Jeremiah Clarke's Trumpet Tunes: Another View of...

Jeremiah Clarke's Trumpet Tunes: Another View of OriginsAuthor(s): Thomas F. TaylorSource: The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 56, No. 3 (Jul., 1970), pp. 455-462Published by: Oxford University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/741248Accessed: 26-11-2016 04:47 UTC

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JEREMIAH CLARKE'S TRUMPET TUNES: ANOTHER VIEW OF ORIGINS

By THOMAS F. TAYLOR

TRUMPET virtuosity was at a high point at the beginning of the 18th century in London. Jeremiah Clarke and his contemporaries

made wide use of the trumpeter's skills in the theater and for ceremonial occasions. Influenced by this climate, their works are sprinkled with pieces written for other instruments which imitate the trumpet idiom. Vocal pieces such as Purcell's several songs which began with the text "Sound the Trumpet" are well-known today, as are trumpet-like marches for string orchestra. Besides "trumpet tune," the pieces are given such names as "trumpet air," "trumpet minuet," or "march." Frequently the transfer of medium was compounded by composers arranging these works for harpsichord. A case in point is that of the six miscellaneous pieces in Purcell's A Choice Collection of Lessons, five of which are transcribed from music written for the theater. Two of these were for trumpet (Z.T697, Z.T698), and one was a trumpet-like march for strings (Z.T687).' Several of Clarke's trumpet tunes are found in two, three, or even more different arrangements. This raises the question of which form predates the others. The purpose of this paper is to explore that question, using transcriptions of three trumpet tunes written by Jeremiah Clarke.

It was clear from the first publications of Clarke's works for harpsichord that the trumpet tune was to hold an important place in his secular music. Both John Young's A Choice Collection of Ayres for the Harpsi- chord or Spinett and John Walsh's Second Book of the Harpsichord Master were published in 1700, and both contain the same six pieces by Clarke, including the earliest printed version of the famous trumpet voluntary, "The Prince of Denmark's March." 2 Of the five other Clarke

1 Howard Ferguson, Miscellaneous Keyboard Pieces of Henry Purcell. (London, 1964), pp. 9-14.

2 See Charles Cudworth and Franklin Zimmerman, "The Trumpet Voluntary," Music and Letters, XLI (1960), 342-348, for a summary of eight sources of this work, including a reproduction from A Choice Collection ... which fixed the ascription to Clarke.

455


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456 The Musical Quarterly

pieces in the two collections, four are of the trumpet-tune genre. All of Clarke's approximately twelve trumpet tunes are in the keys of

C or D major. This is because the trumpet used or imitated at the time was a natural or valveless instrument, most typically with a fundamental of either eight-foot C or the D of slightly over seven feet in length.' The normal playing range in Clarke's trumpet writing was the third and fourth octaves of the natural series of harmonics, but especially the fourth

or clarino range, where a diatonic scale was possible. Only on rare occasions did Clarke ask even the skilled trumpet players of royal employ to play pitches other than those in the natural series.

One such player was John Shore, for whom Clarke specifically wrote some of his trumpet parts. That John Shore was able to fill in some of the gaps in the trumpet's natural overtone series is clear from the following comment in the Gentleman's Journal of January, 1692.

Whilst the company is at table the hautboys and trumpets play successively. Mr. Showers hath taught the latter of late years to sound with all the softness imagin- able; they plaid us some flat tunes made by Mr. Finger with a general applause, it being a thing formerly thought impossible upon an instrument designed for a sharp key.4

By what means Shore obtained these pitches is not entirely clear, perhaps by handstopping or careful lip control. Another possibility is that a slide trumpet was used, as there is some evidence that a few such instruments did exist in England as early as the end of the 17th century. A slide trumpet seems to be the instrument described by a Dr. James Talbot in about

1695, called by him a "flat trumpet." 6 A survey of those parts among his works marked for trumpet shows

that whatever the means employed to play the "unnatural" pitches, Clarke asked for the use of this unusual skill only two or three times. In each of these places the extra notes are not stressed or dwelt upon, as may be seen in the following passages (Ex. 1) from the ode Song on the As- sumption.6 This would seem to indicate that the notes - here e', g' and c"- sharp - were difficult to play and were probably out of tune.

3 For a discussion of some contemporary English trumpets, see Eric Halfpenny, "William Bull and the English Baroque Trumpet," The Galpin Society Journal, XV (1962), 18-24.

4 Quoted in William H. Husk, "Shore," Grove's Dictionary of Music and Mu- sicians, 5th ed.

6 Anthony Baines, "James Talbot's Manuscript," The Galpin Society Journal, I (1948), 21, 25-26.

6 Tenbury MS 1276, fols. 102-124.


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Jeremiah Clarke's Trumpet Tunes 457

Ex. 1

Li.

