Dancing may or may not be noisy. 16th C images of dancing usually show one or two quiet instruments (lutes, harps, etc) with one or two couples dancing; and louder instuments (wind bands, violins, bagpipes etc), sometimes larger groups, for larger numbers of dancers.
Several 16thC dance masters comment on quiet dancing as a virtue (Caroso, Arbeau). At least one 15thC dance master (Guglielmo/Giovanni Ambrosio) suggests a single lute as a suitable instrument for private dance practice. I have found a single lute to be pleasant and sufficient for dancing most of the renaissance repertoire, providing there are few dancers, and they refrain from stomping. A single lute even works for canaries, where stomping is essential, if dancers refrain from making as much noise as possible, and instead treat the noise of their feet as percussion, moderating the volume to blend well with the rest of the music. best wishes, Katherine Davies On 19/09/2007, David Rastall <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On Sep 18, 2007, at 5:51 PM, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > >>> My point remains: name one piece of solo lute music ever composed > >>> for a concert-hall. > > > > Entire collections of music for Dance exist with the music given in > > lute > > tablature. > > My point still remains... ;-) Sorry, couldn't resist. > > > Dance is noisy. One couple dancing isnt too bad, and there were > > situations where that would have happened; > > Absolutely, as in the home: in England anyway, until the > Restoration. But even in the home there would most probably have > been numerous instruments involved in domestic music-making. > > > but in a ball one has dozens of > > people dancing, talking loudly, and generally having a good time. > > Perhaps > > an orchestra of lutes theorbos etc would work, > > I imagine they would have used louder instruments, such as rebecs, or > fiddles to play the dance tunes wouldn't they? I agree, a lone lute > is not going to hold its own in a room full of dancers. > > > but what then of the art > > necessary to make the dances needing variations work? (eg, > > galliardes, > > where the music needs variations to encourage the dancers to > > explore more > > than the simple cinc-pas). > > Consorts? > > I don't know if dances in lute tablature were supposed to be danced > to or not. A lone player can still capture the essence of a pavan, > galliard, courante etc. while playing it as a solo piece. > > David R > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > -- > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html >
