The Doubles in Jacques Hotteterre's Airs et brunettes (ca. I72I) David Lasocki Introduction about the same date - Michel Pignolet de The name of Jacques Hotteterre "le Romain" Monteclair, Brunettes ancienes et modernes (1674-1763) is well known to woodwind players appropriees ala flute traversiere avec une basse today.1 A flautist at the court of Louis XIV, he d'accompagnement ... Premier recueil contenant published the first method for the Baroque type douze suites qui peuvent aussy se jouer sur la flute a of transverse flute (and included instructions for bec, sur Ie violon, haubois, et autres instruments the recorder and oboe), wrote another method (Paris: Boivin, ca. 1720) and Mr. R**, Brunettes ou for the musette and a treatise on the art of petits airs adeux dessus, al'usage de ceux qui preluding, and composed some attractive veulent apprendre ajouer de la flute traversiere chamber music that blended elements of the (Paris: Boivin, Le Clerc, 1725) - and even in a French and Italian styles.2 It is less well known collection of thirty years later: Michel Blavet, that around 1721, after he had finished writing Premier recueil de pieces, petits airs, brunettes, this fairly progressive music, he published a menuets, etc.: avec des doubles et variations, collection of songs arranged for the flute under accomode pour les flutes traversreres, violons, the title Airs et brunettes a deux et trois dessus pour pardessus de viole, &c (Paris: composer, Boivin, Le les flutes traversieres tirez des meilleurs autheurs, Clerc, ca. 1750).5 anciens et modernes, ensembles les airs de Mrs. As the title suggests, the majority of pieces in Lambert, Lully, De Bousset, &c les plus convenables Hotteterre's collection (all notated in the French a la flute traversiere seule, ornez d'agremens par Mr. violin clef) are for two melody lines, with a few Hotteterre Ie Romain et recueillis par M. ++++.3 for three lines, grouped into five suites by key: This means: airs and brunettes for two and three D major/minor, G major/minor, Bb minor, E melody lines for flutes, taken from the best minor/major, and C minor.6 The texts of many composers, old and new; together with airs by of the songs are underlaid. At the beginning of Lambert, Lully, De Bousset, etc. best suited to the first suite, a note states that the treble clef the flute alone, embellished with ornaments by may be used to transpose it into B=, "pour Hotteterre Ie Romain and collected by Monsieur s'accorder avec les voix de dessus" (to accord X. with soprano voices), indicating that one or One of the songs in this purely French-style more lines could in fact be sung rather than, or collection, /lSi c'est un crime que l'aymer," was as well as, played on the flute. The third suite originally published as early as 1621, but most has an indication that it could be similarly appeared in the period 1690-1710. Still, even the transposed into G. most recent song, Jean-Baptiste de Bousset's At the end of the collection comes a series of "Vous qui faites votre modelle," was ten years twenty-one pieces "Pour la Flute Seule" (for old in 1721, and the collection has a more flute alone), grouped into three sets by key: G retrospective cast than Hotteterre's other music. major/minor, D major/minor, and C minor­ One would be tempted to think that its late although this time they are not actually labeled 7 appearance had something to do with its having IIsuites." Again many of the words are been collected by the anonymous Monsieur underlaid. Four times a transposition into the ++++ - presumably an aristocrat, whose name soprano clef is given at the beginning of a piece, could therefore not be mentioned.4 But but here this seems to indicate only the notation Hotteterre himself was partly responsible for its and key of the original song, since the publication (along with the well-known Parisian transposed versions would be below the range publisher Boivin). Moreover, some of the same of the flute. As the title says, these songs were brunettes, also with ornamental variations, ornamented by Hotteterre. Sometimes appear in two other French flute collections of Hotteterre transcribes the vocal ornamentation 21 of the song; at other times he invents d'allemagne, de la flute a bec, ou flute douce, et du ornamentation more idiomatic for the flute. In haut-bois: divisez par traitez (paris, 1707), he fourteen cases he also supplies doubles, or discussed seven different ornaments: ornamental variations of the entire song.s Three tremblement (trill), double cadence (trill with two­ of the doubles - for IJDans ces deserts," IJDe mes note termination, tongued or slurred),flattement soupirs," and "Nicolas va voir Jeanne" - are (finger vibrato), battement (lower mordent), port­ similar to the doubles supplied by the songs' de-voix (appoggiatura from