A Case of Cultural Transfer at the Beginning of the 17th Century: The ten ‘‘Spanish’’ court songs in Gabriel Bataille’s Second Book of Airs

Abstract

An approach based on the theory of cultural transfer is proposed in this article to explain the inclusion of ten songs in Spanish in the Second livre d’airs mis en tablature de luth par Gabriel Bataille (Paris, 1609). This study seeks to determine the origin of these songs and the main factors that could explain their reception and adaptation in France in a context of political, religious and identity conflicts between France and Spain. Through the analysis of these songs, differences and similarities between French and Spanish airs are identified, emphasizing the characteristics that show their Spanish origin or their adaptation to the French court song style. Elements connecting the airs in Spanish to the vaudeville genre are proposed as a possible explanation to their reception in France. An analysis of the ‘translation’ by Pierre Guédron (Paris, 1611) of the air Pues que me das a escoger serves to illustrate different levels of assimilation of one Spanish song into the French repertoire.