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An in-depth exploration of the Coronation of Charles II in 1661, focusing on the role of music and musical institutions in marking the end of Cromwell's Commonwealth and the return of the English monarchy. The text delves into the background of Charles II, the important figures leading up to the Coronation, and the symbolism used during the event. John Ogilby's account of the procession is highlighted, with a focus on the music composed by Matthew Locke and the use of Christian and Saint George symbolism.
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Kathryn Pierce A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF MUSIC August 2007 Committee: Vincent Corrigan, Advisor Mary Natvig
ii ABSTRACT Vincent Corrigan, Advisor The seventeenth century was a time of upheaval for Great Britain. Reflective of that was the plight of London’s musicians. During the two civil wars, many of London’s musicians either fled the city or fought for the Royalist cause. Those musicians who survived the wars had to adjust to the new reality of Commonwealth rule as professional musical institutions were dismantled. Musicians who worked in theaters, churches, and at court were forced to find new employment. The Restoration of the monarchy was a significant event in Great Britain’s musical history as well as its political history. The Coronation of Charles II and the Procession on the preceding day marked not only the return of the monarchy, but also the return of Great Britain’s (and especially London’s) musical institutions. Several sources for the Coronation and Procession exist that provide a partial record of the music used. This thesis brings together all of the sources, including manuscripts, diaries, official documents, and music manuals (in facsimile) in order to reconstruct the musical portions of the Coronation and Procession. Although at the present moment a complete reconstruction cannot be made, this study provides as clear a picture as possible, given the sources available. This study includes transcriptions of music that was certainly part of the Coronation and Procession, as well as transcriptions of music that may have been used, but was never included in any record.
The Coronation of Charles II marked the end of Cromwell’s Commonwealth and the return of the English monarchy. After almost twenty years of civil war and Commonwealth rule, the citizens of London celebrated the return of their monarch in grand form. There was a nearly continuous stream of celebrations from the day he marched into London on May 25, 1660, until his Coronation on April 23 , the following year. The things that had been repressed by Commonwealth rule such as music, public theaters, and high ceremony, were now used to underline the festive atmosphere in London. During the war and the Commonwealth many of England’s musical institutions were dismantled. The court musicians of Charles I were forced either to flee the country, join the Royalist army, or to fend for themselves as teachers in London. 1 In addition, all of London’s theaters were shut down by Parliament in 1642 , leaving their actors and musicians without work. In churches and cathedrals, organs were damaged during the wars and ceremonial music was abolished from the churches by Parliament.^2 The Puritan desire to remove Catholic influences from worship and to remove plays and dance from the public theaters shifted the focus of English music making from public performance by professional musicians to amateur performances in private homes. The return of these institutions marked the fundamental changes that the Restoration represented. There are several primary sources that describe the Procession (on April 22 , 1661 ) and the Coronation (on April 23 , 1661 ) including the accounts of John Ogilby ( The (^1) Holman, Peter. Four and Twenty Fiddlers: The Violin at the English Court 1540 - 1690. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993 ): 306. (^2) Ibid, 307.
