The first goal is interpreting the rhythm of the English March.
We know that the Foot March has a clear and simple structure: with eight total divisions.
The first division is the command call. The next seven divisions make up the actual march.
Five of these seven divisions are shorter, while two are as long as the first division.
the Basic Rhythm of the English March
If we refer back to the Warrant, we can see that the second division (the first part of the march) contains the most basic rhythm of the English March.
The following six divisions are embellishments on that rhythm.
For that reason, our discussion will begin with Division 2 and an exploration of the most likely base rhythm of the English March.
Recent Interpretations: Rhythm of the English march
Because the English Warrant lacks bar lines or a time signature, recent interpretations have made assumptions in order to translate the value of each note into modern notation.
All three attempts have assumed that the Warrant’s version depicts a march in 2/4 or Cut Time.
Probably this assumption begins with the more modern notation that a “march” is in Cut Time.
However, in the 18th century the purpose of the beating and the time signature do not seem to be as fixed as they become in the nineteenth century.
The British army regularly marched to what are known as Troops, which are seen in English Fife tutors as being in 3/4, 6/8, 2/4, and 3/8.
Winfield Scott explains in Infantry Tactics (1835) that certain time signatures are linked to certain types and speeds of marches: 4/4 or Cut Time are Common Time March, played at 90 on the half note; 3/4 are Retreats, played at 90 on the dotted half note; 2/4 or 6/8 are Quicksteps, played at 110 on the quarter note; and 3/8 are Troop Steps, played at 80 on the dotted quarter note.
Regardless of the speed or associated style of beating, this does demonstrate that the armies are comfortable and capable of marching to numerous styles of beatings.
Therefore our interpretation of the English [Foot] March should not be limited to a modern assumption of 4/4 or Cut Time.
Most importantly, all eighteenth century versions of the Fife tune “The Foot March” are in 3/4, heavily suggesting that, despite our modern assumptions, Charles I’s Warrant shows a 3/4 drum beating.
Mensural Notation: The Key to the EM’s Rhythm
In this section, I will demonstrate that the English March must be interpreted as 3/4.
We will do this primarily based on an understanding of White Mensural Notation. Additionally, we’ll use Thoinot Arbeau rules set in his Orchesography (1589).
Introduction to Arbeau’s Rules & Mensural Notation
Our best recourse to understanding and defining the rhythm of the English March will come from a study and application of contemporary military marching rhythm.
In 1589, French author Thoinot Arbeau published Orchesography, which reads as a dialogue between him and an imaginary student, in which Arbeau explains the theory of dance rhythms and movements.
Interestingly (and advantageously), he opens this discussion by explaining how military marching corresponds to certain beats on the drum. There he describes three general rhythms for a drum cadence.
Important Notation
To completely understand first Arbeau’s different rhythms and, most importantly, how to correctly apply these rules to the notation in the Charles I’s Warrant, we must understand the notation and terminology of the era.
Both Arbeau and the Warrant use a style of musical notation referred to today as ‘White Mensural Notation’, the predominate form of music notation from the 1450s to the early 1600s. As the Warrant was written in 1631, this would correspond to the end of White Notation’s usage.
You can learn can learn some basics about this in my discussion of ‘Why did armies march so slow?’.
For an even more nuanced and in-depth discussion, I would suggest Willi Apel The Notation of Polyphonic Music: 900-1600 (1953).
We see that the Warrant includes notes that modern musicians would call quarter notes, half notes, and whole notes. Apel (1953) explains that these notes are actually referred to as Sm (semiminima), M (minima), and S (semibrevis), respectively (87).
Defining Mensuration
The difficulty of mensural notation comes from the idea of mensuration. As Apel explains,
“By this term [mensuration] is meant the metrical relation between the value of one note and that of the next smaller degree. In modern notation this relation is always duple – i.e., a given note, unless dotted, is always equal to two of the next smaller species. In mensural notation, however, an undotted note may be either duple or triple – i.e., equal to two or three smaller notes, depending upon the mensuration of the piece and the value of the neighbouring notes.”
