Terpsichore (Praetorius)

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Terpsichore is a collection of dances by the German composer Michael Praetorius (1571–1621). It contains 312 mostly French dances and was published in Wolfenbüttel in 1612 . Terpsichore is the muse of dance in Greek mythology .

Content and meaning

The full title of the collection is:

"TERPSICHORE, / Musarum Aoniarum / QUINTA. / Darinnen / Allerley French / Däntze and songs / As 21.  Branslen : / 13. Other Däntze with strange names. / 162.  Couranten : / 48.  Volten : / 37.  Ballets : / 3  Passamezze / 23.  Gaillarden : and / 4.  Reprinsen / With 4. 5. and 6. voices. "

The Latin expression "Musarum Aoniarum Quinta" means "5th Band of the Aeonic Muses ”. This is the composer's own name for his secular musical works, in contrast to the “Musae Sioniae”, which he uses to describe his sacred compositions . The work is dedicated to Praetorius' employer Friedrich Ulrich (1591–1634), Duke of Braunschweig and Lüneburg . Praetorius gives Antoine Emeraud, the dance master of his employer Friedrich Ulrich, as the source for the dances . In addition, 30 mostly five-part dances are marked with FC , a reference to François Caroubel , an Italian-French violinist who served the French court from 1576 until his death in 1611.

The detailed foreword closes with Mihi Patria Coelum ( Latin "My fatherland is heaven" ), on the one hand a reference to the composer's Christian convictions and on the other hand a play on words: the initials MPC, which can be found on some of the items in the collection, stand for M ichael P raetorius C reutzburgensis, "Michael Praetorius from Creuzburg ".

The collection itself consists of five main parts:

  • Branlen
  • Courants
  • Volts
  • Ballets
  • Passamezzi, d. H. Pavans , and Gaillarden

Each group begins with five-part dances, followed by four-part pieces. This means that new sequences from different groups can be freely put together for each performance. This type of presentation was a bit old-fashioned at the time of its publication. At the beginning of the 17th century, composers began to write down their own dance sequences, which ended up being called suites . Numbers 286 and 288, both passamezze, are the only two six-part pieces. No. 185, a four-part courante, is entitled Wilhelm von Nass. and is a slightly modified version of today's national anthem of the Netherlands .

Praetorius gives only sparse information on the instrumentation . The foreword contains the suggestion to vary the volume during repetitions , which can then be easily and easily achieved on violin and blowing instruments. The passamezze are played on crooked horns or other instruments .

Terpsichore proves to be a valuable source of the French dance repertoire at the beginning of the 17th century, after similar collections by Pierre Attaignant and Thoinot Arbeau ( orchésography ) had been published a few decades earlier .

In Praetorius' treatise Syntagma musicum , Terpsichore is listed at the beginning of a series of eight works with secular music. The author writes:

"The following ones are almost completely finished, but not yet in print."

So far, no reliable information is available about the existence of the “almost completely finished” numbers 2 to 8 listed here. In any case, they have not yet been published.

Publication and performances

Despite its eminent importance in music history, Terpsichore was forgotten for centuries and is still only mentioned in passing in musicological reference works such as Grove or MGG . The work was published in 1929 in an arrangement by Günther Oberst as Volume 15 of the Praetorius Complete Edition by Friedrich Blume . However, it did not become public awareness until 1960 when Fritz Neumeyer published six pieces from the collection, beginning with Courante No. 183, with an ensemble of recorders, viols, lutes, harpsichord, shelves and drums in the DGG archive production series . Since then, numerous recordings, including larger sections of the collection, have been added.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Complete edition Michael Praetorius, Volume XV. Published by Friedrich Blume. Möseler Verlag Wolfenbüttel, 1929. S. VII
  2. ↑ Complete edition, Volume XV. S. IX
  3. ^ Peter Holman: Terpsichore at 400: Michael Praetorius as a Collector of Dances. P. 42.
  4. ^ Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians , Volume 20, p. 262.
  5. ^ Peter Holman: Terpsichore at 400: Michael Praetorius as a Collector of Dances. P. 48.
  6. ^ Peter Holman: Terpsichore at 400: Michael Praetorius as a Collector of Dances. Pp. 50-51.
  7. ^ Naxos - Early Music: Praetorius, Dances from Terpsichore
  8. ↑ Syntagma musicum, Volume 3, pp. 220-221
  9. ^ Peter Holman: Terpsichore at 400: Michael Praetorius as a Collector of Dances. P. 34.

literature

  • Peter Holman : Terpsichore at 400: Michael Praetorius as a Collector of Dances. The Viola da Gamba Society Journal, Volume Six, 2012. pp. 34-51. On-line

Web links

Recordings (selection)