2CD
This recording presents the music for all the English ball dances known to have survived at the time of writing. Each dance has its specific tune, printed in the source above the dance notation, melody only. In many cases, bass lines or keyboard arrangements have been found in contemporary sources, and these have been used in the recordings. In the remaining cases, arrangements have been supplied by the players. In a few cases, two alternative tunes existed for the same dance, and both are included here. The recordings are presented in groups corresponding to the various dancing masters who created the dances. The composers of the tunes are given if known, along with the sources of original arrangements where they exist. The speeds chosen for the recordings were arrived at by dancing the dances, but inevitably some dancers will find them too fast and others too slow. Internet links are given for those dances where the notation is available online. Some others are available in modern republications, as noted under each entry. The originals are held in various libraries, chiefly the British Library, the Bodleian Library, the Library of Congress, the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library and the Bibliotheque nationale de France.
The 2-CD set is accompanied by a 6-page booklet giving full details of the music sources and links to the original dance notations where these are available.
Music on the CDs is played by: Ian Cutts – violin by Corrie Schrijver 2009, after Robert Cuthbert 1676 Christine Thornton – Harpsichords by Christopher Barlow, after Giovanni Baffo c.1574 (Isaac dances) and Colin Booth (remainder)
TRACKLISTING:DISC ONE
DISC TWO
