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Welcome to Harmonia … I’m Angela Mariani. Since time immemorial, dancing has been an important cultural and social activity from the lowest classes to the highest nobility. In the case of many folk and vernacular dance traditions, the music associated with a particular dance in some way emulated the steps and characteristics of the dances, so that the music reflected the physical properties of the dance. This hour, we take a journey across Europe to explore the many types of dances that inspired music from the 16th to 18th centuries. Along the way, we’ll hear stately pavanes, lilting allemandes, leaping saltarellos, and playful polonaises. Plus, our featured release this hour is the album “Still und Lieblich” by the ensemble InALTO.

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Ammerbach: Harpsichord works from the Tabulaturbuch (1571)
Glen Wilson
Naxos | 8.570335 (2007)
Ammerbach
Tr. 3 Passamezzo Itali – Saltarella (2:06)
Tr. 8 Galliard, “La royne d’escosse” (1:04)
Tr. 25 Galliard, “Si pour t’aimer” (1:26)

Glen Wilson played three keyboard dances from Elias Ammerbach’s Tabulaturbuch, published in 1571. First, we heard an Italian dance called “Saltarella.” The name of the dance, which is also sometimes called “saltarello,” comes from the Italian verb “to jump” and the dance steps featured leaping. This was followed by two Galliards, a popular dance in the 16th century found widely in Europe that also involved a few little leaps and kicks.

The pavane was a stately dance originating from Spain or Italy, that was popular in courts throughout Europe until the late 17th century. It has a slow tempo due to the dignified movements of its dance steps, which featured couples processing in a formal manner. It would often be followed by a livelier dance called the galliard.

Tylman Susato, the (composer and) prolific publisher from Antwerp, put together a collection of 60 popular dances for four players. These dances would most likely have been performed by instruments of the same type, such as a consort of cornets, or viols, or recorders, or even shawms and sackbuts. The first pavane from the collection is called “The Battle Pavane.” We can hear how Susato groups instruments to mimick different regiments calling back and forth to each other as a preparation for battle. The second is a pavane based on the popular song “Mille regretz.” We’ll hear the New London Consort perform both pavanes.

Danserye
New London Consort
Decca | 00028947831952 (2011)
Tylman Susato
Tr. 26 Pavane: Bataille (4:28)
Tr. 27 Pavane: Mille regretz (1:52)

The New London Consort performed two pavanes by the composer and music publisher Tylman Susato from his collection of dances for instrumental consort called La Danserye. First, the “Battle Pavane“ followed by a pavane based on the popular song “Mille regretz.”

In the 16th century, the pavane was a symbol of Spanish culture and was adapted by musicians in other areas of Europe. The English organist John Bull wrote many keyboard dances that are preserved in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book. We’ll hear his “Spanish Pavane,” written at some point in the late 16th century. Notice how the organist uses contrasting registrations to mimic different groups of instruments, much like Susato’s “Battle Pavane” we heard earlier.

Alternating groups accomplished by organ stops.
Organ Recital: Lucie Zakova
Lucie Zakova
Orlando Records | OR0011 (2014)
Tr. 2 The Spanish Paven by John Bull (5:10)

Lucie Zakova performed “The Spanish Paven” by English organist John Bull written in the late 16th century.

The polonaise, as the name suggests, originated in Poland and began to spread throughout Europe in the 17th century. As it spread and became stylized by other composers, it stood as a symbol of Polish culture, used sometimes to invoke pastoral imagery. Some of the most notable examples of polonaises are the keyboard pieces by Frederic Chopin in the 19th century that show the height of the dance’s popularity in instrumental music, separate from the dance steps that originated the form.

The polonaise was a couple’s dance in a triple meter. It featured a strong first beat followed by two lighter beats, often danced in a line or circle with the dancers moving in a procession. The dance steps highlighted elegance and grace, and the movements were meant to be smooth and deliberate. Our first example of a polonaise comes from a short dance suite in a Polish keyboard manuscript from the mid 16th century, most likely written by Jan Lublina. The first dance is labelled “Poznania,” from the Poznan region of western Poland; followed by dances from England, Italy, and Spain.

Corona Aurea
La Folia/dir. Pedro Bonet
Columna Musica 2011 | 1CM0248
Jan z Lublina
Tr. 5 Poznania (0:50)
Tr. 6 Gallicum (1:01)
Tr. 7 Italica (0:55)

Laura Puerto performed dance music from a keyboard suite by Jan Lublina.

Throughout the Baroque period, the musical adaptations of these dances became more stylized and grew further from the steps that originated each dance. As the polonaise became more popular for instrumental suites, musicians in the 17th and 18th centuries took more liberties with the form, although it always maintained its triple meter and emphasis on the first beat. We’ll hear two instrumental polonaises from the 18th century, the first by Christoph Graupner and the second by George Friedrich Handel.