below), coulement composers. All Hotteterre's arrangements are (appoggiatura in a descending third), and accent valuable examples of the French style of (a short note a pitch higher than the written woodwind ornamentation of the early 18th note). He remarked that a port-de-voix is often century. followed by a battement. In the table of The songs that Hotteterre arranged for solo ornaments included with the preface to the flute are of two types: airs de cour and brunettes. second edition of his Pieces pour la flute James R. Anthony has written that traversiere et autres instruments, avec la basse For almost 200 years the air de cour served continue (Paris, 1715), he added the port-de-voix French composers as a primary model for double (double appoggiatura from below), demie their vocal music. Lully consulted it rather cadence apuiee (a trill with a very long port-de­ than Italian aria and recitative for the airs and voix), tour de gosier (turn), and tour de chant dialogues of his court and comedy ballets and (another kind of turn, apparently made at the his tragedies lyriques; the recits of many approach to a cadence). seventeenth-century motets were nourished In the 1715 preface he remarked that the by it; and, in combination with dance flattement, tremblement, and battement should all measures, its influence was felt in be made faster or slower according to the tempo instrumental music.... Its restricted range and and character of the piece. He also gave advice generally conservative harmony acted as a on where some of his ornaments should be deterrent to the adoption of Italian vocal added when they are not marked by the techniques throughout much of the grand composer. The flattement should be made on siecle.... The formal structure of most airs de almost all long notes. The tremblement must be cour is simple. Short stanzas made up of four made on almost all accident sharps (except on or six lines are arranged musically in a variety very short notes such as eighths and sixteenths). of binary forms; AB, AAB, or AABB are the The double cadence is often made when you most common.... Where meter signs appear, ascend one note after a tremblement. The they have no metric significance and may be coulement must be made in all descending thirds. viewed merely as a convenient way of Finally, the accent is normally made at the end of grouping time units; they must never be a dotted quarter note followed by an eighth note interpreted as depicting strong or weak at the same pitch; also rarely on certain long accents.9 notes. A mid-17th century composer wrote that lithe air proceeds in a free though serious measure In the Principes, Hotteterre said nothing and movement and thus is more proper for the about the length, accentuation, and placement expression of love and the tender emotions of of the port-de-voix and coulement, leaving their pain or of joy that it wakens in the heart. ... "lo performance up to the elusive goUt (good taste) Toward the end of the 17th century, collections that was all-important in the French music of of airs tended to be intermixed with songs in the era. Of course, contemporaries had the lighter vein, including the brunette. The latter benefit of having their taste shaped by hearing generally has a more popular style of melody; these ornaments performed, whereas we have the words tend to be pastoral and amorous, only vague instructions, by Hotteterre and often indeed celebrating the eponymous others. From all these instructions one gets the brunette. impression that for woodwind instruments such ornaments were usually performed short, Hotteterre on Ornaments unstressed, and before the beat. The Airs et Before we discuss the ornamentation in the brunettes, however, suggest that this is not doubles of the Airs et brunettes, it is worth always the case. summarizing what Hotteterre wrote about ornaments, or agrements as he called them. In Ornaments in the Airs et brunettes the Principes de la flute traversiere, ou flute In order to help readers understand both 22 ornaments and freer ornamentation in "Dans ces deserts" C beat 3 (2 times) Hotteterre's Airs et brunettes, the examples at "L'autre jour" 2 beat 1 (8 times) the end of this article reproduce all of the beat 3 (5 times) pieces that have doubles. I have transposed beat 4 (2 times) these examples in order to make them more "Si c' est un crime" 2 beat 4 (1 time) suitable for playing on the alto recorder. "Rochers, vous etes sourds" ¢ beat 1 (4 times) Hotteterre himself recommended playing flute beat 3 (2 times) pieces a minor third higher on the recorder.u "Nicolas va voir Jeanne" ¢ beat 1 (1 time) But this sometimes results in difficult keys beat 3 (1 time) (such as Bb minor), so in those cases I have "Le beau berger" ¢ beat 1 (5 times) transposed by a major second or major third.