Renaissance Dance Discography

[ This article appeared in volume 3 of the Letter of Dance. ]

This discography is the work of many hands. Its starting points were a discography compiled by Janelyn of Fenmere and Trahaearn ap Ieuan, and the Rendance Discography (at bransle.ucs.mun.ca) compiled by Miklos Sandorfia. It was greatly extended by entries and annotations submitted by other dancers, listed below. Isaac de Hugo and Rosina del Bosco Chiaro gave particularly generously of their time and knowledge.

This discography lists tapes and CDs in alphabetical order by title. (It would have been nice to be able to sort them by topic, but the available offerings don't tend to fall into neat categories.) In consideration of the probable readership, the alphabetization is exceedingly Anglocentric: Leading a's and the's are ignored, but non-English words such as 'le', 'il', 'la', etc., are not. There has also been a general tendency to drop accents and diacrytical marks from non-English titles.

We were unable to develop a format that gave adequate credit to contributors without being too intrusive. In the end, we did not note who contributed which discography entries or parts thereof. We have, however, tried to identify the writers of comments and annotations, as different reviewers will tend to have different interests and biases. They are identified thus:

AB: Andrew Vorder Bruegge (Isaac de Hugo)
AD: Andrew Draskoy (Miklos Sandorfia)
AH: Anna Haynes (Luanmaise nic Ailithir)
AT: Allan Terry
DE: Del Elson (Delbert von Strassburg)
DH: Dominic Hunter (Wolfgang Adolphus Jager)
DZ: Dani Zweig (Dani of the Seven Wells)
IE: Ian Engle (Sion Andreas)
JPD: Janelle and Peter Durham (Janelyn and Trahaearn)
LH: Linda Lee Hill (Eden McNab Sommerhawke)
LL: Lizbeth Langston (Lizbeth Ravensholm)
MD: Michael Daether
MH: Monica Hultin (Monika z Gniezo)
MR: Mary Railing (Urraca Yriarte de Gamboa)
MW: Mark Waks (Justin de Coeur)
QM: Quentin Miller
VS: Vivian Stephens (Rosina del Bosco Chiaro)

Some entries have been trimmed by the editors and yet others, of less-general interest, have been reduced to brief listings in an appendix to this discography. For any distortion or loss of usefulness that results, credit must be reserved to the editors. Two of the contributors used four-point scales to rate tapes and CDs on aesthetics (from * - ugly - to **** - a rare pleasure) and on usability (with lower-rated music being hard to dance to due to poor tempi, wrong numbers of repeats, poor fit to the choreography, etc.) Due to space limitations, we haven't included their fairly specific definitions of what each meant by one star, two stars, etc. Here too, we can only apologize for the loss in information content. A final caveat: Prices are given for some tapes. They were current when obtained, but you might want to make sure of them before ordering.

This compilation appeared in three parts, in issues 22, 23, and 24 of the Letter of Dance. There are some minor differences in this version - e.g., entries which appeared out of order in the three-part version now appear in their proper places. Also, the brief entries in appendix I were - because of space constraints - even briefer in the original publication.

A la Ferrarese: Bassedanze, Balli e Canzone. Schola Cantorum Basiliensis.
Deutsche Harmonia Mundi. CD: GD 77243, LP: 065 16 9558 1
Includes La Figlia Guiliemino, Petit Vriens, Amoroso, Leoncello, La Franchoise Nouvelle, La Danza Ravestain, La Danza Cleves, Cancon de' Pifari Dicto el Ferrarese, Il Re di Spagna (two arrangements), Collinetto (two arrangements).

DH: Well worth a listen, and is very nice to dance to.

A La Via, Medievales de Quebec, by Strada/Ensemble Anonymous (2 groups).
Analekta AN 2 8003.
Includes Bransle des Cheveux, Saltarello, Schiarazula Marazula, Br. de Poitou et d'Ecosse, Chanconetta tedesca, and Jouyssance (didn't say whose).

Airs Populaires Anglais du XVIIe Siecle (Popular Tunes in 17th century England).
The Broadside Band. Harmonia Mundi, 1980/92. HMA 1901039. CD
Instruments: Flutes, flageolet, tambourine, regal, virginal, recorders, galoubet, harpsichord, violin, kit, baroque fiddle, rebec, lute, mandore, cittern, mandolin, viols, hurdy-gurdy.
Includes Hyde Park, Maiden Lane, St. Paul's Wharf, Tower Hill, Gray's Inn, Cuckolds all in a Row, Merry Milkmaids We, Woodicock, Newcastle, Callino Casturame, Come live with me and be my love, Light O'Love, Jog on, Greensleeves, Fortune my Foe, Packington's Pound, Chi passa, All in a Garden Green, La Folia, Quatre Branles, The Clean Contrary Way, Gilderoy, Gilliecrankie, The Miller of the Dee. The new Exchange: Go from my window, the new exchange. Kettle Drum: Kettle Drum, Kettle Drum, Trumpet Tune, The Indian Queen or the new Bouree. A Health to Betty: A health to Betty, My mother's ay glow-ring o'er me. The fine companion: The fine companion, the merry companion, the boon companion. The healths: The healths, the healths, La Bouree, The glory of the west, St. Paul's Steeple, Jack Pudding, Parson's Farewell.

JPD: The emphasis in this recording is on the degree to which tunes evolved: from popular song, to country dance, back to popular song, and emphasizes dance tunes which also appeared as broadside ballads. Some settings are taken directly from Playford and other sources; some are improvised by the band based around the original melody. The final tracks show examples of various related versions of the same tune. Since the primary goal of this CD is to illustrate these points rather than just present dance tunes, not all of the tunes are usable as dance music. However, a significant portion of them are, and make for enjoyable dancing.
Aesthetic Appeal: **** Usability: **-****

AD: Quite a few good Playford tunes, although not everything on this disc is danceable.

LH: ...About half dance music but not intended for dancing - the selections are mostly short and the tempos generally slow - but it's great listening to some of the more obscure Playford tunes. Ditto also for John Playford's Popular Tunes - great listening and his notes are always good.

Altenglische Country Dances. Cassette available from Musikedition Grüneis,
c/o R. Busch-Hofer, Gasse 21, 83671 Benediktbeuren.

MD: [This] is kind of a standard cassette for Playford dances here. For the country dances a very good book, including detailed reconstructions and notes (4 voices), is available.

Ansteorran Kingdom Dance Workshop. Marcus il Volpe. Jaded Puppy Productions, 1991. Cassette only. Purchased at Estrella War. Instrument: synthesizer.
Includes Hole in the Wall, Earl of Salisbury Pavan, Montard, Maltese Branle, Hermit Br. / Burgundian / Clog, Horses' Branle, Lazy Robin, Nonesuch, Gathering Peascods, Black Nag, Rufty Tufty, Spagnoletto, Dit de Bourgignon, Half Hannikin, Pepper's Black, La Pavan Inconstante, Stirling Rant, Jouyessance vous Donnerais/Signature Pavan, So Ben Mi Ch'a Buon Tempo, Catena d'Amore, Il Canario, Tourdion Magdalena & Basse Dance, Korobushka, Pavan Venitzia.

JPD: Has companion book of dance instructions. Fairly nice arrangements and "instrumentation", but obviously synthesized music throughout. Aesthetic Appeal: *.5 Usability: ***

At the Court of King Rene - See La cour du Roi Rene.

Balli di Fabrizio Caroso e Cesare Negri. Angelika Oertel. Tape available from Musikedition Grüneis, c/o R. Busch-Hofer, Gasse 21, 83671 Benediktbeuren.

MD: [This] is a lute solo recording of high quality made by Angelika Oertel, who is a very good dancer also. [A] book was planned also, but I don't know whether it really exists.

Balli e Balletti da Ballare: Danses de la Renaissance Italien. Atelier Danse/Claude Flagel
ADDA Distribution, 1987. FM 581071. CD (Also distributed by Qualiton Imports as "Italian Dance Music of the Renaissance".)
Instruments: recorders, 7-course lute, bass curtal, cornetto, viola da gamba, harpsichord.
Includes Laura Suave, Furioso all'Italiania, Barriera Nuova, Passo e Mezzo, Bizzarria d'Amore, Bassa Pompilia, So Ben Mi Chi Ha Bon Tempo, Pavana e Gagliarda, Il Canario, Ruota di Fortuna, Contrapasso Nuovo, Chiaranzana.

JPD: Dance advisor was Andrea Francalanci. Apparently, there may exist a companion book by Francalanci by the same name, which includes facsimiles of the sources to encourage people to approach the work critically and examine why various choices were made. The liner notes for this state that they emphasized a correlation between the instrumentation and the choreography, so you may hear, for example, a cornetto representing the gentleman's part, and a recorder the Lady's. Aesthetic Appeal: **** Usability: ***.5

VS: Of the dances on it that I am familiar with, Bizzaria d'Amore works, Passo e Mezzo, the Pavane and Gagliard, and Il Canario are all clear and good tempi. The Furioso all'Italiana, however, disagrees with the reconstruction I'm used to; the second "Alla Sciolta della Sonata" part of the dance only has enough music to be done once, not twice. Chiaranzana also seems usable, although I am not totally familiar with the dance. It lasts 15 minutes, so long enough for the real dance.
A:*** U:*** (because of the Furioso - if some one can point out that it was meant to be that way for reconstruction purposes, I'd up it to ****, but not being familiar with the other dances, I can't be sure I trust all of them.)

Calliope Dances: A Renaissance Revel. Calliope. Nonesuch, 1982. 79039-2. CD.
[The Rendance discography gives the title as `Dances'. I'm assuming it's the same CD - Dani]
Instruments: viols, vielle, sackbuts, recorders, krumhorns, cornetto, percussion, pipe and tabor.
Praetorius: Galliarde, Three Voltas, Galliarde, Galliarde Dimunutions, ballet des Anglois, Branle de la Royne; Attaingnant: Basse "La Brosse"; Taunder Naken; La Spagna: de la Torre; Guglielmo, Isaac; 16th c. French: Two Galliardes, Pavan, basse "Au Pres de Vous", Three Branles Gay, Branle Simple. L'homme Arme.

JPD: Guglielmo's La Spagna is very nice, and very danceable. Isaac's La Spagna is nice too. Otherwise, this CD is fairly unremarkable: the tracks are fine, and fairly useable, but not outstanding. Aesthetic Appeal: *** Usability: **+

AD: Includes some useful 15c basse dances.