Apel (96)
In short, while modern time signatures can be duple or triple time, the relative value of notes is always duple. In other words, a whole note always equals 2 half notes; a quarter note always equals 2 sixteenth notes. This is true in 2/4 and 6/8.
Mensural relationships were more relative. Certain “time signatures” (as much as they were such) could have duple and triple relations within. In a duple rhythm, a whole note equals 2 half notes. In a triple rhythm, a whole note equals 3 half notes.
This will help us to understand the rules explained by Arbeau for military cadences and how they can apply to the Warrant.
Arbeau’s 1st Duple Time
In the first duple method, Arbeau explains,
“the drum rhythm contains eight minims, the first five of which are beaten and struck. The first four of these with one stick only and the fifth with both sticks at once. The other three beats are silent”.
Arbeau (20)
Thus, the rhythm occurs in eight beats.
The left foot steps on beat 1 and the right foot steps on beat 5.
Beats 6-8 should be silent, as this allows the soldier to recognize whether the cadence is on the left or right foot; in other words, the left foot should step after a brief pause in the playing.
Arbeau’s 1st Duple Time shows what we would call Half Notes as having the value of Sixteenth Notes.
The phrase above provides a basic rhythm that should form the backbone of each measure. Based on Arbeau’s explanation, we can best understand this first duple rhythm as Cut Time or 2/4.
mensuration & arbeau’s 1st duple time
This is what would be referred to as “tempus imperfectum cum prolatione imperfecta” and would be notated as an opened circle, or C (Apel 96-8).
This means the breve (whole note) contains two semibreve (half notes). Each semibreve contains two minim (quarter notes).
A complete “measure” therefore must be two semibreve, or eight minim.
Division 2 of the Warrant contains only six minim (if the semibreve at the end is converted into two minim), and therefore does not contain a complete “measure” when translated into C.
ARBEAU’S 1ST DUPLE TIME & the English march
Let’s now compare the rules of 2/4 from Arbeau to Division 2’s rhythm of the English March.
We can extrapolate that the EM’s rhythm should be translated into sixteenth notes. The final note is an eighth note.
Problematically, however, this translation leaves an eighth note missing at the end of the measure.
We cannot translate the final note in Division 2, the whole note marked “poung,” as a quarter note because that is inconsistent with the written music and Arbeau’s rules.
The red rests denote inserted rests not included in Division 2 that are required in order to imitate Arbeau’s Drum Rhythm.
Mistakes in Modern Interpretations
Both Wood and Byrne interpret the Foot March as following Arbeau’s rules for Cut Time and also encounter the problem noted above.
In order to correct the issue, they both insert an additional rest. They seem to assume that the organization into divisions implies an unmarked rest.
Refer back to Blades’, Wood’s, and Byrne’s versions here.
I would argue that this is a flawed assumption. The English March in the Warrant is obviously written logically and in contemporary notation. If the Warrant meant for a rest, it would have included one or used a longer note.
Arbeau’s Triple Time
While the majority of Arbeau’s examples are in his first duple method, he explains that all those examples can easily be understood in triple time.
Arbeau explains that:
“it would also be possible to beat the said five minims and one rest and to march to them in triple time [where] the soldier brings down his left foot on the first note and then his right on the fourth note”.
Arbeau (36)
By removing two beats of rest but maintaining the same pace (two steps per rhythm), the rhythm becomes slightly slower (but the tempo doesn’t change).
In this style, the left foot steps on beat 1 and the right foot on beat 4, leaving a brief silence on beat 6.
Thus, Arbeau’s Triplet Time shows what we would call Half Notes as having the value of Eighth Notes in 6/8.
mensuration & arbeau’s 1st duple time
The modern reader might immediately assume that Arbeau’s use of a ‘3’ means 3/4 (as does his use of the term ‘triple time’).
But this rhythm should be understood as 6/8, based on the marching pattern described.
We can confirm that based on Mensural Notation. Apel explains that the numeral ‘3’ can be used to indicate “proportion tripla”. This indicates the proportional value of the notes. In this case, the semibreve breaks down into three minim, which should be understood as triplets in 2/4 (172).
For this reason, we can understand C3 as “a substitute for [C dot]” or 6/8 (Apel 155).
