Music and Aphra Behn
Music in private
Access to music fluctuated vastly during Aphra Behn’s life . Growing up with an introduction to gentry houses she probably learnt to read music and to sing and possibly play an instrument, all of which would have been considered suitable accomplishments for a young lady. The Tudor composers such as William Byrd remained popular in the repertoire in private houses throughout the century, with new works being added to collections at any time .
In the pre Civil War period in which Aphra Behn was born the music and instruments for music making in private houses were for the most part similar to the music of the end of the sixteenth century, played on lute, flute and virginals (a precursor of the harpsichord). Instruments that could be played to accompany oneself singing continued to be popular – lute or virginals continued to be widely owned throughout the whole century. There are many surviving books which are compilations of pieces for solo performers or groups on various instruments and varying degrees of competence, often the possession of a particular individual. A significant collection is known as the Fitzwilliam Virginal book, probably collated in the 1630s which holds a vast repertoire of music from the 1590s to the 1630s
The Interregnum
Some sorts of music survived, or even thrived during the interregnum. It is hard to know how much music was being performed in private houses , but there are a number of music collections dating from the 1650s, for example the Elizabeth Rogers Virginal book, a manuscript volume collected by a teenage girl for her own playing, dated 1657. None of the pieces is technically very difficult, but it comprises a wide variety of styles, and a number of songs. Many of the pieces in this collection are traceable back to the previous century, but some such as the tunes called ‘Prince Rupert’s March’ and ‘Fairfax’s March’ come from the Civil War period of the decade before, and represent both sides of the conflict.
Unexpectedly, and rather in contradiction to the popular view of the Interregnum as serious and joyless, a compilation of dance music with instructions for the various dances , titled ‘The English Dancing Master’ was published in London for public release by John Playford: the first edition came out in 1651, and ran to several editions during the decade without hinderance from the authorities, so social dancing, at least in private was not suppressed. In London, at least, we know that wealthy individuals such as Sir William and Lady Davenant staged musical performances in private to an invited audience by describing them as lectures with musical examples.
Public Music; Theatre and court before the Restoration
Before the Civil Wars a form of entertainment called the Masque was developed in royal and courtly circles. These were lavish spectacles including music and dancing which influenced the performance values in the publicly open theatres such as the Blackfriars Theatre – one of the first indoor theatres in London, which operated in various forms from 1576 until the theatres were all closed at the start of the Civil Wars in 1642.
Music in the Restoration
When the theatres reopened in 1660, there was a flowering of creativity in writing music as well as plays. Strongly influenced by French fashions, as experienced by Charles II and his court in exile, not only did plays have music – both sung and instrumental – written into the action, but also inserted between scenes as ‘incidental music’ and to accompany dancing and short scenes before, between and after the main stage action. New, more powerful instruments such as the violin, capable of being heard by a much bigger audience than its predecessor the viol, were introduced to theatre and court, as well as to private houses.
Music played in public tended to consist of strings, woodwind and brass instruments for maximum volume, whereas music for dancing in private houses or smaller public rooms might be augmented by keyboards such as the harpsichord Dancing in public spaces as well as private became common, and there are reports of Aphra Behn dancing herself, as befitted an accomplished gentlewoman.
The demand for music both in theatres, court and public life was insatiable, and all the major composers of the Restoration wrote for it, whatever else they might be composing. Music publishing also proliferated, headed by the ubiquitous Playfords.
Composers : Henry Purcell
Henry Purcell, (1659 – 1695) like his father before him,( who sang at the coronation of Charles II) started his musical career as a chorister in the Chapel Royal. In 1679 he had his first musical pieces published in John Playford’s ‘Choice Ayres, songs and Dialogues’ and in the same year was helped to the position of organist at Westminster Abbey by Dr John Blow. He also became organist to the Chapel Royal in 1682,and was described in a book dedication in 1685 as ‘ Composer in Ordinary to His Sacred Majesty’. In the first six years he concentrated on sacred music, including the odes ‘I was glad’ and ‘ My Heart is inditing’ for the coronation of James II
Thereafter Purcell wrote music for a total of seven plays, including incidental music for a revival of Aphra Behn’s play ‘Abdelazar’. In 1695, alas, long after Aphra Behn’s death and not long before his own, he composed ‘Dido and Aeneas’ the first through sung opera to be written and staged in England for a girls school in Chelsea where his friend Nahum Tate the lyricist taught for a time.