Carolingian Dance Tape, Version 2.
Includes La Spagna, Le Moys de May, Verceppe, Gelosia, Hole in the Wall, Belle Qui/tourdion, Galliard, Bransles: Single, Double, Burgundian, Charlotte, Scottish, Pease, Official, Maltese, Gay, Horses, Montarde, Torches.

MW: The Carolingian Dance Tape, Version 2 (I've never seen or heard Version 1, and I'm unconvinced that it really existed) was produced by Mark Fishman (a friend of Patri's) in 1976. It's mostly Arbeau, with a modicum of assorted other stuff. Good tape.... It's still one of the more useful dance tapes around -- unfancy, but reasonably pleasant to listen to and entirely useful.

Cesare Negri: La Gratie D'amore (1602) The Oxford University Early Music Society. Available from Quentin Miller, 31 East Avenu, OXFORD OX4 1XP, England. Funds must be in pounds (International money orders are available) and should be made out to R.Q. Miller. Verify tape availability (quentin@comlab.ox.ac.uk) before ordering.
So ben mi chi ha bon tempo, Il Bigara, Il Torneo Amoroso, Il Bizarro, Alta Mendozza, Alta Visconte, Austria Felice, Ballo fatto da sei Cavalieri, Alamana d'Amore, La Catena D'amore

QM: Dance advisor is Nancy J. Walker. This recording has been arranged and performed with dance teaching in mind: tempi are (we think) appropriate for novice dancers; a drum beat introduces each piece, so that one isn't caught off guard by the start of the music; sections are repeated enough times to accompany the entire dance (no matter how excruciating!); and each piece ends with a long chord to accompany the reverenza. Cost per cassette tape (including postage and packaging): U.K.: £s;6.56, Europe: £s;6.81, Elsewhere: £s;7.73.

Chominciamento di gioia, Ensemble Unicorn, Naxos 8.553131.

VS: Has 3 Saltarelli, including La Regina played at suicide speed, plus other early dance music. (This is 14th C stuff, all dance music, I believe.) A:*** U:? We don't have period choreographies, but it's lively stuff - might convince people to figure out how to improvise ...

Circa 1500. Renaissance Music from the Courts of Mantua and Ferrara. (CD)
MHS 513401K, 1993

AB: Re-release of 1983 recording. Various stuff including: saltarello; El Marchese di Saluzzo; La Cornetta Pavan.

Country Capers. New York Renaissance Band. Arabesque, 1984. NB 7520 or Z6520. CD.
[The Rendance discography gives the CD number as DIDX92, but the other information matches, so I'm assuming it's the same recording - Dani]
See: Renaissance Dance Music, 3 & 4. New York Renaissance Band. Arabesque 81-7201, 1984. Book of the Month Club, 1986.
Instruments: shawms, recorders, dulcian, cornetto, chalumeau, percussion, violin, viols, lute.
1. Rufty Tufty, Hearts Ease, Argeers 2. Chestnut, Boate Man, Dissembling Love, Confesse 3. The Maid Peeped Out at the Window, Petticoat Wag, The Merry Milke Maids 4. Newcastle, The Fine Companion, Kettle Drum 5. Mundesse, Lull Me Beyond Thee, Dargason 6. Gathering Peascods, The Beggar Boy, Jenny Pluck Pears 7. Upon a Summer's Day, Saturday Night and Sunday Morn 8. Staines Morris, Lavena, The Glory of the West

JPD: Very pretty and fairly period sounding, very danceable to, though somewhat brisk. One complaint is that each track has three to four dances on it, so you might have to fuss with it to set up tapes with only the dance you want. (I've heard that some prints of this CD are missing the final tracks. Check yours.) Aesthetic appeal: **** Usability: ***

MW: This one largely uses arrangements by Marshall Barron... Not all tracks are useable, but a large fraction are, and the music is a delight to listen to.

AD: Good arrangements of ECD music.

Country Dances. The Broadside Band. Harmonia Mundi, HM 40.1109. Cassette.
Includes Grimstock, Upon a Summer's Day, The Spanish Gypsie, Rufty Tufty, Gray's Inne Mask or Mad Tom, Bobbing Joe, The friar and the Nun, Drive the Cold Winter Away, Half Hannikin, Jenny Pluck Pears, The New Exchange, Go from my Window, Kettle Drum, Indian Queen, A health to Betty, The Fine Companion, The Glory of the West, St. Paul's Steeple, Jack Pudding, Parson's Farewell.

JPD: Very pretty, nicely danceable, always the right number of repeats. A little slow...
Aesthetic appeal: **** Usability: ****

MD: Playford dances, in the known quality of the Broadside Band.

Dance Music of the High Renaissance. (CD) Boston Skyline BSD 118, 1993.

AB: From the Vault compilation of 2 earlier recordings by Collegium Terpsichore and Ulsamer-Collegium. Includes 6 from Terpsidhore; Branle de Bourgogne; several galliards.

Dance Music of the Renaissance, RCA Victrola VICS-1328
aka: Dance Music of the Renaissance, Musical Heritage Society MHS-3938 aka: Greatest Dance Hits of the 1500's, Quintessence PMC-750495.
Includes Branle de Brougogne, Branle gay nouveau, Pavan: Mille Regrets, Ronde, Pavan: Si pas souffrir, Ronde and Saltarello, Hoeboecken dans, Ronde: Il estoit, Branle, L'arboscello ballo Furlano, Pavan, Galliarde, 3 Intradas, Tordion, Pavan, Galliarde, Polnischer Tanz, Galliarde

Dances by Dowland. Bream, Julian. (CD) MHS 512422A, 1989.

AB: Re-release of 60's recording. All lute music. Various galliards; pavans; almans; jigs.

Dances for the Society. Cassette compiled by Ruth Woodring. Basic Pavanne, Earl of Salisbury Pavanne, Nika-Nika Branle, Clog, Montarde, Maltese, Mannschaft Pavan, Horses, Hole in the Wall (fast), Korobushka, Pease, Washerwomens, War, Sellingers Round, Cuckolds all Awry, Black Alman, Black Nag, Fandango, Villanico, Spagnoletta, Pepper's Black, Entre Courante, Lady Layton's Measure, Childgrove, Verceppe, Hole in the Wall (slow), Heart's Ease, Gathering Peascods, Nonesuch, Colonese, Female Sailor, Scotland the Brave, Half Hannikin

AB: Compiled by Ruth Woodring, known in the SCA as Vashti of the Flaming Tresses. She compiled a variety of dances she knew very well, and she used a large number of dances that Aidan and I had collected into our dance manual. Some of the dances are virtually extinct in the SCA.

JPD: I don't think you'll find this for sale anywhere, but you may run across it... This dance appears to be a collection gathered up for use in the SCA ...with a wide variety of dances copied (illegally, I assume) from a wide variety of sources. Recording quality and aesthetic appeal ranges from source to source. We still use this tape, because there's a couple dances we have not been able to find a working copy of in any legal form. Aesthetics: **-**** Usability: ***

Dances from Terpsichore.

Colleguim Terpsichore / Siegfried Behrend / Siegfried Fink / Ulsamer Collegium Innovative Music Productions (IMP). CD: IMPX 9026 Tape: Contour CCTC7565, n.d.

DE A number of good danceable tunes from Praetorius. Worth exploring.

AB: Re-release of 1961 recording. Includes a lot of dance tunes: courantes; voltas; La Magdalena basse dance; saltarellli; allemandes, galliards; branles; bouree.

Dances from the Courts of Europe. Nonsuch.
Eglinton Productions, 1986. Cassettes only. Available directly from NED, or from DBL. Tapes are £s;4 each, companion books are £s;6 or £s;7 each. Postage charge will be notified on invoice.
Instruments: Variety of period instruments.

Volume 1: Medieval (to 15th c. French basse dance)
Branle Double, Branle Simple, Branle Gai. Branles coupes: Picardy, Ce fut en mai, Voulex-vous, Chanson de Mail, Tomorrow shall be my dancing day, Unto us a boy is born, Tempus adest floridum. Summer Farandole, Winter Farandole. Ductia, Danse Royale. Estampies: Simple, Double, Gai. Estampies Royales: La Prime, La Seconde, La Tierche, La Quarte, La Quinte, La Sexte, La Septime, La Ultime. Old Almaine. Basse Dances: La Dame, La Spagna (Ghiselin), Basse dance for step practice, Tandernacken, La Spagna (Josquin)

Volume 2: Italian Renaissance (15th c) and Caroso and Negri Dances.
15th c. dances: Pellegrina, Rostibolly, Anello, Alexandresca, Gelosia, Mercantia, Daphnes, Sobria, Jupiter, Zinerva, Prexoniera, Venus, Verceppe. 16th c. dances: Torneo Amoroso, Bella Gioiosa (Cascarda), Austria Felice, Furioso, Alta Mendoza, Brando di Cales, Corrente.

Volume 3: Elizabethan Dances (16th c), part 1
Jouissance and Tordion, Tordion, Pavane and Tordion d'Albart, Almaine and Recoupe, New Almaine, Tant que Vivray, Belle qui tiens ma vie, Pavane and Galliarde Ferrarese, Frog Galliarde, Flatt Pavane & Frog Galliarde, Pavane & Galliarde d'Albart, P & G d'Angleterre, Belle qui, English Coranto, Spanish Pavan, La Volta, Les Bouffons, Pavane la Bataille, La Morisque, The Fairy Round

Volume 4: Elizabethan Dances, 16th c. Part II, including Playford. 16th century branles: Charlotte, Pinagay, Aridan, Horses', Official, Clog, Washerwomen's, War, Montarde, Scottish, Branles coupes. Almans: Black, Queen's, Cecilia. Playfords: Nonesuch, Confesse, Heartsease, Parsons' Farewell, Rufty Tufty, Sellinger's Round, Mundesse, Cuckolds all Awry, Shepherd's Holiday, Dargason, St. Martins, Love for Love.

JPD: This music was developed in conjunction with the Nonsuch Summer Schools in Early Dance, held annually since 1976, under the direction of Peggy Dixon. The recordings were made over a number of years, as they were required for each summer school. When these tapes were compiled, some of the original recordings were replaced, some retained. Because of the evolving nature of this compilation, the aesthetic appeal ranges a bit, as does the recording quality, but overall, they're nice sounding and quite useful for performing a variety of dances. A note of caution about the books: the step reconstructions are based on the work of Melusine Wood, and more recent scholars frequently disagree with some of the assumptions she made. Particularly the "medieval" dances on Tape #1 are based on very little actual information from period. Between each track on the tape, the name of the next dance is announced, which I find very helpful when searching a tape for a dance tune which I am not familiar with; luckily, the announcement is very quiet, which means you could use this tape even at an event without having to run over to stop your tape from _shouting_ out the name of the next dance. Aesthetic Appeal: **-*** Usability: ***

DH: We've mainly used volume 2, though we have done some of the dances from other volumes. In general, a good variety of dances, though occassionally with odd tempos and sometimes uninteresting arrangements. I would agree with the note of caution about the reconstructions presented in the accompanying books - for almost every dance from vol. 2 we've done, we found it better to go back to the original source. Some of the `medieval' dance choreographies - especially the estampies - tend to be rather dull, to my mind. Other than this, a good series to own.