Entertainment of His Most Excellent Majestie Charles II ), Samuel Pepys ( The Diary of Samuel Pepys ), John Evelyn ( The Diary of John Evelyn ), and Sir Edward Walker ( A Circumstantial Account of the Preparations for the Coronation of His Majesty King Charles the Second ). These authors were all present at the ceremonies. However, their descriptions of the music employed are sketchy and incomplete. No complete record of the music exists for either the Procession or the Coronation. In this paper, I examine the primary accounts of the Procession and Coronation. Using contemporaraneous sources, such as the published accounts of John Ogilby and Edward Walker, the diaries of John Evelyn and Samuel Pepys, and musical sources (particularly the military manuals of Mersenne, Fantini, and Bendinelli and John Playford’s English Dancing Master ), I will, as much as possible, reconstruct the music played during both events. In some cases the music is documented, e.g. Matthew Locke’s suite For His Majesty’s Sackbutts and Cornetts. John Ogilby mentions that Matthew Locke wrote the music for the Procession, and there is a dedication to the Coronation of Charles II in the autograph copy of the suite. In other cases, there is no record of the music used. In those cases, I have examined contemporaraneous repertoire for possible candidates. For example, although string music for the Procession was definitely written by Matthew Locke, there is no indication of what that music might have been. I examined his collection of consort suites for possible material. The first chapter will deal with the biographies of important figures associated with the Coronation, including Matthew Locke. Particular attention will be paid to his service under Charles II and the events leading up to the Coronation. The Procession and Coronation will be covered in the second chapter. The third chapter will describe the
Charles II Charles II was born on May 29 , 1630. Witnesses report that at the time of his birth, a star was clearly visible over London, despite the daylight. 3 Seen at the time as a sign that marked the birth of a prince, the star, along with other circumstances, later suffused his life with Christian symbolism. He was born under a star and, after banishment from his country, became the resurrected embodiment of his murdered father. His return to London was achieved through a bloodless campaign, and Charles became the savior of his nation in the eyes of his people. Charles was born into a complicated and crumbling political situation. Tensions ran high between Catholics, Puritans and the moderate Protestants in England, Ireland and Scotland. In 1605 the Gunpowder Plot against James I was narrowly averted. Catholic conspirators planted barrels of gunpowder beneath the palace in an attempt to blow up both James I and Parliament. The plot was uncovered when a Catholic member of Parliament was warned and one of the conspirators, Guy Fawkes, was discovered in the cellar beneath the palace. The plot contributed to the distrust of all Catholics and increased Protestant anxiety over a possible Catholic uprising and an end to the Reformation. Under Charles I, there was a growing anti-Puritan sentiment. Sympathies shifted towards high-church ceremony associated with Catholicism, and away from the sobriety (^3) Knowles, Ronald, introduction to The Entertainment of His Most Excellent Majestie Charles II , by John Ogilby (Binghamton, NY, 198 8):14.
of Puritan services. These conditions lead to a struggle between the extremist Catholics and Puritans with the moderate Protestants in the middle. In Ireland, the English established a colony at Ulster and populated it with Scottish Presbyterians, marginalizing the Irish-Catholic majority. In Scotland, the Presbyterian majority was divided between supporters and opponents of Episcopalian influence. Most Presbyterians resented James I’s attempts to influence Scotland towards a more Episcopal style of liturgy and structure. His policies included introducing an Episcopal Scottish Prayer book and liturgy, which lead to the Bishops’ War with England in 1639. The war with Scotland and uprisings in Ireland aggravated already existing tensions between Charles I and Parliament. Charles I had been ruling for eleven years without calling Parliament for two reasons. The first was the religious friction between the King (who favored high church ritual) and the House of Commons (which was heavily Puritan). The second was the struggle between the King and Parliament surrounding issues of power and taxation. Parliament refused to approve the King’s request for levies unless he granted them greater powers, while the King issued levies without approval and arrested those who protested. After eleven years, Charles was forced to call Parliament in order to fund the Bishops’ War with Scotland. The differences that had accumulated in those eleven years were irreconcilable and in 1642 , when Charles II was only twelve years old, the first English Civil War broke out, and the younger Charles was called to command Royalist forces in support of his father. The war did not go well for the Royalists. Parliament had an economic advantage in that it could levy taxes, whereas the King had to rely on Royalist supporters for
marching his army into London on February 3, 1660 without incident, he called for the Long Parliament’s return. Parliament met for a final time before a new House of Lords and House of Commons was elected. This new Parliament reflected the growing royalist sentiment of the people. Parliament called for the return of the monarchy, and although that was never Monck’s intention, he submitted to their plan. In order to alleviate the concerns of the general public, Charles II drafted the Declaration of Breda on May 1, 1660. In it he pardoned all but the most unforgivable offenses (primarily those of regicide) and called for reconciliation between enemies. Charles II returned to England on May 25 without bloodshed, after years of political upheaval and instability. From Charles II’s return to London on May 29 until his Coronation on April 23, 1661 – and even beyond that–England, especially London, was in a state of perpetual celebration. When Parliament declared Charles King on May 8 , 1660, London rejoiced, lighting bonfires and ringing church bells all day and night. 4 When the King marched into London after his 17 - year exile there was again a great deal of pageantry. John Evelyn, a famous diarist, described the King’s return in his entry of May 29: This day came in his Majestie Charles the 2d to London after a sad, and long Exile… with a Triumph of above 20000 horse and foote, brandishing their swords and shouting with unexpressable joy: The ways straw’d with flowers, the bells ringing, the streetes hung with Tapissry, fountaines running with wine: The Mayor, Aldermen, all the Companies in their liver[ie]s, Chaines of Gold, banners; Lords and nobles, Cloth of Silver, gold and vellvet every body clad in, the windos (^4) Keeble, Neil Howard. The Restoration: England in the 1660s. (Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2002): 40.
