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Dance music at the courts of seventeenth-century Germany is a genre that is still largely unknown. Dr Michael Robertson sets out to redress the balance and study the ensemble dance suites that were played at the German courts between the end of the Thirty Years War and the early years of the eighteenth century. The book examines the dissemination of dance music, the influence of Jean-Baptiste Lully, instrumentation and performance practice, and the differences between the French and Italian styles. It also studies the courtly suites before the advent of Lullism and the differences between the suites of court composers and town musicians.
List of contents
Contents: Foreword; Introduction; Une splendeur et une magnificence incroyable: music and dance at the German courts; Nach der lustigen Frantzösischen Manier zu spielen: national style and the transmission of dance music; Composées sur le même mode ou ton: defining the suite; Frantzösische branles, courantes, sarabandes, ballettas: manuscript sources of the courtly suite before 1682; Burgermeistern Syndicis: printed editions by court composers before 1682; Ouverturen und Airs: the German Lullists - I; Verscheidenen Ouverturen, Chaconnen, lustigen Suiten: the German Lullists - II; Cette nouvelle harmonie: unifying French and Italian styles; Einer teutschen Fÿhrung: Vienna, the imperial court; Eine frische Frantzösische Ouverturen ihnen allen zu prÿferiren: conclusion and case studies; Bibliography; Index.
About the author
Following a career as teacher, harpsichordist and organist, Michael Robertson completed his PhD under Peter Holman at the University of Leeds in 2004. His principal musicological interest is in the dance music written for instrumental consorts in seventeenth-century Germany. He is now a research associate at the University of Leeds.
