Praetorius, Michael

International Music Score Library Project [IMSLP] entry: Michael Praetorius

Michael Praetorius [1571-1621] was a German organist, composer and collector. He latinised his name from Michael Schultze. He is important in the history of Protestant hymns, but is probably best known for his collection of over 300 dances, published in 1612 as Terpsichore, after the muse of dance.

Piece	MP3	Midi	Genre
Bransle de Villages		MIDI	elizabethan
	Bransle de Villages is from Terpsichore, part XIV, and is a sequence of six dances for woodwind or string quintet. A bransle [of which there are many variant spellings, including brawl], from the French branler, to sway, was a French dance for couples in a linked chain. Sequenced mostly in 2011 from the PD version on IMSLP. I've arranged it partly for woodwind quintet and partly for strings, together with a very simple drum accompaniment. The string sections show the limitations of synthesised violins! If you want something better, you'll have to work through the Midi version. Or download one of the other versions on the web. The first five dances are all in 4/4 time; the sixth switches to 3/2, and includes a phrase that evokes Blackadder.
La Bouree		MIDI	elizabethan
	A bouree [or borry] is a French dance, resembling a gavotte. This example is from Terpsichore, part XXXII, for quartet [for which I've used woodwind instruments and added a continuo part]. Sequenced mostly in 2011 from the PD version on IMSLP.

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Andy Walker, anw [at] cuboid4.me.uk [remove digit to construct address]