Carnets de voyages

The works of the French lutenist and composer Charles Tessier give evidence of his vast curiosity and extensive travels in the years around 1600. His Premier livre de chansons & airs de cour tant en françois qu'en italien et en gascon à 4 & 5 parties appeared in London in 1597 with a preface in Italian; the title-page refers to him as musitien de la Chambre du Roy (i.e. musician to Henri IV of France). A second volume, entitled Airs et villanelles français, italiens, espagnols, suices et turcqs... a 3, 4 & 5 parties, was published in 1604. This set was dedicated to Moritz, Landgrave of Hesse. Its second edition (1610) appeared with a dedication to King Matthias of Hungary. Charles Tessier achieved a happy balance in his works between the different cultures of his time, with popular songs and refined airs de cour, a mixture of rusticity and delicacy that reflects the tastes of the court of Henri IV. His Italian and Swiss villanelles, his Spanish and Turkish airs - echoed on