Air de Cour

Air de Cour "Enfin la Beauté" by Étienne Moulinié

An air de cour is a French art song form that was widespread in the courts of the nobles in the late 16th and 17th centuries. Its name is derived from the French or English term Air for song and the French term Cour for court . They are mostly love songs , but there are also drinking songs , the so-called Airs à Boire .

history

In French vocal music at the beginning of the 16th century, both polyphonic songs were widespread, which represented the settings of demanding text poems, as well as folk songs (also called voix de ville or vaudevilles for short ), which were characterized by simple forms and texts. The complicated, polyphonic songs of the Renaissance were gradually pushed into the background and more and more replaced by rather simple, monophonic songs with accompaniment. In the second half of the 16th century, these Airs de Cour became increasingly popular and experienced under the reign of Louis XIII. its heyday in the 17th century.

First, older, polyphonic compositions were rewritten so that a singing voice could be accompanied by a keyboard or plucked instrument. The term Air de Cour appears for the first time on the cover of the song collection with lute accompaniment Livre d'Airs de Cours, miz sur le luth , which the Parisian publisher, composer and lutenist Adrian Le Roy published in 1571. This collection still contains arrangements of polyphonic songs by the organist Nicolas de la Grotte . But more and more newer compositions established themselves, which were mainly provided with lute accompaniment. The accompaniment was usually notated in the French lute tablature .

Finally, in 1608, the first book in the series Airs de différentes autheurs, mis en tabulature de luth par Gabriel Bataille appears in France . In the course of the first half of the 17th century, the Airs de Cour (sometimes even with translated texts) were also spread in neighboring countries such as England, Germany and the Netherlands.

A selection of Airs de Cour was published in two anthologies in Paris in the 1970s.

shape

The shape of an Air de Cour is relatively simple. The unanimous songs are mostly written and composed in stanzas and some have a refrain . The melodies usually get by without melisms and text repetitions. The verses are often of different lengths, and the bar lines are based on the verse, not the melody. Occasionally ornaments appear in the compositions , but were also often improvised by the interpreters in a more or less virtuoso manner .

Composers

Most of the Airs de Cour composers were born in the last third of the 16th century. The most famous composers include:

Discography

Nigel Rogers ( tenor ) and Anthony Bailes (lute): Airs de Cour (Airs à boire, Chants sous le Règne de Louis XIII). EMI Electrola 1977.