De Castro's Volumes for the Children of Gillis Hooftman (1592)

De Castro presumably acquainted with the Hooftman family during his first stay in Antwerp before 1577 (the family moved to The Hague in 1582).

De Castro's 1592 volumes for three of Gillis' children consist of two-part chansons, supposedly on the composer's own texts. The setting for two voices (either two sopranos, or soprano and tenor) clearly indicate that the chansons were intended to be performed by the dedicatees themselves. This is also confirmed by the tone of the dedication texts, which reveal that the dedications were far from a formal, symbolic compensation for received favours or a means to obtain them. They were genuine tokens of affection, in which De Castro expressed his gratitude towards Cornille, Marguerite and Beatrice for:

"l'amitié grande que me daignez porter, laquelle j'experimente largement de jour en jour" ("the deep friendship you bestow on me, which I abundantly experience daily").

The approaching publication of one of the volumes for the children Hooftman is the subject of a letter to Jan Moretus written by De Castro on 23 August 1591. The letter reveals that Jan Moretus played a vital role in the edition of this two-part volume.

Music Fragment 5

"Si douce est la douleur", two-part chanson from Sonets avec une chanson, contenant neuf parties l'une suivant l'autre, le tout a deux parties ... livre premier, Antwerp, Phalèse-Bellère, 1592.

[ Listen to the Music Fragment ]

De Castro's bicinia for two voices are beautiful examples of intimate domestic music. The limitations of the setting notwithstanding - two-part chords can sound rather poor: they only consist of one interval - De Castro tried to add as much variety as possible. The text of Si douce est la douleur (written by the composer himself?) provided hints for the composition of the music: the beginning and the end have a slow movement, prompted by the words "douleur" and "lamente". Also note the dissonant decelerations on these words. The two 'emotional' words form the frame within which, by way of contrast, a lively rhythmical declamation moves, expressing the excitement of the lovers ("agite", "tourmente", "je béni le jour ..."). The melody is richly varied, with well balanced syllabic and melismatic fragments.

[Translation]

So sweet is the pain that disturbs and torments me,
And so sweet the nets that have trapped me,
That I bless the day I was made captive
As much as I sometimes lament it, my dear.

Translation bys Jeanice Brooks

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