CDs and dance books

Celeste Giglio, Flowers of 16th-century Italian Dance Music.

This was the firstborn but still very popular CD, recorded by the Lacrimae Ensemble. Most pieces on the CD are music for the Italian dances from the books by Fabritio Caroso and Cesare Negri, plus some from Arbeau’s Orchesographie. The dance book (available in English, German and Dutch languages) describes all these dances, worked out in a practical manner and ready to dance; it also includes chapters about the dances of ca. 1600, with background information on context and style, an extensive glossary for the dance steps and polyphonic arrangements of the dance music. Both dances and music are direct reconstructions of the source material.

La Baroque, Dances for the Dutch Court c. 1765

Another CD wich is an absolute joy, both for the ear and to dance to! The dances come from collections of contredances which were popular at the homes of the nobility and rich bourgeois in the Netherlands as well as elsewhere in the Europe of the third quarter of the 18th century. The CD was recorded by well-known Dutch early musicians, playing period instruments such as an original single-action harp and natural horns. The arrangements were made for a variety of ensembles, from only a few instruments for the informal intimacy of the drawing-oom, to a small orchestra for bigger, festive occasions. The CD-booklet includes interesting articles about the dances, the historical background and the original Shudi harpsichord used for the recordings.

In the dance book (available in English, German and Dutch languages) sixteen dances are shown in facsimile, hand in hand with easy-to-read and ready-for-dancing versions. The musical arrangements in the book are for keyboard instruments or for ensembles of two or three instruments. The book includes chapters on background, sources, the ‘system’ of the various contredances, posture and style, the figures and symbols used in the original texts and an extensive glossary of the dance steps. It is beautifully illustrated with images from the original sources.

A Choice Collection of Dances, Music for Baroque Dances at the Court and Theatre.

This CD, with its charming and varied repertoire of pieces of dance music, is a real pleasure both for dancers and musicians, as well as for all those who simply love listening to Baroque music. Musicians may find useful indications regarding the tempo and character of almost all Baroque dance forms. Dancers: just play the cd and dance!
A Choice Collection of Dances includes music for 32 notated choreographies, for most of which to date hardly any other danceable recording is available. The selected choreographies cover a wide range, from danses à deux to solos for a man or a lady, dances for three to four dancers and some contredances. The CD-booklet offers interesting information about Baroque dance and its music as well as a short commentary on all of the recorded dances. The CD was recorded by Accademia Amsterdam.

Dorothée Wortelboer is the author of the dance books; all CDs were produced by her. Both musical arrangements and dance descriptions are direct and meticulous reconstructions of the source material.