Michael PRAETORIUS. Terpsichore
Ricercare-Ensemble für Alte Musik, Zürich





medieval.org
EMI "Reflexe" 1C 063 30 117 · LP
mayo de 1973
Neumünster, Zürich
publicado en 1973

CD (1989): EMI DRM 7 63144 2






MICHAEL PRAETORIUS
1571-1621

TERPSICHORE, 1612


01 - Bransle de Villages, XIV. a 5 (1-6) (M.P.C.- S./p.24-26) [4'06]
Schalmei, 4 Pommern, Schlagzeug

02 - Philou, XXII. a 4 (M.P.C.; S./p.35) [0'58]
4 4 Krummhörner, Schlagzeug

03 - La Canarie, XXXI. a 4 (M.P.C.; S./p.40-41) [1'07]
4 Krummhörner, Schlagzeug

04 - Passameze, CCLXXXIII. a 5 (F.C.; S./p.168-169) [1'56]
4 Blockflöten, Alt-Dulzian, 4 Gamben, Rankett, Spinett, Laute, Chitarrone, Schlagzeug

05 - Gaillarde, CCLXXXIV. a 5 (F.C.; S./p.169-170) [1'34]
4 Blockflöten, Alt-Dulzian, 4 Gamben, Rankett, Spinett, Laute, Chitarrone, Schlagzeug

06 - Branle de la royne [3'58]
Nicolas Vallet (1583-?): „Le Secret des Muses"
(Terpsichore: „Bransle de la Royne", XVII. a 4,1-7 · M.P.C; S./p.27-29)
Laute

07 - Bouree I & II [1'11]
Nicolas Vallet (1583-?): „Le Secret des Muses"
(Terpsichore: „La Bouree", 2 & 1, XXXII. a 4 · M.P.C; S./p.41)
Laute

08 - Bransle simple 1 & 2, Bransle de Poictou, Bransle de Montirande 1 & 2 [4'49]
aus 1.Bransle, I. a 5
Pierre Francisque Caroube! (gest. 1619) (S./p.1-5)
5 Blockflöten, Laute, Schlagzeug

09 - Volte, CCXXXIV. a 4 (M.P.C.; S./p.126) [1'10]
4 Gamben, Schlagzeug

10 - Volte, CCXLII. a 4 (M.P.C.; S./p.129) [1'43]
4 Gamben, Schlagzeug

11 - Pavane de Spaigne, XXX. a 4 (1-3) (M.P.C.; S./p.40) [2'28]
4 Blockflöten, 4 Gamben, Spinett, Laute, Chitarrone, Schlagzeug

12 - Pavana hispanica [2'48]
Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562-1621)
Spinett

13 - The old Spagnoletta [1'03]
Giles Farnaby (1565-1640)
(Terpsichore: „2.Spagnoletta", XXVII. a 4 · M.P.C.; S./p.38)
Spinett

14 - Ballet des Anglois, CCLXXI. a 4 (Incerti; S./p.161) [2'50]
4 Gamben, Chitarrone, Schlagzeug

15 - Courante [1'44]
Jean Baptiste Besard (Besardus, 1567-?): „Novus Partus", 1617
(Terpsichore: „Courrant de Perichou" 1. LX. a 5, Incerti)
2 Lauten

16 - Volte du Tambour [0'48]
Jean Baptiste Besard (Besardus) (1567-?): „Novus Partus", 1617
(Terpsichore: „Volte du Tambour" CXCIX. a 5 · M.P.C.; S./p.111)
2 Lauten

17 - Courante, CLXXXIII. a 4 (Incerti; S./p.105) [1'35]
4 Gamben, Chitarrone, Schlagzeug

18 - Pavane de Spanje [1'49]
Pieter de Vois, in „Der Goden Fluit-hemel", 1644
Blockflöte, Laute

19 - Stil, stil een Reys [1'33]
Jacob van Eyck (1589/1590-1657), in „Der Fluyten Lust-Hof", 1647
(Terpsichore: „2. La Bouree", XXXII. a 4 · M.P.C.; S./p.41)
Blockflöte, Laute

20 - Gaillarde, CCCIII. a 4 (M.P.C.; S./p.179) [1'12]
4 Gamben, Schlagzeug

21 - Gaillarde, CCCVI. a 4 (Incerti; S./p.181) [1'50]
4 Gamben, Schlagzeug

22 - Ballet [1'37]
2-teilig
Robert Ballard (1575-1650?), in „Deuxième Livre", 1614
(Terpsichore:
1. „Ballet" CCLXXIII. a 4 Incerti; S./p.162,
2. „Ballet" CCLXVI. a 4 · Incerti; Slp.159)
Laute