and balconies all set with Ladys, Trumpets, Musick, and [myriads] of people flocking the… And all this without one drop of bloud, and by the very army, which rebell’d against him: but it was the Lords doing, et mirabile in oculis nostris : for such a Restauration was never seene in the mention of any history, nor so joyfull a day, and so bright, ever seene in this nation: this hapning when to expect or effect it, was past all humane policy.^5 This festival atmosphere, accented with elaborate ceremony, continued for over a year. Public displays, which were prohibited by the Commonwealth, were encouraged by the new monarchy in order to emphasize the fundamental changes that were taking place in English society and government.^6 Over the period of nearly a year between Charles’s return to London and his Coronation, he carried out many official tasks, including disbanding the army that had played such a major role in the civil war, and putting the regicides on trial. Those who had lived through the Commonwealth were executed on October 17. Those that had died before the Restoration were not spared, however. On January 30, 1661 , the same day that Charles I was executed, their bodies were exhumed and put on display.^7 John Ogilby, Poet and Planner of the Procession John Ogilby ( 1600 - 1676 ) was born near Edinburgh, Scotland, though his family moved to London when he was still very young. At the age of twelve, he was apprenticed to a dancing master. Before his apprenticeship was finished, he had set up (^5) Evelyn, John. Diary. Selected and edited by John Bowle. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1983): 182. (^6) Keeble, 43. (^7) Evelyn, 185 - 87.
as a translator and poet was well respected by the scholarly community. His attention to quality and detail raised the level of printing in England. 11 His most significant work associated with the Restoration was his Entertainment. He arranged the pageants at the four arches and also wrote down the full description of the Procession. There were two versions of this description of the Procession and the entertainments surrounding it. The first, written in 1661, was basically the script of the event itself (Ogilby had been named poet for the Coronation procession and was responsible for scripting the various speeches.) The second version of Ogilby’s Entertainment was written one year later and was a full and detailed account of the Procession, including visual descriptions, numerous classical references (particularly to Virgil), and his signature illustrations. Ogilby used his design and description of the procession, the arches in particular, to support the symbolism associated with Charles II. Several of the most often used images, both in general and by Ogilby specifically, were Charles as Christ, Saint George, and Augustus. Christian symbolism extended back to Charles’s birth on May 29 , 1630 , when a star became clearly visible at midday, and this connection was emphasized when he reentered London on his birthday in 1660. 12 Christian symbolism was also supported by the death of his father. Charles II was percived as the resurrection of his father, the martyred king. 13 The Saint George symbolism centered on Charles’s defeat of the “dragon,” or the Rump Parliament. This imagery was heavily drawn upon in the first arch and was further supported by the decision to hold the Coronation on Saint George’s (^11) Ibid, 29 - 40. (^12) Knowles, 14. (^13) Keeble, 38 - 39.