Considering Arbeau’s specific use of the term “triple time,” Arbeau most probably means C dot (or 6/8).
Further Note on The Time Signature ‘3’
During the 1600s, most music instructors shifted away from the older concept of “perfect” time, and towards early forms of time signatures.
The French indicted triple time with just a 3, but this could incorporate a large variety of modern time signatures (Herisonne 68-9).
Thus, while Arbeau labels this triple time beating with a 3, we can reasonably assume a 6/8 interpretation.
ARBEAU’S 1ST DUPLE TIME & the English march
Let’s now compare the rules of Triple Time from Arbeau to Division 2’s rhythm of the English March.
Based on the above, we must assume that this rhythm expresses a 6/8 beating.
The distinction matters when applying Arbeau’s 6/8 rules to Division 2 because it influences how we understand the semibreve at the end of each division.
If we understood Division 2 to be in O (3/4), then we would translate the semibreve as a quarter note; this would nicely fit the measure and allow for Arbeau’s one beat of rest.
However, when we understand Division 2 to be C dot (6/8), we must translate the semibreve as the equivalent to three minims, or eighth notes. This forces the final note to bleed into the next measure and creates one extra beat than Arbeau describes.
As can be seen from this example, since we must understand Arbeau’s triplet rhythm as 6/8, or C dot or C3, we cannot apply the rules to the Warrant’s musical notation.
Mistakes in Modern Interpretations
No recent interpretations assume the English March follows Arbeau’s Triple Time rules or a 6/8 translation.
Arbeau’s 2nd Duple Time
The final rhythm Arbeau suggests is another form of Duple Time, which is the most promising version (Arbeau 36).
This Duple Time version is sort of like the Triple Time explained above as it is also based on six beats.
The left foot steps on beat 1, the right foot steps on beat 3, and the left foot steps again on beat 5, leaving one beat of rest.
In the next phrase, the right foot steps on beat 1, etc.
Again, this rhythm is slower than the first duple time, as well as the triple time, despite still being performed at the same tempo.*
Back to the 2nd Duple Time
Arbeau’s 2nd Duple Time feels a bit odd since sometimes the rhythm starts on the left foot, and sometimes on the right.
We actually see examples of this style of duple time in 19th century manuals when explaining how to march to a 3/4.
Potter explains that in Triple Time, one steps with every quarter note, so that the left foots steps on the first note of the first bar and the right foot steps at the first note of the second bar, and so on (The Art of Playing the Fife 11). This is re-enforced by Winfield Scott, Infantry-Tactics, where henotes that The Retreat (a 3/4) should have 3 steps to a bar (so that each quarter notes gets a step).
When thought of in this manner, it perhaps makes more sense to interpret Arbeau’s second duple time rhythm in 3/4, with the clear intention of stepping on the quarter note.
mensuration & arbeau’s 1st duple time
When we think about Arbeau’s 2nd Duple Time as being in 3/4, we can understand it as “tempus perfectum cum prolatione imperfecta,” notated as a complete circle, or O (Apel 96-8).
Let’s break down what that means:
A “perfect tempus” means 3 beats to a measure.
An “imperfect prolatione” means a duple rhythm. In other words, a breve (whole note) equals 2 semibreve (half notes).
ARBEAU’S 1ST DUPLE TIME & the English march
Let’s now compare the rules of 3/4 from Arbeau to Division 2’s rhythm of the English March.
In O (3/4), the minim are translated as eighth notes and the semibreve as quarter notes. For this reason, Division 2 will translate very easily into this duple rhythm.
*Mistakes in Modern Interpretations
Blades misunderstands Arbeau’s distinction between the 2nd version of Duple Time from the 1st version (213). Blades assumes that the 2nd Duple Time is a quick march, or faster rate of marching, but this is incorrect.
In the Cut Time, one “drum rhythm” (eight-beat phrase) equals one pace, which is two steps or four feet. Therefore, a soldier may cover 1 league (10,000 feet) in 2,500 drum rhythms (Arbeau 20-21).
