All sources are Wikipedia.
Adrian Le Roy (c.1520–1598) became an accomplished musician and entered the service of, first, Claude de Clermont, then, Jacques II (Baron de Semblançay and Viscount of Tours), both members of the aristocracy who had influence at court. Le Roy and his cousin Robert Ballard founded the printing firm “Le Roy & Ballard”, and in August 1551 obtained a royal privilege from Henry II to print music. Royal patronage was a major factor in the company’s success since it ensured both a ready supply of new music from the court musicians and a market for its publications. Over the following two decades other rival companies dropped out of the market and from the 1570s onwards Le Roy & Ballard enjoyed a virtual monopoly in music publishing. Le Roy achieved renown as a composer and arranger of songs and instrumentals, his published work including at least six books of tablature for the lute, five volumes for the guitar and arrangements for the cittern. Le Roy’s book L’Instruction pour la mandore gives modern historians hints as to the instrument’s origins and design.
Notes on Music in Book 1
Fantasie
A fantasia or fantasie is a musical composition with its roots in the art of improvisation. The term was first applied to music during the 16th century, at first to refer to the imaginative musical “idea” rather than to a particular compositional genre. Its form and style consequently ranges from the freely improvisatory to the strictly contrapuntal, and also encompasses more or less standard sectional forms (i.e. it sometimes but doesn’t always follow the “rules”).
The fantasie presented in this book is the second or shorter of the two fantasies in the original folio. It should be played using varying tempos and styles to fit the mode of the music.
Pavanes and Gaillardes
The pavane is a slow processional dance common in Europe during the 16th century. The decorous sweep of the pavane suited the new more sober Spanish-influenced courtly manners of 16th century Italy. It appears in dance manuals in England, France, and Italy. It has a slow duple metre with two strains of eight, twelve, or sixteen bars each. The pavane’s popularity was from roughly 1530 to 1676. As a musical form, the pavane survived long after the dance itself was abandoned, and well into the Baroque period.
The gaillarde or galliard was a form of Renaissance dance and music popular all over Europe in the 16th century. It is mentioned in dance manuals from England, France, Spain, Germany, and Italy. It is an athletic dance, characterised by leaps, jumps, hops and other similar figures in a series of choreographed patterns of steps. After the dance fell out of popular use and, in musical compositions, the galliard often filled the role of an after dance written in 6, which followed and mimicked another piece (sometimes a pavane) written in 4.
Both Pavane & Gaillarde pairs, si je m’enuois (if I get bored) and de la gambe (of the leg), follow this structure precisely.
Almandes
An allemande (almande or other various spellings) is a Renaissance and Baroque dance. The allemande originated in the 16th century as a duple metre dance of moderate tempo, already considered very old. The dance form flourished in the Baroque era as one of the most popular instrumental dance styles and was often part of a suite of dances.
The Almande is unusual in that it has a series of 3-bar phrases followed by series of 4-bar phrases (not obvious in the tablature but shown in each line of the arrangement). It also utilizes the Picardy third or interval where the entire piece is in D minor but the last chord is D major.”
The Almande “La mon amy la” has a more traditional structure with 4-bar phrasing throughout (each phrase, along with the pick-up notes are separated on each line of the arrangement). The Picardy third or interval is deployed at the end of every phrase rather than just at the end of the piece. This piece is popular with guitarists and is included in many pedagogies and anthologies (including the Royal Conservatory of Music).
Branles
The name branle derives from the French verb branler (to shake, wave, sway, wag, wobble) and is a type of French dance popular from the early 16th century to the present. The term also refers to the music and the characteristic step of the dance. The branle was danced by a chain of dancers, usually in couples, with linked arms or holding hands. The dance alternated a number of larger sideways steps to the left (often four) with the same number of smaller steps to the right so that the chain moved gradually to the left.
In the Branles of Le Roy, the Picardy third or interval is used throughout with pieces in minor keys but the chords at either the end of each phrase or the end of each piece is major.
The Branle Simple “N’aurez vous point de moy pitié” translates to “Don’t have pity on me”. The duple time music is in 6-bar phrases.
The two Branles Gay are not in duple time but in triple time. By 1604 every ball began with the same four branles: the double, the single, the gay and the Burgundian branle.
Branles de Bourgongne is a suite of nine dances, all in duple time. By 1623 such suites had been standardized into a set of six dances.
The following pieces in the original publication, Premier livre de tabulature de guiterre (1551), are not included in this book. Some of these arrangements are available online.
- Most pieces marked with “precedente plus diminuee”, however, for some of the Gaillardes and one Pavane, the first version of the piece is used in the arrangement (i.e. the easier version) but repeats then use the second version (a more challenging version).
- Fantasie premiere
- Gaillarde par Deppit
- Chanson de Quatre (Maillard) “Helas mon dieu”
- Chanson de Quatre (Boyvin) “Je sens l’affection”
- Chanson de Quatre (Boyvin) “Je cherche autant amour”
Notes on Music in Book 2
This book of arrangements contains a selection of pieces from two books published by Adrian Le Roy: Second livre de tabulature de guiterre (1555) and Tiers livre de tabulature de guiterre (1552).
