Courtly Airs and Dances - by Ron Nelson

RON NELSON I think this is a good representation of his work. The instrumentation is similar to that of his other works - he mainly does commissions and this piece is also a commission. >>CLAUDE GERVAISE Nelson writes that he based three of the dances (Basse Danse, Pavane and Allemande) on Gervaises compositions as well as the characteristics of other compositions from that period. Gervaise was active as a composer of chansons and instrumental dances in Paris from about 1540-60. Suite1: - In a general sense, any ordered set of instrumental pieces meant to be performed at a single sitting - Instrumentation: The writings of medieval authors are full of references to the musical instruments that provided the accompaniment for dances. Tambourin, drums and bells, pipe and tabor, frestels, lutes, psalterion, ggen (fiddles), organetto, bagpipes, shawms and trumpets in short, the entire palette of instrumental colours, either singly or in a variety of combinations, could be and was used to accompany dancing. Basse Danse: France (Burgundian) - The principal court dance during the late Middle Ages and Renaissance. It reached a height of cultivation during the 15th century and disappeared after the middle of the 16th century. The musical practice that grew up around it served as a proving ground for many early instrumental techniques such as improvisations over a ground, variations and the forming of suite-like combinations. - stately, quietly gliding processional dance that enjoyed the favour of court and town well into the 16th century. - Usual style: Improvisations, variations over a tenor line. Begins as a triple meter but after 16th century its usually in duple. - Performing: Likely court musicians. Accompanied dance. - Traditions: Dancing. No singing. The dance was low to the ground and very fluid. Pavane: England - it was sedate in character and was often used as an introductory, processional dance.
1 All information regarding dances found on Oxford Music Online

- the music of a pavan is almost invariably in duple metre (two or four beats to the bar in modern transcriptions) and usually consists of two, three or four sections of regular metrical structure, each repeated - a kind of staid music, ordained for grave dancing, and most commonly made of three strains, whereof every strain is played or sung twice; a strain they make to contain 8, 12, or 16 semibreves as they list, yet fewer than eight I have not seen in any pavan. - Usual style: Duple meter, two, three or four sections of regular metrical structure, each repeated - Performing: Again with court musicians. Unlikely to be performed on a solo instrument when accompanying dance. Keyboard reductions/versions exist. - Traditions: Dancing - a simple dance, that used only two steps. Introductory/processional dance. Saltarello: Italy - A generic term for moderately rapid Italian dances, usually in triple metre and involving jumping movements. - the resulting dance had regular four-bar phrases and a clear sense of harmonic direction. An important characteristic of the 16th-century saltarello was an ambiguity of metre such that a piece often seems in transcription to alternate between 6/8 and 3/4. - Performers should take care to note that all 16th-century saltarellos were intended to be played in triple metre, although many seem to be in duple in the original prints because of the use of tactus barring and a mensuration of - Usual Style: Quick, usually in triple, four bar phrases and harmonic direction. - Performing: Court musicians. - Traditions: Dancing; not much is known about the steps for the saltarello but we can safely say that the steps were quick and lively. Different kinds of steps were used, not one type of saltarello step was ever totally established. Sarabande: Spain - It originated during the 16th century as a sung dance in Latin America and Spain. It came to Italy early in the 17th century as part of the repertory of the Spanish five-course guitar. During the first half of the century various instrumental types developed in France and Italy, at first based on harmonic schemes, later on characteristics of rhythm and tempo. A fast and a slow type finally emerged, the former preferred in Italy, England and Spain, the latter in France and Germany.

- The zarabanda was banned in Spain in 1583 for its extraordinary obscenity, but literary references to it continued throughout the early 17th century - During the 1630s rhythm began to become a distinguishing feature of the dance. - Usual Style: Dance in a triple meter with a specific rhythmic idea. Faster or slower depending on country of origin (slow: France and Germany - fast: Italy, England and Spain) - Performing: Guitar. Also other various instruments chosen for their rhythmic and speed qualities. With or without a vocal line. - Traditions: Sung dance in Spain. Main instrument would be the guitar. Allemande: Germany - One of the most popular of Baroque instrumental dances and a standard movement, along with the courante, sarabande and gigue, of the suite. It originated some time in the early or mid-16th century [...]. Originally a moderate duple-metre dance in two or three strains, the allemande came to be one of the most highly stylized of all Baroque dances and by 1732 was likened to a rhetorical Proposition, [...] Marpung referred to the allemande as similar to the prelude, in that it was said to be based on a succession of changing harmonies in an improvisatory style, although he noted that in the allemande dissonances were to be more carefully prepared and resolved. - In the middle of the 16th century, allemandes for lute, guitar, cittern, keyboard, or instrumental ensemble began to appear both in prints and manuscripts across Europe. - Such a formal scheme, [...] seems to be one of the chief characteristics of the allemande, for it occurs even in dances of only two strains (the first phrase of the second strain would either hover around a cadence formula in the contrasting key or begin with a cadence in that key and move by sequence back to the original tonal area). This rather early tendency to explore contrasting tonal areas, coupled with the apparently flexible tempo limits and neutral duple metre of the 16th-century allemande, may have predisposed this form, of all the dances emerging from the late Renaissance, to develop into the prelude-like succession of harmonies described by Marpurg. - Usual Style: Duple meter dance, formal scheme - flexible tempos and interesting harmonies. Performing: Written for groups or solo instruments. No voices. Traditions: Performed with a dance. It is a couple dance, with the man and woman side by side; the dancers proceed in a line of couples from one end of a hall to the other, each turning his partner around in such a way as to reverse the line and go back to the original place. Arbeau called it

a plain dance of a certain gravity, and claimed that it must be among our most ancient dances, for we are descended from the Germans. -- found in a French dance book. -------Elements of Music I. Intrada >Form< Through-composed >Rhythm< 1. Winds 2. Percussion