Dances of a Noble Gathering. The Consortium Antiquum Band. Available from Angene Feves, 70 Karol Lane, Pleasant Hill, CA 94523 for $10.50, plus $2.50 P&H. ($5 outside US) Cassette tape and manual. Long recordings of Chiaranzana and Sciolta, Contrapasso, and Fedelta. Dance advisor Angene Feves.

LL: All three dances are quite danceable with a good repeat structure. Chiaranzana & Sciolta: This is ideally played with live musicians who will play until all the dancers return to their places before changing to the Sciolta. As played here, this recording is long enough to allow a line of 5 or 6 couples to finish all the figures and nearly get back to their places before the sciolta begins. Contrapasso: works correctly for the Contrapssso Nuovo (Caroso-Il Ballarino f 147+ for 6 people and versions for 6 in Nobilta) but the Contrapasso (for 2, Il B. f. 173) must be adjusted slightly.

Dances Populaires Francaises et Anglaises Du XVIe Siecle. Broadside Band Harmonia Mundi, 1984. HMC901152 CD.
Instruments: flute, clavecin, violin, viol, vielle a roue, lute, mandora, cittern, guitar, tambourine, tabor, and triangle.
Arbeau: Branles: double, simple, gay, de Bourgogne, Cassandra, Pinagay, Charlotte; Basse Dance: Jouissance vous donneray; Tourdions; Pavan: Belle Qui; Galliardes: La traditore my fa morire, Antoinette, J'aymerois; La Volte; Branles: Poictou, Ecosse, Bretagne, Malte, Lavandieres, Chevaulx; Jouyssance vous donneray; Three French Corantos; Basse Dance: La Roques; Recercada segunda; La dance de la Haye, Branle:l'Official; Moresques; Canaries; Les Bouffons
Playford: Grimstock, Upon a Summer's Day, The Spanish Gipsy, Rufty Tufty, Gray's Inn Mask, Bobbing Joe

JPD: Very pretty, very danceable. A few of the English Country dances are a little slow, but still nice. Because of the overall quality of the music, and the nice range of dances represented, this is one of our most recommended CD's. Aesthetic appeal: **** Usability: ****

DH: Pretty musch all the bransles are useable, as is the first Jouyessance and tourdion (the second is rather slow...). The Mourisques/Canaries/Bouffens are really just snippets, so aren't that much use. The Playfords are also reasonable, if (as noted above) rather slow in places.

LH: This has some wonderful instrumentation and is definitely "courtly" (even the country dances). The tempos are mostly on the brisk side and might prove too quick for beginning dancers although more experienced dancers should find them exhilarating. A surprising exception to this is the country dance, "Bobbing Joe", which is done in a very slow tempo. There are several dances to each track on the court dances. You may find yourself needing to loop some of the dances in order to make it match the dances as we do them. Nice fast (and relatively short) version of "Jouissance vous donneray".

Danses, Danseryes, Musica Antiqua, Ensemble d'Instruments Anciens,
Direction Christian Mendoze. disques Pierre Verany PV 785022 / CA 803. 1984.

VS: Includes 9 dances of Praetorius (Bransle double is fine, the 2 Courante seem too slow, but I don't really do them), 8 from Mainerio (including a Schiarazula Marazula), 4 from Moderne (incl. a tordion), 5 from Gervaise, 7 from Susato, and 8 miscellaneous mediaeval pieces, not all dances, including La Regina as the first of the two Saltarelli. A:*** U:*** (It's dance music, at danceable tempi, but we don't necessarily have stuff for all the dances on it.)

Danses de la Renaissance. Clemencic Consort.
Harmonia Mundi. HM 90610. CD. From PRMS.
Instruments: cornet, renaissance trombone, sackbut, viol, vielle, bombards, crumhorns, regal, harp, flute, percussion, and voice.
Danses de la Renaissance: Jacques Moderne: Trois branles de Bourgogne, branle gay nouveau. Susato: pavan "Mille Regrets", Ronde, Pavan "Si pas souffrir", Ronde, Saltarelle, Hoboecken Dans, Rone "Il estoit une fillette." Gervaise: Branle. Phalese: L'Arboscello Ballo Furlano. Melchior Frank: Pavan, Galliarde. Hans Leo Hassler: Entree 1, 2, 3. Attaignant: Tourdion, Pavan, Gallliarde. Demantius: Danse Polonaise, Galliarde. Danses Medievales: Solo de Cornemuse, Ballade "Ma chiere dame". Danses Anonymes: Saltarello, Trotto, Ballata "Ben ch'io", Lonc le rieu de la fontaine. Organum Benedicamus Domino. Rondeau "Franc cuer gentil." Marguerite d'Autriche: L'esperance de bourbon, Sans faire, La danse de cleves, Filles a marier.

AD: Quite a few good danceable tunes, including some 15th C basse danses.

JPD: I saw a favorable review of this on the Rendance discography, but I was a little less impressed. The Danse de cleves is nice, and the anonymous Saltarello is a nice version of the music used for Saltarello La Regina. Otherwise, the assorted pavans and galliards are nice, but not remarkable. Aesthetics: *** Usability: ***

Danzare et Sonare: 15th c. Italian Dances. The Longslade Consort. Cassette only.
Available for £s;7 including postage from Diana Cruickshank (see address at DHDS). Companion book available for £s;6.
Includes Petit Vriens, Annello, Gelosia, Figlia Guielmina, Amoroso, Verceppe, Gracioso, Rossina, Leggiadra.

JPD: Nice recording, with lots of usable stuff on it. One nice touch is that for two of the dances (Gelosia and Figlia) where there are two equally valid reconstructions, the tape provides one recording of each of the versions, allowing you to choose the one you prefer. Tempo and number of repetitions always a reasonable choice. Aesthetic Appeal: *** Usability: ****

Dream of the Troubadour. Searles, Richard and Yslas, Gilbert.
(Sundown CD SUN-589D, also available on cassette)

LH: Despite the assumption the title might lead you to make, this is instrumental Renaissance music performed on guitars and most of it is dance music. Although because of its instrumentation it doesn't have the true "Renaissance sound" of many of the other recordings listed here, the tempos are very good and could be used for dancing.

East Kingdom Dance Tape. Cassette only.
Double Branle, Single Branle, Pease Branle, Montarde (for six), Horses Branle, SCA Maltese Branle, Branle Charlotte, Branle D'Ecosse, Official Branle, Torches Branle, Belle Qui Tiens Ma Vie, Hobokentanz Galliarde, Earl of Salisbury Pavan, Galliarde (Sasato), La Spagna, Ballard Tordion, Master Newman's Pavan, Royne D'Ecosse, Galliarde, Geloxia, Pavana ala Venetia, Genevra, Jouyessance, La Volta, La Spagna, Traditor Galliarde, Verceppe, Gratioso, Dit de Bourgignon, Frog Galliarde, Coranto d'Espagne, Hole in the Wall, Sellenger's Round, Hearts Ease, Hyde Park, Gathering Peasecods, Nonesuch, Rufty Tufty, Picking up Sticks.

DZ: A companion to the Eastern Kingdom Dance Manual (from 1979), compiled by people who had never heard the word 'copyright' in their lives.

MW: Bingo. Mostly -- perhaps entirely -- taken from commercial recordings. The copyright policies for the Tape of Dance were formed in direct reaction to this tape... (Legal issues aside, this is a useful collection of almost-entirely-danceable music. I just wish I could actually play it in public...)

Elizabethan Music for the Dulcimer. Wilkinson, Randy. (tape) Kicking Mule Records, KM226, 1982.

AB: Contains: Almans, pavans, including Earl of Salisbury. Very nice

English Country Dance Music. The Boxwood Consort. BX 101, c. 1991. Cassette.
The Boxwood Consort, 1620 Los Alamos SW, Albuquerque, NM 87104.
Round Pond, Female Saylor, Linda's Valse Linda, Saint Martin's, Jack's Maggot, Jenny Pluck Pears, Margaret's Waltz/Farewell to Devon, Heartsease, Knole Park/Loxley Figure Eight, Sun Assembly, Trip to Paris, Draper's Garden's, Green Willow, John Tallis' Cannon.

JPD: Good for modern English country; limited SCA use because not much period stuff, modern sounding music. Aesthetic appeal: *** Usability: **

English Country Dances: From Playford's Dancing Master 1651-1703. The Broadside Band. Saydisc, 1991. CD: CD-SDL 393.
Instruments: recorders, flageolet, flute, pipe, tabor, harpsichord, violin, viol, hurdy-gurdy, lute, mandore, cittern, dulcimer
1st edition 1651: Cuckolds all a row, Shepheard's Holyday or Labour in Vaine, Newcastle, The Beggar Boy, Picking of Sticks, Faine I would if I could or Parthenia, Gathering Peascods, The Night-Peece or the shaking of the Sheets; 3rd ed 1657: Chelsey Reach or Buckingham House; 4th ed 1670: Jameko, Epping Forest; 6th edition (supplement) 1679: Well Hall; 7th ed 1686: The Fits come on me now or The Bishop of Chester's Jigg; 7th ed (supp) 1687: Mad Robin; 9th ed 1695: Red-House, Mr. Beveridge's Magot; Part II 1696 (supp to 9th ed) The Geud Man of Ballangigh; To a New Scotch Jig; 11th ed 1701: Childgrove, Woolly and Georgey, Portsmouth, White-Hall Minuett; 12th ed 1703: Bloomsberry Market.