",. ... " ='" P ?" '" II r r. r " I r , i iJ .' &. -"do " w e , , ? a i i I _ _ . .

Clarke's melodies for the trumpet have a clear, positive character about them. Often they have a military air because they resemble bugle calls through the almost exclusive use of notes possible on that instrument. The choice of pitches was limited, making modulation to related keys almost impossible, but Clarke made an asset out of the limitation. Due to the popularity of the trumpet and the stirring martial melodies written for it, many vocal pieces in the theater were of the same melodic type, especially when the text was of a military or patriotic nature. This transfer of the trumpet tune from trumpet to voice can be seen in the final movement from Clarke's ode On His Majestys Happy Delivrance.' The voice first states this melody, and then it is taken up by the trumpet. All of the notes in the voice part are played on the trumpet with the excep- tion of the last two measures, where the voice departs from the limitations

of the trumpet for the first time. At this point in the melody, the trumpet remains in the upper octave.

Ex. 2

Great Wil - liam lives, Great Wil - liam lives, the smil - ing, smil ing,

smil- - ing morn does with new_ beams, does with new_ beams the day- the day a - dorn.

One of the several works for voice which is of the trumpet-tune type but was not originally for trumpet is the patriotic occasional song, "Ode on the Union of the King and Parliament," on a text by the playwright Thomas D'Urfey and published in the year 1701. The first stanza shows typical patriotic zeal.

Whilst the French their Arms discover

By the Troops abroad they bring, We with joy can Send 'em over

Tidings that can make all Europe ring.

7 Tenbury MS 1232, item 10, fol. 7'.


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English Boys, renown'd for Warring As Fames Glorious records shew,

Blest by Fate, now leave of Jarring, And resolve to Joyne gainst the comon Foe.

No more frowning, Batavians think of Drowning,

But to Spaniards this Jolly Ditty sing, England's Senate now Agree's, Cezar can secure your Peace, Chant it at the Crowning of their Infant King.8

In the following year, Clarke had arranged the piece for harpsichord, and it was printed in The Third Book of the Harpsichord Master as "The King's March." The title page of that collection states the sources of a good portion of its contents: ".. . Being a Collection of Choice Lessons with Song Tunes and Town Ayres fitted to the Harpsichord or Spin- net... ." Elsewhere, the work appeared for harpsichord with the title "King William's March."

Ex. 3 King William's March

k F- I Q - -" " I i - " ,

)7i

., . ..-ML?Ltn > "


The fact that there are no versions of these works extant for any instrument other than harpsichord is some indication that they were written for that instrument, but the nature of the melody itself is, in a few cases, a safer test of origin. Some of the melodies are trumpet-like, but contain too many notes not normally played on the trumpet to believe that the composer would have expected a trumpeter to execute them by any of the means discussed above. These melodies are strikingly different from those melodies which Clarke is known to have written for trumpet. An example of a trumpet-like melody probably written for harpsichord is a "March" in C major (Ex. 4) which first appeared in Young's Choice Collection on folio 11, and which was also included in The Second Book of the Harpsichord Master. This is an extremely foursquare binary piece. Each half is broken into two four-bar phrases which have a rhythmically identi-

cal first measure. In addition, the harmony is made up almost entirely of tonic and dominant chords, and not even a single accidental is introduced to alleviate the harmonic sameness. In spite of this simplicity, typical of trumpet parts, the melody is too diatonic in the third octave of the trumpet to have been written for that instrument.

Ex. 4 A March

I.F I I F

I, I I . .

S 7 f' J 'r pii__r__ ,,, I I! ,,,,i iP I PIO

A - ' ' ' "- L - I -- L - I F!

Not only were vocal pieces arranged for keyboard, but the reverse process is true. The above tune was fitted with texts and used for two


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patriotic occasional songs. The first, "A Health to the Imperialists or an Invective Ode on the Treachery of the Elector of Bavaria," was written by Thomas D'Urfey and published in 1702, two years after the keyboard work. The contrived nature of the poem attests to the fact that it was written to fit the existing melody. Both rhyme and meter break down more than once.

Ulme is gon, but Basely won, And treacherous Bavaria there has buried his Renown, That Strolling Prince, who few years Since, Was cram'd with Williams Gold,

Pension lost, and hopes too crost, Of having more from Brittish store, to keep his wonted post, To aid in vain, usurping Spain, Himself to France has Sold,

For 'tis plain, tho' plotts were vain, That Augsburgh was th'Intended project of his brain, The memry of Nassaw, was vallu'd not a Straw, Had Monsieur reliev'd Landau,

Let him goe, a Worthless Foe, And Whilst the Princes round resolve his overthrow, A Jolly bottle bring, great Badens Praises sing, And th' Romans valliant King.9'

Some years later, in about 1715, the same tune was used for another occasional song, "Young Gustavus, or the King of Sweden's Health: Dedicated to all the Swedish Merchants in London. To a March of Mr.