23 - Courante [0'44]
Robert Ballard (1575-1650?), in „Premier Livre", 1611
(Terpsichore: „1.Courrant Sarabande", XXXVIII. a 5 · M.P.C.; S./p.44)
Laute

24 - Ballet [2'49]
2-teilig
Jean Baptiste Besard (Besardus) (1567—?): „Thesaurus harmonicus", 8.Buch 1603
(Terpsichore:
1. „Ballet" CCLXVIII. a 4 · Incerti; S./p.159,
2. „Ballet" CCLX. a 4 · Incerti; S./p.151)
2 Lauten

25 - Ballet de Monsieur de Nemours, CCLIII. a 5 (1) (M.P.C.; S./p.143) [1'37]
4 Pommern, Schalmei, Schlagzeug

26 - Volte, CCXLIII. a 4 (M.P.C.; S./p.130) [0'59]
4 Krummhörner

27 - Volte, CCXXXII. a 4 (M.P.C.; S./p.125) [0'39]
4 Krummhörner, Schlagzeug




Die Seitenzahlen beziehen sich auf die „Gesamtausgabe der musikalischen Werke von Michael Praetorius", Band XV:
„Terpsichore", 1612, bearbeitet von Gunther Oberst.

F.C.: Der Satz stammt von Pierre Francisque Caroubel
M.P.C.: Die Oberstimme war gegeben, die Unterstimmen sind von Praetorius.
Incerti: Die Augenstimmen waren gegeben (Lautentabulatur?), die Mittelstimmen sind von Praetorius.


RICERCARE-ENSEMBLE FOR ALTE MUSIK, ZURICH
Michel Piguet, Schalmei, Soprankrummhorn, Sopran- und Altblockflöte
Richard Erig, Altpommer, Baßkrummhorn, Alt- und Tenorblockflöte
Renate Hildebrand, Altpommer, Tenorkrummhorn, Altdulzian, Alt- und Tenorblockflöte
Käthe Wagner, Tenorpommer, Altkrummhorn, Baßblockflöte
Charlotte Joss, Tenorblockflöte
Walter Stiftner, Baßpommer, Rankett
Wieland Kuijken, Soprangambe
Jordi Savall, Sopran- und Baßgambe
Adelheid Glatt, Baßgambe
Sarah Cunningham, Baßgambe
Eugen M. Dombois, Laute (solo)
Anthony Bailes, Laute (duo & continuo)
Anne van Royen, Laute (duo & continuo), Chitarrone
Martha Gmunder, Spinett
Dieter Dyk, Schlagzeug


℗ 1973 EMI Electrola GmbH, D-5000 K6In
Digital remastering
© 1989 by EMI Electrola GmbH

Aufgenommen: 8.-10.V.1973, Neumünster, Zürich
Produzent: Gerd Berg
Tonmeister: Johann-Nikolaus Matthes



MICHAEL PRAETORIUS
Terpsichore, 1612


The composition and publication of Terpsichore goes back to the "generous command" given by Duke Friedrich Ulrich that arrangements be made in four or five parts of the melodies his French dancing master Antoine Emeraud had brought back from France. Although Praetorius at first had his doubts about the undertaking, as he did not want to make the tunes common property, he eventually acceded to the duke's wishes. His true fear was probably that his music would no longer be played exclusively at the tables of princes and at meetings of the nobility.

The anthology — the greatest dance collection of its time — is made up of some 312 numbers. Many of these, however, are entire suites, and the total number of separate dances comes to something like 500. Besides these French dances, Praetorius planned a further collection, of English and Italian dances, to be called Euterpe; but unfortunately this project, like many another, went unrealised.

