Jacob van Eyck's Der Fluyten Lust-hof : Composition, Improvisation, or ... ? Consequences for Performance Practice [abstract]

David Lasocki (ed.), The Recorder in the Seventeenth Century – Proceedings of the International Recorder Symposium, Utrecht 1993 (Utrecht, 1995), 177-195

Jacob van Eyck's variations from Der Fluyten Lust-hof originate in a period during which variation had strong links with the practice of improvisation. Singers and instrumentalists were trained to apply their own ornamental passaggi to melodic lines of madrigals, chansons and other vocal works. Instrumental variation could also combine with musical form, the theme being used as a starting point for a sequence of variations. Where did van Eyck stand? Should his works be considered as 'frozen' improvisations or as true compositions?

Although elements of improvisation have left their traces, his printed works largely went beyond the improvised state. The most trivial evidence is the existence of a few doublings, the two 'Lavignone' pieces (nve 9 & 58) being he most striking example. They show that van Eyck could regenerate whole pieces. Defining his works as composition will protect us from understandable but unvalid comparisons with the Italian improvised manner of playing passaggi or diminutions. Although the same ornamental formulas are used, van Eyck's figurations were not meant to substitute a vocal line: they served a compositional process.

One of the striking features of his art is how independent his variations can be from the themes. Phrasing, form: van Eyck took much freedom. When phrasing ambiguity occurs in a vocal theme, a comparison with the variations can be much more revealing than the text.

Passaggi, usually applied to pieces with a strong emotional character, had to be text-oriented. Van Eyck's strophic models were more neutral, madrigalism hardly played a role. Orientation to the text or the mood was simply not demanded, this is purely instrumental music. On the other hand, van Eyck did not turn a deaf ear to the themes. The desolate atmosphere of  'Si vous me voules guerir' (nve 24) is stressed by a low tessitura, and in the variations by the prevalence of persistent rhythms. Another close relation is suggested in '1. Balet, of Vluchste nimphje vande jaght' (nve 116). Modo 2 is so whimsical and elusive, that there can be no doubt that he has tried to express the swiftness of the little nymph. In other works, van Eyck just drifts away from the theme and its affective qualities. In Modo 2 of 'Lavolette' (nve 133) he apparently took pleasure in obscuring the elegant nature of the theme.

Comparison between the two 'Lavignone' pieces brings to the surface several elements of improvisation. There is a modification of form (the second is a 'chained' set), and small changes in rhythm and figuration occur, caused by forgetfulness or not. Here we become aware of a very personal, idiosyncratic practice. The idea of a piece as an unchangeable whole was apparently not part of van Eyck's way of thinking. He took freedom in other areas too, pitch level for instance. One of the 'Amarilli mia bella' pieces is in D minor, the other in G minor. The 'Tweede Rosemont' is basically the same piece as Modo 3 of the first 'Rosemont', but transposed up to a fourth (and notated in doubled note-values.

Composition and improvisation: these terms are obviously not to be regarded as antitheses in van Eyck's case. Nor were they in 17th-century music in general. All notated music asked for elements of improvisation. For van Eyck, music was a lively and flexible language, not bound to paper. Modern performers are invited to treat this music accordingly. Let it be clear that this does not relieve us of the obligation to research van Eyck's intentions carefully.

Van Eyck's music was simple and modest entertainment, meant to please the Utrecht citizens strolling in the Janskerkhof. The tension and interplay between disguise and recognition must have been an attractive pastime for the listener, as was the increasing virtuosity from variation to variation. For those who limit themselves to 'Doen Daphne', 'Amarilli', 'Engels nachtegaeltje' and other hits: you still have much to explore. I have drawn the attention to the hypnotizing 'Si vous me voules guerir' and to the elusive '1. Balet, of Vluchste nimphje vande jaght'. Ever tried 'Gabrielle Maditelle'?

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