But the musical worlds of court, chapel and the stage were closely entwined. Purcell is the best known of many prolific composers writing music for Charles II (his first known composition was a birthday ode to Charles II in 1670 when Purcell was only eleven) James II and William and Mary, including the well known ‘Funeral Sentences’ for Queen Mary, performed at her funeral in March 1695 followed eight months later by the same music being played at his funeral in November of the same year.
Other Composers
Dr Blow, who relinquished his role as organist at Westminster Abbey to Purcell, composed a wide range of religious music as it was a fundamental ingredient in religious and state occasions, but he also contributed greatly to the stage. In the 1685 four volume publication ‘The Theatre of Music ‘ Dr Blow has 17 songs credited to his composition. Purcell has 29, and Daniel Purcell and Matthew Locke have one apiece.
The musical styles of the songs, published by Henry Playford – son of John – range from the virtuoso, courtly and pastoral ,through the rustic comic and vulgar and down to the simply rude . Both Dr Blow and Purcell contribute to all genres. In total there are 36 composers named and 35 lyricists – of whom three are women: Aphra Behn with three songs from ‘The Lucky Chance’, Anne Killigrew and a Mrs Taylor with one song each.
Street Music
There was a two way flow of music between the street and the theatre: many of the ‘Theatre of Music’ entries are described as ‘songs from the street’ or ‘street ayres’ , tunes taken from popular ballads and prettied up for theatre audiences, but it also seems likely that a dance tune written by Purcell was taken up by political groups who set the words of the song known through the ages as ‘Lillibulero’: and the original of ‘Humpty Dumpty’ was a cannon destroyed in the siege of Colchester in the Civil Wars.
Another longstanding tradition was that of the ‘Broadside Ballads’ which had been known since the start of commercial printing in the sixteenth century. These were long narrative songs, often set to existing tunes which told stories of all sorts – famous murders, star crossed lovers, noble patriotic soldiers, political commentary or even recent local events.
Aphra Behn would have been very aware of these while going about her daily life in London: to an extent the choice of popular subjects reflected the political turmoil of each passing day. They had titles such as ‘ A ballad upon The Popish Plot’ (a political recitation) ‘ The Complaint and Lamentations of Mistresse Arden of Faversham’ (she had murdered her husband in the 1550s and her story remained popular for a century) ‘The Clarett Drinking Song’ and ‘The Soldier’s rare Musick’.
All these ballads were printed as single sheets with the tune either mentioned, or musically written at the head of the sheet, plus a great many verses. Sheets would be sold singly either in the printing houses or the street, especially if they were at all contentious in their subject matter. The form flourished particularly during the Restoration period; Samuel Pepys collected hundreds of them which he had bound into five volumes which still exist in Magdalene College, Cambridge.
Public Concerts
As well as the grander musical performance a new form of public concert was coming into being. John Bannister the Elder and younger (they were father and son) not only worked as court musicians, but wrote extensively for the theatre. They were well known to Aphra Behn in this capacity, but they also had a house in Whitefriars where they held public concerts for anyone who could pay a modest entrance fee. The musicians were concealed behind a curtain, and would be expected to play any requests the audience might have; an extensive knowledge of what music was popular on the stage and in the street must have been a prerequisite for the musicians.
Aphra Behn spent her life in a milieu in which she was continuously surrounded by music. She wrote the lyrics for all the new songs in her own plays and must have worked with the composers to set them to music, when they were not set to an extant tune. We know that she danced: we don’t know if she sang or played an instrument though it is likely that at least in early life learned to do both. But it must have been a great sadness to her friends that when she died there was not enough money to provide music for her funeral service.
Clio’s Company (registered charity no. 1101853) is grateful for generous financial support for this project from The Portal Trust