Jeremy Clark's." In corroboration with the date, this full title gives clear evidence that the music came first. The text for the first eight measures will suffice to show the unpoetic nature of the poetry.

Drink my boys, Drink and rejoyce, There never was this hundred years for Europe Better cause; The Czar is maul'd, his Foxes hol'd, In shoals ye Bear's do Fly.10

From these few examples, it can be seen that the trumpet tune was a melodic type that was used in works written originally for trumpet, voice, or keyboard; and that a tune originating with one medium was often

* London: British Museum, G. 304, fol. 165. 1o London: British Museum, G. 151, fol. 41.


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later arranged for one of the others. Not all of Clarke's works of this genre have yet been traced to their original form due to the many manu- scripts that doubtless have been lost or destroyed and the difficulty of dat- ing those which are extant.

A typical problem piece is a "Serenade" in D major which is found in at least six manuscript or early printed sources in arrangements for harpsichord, instrumental ensemble, violin and also voice. Probably the earliest known source of this piece is Theater Musick, a collection of the tunes of songs and other pieces from the theater, edited by John Eccles as lessons for the solo violin, and first printed in 1698.1 Here the piece is called "Mr. Shor's Serinade by Mr. Clark," good evidence that the work was originally for the trumpet. The serenade was included in both collections of harpsichord music from 1700 mentioned above in the following arrangement by the composer.

Ex. 5 Serenade

$o I-E

LI

0. . ..

) 7 ! r" I U !,. lF!r ___________________I . 1

The first half of the tune stays within the capabilities of the natural trumpet, but the modulation to the relative minor after the double bar is not like any passage the composer is known to have written for the instru-

ment, especially with the emphasis placed on the pitches b' and a'-sharp.

11 In Durham Cathedral Library.


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If this piece was originally for trumpet, this must either be one of "Mr. Shower's flat tunes," or the trumpet played other notes during these measures. The only known versions of the work for voice or instrumental ensemble are later than the harpsichord version transcribed above.

A Suite de Clark for four-part ensemble exists in the hand of a Frenchman and contains this serenade, called there an "Ecossais" (Scotch Tune).12 Some of the pieces in the suite are arrangements of Clarke's orchestral music and selected works for keyboard, so the suite provides little evidence as to the origin of the serenade. In about 1705, the tune was fitted with a text and became "A Song on ye Annual of St. George." 13 This is the only extant use of the tune as a vocal piece, and a number of passing tones had to be added to accommodate the extra syllables.

Twelve hundred years at Least, Has St. George been our Protector, We show our gratitude, in an Annual Feast;

In war and Piety, He's our Patron and director, But Invocation is a superstitious Jest;

All the world cant, Show the like Saint, All the Sacrifice that we Expend, Is to drinke fair, and to deal Square, And to love our Friend,

Then this Greeting, Gratefull meeting, Let not Taffy, Tegue, or Scot revile, Drink for St. George, Fight for St. George, And his Favourite Isle.

Regardless of the original medium for trumpet tunes like the "Sere- nade," there is sufficient evidence concerning origins of some of them to conclude that they did not all originate with the trumpet, or with the harpsichord or voice imitating the trumpet idiom. Rather, this was a type of simple but stirring melody which Clarke wrote with natural facility for

all media. One such melody, be it for trumpet or keyboard, was stirring enough to preserve its composer's name more than 250 years after his untimely death.

12 For incipits and a discussion of the suite, see Charles Cudworth, "Some New Facts about the Trumpet Voluntary," Musical Times, September, 1953, pp. 401-403.

13 London: British Museum, G. 304, fol. 142.


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Contents455456457458459460461462

Issue Table of ContentsMusical Quarterly, Vol. 56, No. 3 (Jul., 1970), pp. 311-504Front MatterMusic in Honor of St. Thomas of Canterbury [pp. 311-348]Some Rhythmic and Metric Techniques in Alban Berg's "Lulu" [pp. 349-366]Early Gaffuriana: New Answers to Old Questions [pp. 367-388]Vocal Ornamentation in Caccini's "Nuove Musiche" [pp. 389-404]Handel's "Tamerlano:" The Creation of an Opera [pp. 405-430]Realism as Preached and Practiced: The Russian Opera Dialogue [pp. 431-454]Jeremiah Clarke's Trumpet Tunes: Another View of Origins [pp. 455-462]Antonio Lolli's Letters to Padre Martini [pp. 463-477]Current Chronicle [pp. 478-484]Reviews of BooksReview: untitled [pp. 485-488]

Reviews of RecordsReview: untitled [pp. 489-495]

Quarterly Book-List [pp. 496-502]Back Matter [pp. 503-504]

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