The completed pieces were for the most part printed by Praetorius himself, and were not aimed at the market place. This, among other things, could explain their quantity: for the expenses he incurred, as well as for "faithful services", he repeatedly received contributions from his patron Friedrich Ulrich. He had been promised 250 Talers by way of reimbursement for printing costs. Praetorius's work was to arrange the dances, whose melodies had been composed by French dancing-masters, of whom there were about 300 in Paris at the time. This would have been considered then an original task in its own right, and no less worthy than original composition. As a helpmate, he had one Francisque Caroubel, who had come to Wolfenbüttel several years before for the purpose. The numbers arranged by Praetorius bear the initials M.P.C. (Creuzbergensis), those by Caroubel F.C. While the latter wrote in five parts, Praetorius favoured four. The Frenchman's practice may have reflected the great skill of the court musicians of Henri IV, whose ensemble consisted of 12 oboes and the 24 "Violons du Roy". They favoured high keys with sharps; and Praetorius believed that "when played on organs and other instruments", the dances would sound "fresher and more gracious"; but he nevertheless wrote several pieces a tone or even a fifth lower, for those "who are untrained or unused to it". Alongside M.P.C. and F.C. we also find "Anon.", an indication that Praetorius had only filled in the inner parts. The originals here were in all probability anonymous pieces for lute, in two parts almost throughout. Some of Besardus's balletti are note for note the same as the outer parts in Praetorius's pieces.

This recording presents a cross-section of the collection and shows, by means of cross-reference, how French dance music spread through other countries.

Apart from one "Passameze pour les cornetz [cornetti]", no instrumentation is specified for any of the dances. We learn too that the French dancing-masters instructed their best pupils not only in the art of dancing, but also to play the violin or lute as they danced; and that passamezzos were played on crumhorns and other instruments (mention has already been made of the organ). This seems to point to an "ad lib." attitude to scoring. But the care taken by Praetorius in volumes I and II of Syntagma musicum over questions of instrumentation obliges us to look for lost conventions in dance music. Contemporary pictures have been a great help here, as have the indications scattered throughout Syntagma musicum.

OBOE ENSEMBLE. Praetorius describes the sung villanellas: "In France, the country dances, invented by the peasants themselves, are played on shawms and viols, often with two or three to each part, and are called 'Villages". The "Branle de Villages" is written for one player per part. While we have here adopted an "open-air" concept, we have striven to achieve a different, more modern tone in the "Ballet de Monsieur de Nemours".

CRUMHORN ENSEMBLE. Original dances for this instrument are rare (one is Schein's Pavan) because composers were too restricted by the instrument's narrow range (a ninth). But by use of transposition, Praetorius included a whole series of suitable dances in Terpsichore, most of them in F major.

MIXED ENSEMBLE. The combining of several families of musical instruments in a dance tended to be reserved for special occasions. Our setting is based on Praetorius's statement that he once wrote a seven-part motet for "2 theorbos, 3 lutes/2 zithers, 4 harpsichords and spinets/7 viola da gambas, 2 German [transverse] flutes, 2 boys/1 altista and a big viol [double bass] without organ or regal", which "resounded so marvellously, so excellently and so splendidly that everything in the churches shook before the sound of so many strings." In place of the flutes and singers we have used recorders; in addition, a racket — as recommended by Praetorius — provides a bass for the violins. As our guide for the flourishes in the gaillard, we have taken the quotation "vier Reprinse... wie dieselbe von den Frantzösischen Dantzmeistern diminuiret und coloriret werden" (four reprises.., as diminished and ornamented by the French dancing-masters).

RECORDER ENSEMBLE. Although Praetorius saw the recorder ensemble as principally having its place in sacred music, the love of recorder groups in England carried over into the dance. In volume III of his Harmonie universelle Mersenne reproduces a gavotte for four recorders.

VIOLA DA GAMBA ENSEMBLE. In many German dances the gamba is assigned pride of place.

LUTE ENSEMBLE. In order to appreciate the characteristic "false notes", one should first try to hear each of the two lutes separately: according to Anthony Bailes, "Each lute on its own is in the right; together they are wrong."

RECORDERS AND LUTES. Both variations were written for solo recorder, but for technical reasons were recorded with lute continuo.

PERCUSSION. The instruments prescribed by Praetorius — "little kettledrum, triangle and tom-tom" — are used here.

Richard Erig





Notes on the dances

The dances in Praetorius's Terpsichore show a close, deliberate relationship to folklore. The interrelation of courtly dances and those of the peasantry provides a liveliness and freshness which is missing from the later Baroque period. The commoners' leaps and bounds were taken over by the court, stylised, and dressed in courtly code and apparel. Thus the simple walk becomes a wavy step: the best example is the pavan, with its strutting peacock stride. The symmetry, complicated combinations of steps and use of the floor which characterise Baroque dance to a great extent follow this. The majority of the dances were true society dances, performed by large numbers of couples simply for their own pleasure. Only balletti (originally from Italy) were looked upon as being for spectators. Balletti were performed in three stages: first came the presentation of the cast, usually done in elaborate fancy-dress; second, the dance sequence would be developed; the last part was saved for an inspired and inspiring exit. The steps of these dances have not been handed down; the performers were guests at the ball.

