Some 19th century street cries. (original) (raw)
From the late Middle Ages till the Pedlars Act of 1871, the London markets (Spitalfields, Smithfield, Bartholomew et al.) were theatres for the expressive function of what are called street cries. Exposing the context within the communication strategies, I’ll show some composition of the end of the 16th and the beginning of the 17th century (i.e. Ravenscroft, Dering, Gibbons) that drew up the typical sound scenario of London’s markets, dwelling also on the type of oral and written transmission that allowed the continuity of the cries’ repertoire till the present. In my opinion, those were the first attempts of soundscape composition in their representation for the British élite - declined in the styles of that time (round, catch). Cries were also categorized in the negative meaning of “noises”, as it appears in literature (cf. Johnson 1908), but in music, and in particular in Thomas Ravenscroft, all sounds were processed – from street cries to the sound of bells – to describe London’s working life, seasonal migrations, urban rites, and proclamations (cf. The Belman Song in Melismata, 1611). Ravenscroft was “a Londoner […] in daily contact with itinerant vendors – that – has left us four really good specimens of his musicianship in the form of rounds, the words of which consist of some of the well-known Cryes […] for four voices.” (Bridge 1921: 30). Therefore, more levels are displayed: (a) the soundscape as background (the street cries in their context as a whole), and signals, that is, the individual entry of each voice and the respective objects of communication; (b) the semantic level of the expression and communication of the crier (exposure/incitation); (c) the context in which the economic activities took place; sales practice; the topographical (i.e. Citie Conceites, in Melismata, 1611) and political references (“Street cries have, before now, been made the vehicle for Political Caricature”, cf. Tuer 1885: 28-29).