JPD: Another example of Broadside's consistently excellent quality. They use period instruments to create a nice sound, record things at an easily danceable tempo with a clearly defined rhythm, and usually have the right numbers of repeats for all their dances. On this c.d., they have purposely limited the number of repeats of the melody to 3-5, which is fine (and complete) for some of the earlier period things, but you might need to splice recordings together to get a long enough version for the longways for as many as will dances (Well Hall, Childgrove, etc.)
Aesthetic Appeal: **** Usability: ***

LH: This disc, unlike most others, was done specifically with dancers in mind and in most cases has the right number of repeats. They also list the selections in order of the Playford edition in which they appeared. There are 8 selections from the 1st edition of 1651. As with all of his other recordings, the instrumentation is really nice -- some of the dances are a little more "courtly" than "country" but the slower tempos are sometimes good to use for beginning dancers. The "liner notes" also give the number of repeats, length of selection and what comprises the introduction. Would we had more of these!

English Country Dances. Bare Necessities.
Varrick Records, 1987, Cassette: C-VR-013. [A CD is now available] From CDSS.
Jamaica, Waters of Holland, Maiden Lane, Well Hall, Juice of the Barley, Barham Down, Easter Thursday, Dick's Maggot, Bare Necessities, The Maid Peeped Out at the Window (The Friar in the Well), Trip to Kilburn (to tune of Black and Grey)

JPD: This is a fine enough tape, but there's only two dances on here that I have seen done in An Tir (and not commonly): Well Hall and Juice of Barley, both of which are out of period.
Aesthetic appeal: *** Usability: ***

DZ: In the Debatable Lands we do Maiden Lane, which is first-edition Playford, and Jamaica, Juice of the Barley, Dick's Maggot, and Bare Necessities, which are not. Some lovely - if quite modern - arrangements.

VS: A=**** U:no, not much period, but I looove Easter Thursday, and the Trip to Kilburn music. It is made for dancing, and is an example of what playing dance music is all about.

The English Dancing Master, 1-4. Orange and Blue.
EFDSS PLA 1-4, 1976-81. LP only. From CDSS.
The English Dancing Master, 1. Orange and Blue. EFDSS PLA 1, 1976. Gathering Peascods, Hey Boys, up go we, My Lady Cullen, Grimstock, Mage on a Cree, Adson's Saraband, 29th of May, Jenny Pluck Pears, Parson's Farewell, Upon a Summers Day, Dargason, Chestnut, Amarillis, Old Mole.
The English Dancing Master, 2. Orange and Blue. EFDSS PLA 2, 1977. Althea, Friar and the Nun, Fain I would, Maid's Morris, Confess, Argeers, Lull me beyond thee, Maiden Lane, Merry Merry Milkmaid, Broom the bonny bonny Broom, Spring Garden, The Pheonix.
The English Dancing Master, 3. The Ranchers.[?] EFDSS PLA 3, 1980 Sellenger's Round, My Lady Winwood's Maggot (1728), The Boatman, Whirligig (tune: Woodicock), Heartsease, The Health, Mock Hobby Horse (1698), Picking of Sticks, Mr. Isaac's Maggot (1695), Hit and Miss, Juice of Barley (1690), King of Poland (1698), Orleans Baffled (1728)
The English Dancing Master, 4. Orange & Blue. EFDSS PLA 4, 1981. [23% first-edition]
JPD: Aesthetic appeal: *** Usability: ****

:This whole series was produced by the English Folk Dance and Song Society for use at dance events, similar to our own purposes. It's all good tempo, and quite danceable to. A little modern sounding for SCA use, but not excessively so.

LH: These four volumes (still available but only on all LP) are the "basic Playford" teaching records put out by the EFDSS based on Sharp's transcriptions of the dances. I don't particularly care for their instrumentation (I'm not partial to concertina/accordion) and some of the tempos are not what we're used to in California, but L&U and a lot of other country dance groups have relied on them when we couldn't find dance music for a particular dance with the right number of repeats anywhere else (54 different dances on 4 records -- not all are from Playford's 1st edition). Remember that they are more concerned with community dancing than with "period" and their instrumentation reflects this. You can liken this to square dancing for the British

1501..., Boston Renaissance Ensemble. Tape available from Meg Pash (mepash@aol.com, as of 1995)

VS: First side includes 3 Bransles de Bourgongne and a Bransle gay. The second has Nido d'Amore, Furioso alla Spagnuola, Contrapasso Nouvo, Passo e mezzo from Nobilta di Dame, and Torneo Amoroso from Le gratie d'amore. The Furioso works perfectly, and can also be used for Furioso all'Italiana and Furioso Nuovo with long introductions. The Torneo Amoroso works. I don't know about the rest, but expect so, as these musicians work with dancers. A:**** U:*** (It's usable, just there's only the 5 pieces plus 4 branles, and who does branles, anyway ... )

Fifteenth Century Dances from Burgundy & Italy. performed by The Guildhall Waits. This is Madeleine Inglehearn's group. Produced by Companie of Dansers, 1981. (Her dance group). Manual with accompanying cassette tape. Order the book from Rum Blackmore Mgmt; 331 Avenue Road; Witham, Essex. Order the tape from Martin Pope; 48 Belsize Square; London. NW3.
Contains: La Spagna; Danse de Cleves; Pizochara; Leoncello; La Spagna (Milano); Pellegrina; L'Alta (de la Torre); Casuelle la Novela; La Spagna; Verzepe; Gelosia; Colonnese; Anello; Filia Guilmin(??); Prexoniera; Mercantia.

DH: A good tape of 15th-century dances, though I'm not keen on some of the arrangements; there are nicer versions of Dance de Cleves, Leoncello and Gelosia available, for a start. The accompanying manual tends to over-choreograph the dances, without justifying this. Pellegrina is fudged to fit Falla con Misuras.

Forse Che Si Forse Che No. Musique de Danse du Quattrocentro. Ferrarra Ensemble. Fonti musicali. fmd 182, 1989. From PRMS.
Instruments: 5-course lute, fiddles, shawm, alto bombard, gothic harp, dulcimer, slide trumpet, pipe and tabor.
Verceppe, Lioncello, Pazienza, Cupido, Pellegrina, Voltati in ca Rosina, J'ay grant dolour, Tessara, Rostiboli gioioso, Anello, Giove, Pinzochera, Lauro, Venus, Fortuna desperata, Alessandresca, Gelosia, Petit Riense, Spero, La figlia di Guielmo.

JPD: Great recording. You may find instances where the music doesn't perfectly match your favorite reconstruction, based on different interpretations of the sources. For example, in Gelosia the music for F figure repeats 5 times. This is based on one interpretation of an obscure symbol in the primary source. This music can be used for five couples, or three if you want to fudge the extra F measures with some embellishment. Dance advisor: Andrea Francalanci. Liner notes include a few translated quotes from primary sources, and a list of the early Italian manuscripts, their locations, and notes on which sources each dance can be found in.
Aesthetic Appeal: **** Usability: ****

VS: A - *** some pieces I like a lot, others I find unpleasant. U - *** haven't noticed any problems, but don't use it much ... The bassadanza given for Lauro works (at least, the reconstruction I use - I'm not sure if the Carolingians would like it). At least one of the other BD didn't, no matter how hard I tried to squish the choreography into it -I mean, out by 30% or some such, so I couldn't just add a long reverenza at the end, or repeat the dance.

Henry VIII and His Six Wives, Movie Soundtrack, Early Music Consort of London,
Anglo-EMI SFO-36895
Includes Basse Dance:Jouyssance vous donneray, Pavan: Le bon vouloir, Galliarde: Traditore, Pastime with good company, Street Music (Troika), Galliarde, Ethiope Masque, Closing Music (Manschaft Pavan).

Hide Park, Grayes Inn Masque, Sedauny or Dargeson, Picking of Sticks, 45rpm single FidulaFON 1250

[MD]: These records are just two of a lot of records and books on dancing available from Fidula, Boppard/Rhein and Salzburg, Austria. They have lots of interesting records but beware of Gaillardes from them, because some of them are influenced by Taubert, who had a totally different reconstruction for them, requiring very slow tempi.

Historische Tanze. K.H. Taubert. Schott Wergo 3005

[MD]: kind of "historical" records, Karl Heinz Taubert was the first to revive historical dance in Germany. For both records [note also applies to Höfische Tänze] an accompaning book is available fron B. Schott's Söhne, Mainz. The dances are widespread, from bransles to ecossaises. The books (especially to the first record, with the same name, Edition 5947) are interesting because of lots of references to all sorts of dancing. The detailed instructions are partly outdated.

History of Spanish Music, vol. 23. Pro Musica Hispaniarum. (tape) MHS MHC5103, 1975.

AB: Contains: pavans; galliards, balli; Caroso=Spanish pavan and Galliard; Negri=Lo Spagnoletto, Canario, El Villancico, Austria Felice.

Hit & Misse. Passamezzo Players. Dancecraft. DC 123324. Cassette. From CDSS.
Parson's Farewell, Prince Rupert's March, Scotch Cap, Cheerily and Merrily, Bobbing Joe, Sweet Kate, Gathering Peascods, Beggar Boy, Halfe Hannikin, Helston Furry Dance, St. Martin's, Oranges and Lemons, Rufty Tufty, Hit and Misse, Sellenger's Round

JPD: Comes with book of instructions. The music is very "lyrical" sounding, and the notes glide gracefully into each other. Unfortunately, this can make it hard to find the beat and dance easily to the music. Aesthetic appeal: *** Usability: **

AH: Actually, this was easy to dance to, even if the beat is difficult to find. Arrangements are pretty.

A Hitch in Time. VLB Recording, 1990. Produced in USA by Wail Songs, PO Box 29888, Oakland, CA, 94604. Cassette only.
Suicide Branle, Basse Dance, Official, Washerwoman's, Scottish, Horses, Single, Double, Galliarde, Morris Dances, Gay, Clog, Montarde, Buffens, Pavan, Pease, Tourdion

JPD: One small annoyance on this recording is that many of the branles have short (1-4 count) breaks between each repeat, which can throw off dancers' rhythm. Otherwise OK.
Aesthetic appeal: *** Usability: ***

Höfische Tänze. K.H. Taubert. Schott Wergo 3001

[MD]: [see note on Historische Tanze]

Homage to Amor: 16th century Dances of Love from Fabritio Caroso.
Les Verres Casses. 1987. Available from Angene Feves, 70 Karol Lane, Pleasant Hill, CA 94523. For $12 plus $2.50 P+H. ($5 outside US)
15 Balli from Il Ballarino and Nobilta di Dame.
LL: Probably my favorite recording. Vibrant, interesting instrumentations. Tempi tend to be brisk rather than stately. Some of the repeat structures and number of playings differ from my own reconstructions, however.