>Melody<

>Harmony< Open 5ths above and below melody line BbM - but in F tonality (I-IV-I-IV) >Timbre< Very bright and brassy - mostly due to muted horns Regal Open snare >Texture< Very homophonic Instruments are added throughout Goes from a thinner brighter texture to a heavier darker texture >Expression< Specific accents = very important Layering to create insterest Tempo :: quarter = 68-70 with pomp >Other< DRAMA

Open 5ths throughout Melodically stagnant - depends on texture to determine effectiveness II. Basse Danse (France) >Form< A A B A >Rhythm< In 3/2 (rest 2 3) 4 5 6 | 1+ 2+ 3 or (rest 2 3) 4 5 6 | 1 2 3+ 4+ 5+ 6+ Percussion: (rest)+ 2+ 3 4 (rest 6) or moved around in the measure but same rhythm >Melody< d r f f-- mfsfmrfm | f -- f f m | r d rmfrsfmr | d >Harmony< Bb Mixolydian - Written in F, resolves in g minor Harmonies generally change each measure Uses the raised f to f# to intensify many cadences >Timbre< Sounds very renaissance A is upper winds, no saxophones A is brass B is upper winds, no saxophones again A is the full ensemble Mostly dark sounds >Texture< Polyphonic - Generally 2-3 lines going on at a time A has a shift into a much more complex and thick texture Texture contrasts are done with instrumentation (WW-BR) >Expression< Mostly slurred mf-f throughout but instrumentation plays a role in sound level in a stately manner half = 58-62

>Other< Tension/release is caused by the raised do Contrast between instrument groups III. Pavane (England) >Form< A B B A >Rhythm & Melody<

>Harmony< A: I--- | ---- | ii6 I6 ii vi | V- vi V65 | I--- | ----| ii6 I6 ii vi | I ---- etc. B: I- IV- | iii -- I | V vi IV ii | iii -- I | V I iii V | IV -- I | V-- III | iii---- etc. F Major, mostly conventional harmonies >Timbre< A & A have a full, rich sound with a solo cloboe - vibes offer clear harmonic movement B is like a small woodwind ensemble with almost nothing in the low register B is a brass ensemble with nothing in the high register

>Texture< A sections are homophonic - 1 melody with little ideas of interest popping in here and there B sections are polyphonic very chordal with each instrument having a few different lines to contribute B sections are thinner than A sections A sections include soft murmurs in mallets and upper WWs Contrasts are done with instrumentation >Expression< Gently quarter = 76 mp melody and p-pppp accompaniment

Very smooth throughout >Other< Tension/release by drawn out leading tones Articulation is very important Contrast between instrument groups IV. Saltarello (Italy) >Form< A1 A2 B A3 A4 A5 >Rhythm & Melody< (Percussion)

>Harmony< Eb dorian Mostly just an F pedal in the tubas In the last A section theres some CM and gm chords going on

>Timbre< A1 is solo flute with light percussion A2 is with clarinet and bassoon B is brass, entrance of low brass A3 is trumpet and upper WW (adds low brass in the middle) A4 adds saxophones, new harmonies A5 more volume >Texture< A1-B is homophonic A3-A5 are polyphonic (layering of the A and B melodies) Biggest contrast is between sections with and without the low brass, tuba especially

>Expression< Very precisely dotted quarter = ca. 120 Dynamics build throughout with adding instruments and the dynamic marking Since the melody basically just repeats itself 5 times, there needs to be some dynamic and articulation variations to make it interesting >Other< Melodically stagnant - depends on texture to create interest

V. Sarabande >Form< ABA >Rhythm & Melody<

>Harmony< Clearly Eb Major Harmonic rhythm is 4ish bars of tonic, then a bar of predominant, 2 beats of dominant then back to tonic. >Timbre< Dark vocalizations Lovely light but still darker than usual high WW in B, flute in particular. Such a rich, peaceful mood >Texture< A is monophonic B is somewhat polyphonic with only 2 lines Contrast between vocals and high WW lines

>Expression< Quarter = 56-58 A is p B is mp as one continuous phrase >Other< Vocal line is very interesting and different

VI. Allemande >Form< A B A B A A coda >Rhythm & Melody< A

>Harmony< A section is built around an F pedal B section moves quickly through T-PD-D-T in F >Timbre< Bright brassy and light high WWs >Texture< Pretty monophonic B sections are lighter than A sections using instrumentation and dynamics

>Expression< joyously quarter = 120 Contrast in instrumentation Big shifts in dynamics