Thoinot Arbeau, Orchésographie

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IN THEIR OWN WORDS
Thoinot Arbeau, Orchésographie (1589)
In Chapter 22 we discussed in some detail Thoinot Arbeau and his unique treatise
on dance, Orchésographie. Arbeau was just a nom de plume, the author being really
Jehan Tabourot (1520–1595), a priest from Burgundy, France. The title of the treatise, as is appropriate for the Renaissance, has Greek overtones because in the ancient
Greek theater, the “orchestra” was the area in which the chorus sang and danced.
Obviously, it is the reference to dance that is relevant here.
Arbeau’s Orchésographie is the most important, and certainly the longest, discussion of dance and the music for it written in the West before 1600, providing
us with, in effect, an encyclopedic overview of the subject, at least as it was then
understood in France. Virtually every one of the then-known dances—what we
would today call “ballroom dances”—is discussed. In addition to telling us the
steps for the dances, Arbeau provides us with fascinating insights into the performance practices of the day (on what instruments the dance music should be
played and even sung, for example) and on the social customs and graces of the
period. Although written by a man in his sixties, Arbeau is surprisingly up to date.
He recognizes, for example, that the pavane, the dance discussed in the excerpt
below, is somewhat out of date by 1589, and he also knows that there are more
fashionable varieties of it then coming out of Italy (the passamezzo) and Spain
(the Spanish pavane).
Arbeau’s treatise is written in the form of a dialogue, and the extract that follows
introduces the two interlocutors: Capriol and Arbeau himself, who must have been
something of a joker. Capriol is a fictitious name (just as Thoinot Arbeau is an anagram of Jehan Tabourot). The word capriole was the term then used to identify the
leap that occurred at the climax of each unit of six steps in the galliard. The word
was still known in this way in Mozart’s day, for it appears in this composer’s famous
cavatina for Figaro, “Se vuol ballare” in Le nozze di Figaro—Figaro will teach the
Count to jump, “la capriola, le insegnerò.”
In Orchésographie Capriole is a law student at the University of Orléans, progressing
in his legal studies, proficient in fencing and tennis but unskilled in the ways of the
dance floor. Indeed, in the Renaissance, dancing was more than just social interaction
and exercise; it was a means by which the upwardly mobile young man might distinguish himself in high society and, perhaps more important, in the eyes of the ladies.
Dialogue on Dance and the Manner of Dancing
By Thoinot Arbeau, Living at Langres
Capriol
Sire Arbeau, greetings, you don’t recognize me any more, but six or seven years
ago, before I left Langres to go to Paris and then to Orléans, I was your student in
mathematics.
Arbeau
Certainly I didn’t recognize you at first because you’ve grown a lot since that time,
and I’m sure that you have also grown accordingly in mind and virtue, and in your
knowledge of the sciences. What do you think of the study of law? Years ago I used to
study it.
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Capriol
I find it a good discipline, and necessary to public discourse, but I’m sorry that when in
Orléans, I failed to learn social graces, which many students are taught so as to polish
their learning. Now on my return [to Langres] I find myself in polite society where, to
put it succinctly, I appear to be with neither tongue nor feet, judged to be no better
than a block of wood.
Arbeau
Your saving grace has been that the old professors excused you, taking into account the
learning that you have acquired.
Capriol
That is true, but I should have taken dancing lessons in the hours between my serious
study, and thus ingratiated myself with everyone.
Arbeau
It will be for you to acquire social skills by reading books in French in order to sharpen
your wit, and by learning fencing, dancing, and tennis, in order to socialize with men
and women.
Capriol
I enjoy fencing and tennis, things that give me the opportunity to socialize with young
men. But my shortcoming is dancing, which I will need to be attractive to young
ladies, and on which entirely depends, it seems to me, the reputation of an eligible
bachelor. . . .
After discussing military dances and marches—there were indeed martial dances
such as the “sword dance” and the “pyrrhic dance”—Arbeau turns to recreational
dances, starting with the basse danse and branle (bransle) before arriving at the dance
pair, the pavane and galliard. The pavane was a simple couple’s dance that takes
Arbeau only a few pages to describe. The soloistic galliard, although it had only six
basic steps (step, step, step, step, leap, and pose) was susceptible to endless individual
interpretations, and Arbeau devotes many pages to it. Because we can all learn to
dance the straightforward (and straightbackward) pavane, Arbeau’s description of
this dance is given here.
Arbeau
We will discuss that [the galliard] after we have spoken of the pavane, which is normally danced before the basse danse. Said pavane has by no means been abolished or
gone out of fashion, nor do I believe it ever will. True, it is not as popular as it once
was, but our instrumentalists still play it when a young lady of standing is led to the
church on her wedding day, and when they need processional music for priests, dignitaries, and members of some notable confraternity.
Capriol
While waiting for you to tell me about the galliard, explain the movements that are
used in the pavane.
