Biblioteca de la Guitarra y Cuerda Pulsada

Musicians have come to realize that in order to perform dance music  and  music  in  dance  rhythms  properly,  it  is  necessary  to  have some  understanding  and  appreciation  of  the  dances  themselves,  and
some even go so far as to say that it is necessary to be able to dance them. The revival of interest in Renaissance and early Baroque vocal music  is  of  quite  long  standing  and  now,  as  research  uncovers  yet more of the instrumental music, authentic instruments are constructed and  the  instrumental  music  is  authentically  performed,  recorded  and achieving  wider  appreciation.  Much  of  the  instrumental  music  is explicitly dance music, and even more of it, as also much of the vocal music, is profoundly influenced by dance rhythms and the structures at  least  paralleled,  if  not  actually  influenced,  by  the  forms  of  the dances.

I should make clear that I am a musician, not a dancer, and I first  became  interested  in  the  ‘Renaissance’  dances  through  The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book in  which  I  noticed  that  the  titles  of  some
half  of  the  two  hundred  and  ninety  seven  pieces  included  names  of dances.  Hence,  in  this  work  choreographic  interpretation  has  been kept  as  close  as  possible  to  Caroso’s  text,  within  the  limits  of  my expertise. As long ago as 1925 Peter Warlock had this to say at the beginning of his ‘Preface’ to Cyril Beaumont’s translation of Thoinot Arbeau’s Orchésographie, 1588.
 

Tempo, gratia e misura