Branles
The name branle (or bransle) derives from the French verb branler (to shake, wave, sway, wag, wobble) and is a type of French dance popular from the early 16th century to the present. The term also refers to the music and the characteristic step of the dance. The branle was danced by a chain of dancers, usually in couples, with linked arms or holding hands. The dance alternated a number of larger sideways steps to the left (often four) with the same number of smaller steps to the right so that the chain moved gradually to the left.
Almandes
An allemande (almande or other various spellings) is a Renaissance and Baroque dance. The allemande originated in the 16th century as a duple metre dance of moderate tempo, already considered very old. The dance form flourished in the Baroque era as one of the most popular instrumental dance styles and was often part of a suite of dances.
Chansons
Chansons are songs. The earliest chansons were for two, three or four voices, with first three becoming the norm, expanding to four voices by the 16th century. The Parisian Chansons began in 1520 and were lighter and chordal with melodies in the upper most line. Sometimes, the singers were accompanied by instruments, often lutes. The general subject matter was courtly love. Words may be found online.
Prelude
A prelude is a short piece of music, the form of which may vary from piece to piece. The prelude may be thought of as a preface. Stylistically, the prelude is improvisatory in nature. For the lute and other Renaissance string instruments, they were originally used for warming up the fingers and checking the instrument’s tuning and sound quality.
Pavanes and Gaillardes
The pavane is a slow processional dance common in Europe during the 16th century. The decorous sweep of the pavane suited the new more sober Spanish-influenced courtly manners of 16th century Italy. It appears in dance manuals in England, France, and Italy. It has a slow duple metre with two strains of eight, twelve, or sixteen bars each. The pavane’s popularity was from roughly 1530 to 1676. As a musical form, the pavane survived long after the dance itself was abandoned, and well into the Baroque period.
The gaillarde or galliard was a form of Renaissance dance and music popular all over Europe in the 16th century. It is mentioned in dance manuals from England, France, Spain, Germany, and Italy. It is an athletic dance, characterised by leaps, jumps, hops and other similar figures in a series of choreographed patterns of steps. After the dance fell out of popular use and, in musical compositions, the galliard often filled the role of an after dance written in 6, which followed and mimicked another piece (sometimes a pavane) written in 4.
Other Pieces
Tourdion is a lively dance and popular from the mid-15th to the late-16th centuries. In a triple meter, the tourdion was nearly the same as the galliard, but the former was more rapid and smooth than the latter. The dance was accompanied frequently by the basse danse, due to their contrasting tempi, and were danced alongside the pavane and galliard, and the allemande and courante, also in pairs.
Basse-Dance, or “low dance”, was a popular court dance in the 15th and early 16th centuries. The word basse describes the nature of the dance, in which partners move quietly and gracefully in a slow gliding or walking motion without leaving the floor, while in livelier dances both feet left the floor in jumps or leaps. The basse danse was a precursor of the pavane as a dignified processional dance.
Pimontoyse is a dance (no further details were found).
These pieces in Second livre de tabulature de guiterre (1555) are based on pairings of chansons and accompanying music (which may or may not be directly related to the paired chanson). Most of them are not included in this book.
- Pavanne “J’ay le rebours”
- Gaillarde “Puis que vivre en servitute”
- A Plaisir “Pour m’eslogner”
- Branle Gay “O comblien est heureuse”
- Branle Gay “Je ne suis moins aimable”
- Branle Gay “Quand j’entens le perdu temps”
- Trio “Je ne veux plus à mon mal consentir”
- Branle Gay “Plus ne veux estre à la suite”
- Gaillarde “L’ennuy qui me tourments”
- Branle Gay “C’est de la peine dure”
- Branle Gay “Helas mon Dieu”
- Gaillarde “Puis que novelle affection”
- A Plasir “J’ay cherché la science”
- Paduane “Une m’auoit promis”
- Gaillarde “O la mal assignée”
- A Plaisir “Oyez tous amoureux”
- Branle Gay “Maintenant c’est us cas estrange”
- Branle de Poitou “O madame”
- A Plaisir “Mon dieu vostre pitié”
These pieces in Tiers livre de tabulature de guiterre (1552) are not included in this book.
- Prelude – the first prelude is not arranged
- Chanson “Un advocat dit a sa femme”
- Chanson “La je ne l’ose dire”
- Chanson “Jean de Lagny”
- Chanson “Pour un plaisir que si peu dure”
- Demis Basse-Dance
- Pavane et Gaillarde de la guerre
- Gaillardes – two unnamed pieces are not arranged
- Bransle Simple
- Bransle Gay “La centure que je porte”
- Bransle Gay “Je ne seray jamais bergere”
- Bransle de Champagne – three pieces are not arranged
- Bransle Haulbaroys
- Bransle de Poictou – three pieces are not arranged
Some of these pieces may be arranged and are available online.
NOTE: “Pavane et Gaillarde de la guerre” is available in “A Military Recital on the Ukulele”.