Arbeau
The pavane is easy to dance because it only involves two simples and a double [and presumably a reverence at the beginning, as most of Arbeau’s dances do] going forward and
two simples and a double going backward. It is accompanied by music in a binary meter.
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And note that when dancing it the two simples and said double moving forward commence with the left foot, and that the two simples and the double going backward commence with the right foot.
Capriol
Then the drum and the other instruments make eight beats moving forward and eight
beats going backward?
Arbeau
Right. And if one doesn’t want to go backward, one can always continue forward.
Capriol
Are there no retreating steps in basse danse?
Arbeau
Sometimes, if the hall is full with a great number of people and the space available for
dancing is limited, when you get toward the end it is necessary to do one of two things,
go backward, both you and your lady, or make a “conversion.”
Capriol
What is a conversion?
Arbeau
Specifically, when you approach the end, you make the lady go straight ahead, and you
go backward at the same time, until you both are heading in the opposite direction.
Capriol
Which of the two do you think is a better move?
Arbeau
In my opinion it is better to execute a conversion, in order that the lady can see where
she is stepping because if she steps on something while moving backward, she could
fall, and it would appear to be your fault, and you would lose face. And thus it seems
to me that this is how you should do it when dancing the pavane, making two or three
turns around the room.
Capriol
Is the meter of the pavane the same as it is for the basse danse?
Arbeau
[No], it is binary, consisting of a white minim and two black notes in the following way:
Capriol
I think these pavanes and basse danses are beautiful and dignified, and appropriate for
honorable people, especially ladies and demoiselles.
Arbeau
A gentleman can dance it wearing a cloak and a sword, and you others [academics]
wearing your long robes, progressing honorably and with a serious demeanor, and ladies so too, yet with a humble countenance with eyes cast down, except to throw an
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occasional glance at the onlookers with virginal modesty. And specifically with regard
to the pavane: it is used by kings, princes, and dignified lords, as they present themselves on a day of solemn public display, with their dress coats and parade robes. And
so, too, do queens, princesses, and ladies in waiting, with the long trains of their dresses
loosened and trailing behind them, sometimes carried by girls.
And said pavanes, played by shawms and sackbuts, announce the “grand ball” and
they continue to play until the dancers have circled the hall two or three times, unless
they prefer dancing forward and backward. Pavanes are also used at those moments of
ceremonial entry, as when appear triumphant floats carrying masquerade gods and goddess, or emperors or kings with great majesty.
Capriol
Write down for me the tunes of a pavane and basse danse.
Arbeau
This I’ll gladly do so that such honest dances may be reinstated, in place of licentious and dishonest ones that were introduced to the regret of wise lords and ladies
and matrons of good judgment. First, I will provide for you a pavane in duple meter
supported by tenor, alto, and bass, which will be sufficient for you to know how to
dance all other pavanes. And if you wish to dance it, get a group to sing or play it
in all four parts. . . . . The pavane [below], in four voices, contains two forward units
and two backward units, indicated by the characters in this fashion “ss d ss d ss d ss
d” and thirty-two beats on the drum. To extend it, it can be played as many times as
agreeable to the performers. And because you may want someday to sing the entire
song, here’s how it goes.
Pavane in four parts, with meter and beat provide by the drum
Superius
Bel
le qui
tiens ma vi
e cap
tive
dans tes
e cap
tive
dans tes
e cap
tive
dans tes
Contra tenor
Bel
le qui
tiens ma vi
Tenor
Bel
le qui
tiens ma vi
5
Bassus
Bel
le qui
tiens ma vi
e cap
tive
dans tes
Battement du tambour
Superius
yeulx,
Qui
m’as la me ra
vi
e d’un
soubz-riz
vi
e d’un
soubz-riz
vi
e d’un
soubz-riz
vi
e d’un
soubz-riz
Contra teno
yeulx,
Qui
m’as la me ra
Tenor
yeulx,
Qui
m’as la me ra
Bassus
yeulx,
Qui
m’as la me ra
Battement du tambour
Superius
graci
eux,
Viens
tost me secou
rir
ou
rir
ou
Contra tenor
graci
eux,
Viens
tost me secou
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Tenor
graci
eux,
Viens
tost me secou
rir
ou
Bassus
[4]
graci
eux,
Viens
tost me secou
rir
ou
Battement du tambour
Superius
me faul dra mou rir.
Viens
tost me secou
rir
tost me secou
rir
tost me secou
rir
Contra tenor
me faul dra mou rir.
Viens
Tenor
me faul dra mou rir.
Viens
Bassus
[5]
me faul dra mou rir.
Battement du tambour
Viens
tost me secou
rir
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Superius
ou
me faul dra mou rir.
Contra tenor
ou
me faul dra mou rir.
Tenor
ou
me faul dra mou rir.
Bassus
ou
me faul dra mou rir.
Source: Translated from the original French, available online at http://www.graner.net/nicolas/arbeau/
orcheso01.php.