About the Book
This book is a full and complete transcription of the first of four volumes of guitar music published by Guillaume Morlaye in 1552, "Le Premier Livre de Chansons, Gaillardes, Pavannes, Bransles, Almandes, Fantaisies". These pieces reflected the style, esthetic, and complexity of contemporary French court music, including songs and choral works.
Guillaume de Morlaye (c. 1510-c. 1558) was a true Renaissance man. We know him primarily as a lutenist, composer, music teacher and music publisher. He also was very active as a merchant, he also was involved in art engraving and even invested in shipping. It was because of this last that a number of biographers mention his "involvement with the slave trade", as one of the ships was carrying slaves. He lived in Paris, and studied with the very highly regarded Italian lutenist, Albert de Rippe (Alberto da Rippa), who also lived and worked in Paris.
In 1552 Morlaye received a ten year license to publish music from Henri II, and between 1553 and 1558 published four lute collections in cooperation with Michel Fezandat and six lute collections compiled by de Rippe. He also published four books of what appear to be his own four-course Renaissance guitar compositions from 1552-53; the last has a number of pieces for the cistre, another plucked instrument about which little is known. (Some of the works may have been copied from other sources; however, at this time it is not altogether clear who copied from whom.)
The pieces in this volume fall into three categories: fantasies, somewhat simplified instances of the most advanced lute music; dances, including pavanes, gaillardes, bransles, and other dance forms; and arrangements of polyphonic compositions by some of the great vocal composers of the day, including Pierre Certon, Pierre Sandrin, Josquin des Prés, Clément Janequin and Claudin de Sermisy. Along with his own works, he included works by other guitarists and lutenists, including de Rippe and Simon Gorlier. So Morlaye acted as composer, arranger, editor and publisher for the volumes of music he put out.
Each book in this series presents complete volumes of music that appeared in Renaissance times. They will include pieces from the many French publications, but also some from the Spanish and Italian literature. The series goal is to give contemporary readers a chance to enjoy these works complete, in their original setting, and at the same time provide you with the most readable edition.
About the Author :
Stephen Dydo is a composer, guitarist, and master of the Chinese qin. He has written for virtually all musical media. His compositions include vocal and choral works, as well as various combinations of instrumental and electronic media. He has recently written a number of pieces for Asian musicians using 8th century sources; these have been performed in New York, Cambridge, Berlin, Taipei and London. He was a featured guqin soloist in the Jiangsu Qin Conference in 2002 in Suzhou and has performed in many solo concerts in New York, and at the Sevenoaks Music Festival in England; in 2006, he presented his creation, the electric qin, in performance in Beijing. In 2000 he cofounded the New York Qin Society, of which he was president from 2005 to 2015. At the same time, interest in the music and culture of the Himalayas brought him twice to Ladakh (the Indian part of Tibet), where he gathered recordings of traditional musicians which are commercially distributed. In the US, he is involved with a Buddhist center in Connecticut and worked with Western Connecticut State University in Danbury to bring the Dalai Lama there in 2012. This served as a catalyst for the creation of the Center for Compassion, Creativity and Innovation, where he serves on the Governing Board. Recently, he has collaborated with the English artist Susan Haire on a number of large-scale multimedia projects, all involving music unfolding in space as well as time: One, riverrun, at the Hammond Museum in New York, was a reflection on the power of water; another, La vita nuova, developed themes from Dante's work. Ten thousand currents showed for six months in 2009 in Maidstone, Kent. In 2010 they mounted two shows in the Netherlands, at the OutLINE Amsterdam and the International Water House in The Hague. Spring 2012 saw their 15-installation show Reflection occupying the entire cathedral at Peterborough, UK for two months; a smaller version was created for the visit of the Dalai Lama to Western Connecticut State University in Danbury three months later. The premiere of As Above, so Below at the 2014 Borealis Festival in Bergen has been followed by presentations at SEAMUS 2015 and NYCEMF. His awards include the Bearns Prize and a BMI award. He developed computer music in Utrecht for two years under a Fulbright grant, and has received fellowships from Weir Farm, Meet the Composer and the Composers Conference. He studied at Columbia University, where he received a doctorate in composition.