As a rule, balls lasted for eight hours or more. The beginning followed a set ceremonial pattern: the senior person present opened the ball with his partner, and the next in line gradually joined in the dance. To start with, they would dance a suite of branles (branles were round dances from various parts of France). The pairs danced in rows or in a circle with a basically sideways movement through the ballroom. Praetorius describes the motion as "not as brutal as the gaillard or the courante, but very gentle, with but a slight movement of the knees!' The branles doubles and the branles simples, so called because of their double pace to the left followed by a double or a single pace respectively to the right, were just the thing for older dancers, who were excused the more lively "Branles gays", such as the running and jumping peasant dances the Branle de Bourgogne, de Village, de Poictou and de Montirande in which the younger generation indulged. There were lots of branles, varying from region to region. Of the Branle de Montirande or du Haut Barrois, Arbeau says, "It is danced by young ladies and gentlemen of noble descent, who dress up as sheep and farmers for masques to amuse themselves with their peers."

When they danced a bourrée, which Praetorius liked for its rural freshness, the couples would glide across the room with flowing, light steps.

The zapateado-like tapping of toes and heels of the canary dancers, dressed in their colourful plumes, clattered livelily (and at times pretty loudly). The canary was originally danced at masque-ballets by the King and Queen of Mauritania.

The great dance, though it was nearing the end of its popularity, was still the pavan. "It cometh from Spain, and is a passing grave proud and stately dance." "The pavan is easy to dance, for it consisteth merely of two single paces and a double pace forwards, followed by the same again backwards." So says Arbeau. The main thing about the pavan was to see and be seen. "A nobleman can dance the pavan with sword and beret ...the ladies with lowered eyes filled with virgin modesty...". That this modesty was one of the foremost principles of good behaviour for those born into higher society can be gathered from the following description of the dress: "Kings and princes dance the pavan on festive occasions to show themselves off to one another in their ostentatious cloaks and robes of state. They are accompanied by queens, princesses and ladies of the bedchamber. They drag the flowing trains of their garments up to five yards behind them, or else let them be carried by their ladies-in-waiting. Thus they make their way two or three times round the hall, or dance perhaps up and down the middle of the room, turning about when they reach the end." Arbeau realised with regret, twenty years before Terpsichore, that the great dance must eventually be superseded by other, newer ones. Praetorius supplied only one pavan, but three passamezzos — Italianate variations of the pavan, faster, and with tastefully elaborated steps.

The pavan's greatest contemporary rival was the galliard, with its mighty leaps. In France the dance was also aptly called the "five-step": four "sauts mineurs" (little hops) built up to a final "saut majeur" (high leap) which fitted the end of the sequence to the cadence in the music. The basic step lasted two bars. The fairly fast hops of the early galliard developed into even quicker running jumps. Interesting variations of rhythm in Praetorius's music make it seem possible that hops and jumps were themselves freely interchanged. To judge by the almost incomprehensible richness of former step variations, there seem to have been no limits to the types of movement employed, so that the galliard, once just a sprightly dance for couples, became a display piece for all good dancers. To the observer, it seemed to consist of a ceaseless approach and retreat by both partners. When the man danced, he had the chance to demonstrate his ability in leaping, turning and making artistic passes. The lady did not jump as high, but she too could show her dexterity and nimbleness in turning.

Hardly any dance has provoked such discussion, prohibition and sensation as the volta, an offshoot with turns of the galliard. The man had to throw his partner as high as possible into the air. Inevitably this manoeuvre involved holding her somewhat indelicately, and also, from time to time, helping her on her way with a deft application of the knee. Murder, miscarriages, broken necks and legs and all sorts of other evils were laid at the volta's door, until not only the dance itself but the very act of turning in dancing was prohibited on pain of punishment (though with little success).

To complete the catalogue, the courante was by Praetorius's time the most popular courtly dance. In this lively 16th-century run-and-hop dance, the partners held hands and swept in little zig-zags across the room. By the end of the 17th century, the courante had developed into the gentle, measured "Doktor-Tanz"; this was so difficult to perform that, though it was taught by dancing instructors, it was no longer danced in society.

Erika Schneiter
Translation by Martin Homer