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Welcome to Harmonia…I’m Angela Mariani. Grab a partner and head to the dance hall! This hour, we’re throwing a dance party that spans several centuries. Dancing was common in all social classes across Europe. Whether you’re ready for a bawdy brawl or an elegant Pavane, we have the dance for you. We’ll explore dances that were danced by professionals and amateurs alike as well as dance music that isn’t meant to be danced to at all. Our featured release is J.S. Bach Suites & Sonatas, Vol. 3 performed by Shirley Hunt. 

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MUSIC TRACK 
The Queen's Delight
Les Musiciens de Saint-Julien, cond. François Lazarevitch
Alpha 2020 / ALPHA636
Traditional
Tr. 9 Drive the Cold Winter Away (arr. F. Lazarevitch for voice and chamber ensemble) (4:41)

That was the English traditional song “Drive the Cold Winter Away.” François Lazarevitch led Les Musiciens de Saint-Julien on their 2020 Alpha release The Queen’s Delight. We’ll be hearing more English songs and country dance tunes from this recording a little later.

Whether you’re here to tap your toe or jump up and join the volta, it’s time for a Harmonia dance party. Dance was a core part of socializing in every class in the Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque. We’ll begin this dance party in a place you might not expect—on a sixteenth-century church organ. When secular music like Pierre Attaingnant’s collection of keyboard dances were performed on organ, there were complaints. Catholic theologian Desiderius Erasmus complained that [quote] “amorous and lascivious melodies are heard such as elsewhere accompany only the dances of courtesans and clowns.”

Still, these complaints are evidence that Renaissance dance music like this was heard in churches soon after it was written. Let’s hear a Pavane and Galliard published by Pierre Attaingnant for [quote] “organs, spinnets, clavichords, and similar instruments.”

MUSIC TRACK
Dances and Chansons of the French Renaissance
Robert Bates, organ
Loft 2018 / LRCD-1137
Anon., Pub. Pierre Attaingnant (1531)
Tr. 26 Galliarde No. 8 (2:58)
Tr. 9 Galliarde sur la Pavane (2:14)

Galliarde and Pavane from Pierre Attangnant’s 1530 collection of keyboard dances. Robert Bates, organist, performed on a Renaissance organ at Saint-Pierre in Burgundy.

One place you would expect to dance is the dance hall. These were popular among aristocrats and commoners alike. Dance halls in the American colonies were filled with the sounds of English country dance. Dance might not be for the feet—many dances were for the fingers as well, and a wealth of virtuosic works for instruments came out of this dance tradition. We’ll hear “The Lord Monk’s March” by James Oswald with “Hey to the Camp” by Henry Purcell. Then instrumental feature, Thomas Baltzar’s “John Come Kiss Me Now” with variations by viol virtuosos Christopher Simpson, violinist and clockmaker Davis Mell, and composer-turned-Quaker Solomon Eccles. 

MUSIC TRACK 
The Queen's Delight
Les Musiciens de Saint-Julien, cond. François Lazarevitch
Alpha 2020 / ALPHA636
James Oswald and Henry Purcell
Tr. 14 The Lord Monk’s March – Hey to the Camp (arr. F. Lazarevitch for chamber ensemble) (3:18)
Thomas Baltzar
Tr. 10 John Come Kiss me Now (arr. F. Lazarevitch for chamber ensemble) (6:21)

“The Lord Monk’s March,” “Hey to the Camp,” and “John Come Kiss me Now” performed by Les Musiciens de Saint-Julien led by François Lazarevitch.

Professional dancers provided courtly entertainment across Europe. The French court at the time of Louis XIV employed the best dancers, musicians, and composers of the day. The short ballet Le Mariage de la Grosse Cathos used a band of oboes and percussion to accompany dancers. The music is by Andre Danican Philidor, who came from a family of oboe and flute makers. This ballet is important since we have the choreography as well as the music from the time it was premiered. The dance moves are indicated in a special notation by choreographer Jean Favier. Dance masters used this and other notation to teach choreography to dancers learning a new production as well for courtiers preparing for important social events. We’ll hear three dances from Le Mariage de la Grosse Cathos—a Pavane, Air, and Charivari.

MUSIC TRACK 
Francoeur Philidor - Festive and Ceremonial Music for Versailles
La Simphonie du Marais / Hugo Reyne, cond.
Erato - Parlophone 2011 / 5099909644459
Andre Danican Philidor
Tr. 42 Le mariage de la grosse Cathos, I. La pavane (0:49)
Tr. 45 Le mariage de la grosse Cathos, IV. Air de Ivrognes (1:36)
Tr. 46 Le mariage de la grosse Cathos, V. Charivari (1:16)

Three dances from the ballet Le Mariage de la Grosse Cathos by Andre Danican Philidor. Hugo Reyne led La Simphonie du Marais. 

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Theme Music Bed: Ensemble Alcatraz, Danse Royale, Elektra Nonesuch 79240-2 / B000005J0B, T.12: La Prime Estampie Royal

Early music can mean a lot of things. What does it mean to you? Let us know your thoughts and ideas. Contact us at harmonia early music dot org, where you’ll also find playlists and an archive of past shows.

