The words 'reel' and 'rant' were quite unstable in meaning in the 18th century - 'The Reel of Harden' is a 9/8, for example. 'Hornpipe', too, can mean a dance in 4/4, 3/2 or 9/8. As tunes seem not to have been interchanged with others of similar type for a given dance until later, a tune would have its own dance, and a clear label for what type it was, was less necessary.
John -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Thomas Green Sent: 05 April 2009 18:13 To: Richard York Cc: NSP group Subject: [NSP] Re: When did a rant become a Rant? The word goes back at least to the 17th century. The composer John Jenkins (died 1678) included some pieces titled 'Rant' in his viol consort music. The ones I know are strongly rhythmic but certainly not tomato soup-ers. AFAIK it is not known why they were called that. He came from south-east England and passed most of his life there, but I suppose it's possible that he picked up the dance from some northerners. Thomas On 5 Apr 2009, at 13:14, Richard York wrote: > I am enjoying playing "Sir Charles Rant" - or "Sir Charle's Rant" - > in Peacock, but the title is interesting. > > It obviously isn't a rant under the various definitions discussed here > recently, since it's in 6/8. > For those without Peacock who like words to rhythms, it doesn't refer > to tomato soup, gobstoppers, or anything like that, but rather seems > to say "Rant? this is no rant is no rant is no rant" etc. > > So when, please, did the word come to specifically mean That Dance, > and what did it signify earlier? (Or was Sir Charles just an always > angry sort of chap?) I know that Jigge/Gigge/Gigue/Jig etc went > through a whole variety of meanings between Elizabethan Theatre, > baroque salon, and much more, before coming to mean, well, what I'd > call the tune Sir Charles Rant. > > I apologise if there's some note in the back of a book/email on this > list which explains all, and I haven't seen the obvious. > > With thanks, > Richard. > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html 73 Huntington Rd, York YO31 8RL 01904-673675 http://homepage.ntlworld.com/greenery/
