan psalter. The
countersubject is related to the cantus firmus through polyphonic imitation.
both these vocal versions (for alto and tenor) and the arrangements for
Renaissance lute (with the idiomatic divisions and embellishments) can be found
and downloaded under creative commons copyright from the site of the composer:
http://music.dalitio.de/instr/lute/psalm-ricercars-cd/. Here one hears psalm
5:
Guitar
Psalm 2 and two versions of
Psalm 137 arranged for guitar are even older
than the lute intabulations mentioned above: They are part of
Le
troysieme livre
contenant plusieurs Duos, et
Trios, avec la bataille de Ianequin a trois,
nouvellement mis en tabulature de Guiterne, par Simon Gorlier, excellent joueur PARIS
...
1551
And for cither: Adrian Le Roy, Second livre de Cistre,
contenant les Commandemens de Dieu: Six Pseaumes de David (Paris: le Roy
&
Ballard, 1564): (The six psalms are: 1, 3, 33, 72, 79, 138)
