Air (
FrenchFrench is a Romance language globally spoken by about 65 million people as a first language , by 50 million as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired foreign language, with significant speakers in 57 countries. Most native speakers of the language live in France,...
for "
ariaAn aria in music was originally any expressive melody, usually, but not always, performed by a singer. The term is now used almost exclusively to describe a self-contained piece for one voice usually with orchestral accompaniment...
"; also
ayr,
ayre), a variant of the musical
songA song is a metrical composition intended or adapted for singing, especially one in rhymed stanzas; a lyric; a ballad....
form, is the name of various song-like vocal or instrumental compositions.
Lute ayres emerged in the court of
Elizabeth I of EnglandElizabeth I was Queen of England and Queen of Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called the Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
toward the end of the sixteenth century and enjoyed considerable popularity until the 1620s. Probably based on Italian
monodyIn poetry, the term monody has become specialized to refer to a poem in which one person laments another's death....
and French air de cour, they were solo songs, occasionally with more (usually three) parts, accompanied on a
luteLute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of European lutes....
.
Air (
FrenchFrench is a Romance language globally spoken by about 65 million people as a first language , by 50 million as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired foreign language, with significant speakers in 57 countries. Most native speakers of the language live in France,...
for "
ariaAn aria in music was originally any expressive melody, usually, but not always, performed by a singer. The term is now used almost exclusively to describe a self-contained piece for one voice usually with orchestral accompaniment...
"; also
ayr,
ayre), a variant of the musical
songA song is a metrical composition intended or adapted for singing, especially one in rhymed stanzas; a lyric; a ballad....
form, is the name of various song-like vocal or instrumental compositions.
English lute ayres
Lute ayres emerged in the court of
Elizabeth I of EnglandElizabeth I was Queen of England and Queen of Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called the Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
toward the end of the sixteenth century and enjoyed considerable popularity until the 1620s. Probably based on Italian
monodyIn poetry, the term monody has become specialized to refer to a poem in which one person laments another's death....
and French air de cour, they were solo songs, occasionally with more (usually three) parts, accompanied on a
luteLute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of European lutes....
. Their popularlity began with the publication of John Dowland's (1563-1626)
First Booke of Songs or Ayres (1597). His most famous ayres include '
Come againCome Again, sweet love doth now invite. is a song for soloist and lute or for small choir by John Dowland.The song is in typical bitter-sweet Dowland styleIt was published in his "First Booke of Songes or Ayres" .- Lyrics :...
', '
Flow my tearsFlow my Tears is a lute song by the accomplished lutenist and composer John Dowland.Originally composed as an instrumental under the name Lachrimae pavane in 1596, it is Dowland's most famous ayre, and became his signature song, literally as well as metaphorically: he would occasionally sign his...
', '
I saw my Lady weepe"I saw my lady weepe" is a lute song from Second Booke of Songes or Ayres , by Renaissance lutenist and composer John Dowland. While not so popular as some of his more famous songs, "I saw my lady weepe" is interesting in its own way. It is the first song in the Second Booke and it is dedicated...
' and 'In darkness let me dwell'. The genre was further developed by
Thomas CampionThomas Campion, was an English composer, poet and physician.-Biography:Campion was born in London and studied at Peterhouse, Cambridge, but left without taking a degree. He later entered Gray's Inn to study law in 1586. However, he left in 1595 without having been called to the bar...
(1567-1620) whose
Books of Airs (1601) (co-written with Philip Rosseter) containing over one hundred lute songs and which was reprinted four times in the 1610s. Although this printing boom died out in the 1620s, ayres continued to be written and performed and were often incorporated into court masques.
Baroque and classical airs
Popular examples include the Air from the
3rd Orchestral SuiteThe four Orchestral Suites or Ouvertures BWV 1066–1069 are a set of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach, probably composed between 1725 and 1739 in Leipzig...
,
BWVThe Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis is the numbering system identifying compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach. The prefix BWV, followed by the work's number now is the shorthand identification for Bach's compositions...
1068 (
Air on the G StringThe "Air on the G String" is a musical piece for string and piano, arranged by August Wilhelmj from the Air of Johann Sebastian Bach's Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068...
is an arrangement for violin and piano made in the nineteenth century by
August WilhelmjAugust Wilhelmj was a German violinist.He has become famous for his late nineteenth century arrangement of the second movement of J. S. Bach's Orchestral Suite No. 3 for the violin and piano, known as Air on the G String.Among his pupils was American violinist Nahan Franko....
), or the
Air with variations, BWV 988, a
baroqueBaroque is an artistic style prevalent from the late 16th century to the early 18th century. The popularity and success of the Baroque style was encouraged by the Roman Catholic Church, which had decided at the time of the Council of Trent that the arts should communicate religious themes in...
clavierA keyboard instrument is any musical instrument played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include various types of organs as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
work, both composed by and Air from
Water MusicThe Water Music is a collection of orchestral movements, often considered as three suites, composed by George Frideric Handel. It premiered in the summer on July 17, 1717 when King George I requested a concert on the River Thames...
, in the Suite in F Major, HWV 348, by
George Frideric HandelGeorge Frideric Handel was a German-English Baroque composer, who is famous for his operas, oratorios, and concerti grossi. His life and music may justly be described as "cosmopolitan": he was born in Germany, trained in Italy, and spent most of his life in England...
.