Il Ballarino, Italian Dances c. 1600. The Broadside Band. Hyperion, 1987. CDA 66244. CD
Instruments: flute, ocarina, recorders, harpsichord, chamber organ, regal, violin, viols, lute, mandora, cittern, chittarrone, guitar.
Caroso: Cascarda Allegrezza D'Amore; Negri: La Catena D'Amore; Caroso: Baletto Celeste Giglio; Gardane: Gagliardas Moneghina and La Canella; Lupi /Caroso: Balletto Alta Carretta; Mainerio: Ballo Francese -Tedesca -Schiarazula Marazula - Ungarescha; Negri: Bassa Gioiosa; Negri: La Nizzarda; Valente:Gagliarda Lombarda-Ballo Lombarda-Seconda; Gastoldi:Balletto La Sirena; Caroso: Balletto Forza D'Amore; Picchi: Saltarello del Pass'e Mezo - Ballo Ongaro; Caroso: Balletto Alta Gonzaga; Caroso: Dolce Amoroso Fuoco; Negri: Il Canario; Negri: Ballo del Fiore

JPD: This CD is commercially available and fairly easy to find. Liner notes include info about where to order a companion book of dance instructions, which was the dance manual for the Dolmetsch Historical Dance Society's Summer School in 1986. (I believe that the music first came out on a DHDS tape, but was later re-recorded for this CD.) Dance researcher was Anne Day. Very pretty, very usable, at least for the dances which I know.
Aesthetic appeal: **** Usability: ****

VS: I only use 2 of the pieces on the CD, being Allegrezza d'Amore and Ballo del Fiore. Both work without problems, so I expect the rest probably do. The Il Canario is nice and long (11 minutes!) and at a stately rather than frantic speed. A:**** U:*** (may be more, for those into late dances.)

MW: Excellent disc, one of my long-time faves. As I recall, this is the source of my favorite commercial recordings of both the canary and Ballo del Fiore...

DH: 16th-century Italian isn't really my favourite period, and consequently we haven't really used this disc for dancing, but aesthetically it's very good and I would think that it would work well for dancing. Nice long Canaries.

Istanpitta. Istanpitta. (CD) Lyrichord LEMS8016, 1995.
Contains: saltarello & trotto; Parlamento; Saltarello; Chominiciamento; La Manfredina; Tre Fontane; Saltarello; Isabela; Lamento di Tristano; In Pro; Saltarello

MH: Has a usable Saltarello - La Regina (for the original choreography by Jeff Singman). Unfortunately, we don't have instructions for the other dances. Possibilities for original choreography?

John Playford 22 Country Dances of the 17th century. "Atelier Danse", produced by Claude and Lou Flagel. Le Chant du Monde/Harmonia Mundi France LP LDX 74690.

LH: This is one of my very favorites and I only wish it would come out on CD! This was apparently part of the same series of recordings as the one above produced by the Flagels. The instrumentation is really outstanding and oftentimes unexpected -- according to the liner notes (entirely in French, no translation!) they worked literally side-by-side with dancers to ensure that the recording was for dancers rather than just for listeners. They give a lot of detail about the individual figures of the dances as well as historical information. (Makes a great translation review if your French is as rusty as mine!)

Italian Dance Music of the Renaissance. See Balli e Balletti da Ballare.

La Cour du Roi Rene: Chansons et Danses. Ensemble Perceval. Arion, 1989.
CD: ARN 68104.
Dances: Filles a marier; La spagna; Domenico: Ballo Jelosia, Lioncello, Mercantia; Bassa danza Lauro; Guglielmo: Falla con misuras

JPD: Some tracks are quite usable, though details might vary from your reconstruction. Others I have a difficult time matching the steps to (e.g. Mercantia). I find it much easier to dance Lauro to the La Spagna (enough music for 4 times through the dance) than to what they call Bassa danza Lauro. This may just be my own bias based on the particular version of La Spagna I first learned and am most used to. This is a fine CD, but given the choice, I would instead purchase Forse Che or Mesura et Arte. Aesthetic Appeal: *** Usability: **+

VS: Aesth:**** U:*** (stuff there is usable, just not that much of it.)

DH: I disagree with the other reviewers about this disc: I find that there is plenty of usable stuff. We've had no problems with fitting Mercantia and Lauro to the appropriate tracks. Gelosia does have an odd number of repeats (c.f. comments for Forse Che Si Forse No) but only requires minor adjustment to work. Highly recommended, on aesthetic quality if nothing else.

La Musica Italiana del XV Secolo, Sine Nomine. Quadrivium SCA 040.

VS: Has Amoroso, wrong repeat structure, and with an extra bar thrown into the first section. Lively, rather than the usual dirge speed, and quite nice to dance to. Also has La Vida de Colin, the song related to the dance. Otherwise mostly songs, and nothing else for a specific dance. The CD has many pieces in common with La Vida de Colin, another CD by the same group.
A:*** U:*

La Vida de Colin, Sine Nomine. Quadrivium (?)

VS: Has Petit Vriens, nice and lively, but the repeat pattern is wrong ... might be suitable for 2 people. Speeds up.

The CD has a number of pieces in common with La Musica Italiana del XV Secolo, by the same group, so buying them both only gives one 1.5 CDs. A:*** U:*

La Spagna: Siglos XV-XVI-XVII. Atrium Musicae de Madrid. (Gregorio Paniagua.) Grammofon AB BIS. BIS CD-163. 1980/86. Djursholm, Sweden : Bis ; N[ew] Y[ork] : Dist. by Qualiton Imports, p1986. (Maybe also Harmonia Mundi HM 90.1050)
Instruments: Viol, violoncello, double-bass, hurdy-gurdy, lute, harp, psaltery, dulcimer, harpsichord, spinet, portative organ, recorders, and crumhorns.

Spagna contrapunto / Francesco Canova da Milano (1:55) --Spagnoletta / Michael Praetorius (1:01) -- Danza alta sobre la Spagna / Francisco de la Torre (3:19) -- Historia baetica / Carlos Verardi (1:45) --Calata a la Spagnola I-IV / Joan Ambrosio Dalza (1:33; 1:15; :43; 1:39) --Spaniol Kochesberger / Hans Kotter (4:38) -- Spaniol tancz / Hans van Constanz (3:07) -- The old Spagnoleta (2:12) ; Spagnioletta (2:46) / Giles Farnaby --Triste Espa=E4na / Juan dell Encina (1:13) -- R=E1e di Spagna / an=E2onimo (:42) --La bassa castiglya ; Falla con misuras / M. Gulielmus (1:46) -- La Spagna (2 settings) / anonimos (1:41; 1:33) -- Olvida tu perdicion Espana / anonimo (:45) -- Spagnioler tanz ; Hopper dancz Spagna / Hans Weck (3:36) --Spanieler / Hans Kotter (2:15) -- Espagnoletta / anonimo (1:11) --Spagnoletto ; Villanicco di Spagna ; Pavaniglia di Spagna ; Spagnoletto da capo / Cesare Negri (2:19) -- La Spagna a 5 / Josquin des Pres (3:28) --Recercada [1-6] sobre canto llano la Spagna / Diego Ortiz Toledano (1:17; 1:06; 1:53; 1:44; 1:05; 1:09) -- Gagliarda quarta a 5 alla Spagnola / Giovanni Maria Trabaci (2:34) -- The Spaynard / anonimo (:49) --The Spanish pavane / Francis Pilkington (1:55) -- Triste Espana / Juan dell Encina (:39) -- Espagnoletta / Gaspar Sanz (1:05) -- Ricercar Spagnuola duna cossa spagnola / Francesco Canova da Milano (:46) -- Ain spaniyelischer hoff dantz / Hans Judenkonig (1:10) -- Tres sobre el canto llano de la alta (sobre La Spagna) / Antonio de Cabez=E2n (2:22) -- Triste Espana / Juan dell Encina (:54) -- Spagnoletta nuova al modo di madriglia (:43) ; Furioso alla Spagnuola (1:19) / Marco Fabritio Caroso -- Padvana hispanica / anonimo (:48).

IE: "41 versions of the famous melody by more than 20 composers". Detailed instrumentation, sources, and program notes by Dona Maria Candelas Lopez in Spanish, with English, German and Swedish translations ([20] p. : ill.) inserted in container. This is a lovely listen-to album, and some of the tracks are even usable, but not many. Especially disappointing are the Caroso and Negri tracks in this regard, although the whip crack in the Furioso all Spagnuola makes you wonder what the Atrium Musicae knows about Spain that we don't.

JPD: Some of the versions of La Spagna work well for Lauro and for Casulle la Nouvelle. Others do not. Also has Giles Farnaby's Old Spagnoleta which matches the choreography in the Inns of Court mss, Guglielmo's Falla con Misura, Chester's The Spanish Pavan which matches Arbeau's choreography, and [an incomplete?] Caroso's Spagnoletto nuovo. All workable, though not necessarily the best available versions of these pieces. Liner notes list sources of all the music, and instrumentation for each separate version (and the makers of the instruments).
Aesthetic Appeal: *** Useability: ** - ***

MW: Specifically, there are three tracks (back to back) which work for these [Lauro, Casuelle...] dances. This is the only use I've had for this disc -- but I've used those three tracks a lot...

VS: Variations on the La Spagna tenor, including Re di Spagna from Cornazano, La bassa Castiglya - Falla con Misuras, 4 pieces from Negri, 2 from Caroso. One of the dances from Caroso -- Furioso alla Spagnuola -- is just an excerpt, so useless for using for the dance. The CD is wonderful for listening, and some pieces (there's one galliard and a pavane) may be usable for improvisation or choreographing to, but I doubt any of the pieces that are meant for a period choreography are usable - they are short, and obviously meant for listening, not historical accuracy. The choice of instruments is also made on the grounds of artistry - there are many period instruments, but I'm not so sure about the whip, bongo, and metallofon... Aesth:**** U:*

"The Lady and the Unicorn". John Renbourne. Shanachie CD #97022 It includes: Trotto; Saltarell; Lamento di Tristan; La Rotta; Veri Floris; Triple Ballade; Bransle Gay; Bransle de Bourgogne; Alman; Melancholy Galliard; Sarabande; The Lady and the Unicorn; Medley; Westron Wynde; Scarborough Fair.

AB: I believe the "Alman" on the recording is the well-known Earl of Salisbury Pavan music. The CD comes with sheet music in the program notes for all the tunes.

Le Divertissement du Roi. Concord of Sweet Sounds. (CD) Herald 1808, 1994.

AB: contains: Pavans; galliards; Hearts Ease; Packington's Pound; Greensleeves.

