Just for the record, several dance tutors survive from before 1497: from Italy Domenico (c. 1445), Guglielmo/Ambrosio (various later 15th C MSS, one dated to 1463) and Cornazano (c.1465), all with skeletal music (tenor only); from France there is the Nancy MS (mid-15th C), though it has no music at all.
best wishes, Katherine Davies --- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Paper was expensive, so was the time to write upon > it. What appears to be > short is, to my mind, simply concise. Consider the > typical estampie, with > repeats and alternate refrains, several minutes of > music are easily > written upon half a sheet of paper. > > There are french poetic forms (eg, de tous biens > plaine) which also > stretch out a little music into a much longer > performance. > > The earliest dance tutor we have (1497) gives the > 'tenors', not whole > pieces, La Spagna is one most of us will have heard, > perhaps even played > in one of its several concordant versions, the tenor > is easily written on > one line, it probably is 'longer' to play than to > listen to (takes a bit > of practice it does). > > When you are accompanying dancers or a voice you > will find yourself > repeating short strains. Even in sacred music one > finds short strains > strung together into only somewhat longer works. > > It is fantasias et al that one must look to for > thematic development that > makes for longer works, tho 1-200 bars seems the > limit until on gets well > into the baroque. > -- > Dana Emery > > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html >