Overtures
Capella Coloniensis
Phoenix Edition | Phoenix173 (2009)
Christoph Graupner
Tr. 9 Polonaise (Suite in C Major, GWV 409) (2:18)

Concerti Grossi, Op. 6
Aradia Ensemble
Naxos | 8.557358-60 (2013)
Handel
Tr. 13 Polonaise: Andante (from Concerto Grosso in E minor) (5:27)

Two polonaises, the first from Christoph Graupner’s Suite in C Major, and the second from Georg Friedrich Handel’s Concerto Grosso in E minor.

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

The Fairy Queen
Scholars Baroque Ensemble
Naxos | 8.550660-61 (1994)
Henry Purcell
Disc 2 Tr. 27 Chaconne (2:44)

Welcome back to Harmonia. This hour, we’re exploring different instrumental dances across Europe in the Renaissance and Baroque periods. So far, we’ve encountered dances originating in Spain, England, Italy, and Poland. We turn next to Germany and the allemande.

The name allemande, a stately German dance, comes from the French word for “German.” In the Baroque period, the allemande became one of the most stylized dances and a staple of almost all instrumental dance suites, often followed by a courante, sarabande, and gigue. The dance itself was a couple's dance, performed by holding hands and walking the length of a room with your partner, taking 3 steps forward then balancing on one foot. This led to a slower tempo compared to other dances because it was intended to be at a walking pace. Gradually, as the dance became more stylized for instrumental performance and gained life outside of courtly dance, allemandes became faster and often functioned as preludes to dance suites in the later Baroque period.

To hear how the allemande evolved, we’ll listen to three examples from composers spanning 200 years, the first by Johann Hermann Schein.

Banchetto Musicale
Sex Chordae Consort of Viols
Centaur | CRC2357 (1997)
Johann Hermann Schein
Tr. 4 Allemande-Tripla (2:39)

Suite for Harpsichord Vol. 1
Gilbert Rowland
Athene | ATH23204 (2019)
Johann Jacob Froberger
Disc 2, Tr. 21 Allemand (2:47)

Ouverture La Bourse and Suites
Il Fondamento / Paul Dombrecht
Passacaille | 5425004849106 (2010)
Georg Philipp Telemann
Suite in C major for 2 oboes, bassoon, strings & basso continuo:
Tr. 22 Allemande (2:46)

Three allemandes spanning the 17th and 18th centuries, showcasing the many ways composers interpreted the dance style. First, Sex Chordae Consort of Viols played an allemande from Johann Hermann Schein’s first suite for viol consort, followed by the opening allemande of Johann Jacob Froberger’s keyboard partita in E Major performed by harpsichordist Gilbert Rowland, and finally, we concluded our tour of this German dance with ensemble Il Fondamento’s performance of a lively allemande from Georg Philipp Telemann’s instrumental suite in C Minor.

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

Our featured release this hour is the album “Still und Lieblich” by the ensemble InALTO, released by Ricercar in August of 2024. The title of the album means “sweet and tender.” This comes from a description by Michael Praetorius of the mute cornett in the early 17th century. Praetorius writes in his Syntagma musicum, [quote] “The mute cornett, whose mouthpiece resembles that of the cornett, but which is hollowed out of the instrument, has a sweet and tender sound. It is called the mute cornett for this reason.”

Lambert Colson, the director of this ensemble InALTO and one of the players of the mute cornett on the recording, has dedicated his research to the few surviving mute cornetts and manuscript sources that use them. [This album features repertoire from these manuscripts.]

The first piece we’ll hear is a pavane for instrumental consort by Moritz von Hessen, the Landgrave of Hesse, who composed a series of dances for use in his own court. Next, a Magnificat by Georg Otto, the Kapellmeister at Moritz’s court who gave Moritz lessons in composition.

Still und Lieblich
InALTO
Ricercar | RIC464 (2024)
Moritz von Hessen
Tr. 2 Pavana del Francisco Segario (1:26)
Georg Otto
Tr. 6 Deutsches Magnificat (4:17)

Two pieces featuring the mute cornett from the album “Still und Lieblich” performed by the ensemble InALTO: first, a pavane by Moritz von Hessen, followed by a Magnificat setting by Georg Otto.

We’ll wrap up our new release segment this hour with InALTO’s performance of the motet Erhalt uns Herr by Michael Praetorius, a setting of a text by Martin Luther, and published in 1610 in a collection entitled Musae Sioniae.

Michael Praetorius
Tr. 13 Erhalt uns Herr (7:05)

Erhalt uns Herr, Music of Michael Praetorius, performed by InALTO, from their recording Still und Lieblich.

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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 is Travis Whaley.

Thanks to our studio engineer Michael Paskash, and our production team: LuAnn Johnson, 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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