Leoncello, Venus tu m'as pris, Siege of Limerick, Kemps Jigg. Lenchen Busch. 45rpm single - private recording: Lenchen Busch, Vohburger Str. 9, 80687 Munich

MD: a small private recording with instructions available from [the distributor].

Masque Music, Nonesuch H-71153
The King's Mistress, Waters His Love, The Fairy Masque (The source music for the Clifton Court Allemande often known in Ohio as The Cecelia Allemande), Now hath Flora, The Satyres' Masque, The Mountebank's Dance at Grayes Inn, Williams his love, The Goates Masque (The source music for Rashid's Allemande often known in Ohio as The Black Allemande), The Second Witches' Dance, Wilson's love, The Divill's Dance (Source Music for Lady Layton's Measure), The Gypsies Metamorphos'd, Galliarde, Alman: The Squirrel's Toy, While dancing rests, Come ashore, Cuperaree or Grayes Inn, Squier's Masque

May I Have the Pleasure? Towne Waytes Society, LP: TWR-771-2

LH: This was produced by the Towne Waytes, a Canadian group, with a detailed (24-page) booklet of instructions by Angene Feves for all of the dances. There's a lot of detail on how to perform the steps and Ms. Feves has "newly English'd" the 1589 version of Arbeau for this booklet. I'm not sure that this is available any longer - I got my copy directly from Angene Feves some years ago and I believe it was out of print and in extremely short supply even then.

Mesura Et Arte Del Danzare: Balli Italiani Del Quattrocento,
Accademia Viscontea I Musicanti, Ducale, 1991. CDL 002. CD. From PRMS
Instruments: shawm, bombards, lutes, harp, vielle, organ, bagpipe, pipe and tabor, harpsichord, viols, mandora.
Leoncello, Marchesana, Anello, Colonenese, Vercepe, Petit Riense, Voltate in ca Rosina, Margaritum, Poi che'l ciel e la Fortuna, Rostiboli Gioioso, Grazioso, La fia Guglielmina, A Florence la joyose cite/Hela la fille guillemin, Gelosia, Mercanzia, Sobria.

DZ: A difficult CD to find, but worth the effort. Danceable and aesthetically pleasing versions of many of Ebreo's and Domenico's balli. (In a couple of cases, the music may not match your favorite reconstruction.)

MW: Hear, hear -- this is a magnificent disc, which we've used quite a lot. Though it's true that our reconstruction sometimes differs from theirs, it doesn't happen too often...

JPD: Liner notes include a list of early Italian sources, the concordance of which of these dances appear in which sources, instrumentation on each separate track, and notes from the sources about the choreography or style of each dance. Aesthetic Appeal: **** Usability: ****

VS: Poi che'l ciel e la Fortuna and A Florence la joyose cite/Hela la fille guillemin, are the only 2 not for dancing, Margaritum being questionable. The rest are. A:****, U:****

DH: I can only echo the above. It's hard to find, even in Europe (we had to get an Italian friend to `export' us a copy) but well worth it. The disc to have for 15th-century Italian balli. Easy to dance to and to listen to, though the recording quality is not quite perfect.

Music from the Time of Elizabeth I. The Academy of Ancient Music -Christopher Hogwood - Sneak's Noyse. Decca Record / L'oiseau-lyre. 433 193-2. 1982/92.
Instruments: Viols (SATB), lute, cornett, sackbut (ATB), Virginals, rebec, recorder, tambourine, lute, cittern, curtall, and crumhorn. The old Spagnoletta (works with the version found in the Inns of Court manuscripts); the flat pavan and galliarde; John Bull: The Spanish pavan (works with Arbeau's choreography), Coranto 'Alarm', Coranto 'Battle'; Holborne: Tinternell. Various ballads.

JPD: All of the dances are a little slow and dragging-feeling Aesthetic appeal: *** Usability: **

Music From the Time of Richard III. The York Waits. Saydisc CD: CD-SDL 364

VS: Has Mercantia (doesn't work - only 2 repeats, confusing), Anello, and Amoroso (works). Also Danse de Cleves (works), and La Spagna. Bassa con misurias.
Aesth:**** U:** (not too many pieces, and not always clear or workable).

Music in the Age of Leonardo da Vinci. Ensemble Claude-Gervaise. Musica Viva, 1987. MVCD 1022. CD
Domenico: Giloxia, Pizochara, La fia Guilmin. Ebreo: La Bassa Castiglia, Rostiboli Gioioso.

JPD: This is a very nice-sounding recording. However, there are some problems with it that make it far less useful than some of the other recordings of this repertoire. First, 27 separate "tracks" are really combined into 4 tracks, thus, you have to scan around inside the track to find the exact dance you want (thus losing the advantage of it being on CD, rather than being a tape you have to rewind and fast-forward through). Second, none of the dances I checked matched my reconstruction... (On Pizochara, the bassadanza section seems off, and the Rostiboli has a strange repeat structure: it starts off well on one full repeat of the dance, but then varies. Gelosia has only one repeat.) They could all be fussed with to make them completely workable, but why bother when there're other good recordings. Aesthetic Appeal: **** Usability: **

VS: Rostiboli Gioioso and Pizocara match their dances. I believe La fia Guilmin is usable, but the speeds are on the slow side, especially the last section. Gelosia is only repeated once, and the section where the men weave is slightly different from the usual versions, so it isn't as useful. Also has Vida de Culin and La Bassa Castiglia. The one drawback to the CD is that the 22 pieces have been grouped into four tracks, so one can't find pieces easily. A=****, U=***

Music of the Gothic Period, Renaissance and Early Baroque.
Collegium Musicum Aldovadensis. (CD) PILZ 160261, 1992

AB: Various stuff, including: Otto valerius' Intrata, Galliard, courante suite; a medley of Volta Cansone and Morisco.

Music of the Renaissance for Lutes, Vihuelas, and Citterns. Robert, Guy and Elizabeth. (tape) MHS 6152, 1980.

AB: Contains: pavans; galliards, branles, "Bouffens" and "passamezzo".

Musica del XV secolo in Italia, Ars Italica, Tactus TC 40012201.

VS: Has a lovely, lively Rostiboli, with 20 extra bars thrown in in the middle ...
A:**** U:* (There's only the one piece. It can be modified to work.)

Musicke for Dauncinge.
Available from Patri Pugliese, 39 Capen St. Medford, MA 02155. CDSS may also have it.
Quadran Pavan, Turkelone, Earl of Essex, Tinternell, Lorayne Alman, Old Alman, Brounswycke, Queen's, New, Madame Sosilia, Black, Quadran Pavan and Galliarde, Earl of Essex (long), New (long), Madame Sosilia (long), Lorayne and Queen's, Old and Tinternell

JPD: This is the companion tape for the dance manual Practise for Dauncinge, and includes very danceable music for all the alman choreographies contained therein. The music isn't beautiful, but it's perfectly acceptable for use at events, and is very easy for beginners to follow. This is the only comprehensive source for Inns of Court dances; however, several recordings listed here do have one or two of these dances on them. Aesthetic appeal: *** Usability: ****

MW: An SCA production, this is perhaps the only recording available for the Inns of Court almans. Pretty harpsichord music, and fits with Practice for Dancing, Patri's book on the subject.

AB: We bought the book at Pennsic a few years ago, but the tape was not available. Mistress Rosanore let me copy her copy of the tape that she purchased years ago. Someone should inquire about current availability of the tape. [At the time of this writing, Patri is looking for someone to take over the task of copying this tape on an as-needed basis. - DZ]

On the Banks of the Helicon, Early Music of Scotland, The Baltimore Consort. Dorian Recordings. DOR-90139.

VS: Includes Scotch Cap from Playford I (but has 4 repeats, not 3), a 39-second Canary sequence (which runs into the next piece), 2 Pavans, and a Bransles d'Ecosse. A:**** U:**

LH: An overall view of Scottish music, much of it vocal but really great instrumentation and very accessible singing. (Also good if you want to practice your "anglicised Gaelic.") Interesting version of "Scotch Cap" -- might be hard for beginning dancers to catch the beat. Some nice "pavens" and the bagpipe pieces should warm the hearts of the Gaels.

Orchesographie. New York Renaissance Band.
Arabesque Recordings, CD: Z6514 1984, 89. Cassette: ABQC7514. From PRMS
aka: Washerwomen, War, and Pease. New York Renaissance Band. Arabesque Recordings, NB 7514 / Z6514, 1989. See also: Renaissance Dance Music 1&2
Pavan & Galliarde: Belle qui; Basse dance: Jouissance vous donneray; Tourdion; Galliardes: La traditore, Antoinette, Si j'ayme ou non, La Fatigue, La Milannoise, J'aymerois mieulx, L'ennuy qui; Branles: Double, Simple, Gay, Bourgoigne, Cassandra, Pinagay, Charlotte, La Guerre, Aridan, Poictou, Ecosse, Le Triory de Bretaigne, Malte, Lavandieres, Pois, Hermites, La Torche, Sabots, Chevaulx, Montarde, Le Haye, L'Official, Gavotte; La Volta, Morrisques, The Canary, Pavan d'Espagne, Bouffons

JPD: Although these tapes were released under different names, the contents of the first two are identical, RDM 1&2 is the same group of dances with some selections from Michael Praetorius' Terpsichore tacked on the end. Some of the branles are very short, only two repeats, so you might need to splice together to make long enough to be interesting.
Aesthetic appeal: **** Usability: ***

MW: This CD, available in various forms...has a bunch of excellently useful tracks, including some of the best branles I know.

AD: Tunes for most of Arbeau's dances, some reconstructed from other sources. Quite dancable.

MH: Two nagging points here. The Haye Bransle does not have enough repetitions in the last section for a full three-person Haye. The Horses Bransle repeats the final section so, if you are dancing this, you must repeat the stomping-turn section twice to fit the music.

LH: The selections on this are wonderful to simply listen to as well as to dance to but most of them are very short! Program notes lead you directly to Arbeau and state whether the musical version is his or from another source.

Popular Dances of the Renaissance. Judith Kennedy. 1985. Cassette tape and manual of instruction. Oregon Shakespeare Festival Musicians. Suncrest Sound Studio
Contains: Bransle Double; Bransle Simple; Peas Bransle; Washerwoman B; Bransle de Villages III; Pavan; Galliard; Allemande; Black Almain; Woodicock; Gathering Peascods; Goddesses.

AB: Side II of the tape has the tunes with voice-over of steps. Very nice for instruction of novices. Unfortuantely, the tape and manual give no information about where to obtain it. I forgot how we ordered it. If you contact the OSF, they can tell you how to get it.