You’re listening to Harmonia . . .  I’m Angela Mariani.

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:59 Midpoint Break Music Bed:
Dances and Chansons of the French Renaissance
Robert Bates, organ
Loft 2018 / LRCD-1137
Anon., Pub. Pierre Attaingnant (1531)
Tr. 16 Galliarde: (excerpt of 1:05)

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Welcome back. Staying a while longer in European courts, dance was a major signifier of social status. How high a man could lift his partner in a Volta or how elegantly a woman held herself while strutting in a Pavane could help or hurt their social standing. The galliard was an especially athletic dance. Queen Elizabeth I was said to have danced the galliard as part of her morning exercise. Let’s hear two galliards by one of Elizabeth’s favorite composers, John Dowland. Here is “The Most Sacred Queen Elizabeth, her Galliard” and “The Frog Galliard.”

MUSIC TRACK
Lute Music, Vol. 4: The Queen's Galliard
Nigel North, lute
Naxos 2009 / 8.570284
John Dowland
Tr. 1 The Most Sacred Queen Elizabeth, her Galliard, P. 41 (1:22)
Tr. 6 The Frog Galliard, P. 23 (2:02)

Lutenist Nigel North performed two galliards by John Dowland. That was “The Frog Galliard.” Before that, we heard “The Most Sacred Queen Elizabeth, her Galliard.”

Like the galliard, the tourdion was an energetic, lively dance. The tourdion was quicker and smoother than the galliard, which had some jaunty elements. The dance was most popular in Renaissance France and Burgundy. Pierre Attaingnant and Thoinot Arbeaut both wrote about this dance. Let’s hear a Renaissance tourdion. 

MUSIC TRACK
Le Tourdion
Grande Écurie et la Chambre du Roy and Florilegium Musicum / cond. Jean-Claude Malgoire
Phaia Music 2019 / K617183
Anon.
Tr. 1 Tourdion (5:41)

Jean-Claude Malgoire led Grande Écurie et la Chambre du Roy and Florilegium Musicum in a quick-paced Renaissance dance, “Tourdion.”

Sticking with our dance theme, our featured release is J.S. Bach Suites & Sonatas, Vol. 3 performed by cellist Shirley Hunt. Some dance music was meant to be danced to, but other dance music reminded the listener of dance and wasn’t really for practical dance use. Johann Sebastian Bach’s Solo Suites for cello represent this tradition—they even have preludes that don’t employ dance meters at all. We’ll hear the Prelude and Gigue from Bach’s third cello suite.

MUSIC TRACK 
J.S. Bach Suites & Sonatas Volume 3
Letterbox Arts 2020
Shirley Hunt, baroque cello
Johann Sebastian Bach
Tr. 11 Suite for Solo Cello No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1009: I. Prelude (4:15)
Tr. 16 Suite for Solo Cello No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1009: VI. Gigue (3:36) 

Prelude and Gigue from Bach’s Third Suite for solo cello performed by Shirley Hunt.

Bach’s six solo suites for cello feature dance movements and require substantial virtuosity on the part of the player. The sixth suite has some special features. There is some debate about what instrument this suite was written for—was it a five-stringed piccolo-cello? Was it a viola pomposa, played on the shoulder like a violin? Was it a regular, four-stringed cello, strung with sheep-gut strings, as was typical in Bach’s day? Whatever instrument the sixth suite was for, it requires some very high playing. Cello players usually read two of the lower clefs, bass and tenor, to determine which notes to play. In this suite in its early versions, the player is required to read alto and the soprano clefs, which were more common for viola and sometimes violin. We’ll hear an Allemande—and while you might tap your toe, this Allemande is not meant to be danced to.

MUSIC TRACK 
J.S. Bach Suites & Sonatas Volume 3
Letterbox Arts 2020
Shirley Hunt, baroque cello
Johann Sebastian Bach
Tr. 2 Suite for Solo Cello No. 6 in D Major, BWV 1012: II. Allemande (8:57)

Allemande from Bach’s solo suite no. 6 in D Major for cello performed by Shirley Hunt on our featured recording J.S. Bach Suites & Sonatas Volume 3 from Letterbox Arts in 2020. 

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Harmonia is a production of WFIU and part of the educational mission of Indiana University.

Support comes from Early Music America: a national organization that advocates and supports the historical performance of music of the past, the community of artists who create it, and the listeners whose lives are enriched by it. On the web at EarlyMusicAmerica-dot-org.

Additional resources come from the William and Gayle Cook Music Library at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.

We welcome your thoughts about any part of this program, or about early music in general. Contact us at harmonia early music dot org. You can follow us on Facebook by searching for Harmonia Early Music.

The writer for this edition of Harmonia was Sarah Huebsch Schilling.

Thanks to our studio engineer Michael Paskash, and our production team: LuAnn Johnson, Wendy Gillespie, Aaron Cain, and John Bailey. I’m Angela Mariani, inviting you to join us again for the next edition of Harmonia.  

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