DANCE MUSIC OF THE RENAISSANCE & BAROQUE - Philip Jones Brass Ensemble, Accademia Monteverdiana, Jaye Consort

DANCE MUSIC of the RENAISSANCE and BAROQUE LINER NOTES

In centuries far removed from our own, dancing was both an art and a pastime, calling for considerable agility, a good sense of rhythm, and at times a highly developed athletic awareness. It was not restricted to any particular class or nation, so that when a particular dance transcended social barriers, the music went with it and prolonged its life in a number of ways. A simple rustic round could easily be transformed into an elegant courtly dance by means of refined harmonies and subtle orchestration: and the same was often true in reverse. The middle classes, far from being left out of the picture, frequently managed to enjoy the best of both worlds, by aping courtly manners on the one hand and indulging in country pleasures on the other, as a late sixteenth-century German chronicle informs us: "After the pipers and players have been asked to play the dance, the dancer steps forward in a most elegant, polite, proud, and splendid manner, chooses a partner for whom he has a special liking among the girls and ladies present, and making his reverences -- such as taking off his cap, kissing her hands, bending his knees, using friendly words and other similar ceremonies -- invites her to have a gay, joyous, and honest dance with him.