Popular English Country Dances of the 17th and 18th Centuries. Claremont Country Dance Band. CDSS-7, 1979. Available from CDSS, 17 New South St. Northampton, MA 01060.
Mr. Isaac's Maggot, Hit and Miss, Picking Up Sticks, Scotch Cap, Mr. Beveridge's Maggot, Epping Forest, Mad Robin, Prince William, Dublin Bay, The Female Sayler, Miss Sayer's Allemande, Jack's Health, Queen's Jig

JPD: Although only 25% of the dances are from first-edition Playford, this tape does contain some non-period stuff that's popular in An Tir: Mr. Isaac's Maggot, and Female Sayler.
Aesthetic appeal: **** Usability: ****

Purcell, Playford, and the English Country Dance: Dances from 1685-1728. The Playford Consort. Playford Consort Publications, 1995. CD 1095. CD From Playford Consort Publications, 100 York St, 15E, New Haven, CT 06510
Instruments: violin, viola de gamba, bassoon, keyboard, voice. 22 Dances, including Hole in the Wall, Lilliburlero, and Cold and Raw (Juice of Barley).

JPD: This CD includes tunes which were originally written by Henry Purcell as incidental music for plays, then later were adapted as dancemasters composed country dances to fit them. Choreography for these dances appeared in Playford (in the 7th edition and later), Walsh, Bray, and Neal. Companion books include instructions for the dances, and arrangements of the music, as well as some additional information on dances of this period. Well worth getting if you are interested in later English country dances. Note that the music has a Baroque tone to it, which is suitable to the dances included, but not ideal for SCA use. Dance advisor: Christine Helwig. Musical advisor: Marshall Barron.
For SCA Use - Aesthetic Appeal: ** Usability: *
For Other English Country Dancers - Aesthetic Appeal: **** Usability: ****

Reniassance Brass. Empire Brass Quintet. Tape: SQN Chrome 79037., n. d.
[AB:] Contains: various almans, pavans, galliards, canzonas

Renaissance Dance Music. London Pro Musica. Tactus. Tacx145. 1987.
Instruments: Renaissance violin, lute, guitar, theorbo, mandora, viol, cornett, sackbuts, shawm, dulcian, percussion. Contains: Pavana "La Bataglia"; Suite of Gagliarde: Il Burato, Basela un trato, Untitled gagliarda, Zorzi; Pavan "Si je m'en vois"; Gaillarde "Si pour t'aymer"; Basse danse "Jouissance"; Mixed Suite of Branles: Branle double, simple, gay, de Bourgogne; Three Branle Gays; Branle de la Haye; Branle des Chevaux; Branle de la Torche; Branle d'Escosse; Les Bouffons; La Volta; Two Almains; Negri: Leggiadra Marina; Pavaniglia; Caroso: Il Canario; Courante; Negri: Brando "Alta Regina"; Lupi: Ballo del Gran Duca (Alta Carretta).

JPD: This is the companion tape to The Renaissance Dance Book, which includes dance instructions and sheet music for the arrangements performed on the tape. London Pro Musica used a wide variety of period sources for their music, (e.g. Praetorius' Branle Double, d'Estres' Branle gay) which may be confusing to those who are used to only dancing these choreographies to Arbeau's melodies. Dance advisor was Jane Gingell. Aesthetic appeal: *** Usability: **

AT: This tape is accompanied by a dance book and a music book. One side is pavans/bransles and the other is balli.

VS: Asth:**** U: I only use the Il Canario, and find it very usable (especially with the companion book to explain how it works ...). I expect it's ****

LL: Well-produced and thorough. I like the variety of good, danceable pieces. I particularly like the rendition of Leggiadra Marina for the transitions between the tempo changes. La Volta is at a good speed, not too fast.

MH: I really like this tape; it was played to be danced to. The Haye Bransle has the right repetitions of the final section for a three-person Haye. The Horses Bransle doesn't needlessly repeat sections. Some more complete repeats of dances would be nice. I'll give it **** for aesthetics and usability.

DH: I've only danced to the Bransle de la Haye, La Bouffens, and Il Canario, but all were successful. The accompanying book is pretty good. Aesthetically pleasing - I prefer this Il Canario to the Broadside Band version on Il Ballarino.

Renaissance Dance Music 1-4. New York Renaissance Band.
Arabesque Recordings, 91-720. 1984. Book of the Month Club, 1986.
Part 1 is the same group of dances as Orchesographie (see above), or Washerwomen, War, and Pease (see below). Part 4 is the same group of dances as Country Capers (see above). Parts 2 and 3 have selections from Praetorius' Terpsichore: Suite # 1 in C Major: Passemeze + Galliarde, Spagnoletta, Ballet des Coqs, ballet des bacanales, ballet des Feus, Courant de la Volte, Galliarde; Suite #2 in G Major: Branle double, simple, montirande, gay; La Rosette, Galliarde, B. Gentil; Suite in F Major: Passamezze pour les cornetz; Courante M.M. Wustrow: Courante, Philo, Volte; Suite #4 in G Major: Ballet, B. des Amazones, B. des Anglois, Gavotte, Volte.

Renaissance Dance, volume 1. School for Scoundrels.
1993. School for Scoundrels, 9420 Reseda Blvd. #566, Northridge, CA 91324
Sellinger's Round, Goddesses, Gathering Peascods, Black Nag, Newcastle, Dargason, Rufty Tufty, Merry Merry Milkmaids, Stingo/Oyle of Barley, St. Martins.

JPD: Has accompanying booklet of dance instructions, and video which teaches and demonstrates the dances. Dance advisor: Master Giles of Sweetwater. Side A of the cassette has all of the dances at "instructional tempos" and side B is slightly faster "Revel Tempos".
Aesthetic Appeal: ** Usability: ****

Return of the Pipers, The Philadelphia Renaissance Wind Band.

VS: Has Amoroso, with wrong repeat structure. Also Schiar.Mar. some galliards, Official bransle in a suite. Can't comment on their usability. A:*** U:**

Revels for 1588. The Broadside Band. Dolmetsch Historical Dance Society, 1988. Cassette only. Available from DHDS for £s;8 plus £s;1.25 shipping. Companion book £s;6.95+£s;2 shipping.
Instruments: recorders, fife, virginals, regal, violin, viol, hurdy gurdy, cittern, lute, mandora.
Inns of Court: Quarter Braules, The Spanioletta. Negri: Brando detto alta Regina, La Battaglia, Il Torneo Amoroso, Barriera, Pavaniglia, Arbeau: Spanish Pavan, Branle Aridan. Monsieur's Allemaine. IoC: Turcke Loene, Black Alman, The Longe Pavan, Ladye Layton's Measure. Playford, 1651: Row Well ye Mariners, Peppers Black, Mundesse.

JPD: Tape from DHDS Summer School, 1988, which focused on English dance c. 1588 and other dances linked thematically with the Armada (i.e. nautical or Spanish). Nice tape with good versions of lots of the more obscure Inns of Court dances, and some fun Playfords. The instruction book should be used with caution, as some of their assumptions seem a bit questionable to me. (Some of the Inns of Court dances are done with steps from Negri, some from Arbeau, mostly according to the whim of the author. Some almans are done with an unusual alman step, some with coranto steps.) But if you do your own research, this is fine music to dance to! Aesthetic Appeal: *** Usability: ***.5

Robin is to the Greenwood Gone. Odette, Paul. Tape: Elektra 79123-4, 1987
Contains: Packington's Pound; Grimstock; Greensleeves; pavans; jigs; galliards; Walsingham; Spanish Pavin

Rose & Nefr Dance Tapes. Jararvellir Music Guild. Available from Rose & Nefr Press, 7307 W. Franklin Ave., St. Louis Park, MN 55426. $20.00 for two tapes and book.

Tape 1: French Renaissance: Carolingian Pavan, Entree Courante, Mannschaft Pavan, Quadran Pavan, Earl of Salisbury Pavan, Basse: Jouyssance vous donnerai, Branles: Suite Haut Barrois, Pinagay, Charlotte, Poitou, Scottish, Maltese, Calontir, Mimed Branles: Washerwomen's, Pease, Clog, Hermits, Horses, Candlestick, Montarde, Official, War, Knock-down-drag-out, Galliarde, Tourdion, La Volta, English Country: All in a Garden White, Black Nag, Dargason, Dull Sir John, Female Sailor, Fine Companion, Gathering Peascods, Glory of the West, Grimstock, Heart's Ease, Hit and Misse, Hole in the Wall, Jenny Pluck Pears, Mayden Lane Tape 2: Merry Merry Milke Maids, Newcastle, New Exchange, Nonesuch, Picking up Sticks, Rufty Tufty, Sellenger's Round, Upon a Summer's Day, Almans: Black Alman, Queen's Alman, Ailis' Alman, Italian Renaissance Dance: Anello, Balletto Contentezza d'Amore, Spagnoletta Regolata, Verceppe, Games: The Cushion Dance or Prinkum Prankum, Miller in the Middle, Dances that Aren't Period: Korobushka, SCA Road to the Isles, Strip the Willow

JPD: These tapes and their companion book serve one purpose wonderfully: if you're trying to get started, and want directions to lots of dances done in the SCA, and music for them all in one package, this is fabulous for you. Unfortunately, I just don't find the music very attractive. It's very danceable to with a beat that's clear even to the rhythmically uninclined; however, some aesthetic appeal got sacrificed in making it so useful. Aesthetic appeal: ** Usability: ****

DZ: When people ask for one source as a starting point for getting period dance started in their locale, the common response is to wince and reluctantly recommend this one.

SCA Dance Musicke. The Companions of St. Cecilia. Cassette only.
Accompanies book of "Fidelco's Dance Notes". Can be obtained from Deborah Rochefort, 15 Karen Lane, Shenandoah Jct., WV 25442. $8 for the tape or the book, $15 for both, $1/item shipping. There is a volume II (tape and book) now available at the same prices.

Instruments: Recorders, mandolin, bass viol, penny whistle, percussion, and voices.
Line Dances: Fryar and the Nun, Madame Sosilia Almande, Mannschaft Pavan, Danse de Cleue, Montarde Branle; 3-couple dances: Grimstock, Stingo, Old Mole, Mayden Lane; 4-couple dances: Hyde Park, The Health, Fain I would; Circle Dances: Pease Branle, Maltese Branle, Fickle Ladies, Sellinger's Round; Hearts Ease; 3-couple dances: Chestnut, Confess, Upon a Summer's Day; Line dances: Love and a Bottle, Hole in the Wall.