Day.^14 The first arch also illustrated the connection between Charles II’s defeat of the Commonwealth and Augustus, who went to war as an act of revenge against his father’s murder by men in the Commonwealth.^15 Ogilby relied heavily on the works of Virgil in the design of the first arch, quoting the Aeneid in several Latin inscriptions. For example, beneath a painting of Charles II’s landing at Dover is a partial quote of several lines from the Aeneid ( in solido rursus. Fortuna locavit ). The full quote: Multa dies, variusque labor mutabilis aevi, Rettulit in melius multos; alterna revisens, Lusit, & in solido rursus Fortuna locavit Knowles translates as: The various Work of Time. And many Days, Often Affairs from Worse to Better raise; Fortune, reviewing those she tumbled down, Sporting, restores again unto the Crown. Other quotes from the works of Virgil combined with visual references reinforced the symbolism of Charles as Aeneas and Charles as Augustus. As Charles approached the first arch, he would have seen artwork depicting personifications of Rebellion and Confusion and a city in ruin. As he passed through the arch, on the other side he would see images of his triumph over Cromwell and the return of Monarchy and Loyalty. In his introduction to Ogilby’s Entertainment , Knowles draws parallels between Charles (^14) Knowles, 15. (^15) Ibid, 18.
Royalist messenger in the Low Countries in 1648. Cummings also suggests that Locke was rewarded by Prince Charles for his service. 20 Shortly after the Restoration, Matthew Locke was given a place in the Twenty- four Violins. Later, he was given a place in the Queen’s Chapel. Locke is credited with writing the music for the Coronation Procession. This includes four songs (“From Neptune’s Wat’ry Kingdoms, where,” “King Charles, King Charles, Great Neptune of the Main,” Come not here the King of Peace,” and “With all our wishes, Sir go on”). The text to these songs survive, but not the music. He also contributed instrumental music including his suite, For His Majesty’s Sackbuts and Cornetts , and music for the Twenty- four Violins, which is now lost. Other Players: John Playford, Henry Cooke, Henry Lawes, and William Child Though Matthew Locke is credited with writing most of the music for the Procession, he was probably not involved in writing any of the music for the services, considering his association with the Catholic Church. The Coronation music was written by Henry Cooke, Henry Lawes, and William Child. Henry Cooke ( 1615 - 1672 ) was a member of the Chapel Royal under Charles I, and like Matthew Locke, he left his mark on Westminster Abbey, scratching his name into a pane of glass in 1642. During the Civil War he was a member of the Royalist army, eventually reaching the rank of captain. That title stayed with him for the rest of his life. (^20) Harding, xxiv. This theory is based on a collection of motets, which includes “A Collection of Songs when I was in the Low Countreys 1648.”
He sang bass and also performed on the viol and theorbo. After the Restoration, he was awarded the post of singer and composer in the Private Music and shortly afterwards, the Master of Children for the Chapel Royal. He was responsible for nearly half of the anthems sung at the Coronation. Henry Lawes ( 1596 - 1662 ) spent much of his life as a teacher. He began his career as early as 1615 when he was hired to teach music to the Earl of Bridgewater’s children. He entered the court’s employment in 16 26, eventually performing with both the Chapel Royal and the Private Music. During this time he was involved in writing theatrical music, both for court masques and for the Earl of Bridgewater. Lawes survived the Commonwealth successfully as a teacher of voice and viol. He wrote some secular music and held small concerts in his home, which attracted aristocrats and scholars. Along with Matthew Locke and Henry Cooke, he wrote the opera, The Siege of Rhodes , which was performed in 1656. At the Restoration, Lawes returned to his old posts and was also made composer for the Private Music. He composed at least one of the anthems for Charles II’s Coronation, and died a little more than a year later in 1662. William Child ( 1606 - 1697) was born in Bristol and became apprenticed to a lay clerk at the Bristol Cathedral in 1620. Ten years later he became a clerk at Saint George’s Cathedral in Windsor and organist there a couple of years later. He was forced out of Saint George’s Cathedral during the Civil War. He returned to Windsor and his old appointment at the Restoration. In addition, he was made organist of the Chapel Royal, composer of wind music, and cornettist in the King’s Music. John Playford ( 1623 - 1686) is remembered as a collector and publisher of music. He moved from his home in Norwich to London after his father died in 1639. In either