Conversely, in the second duple time, a drum rhythm contains three steps or six feet, equal to 1.5 paces. Thus, Arbeau reasons a soldier could cover the same league in 1,666 drum rhythms (36).
This is a third fewer drum rhythms, because one rhythm is a third longer in metrical length, and not because the rate of beating or marching is faster.
Conclusion: The Base Rhythm in 3/4 or O
The most convincing and likely interpretation of the English Foot March is Arbeau’s 2nd Duple Time.
This is also understood in White Mensural Notation as O or modern notation as 3/4.
Why 3/4?
Most importantly, we can translate Division 2 into 3/4 using White Mensural Notation and still successfully follow Arbeau’s rules.
As we saw, translating Division 2 into Common Time leaves the measure two eighth notes empty.
Translating Division 2 into 6/8 extends the final note into the next measure.
Only this 3/4 translation produces a correct understanding of Arbeau’s rules.
This interpretation is also preferred for three additional reasons:
- Each division remains a complete measure. This seems the most likely understanding of a division.
- 3/4 matches the time signature of existing fife parts to the English Foot March.
- This interpretation produced a simple, natural sticking rhythm.
Reason 3: Simple, Natural Sticking Rhythm
In the Warrant, the minims are labelled with the terms “pou” and “tou” alternatively. Although often known as the “ma-ma da-da,” some older drum tutors refer to the long roll as the “tou tou pou pou” (Lovering 5) or “tow tow pow pow” (Robbins 7). A “pou” indicates the right hand, while a “tou” indicates the left hand.
We can confirm this in two ways. The Young Drummer’s Assistant, which utilizes the up-down notation seen in many 18th and 19th century manuals, such as Benjamin Clark and Ashworth, conforms to this Right-Left-Right-Left-Right structure. The Fisher’s version, which has different symbols for right stroke and left stroke, also confirms this understanding of those terms.
Thus, the rhythm described in the 3/4 version of Arbeau’s 2nd Duple Time shows the right (dominant) hand striking on the beat, as a step is taken, and a weaker left stroke on the off-beat.
Whereas Arbeau suggests the final minim should be performed with two hands (a modern day flam), the final note in each division is labelled “poung” and accompanied by a fermata. The Young Drummer’s Assistant confirms that a poung stroke is solely performed on the right hand, ending each phrase with a dominant hand to mark the last step of the phrase.
For that reason, we know that this 3/4 rhythm defines the base of all divisions for the rhythm of the English March.
Divisions 1, 3-8 Embellishments on Division 2
When we take a close look at all 8 divisions in the English Foot March, we see that all are variations on Division 2.
Division 2 establishes the basic rhythm.
From there, each subsequent division embellishes a little more on the variation before, a common element of early music that was especially true for this style of military march.
Arbeau suggests that this is not only a common element of a marching cadence, but in fact recommended to make the beating more interesting:
“[the Reader] must reflect that when the drum beats are varied the sound is more pleasing, wherefore the drummers sometimes use the five minims and three rests noted above, and sometimes instead of the minims they employ two crotchets or four quavers, according to their fancy. However, the fifth note must always be a minim, unless they wish to repeat the rhythm two or three more times, in which case the three rests occur only at the end.”
Arbeau (22)
Thus, the drummers, after having set the basic rhythm, can quicken the notes as they fancy to embellish the line.
They can also extend the length of the line, by continuing the base rhythm for two or three times. The only absolute rule is the rest that ends the line, which helps the soldiers recognize when the foot should strike the ground (34-5).
Embellishments in the English March
Divisions 3, 4, 5, and 7 are identical in rhythmic value to Division 2, but increasingly utilize ‘R’ or ‘whole ruffes’.
Divisions 1, 6, and 8 are clearly double the length and also greatly embellish on the original rhythm, using ‘halfe ruffes’ and ‘ruffe and a halfe joined together’ to create more complex embellishments.
On closer inspection, all three appear to end with the same variation; the beginning of Division 8 is an embellishment on the beginning of Division 6. Division 1 ends the same as Divisions 6 & 8.
In order to interpret the rest of the divisions, we need to understand the rudiments in the English March: the Poung Stroke, the Half Ruffe and Whole Ruffe, and the Petang.
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