JPD: Appealing collection of dances done in the SCA, generally very pretty, though a few dances (e.g. Hide Parke) are a little uncomfortably high-pitched. Nice variety of dances. Aesthetic appeal: *** Usability: ****

MH: We use this tape a lot in Castel Rouge. In fact, we just bought it for the Baronial tape box. It is very usable ****, and has a nice variety of music. Recommended, particularly for beginning groups.

Selva Amarosa: Italian Renaissance Dances by Fabritio Caroso. Scaramella. Classical Recording Service, 1991. Cassette only. Available from Diana Cruickshank (see DHDS) for £s;5 plus £s;1 shipping. Companion book is £s;7.50, plus £s;1 shipping.
Instruments: recorders, crumhorns, lutes, renaissance guitar, viols. Contains: Selva Amarosa, Gloria d'Amore / Donna Leggiadra, Bellezze d'Olimpia, Rara Belta, La Gagliarda di Spagna, Bella Gioiosa, Contrapasso Nuovo, Ardente Sole, Ombrosa Valle, Maraviglia d'Amore, Fulgente Stella, Alta Regina, Este Gonzaga, Florido Giglio, Candida Luna, Fedelta.

JPD: A collection of dances from Il Ballarino and Nobilta di Dame. Music arranged by Stewart McCoy. Dance advisor: Diana Cruickshank. Aesthetic Appeal: **** Usability: ***

DH: Reasonable recording of late-16th-century Italian dances. We've only used Bella Gioiosa, Contrapasso Nuovo and Fedelta, but all were very danceable.

Ship of Fools. John Renbourne. Tape: Folklore Productions, FF90466, 1988.

AB: Contains Maltese Brawle and other "traditional" tunes.

MW: This may or may not be the Renbourne album famous for having a "Bransle Maltese" that is actually Schiarazula -- evidence that our mistakes can have repercussions beyond the SCA...

16th Century Italian and French Dance Music. Musica Reservata.
CD: Boston Skyline BSD123 1994.

AB: David Munrow, from the vault compilation of 2 early-70's recordings; Includes: various galliards, pavans; "passamezo" La Bataille pavan; Moresca; tordion; branle simple.

LH: This is actually the highlights from two albums released in 1971: 16th Century Italian Dance Music (Philips LP 6500 102) and 16th Century French Dance Music (Philips LP 6500 293). Just naming the musicians should give you a clue to the quality of this compilation: John Beckett, David Munrow, Desmond Dupre, Christopher Hogwood, Grayston Burgess, Nigel Rogers, Michael Ovenham, David Thomas, and Michael Morrow, Director. Need I say more? All of the original liner notes are even included. You will also want to pick up Dance Music of the High Renaissance (Boston Skyline CD BSD 118, originally Archiv LP 198166).

So ben mi ..., La Fedalta d'Amore, Lo Spagnoletto, La Courtesia Amorosa
45rpm single FidulaFON 1286

MD: These records are just two of a lot of records and books on dancing available from Fidula, Boppard/Rhein and Salzburg, Austria. They have lots of interesting records but beware of Gaillardes from them, because some of them are influenced by Taubert, who had a totally different reconstruction for them, requiring very slow tempi.

Sonare et Balare: Dances from 15th c. Italy and France. The Bedford Waits. Dolmetsch Historical Dance Society, 1990. Cassette only. Available from DHDS for £s;7 plus £s;1.25 shipping. Companion book: £s;5 plus £s;2 shipping.
Instruments: recorders, crumhorn, rackett, lute, dulcimer, cornett.
Italian Balli: Anello (Domenico), Belreguardo Novo (D), Laltra fia guielmina (D), Giloxia (D), Gratioso (Guglielmo), Legiadra (G), Pizochara (D), Rostiboli Gioioso (G), Spero (G). Italian Basse danze: Castelana (G), Caterva (G), Corona (D), Damnes (D), Pellegrina (G), Pietosa (G). French bassedanses: La Danse de cleves (Brussels), Lesperance de bourbon (Br./Toulouze), Filles a marier (Br/T), Le petit rouen (Br/T), Rotiboully ioyeulx (Br/T).

JPD: This tape was prepared in conjunction with DHDS' Summer School of 1989. Companion book has dance choreography, but no step descriptions or other info, as it was designed as a reminder for those who had learned the dances at workshops. Most dances are quite nice, and quite usable. Aesthetic Appeal: *** Usability: ***

Songs & Dances from Shakespeare. The Broadside Band. Saydisc CD: SDL 409

LH: While many of the selections are "songs" there are also many dances included (and don't be surprised if many of the songs sound familiar as many of them are also dance tunes). Extensive "liner notes" including lyrics to all the songs. This is good for you theatrical types also as it talks about actual music used in the original productions staged by Shakespeare.

Step Stately (Subtitle on container: "Two and three couple dances from 17th and 18th century England.") CDS-8 Country Dance and Song Society of America, 1980
Marshall Barron, violin; Eric Leber, recorders; Charles Ward, harpsichord.
Step Stately, Love's Triumph, Miss Sparks's Maggot, The Boatman, Joy After Sorrow, The Splendid Shilling, The Beggar Boy, The Maid in the moon, Come Let's Be Merry I and II, Saint Martin's, Green Sleeves and Yellow Lace, The Corporation, Shepherd's Holiday, St. Margaret's Hill, Heartsease, Chelmsford Assembly.

IE: More country dances both "in" and OOP. Much nicer renditions than many, but notably Baroque, if your audience can tell the difference.

Take a dance. Bare Necessities. CD: Chicago : Flying Fish, 1991.
Take a Dance, Scotch Morris, Irish Lamentation, Fandango, The wood duck / Fried de Metz Herman, Miss DeJersey's Memorial / Pat Shaw, Nonesuch, St. Margaret's Hill, Knives and Forks, Trip to the Jubilee, Hambleton's Round O.

IE: I've heard this one, but don't own it. The renditions are like on their first album, a little modern, but very danceable and pleasant to listen to. [Commendably...] they give enough reperitions of the tune to actually dance to. Most of these dances are OOP, but what the hell.

The Tape of Dance, Volume 1. The Debatable Consort, Robin the Just and Ellisif Flakkingskvinne, The Carolingian Jongleurs, Pandemonium.
Hole in the Wall, Black Nag, Juice of the Barley, Hyde Park, Black Almayne, Return of Spring, Parson's Farewell, Ballo del Fiore, Falla con Misuras, Saltarello La Regina, a tourdion (Arbeau), Galliarde: L'Ennuy Qui Me Tormente, Galliarde: Mille Ducas, Galliarde IV (Holborne)

DZ: This is the companion tape to the first volume of the Letter of Dance. It is now out of print, and has been superseded by The Tape of Dance, Volume 2 (see below).

MW: Yes, it's immodest, but I do think that we've collectively assembled an awfully useful tape here...

JPD: Instructions for most of the dances appeared in the Letter. Aesthetic appeal ranges widely because several different consorts contributed. Aesthetics: ** - **** Usability: ****

The Tape of Dance, Volume 2. Bryn Gwlad Music Guild, Ensemble Rigodon, Del von Strassburg, The Debatable Consort, Robin the Just and Ellisif Flakkingskvinne, The Carolingian Jongleurs, Pandemonium,. Copies available from the Letter of Dance, c/o Dani Zweig and Monica Cellio, 7634 Westmoreland Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15218
Jouyessance vous donneray, Hyde Park, Leggiadria d'Amore, Basse Alenchon, Horses Branle, Heralds in Love, Dargason, Heartsease, another galliarde and tourdion; synthesized recordings of the basse danses La Tantaine, Bayonne, Beaulte, Casulle, La Franchoise, Avignon, Flourentine, Le Rosin, and M'amie; all dances from Tape of Dance Volume 1.

DZ: This is the companion tape for volumes 1 and 2 of the Letter of Dance. It includes the dances from The Tape of Dance, Volume 1 (with duplicates removed and Hole in the Wall shortened) as well as music for the dances covered in Volume 2 of the Letter.

LL: A mix of dances. Nice rendition of Arbeau's tordion. The playing of Black Almain is an excellent alternative to the version on Musicke for Dauncinge...and especially if you like to dance it four times rather than two!

DH: I hesitate to criticise, since the Tape of Dance is an excellent idea, and the ensembles are not professional, but the execution of the pieces is of very variable quality. In most cases I don't think this will interfere with their danceability, but some are aesthetically disappointing (the syntehsised bassedances especially so). Some of the dances may have odd lengths/repeats - Jouyessance most notably.

Tarentule -- Tarentelle. Saint-Michel de Provence : Harmonia Mundi, p1977. HM 40.379 Harmonia Mundi. HM 57 Harmonia Mundi. Atrium Musicae. Issued on disc, cassette.
Instrumental dance music ; Atrium Musicae de Madrid ; Gregorio Paniagua, director. Program notes in French by Dr. Don Gregorio Paniagua Rodriguez on container insert.

Anonyme : Antidotum tarantulae ; Chorea ; Primus modus Tarantella, Secundus modus Tarentella, Tertius modus Tarentella -- F. Couperin : Les barricades mysterieuses -- Anonyme : Tarentella Neapoli Tonum Phrygium -- G. Paniagua: D'apr=E1es une basse obst. de Buxtehude -- Anonyme : Ritornello Tarentella Neapoli -- C. Monteverdi : Laetatus sum. Psalmus 121 -- Anonyme : Tarentela ; Tarentella. Alia Clausula ; Tarentelas 1a, 2a, & 3a ; Tarentella. Tono hypodorico -- Gaspar Sanz : La Tarentela -- Anonyme : Scotish gigg ; Tarantela -- S. de Murcia : Tarantelas -- Anonyme : Country dance (Running Footman) -- D. Fern=E2andez de Huete : La Tarantela -- M. Praetorius : Ballet des sorciers -- Joseph Recuero : Tarantela I -- Anon. Apuglia : Tarantela II -- Anonyme Italia : Tarantela III ; Tarantela IV ; Tarantela V ; Tarantela VI -- Anonyme : Nana Andaluza -- G. Paniagua : Taranto D'Almeria.

IE: Interesting record. Lovely arrangements, some are even danceable. This is the source for the music that was recut for Richard Powers' Villanicco, and one of the tracks is used for the Spagnoletto in some areas.

Ten Dances from 16th Century Italy. Book Published by Companie of Dansers, Book and Music Produced by Martin Pope. Probably music performed by Guildhall Waits. 1983
Contains: Laura Soave (sic); Spagnoletta; Canario; Austria Gonzaga; Il Gratioso; Allegrezza d'Amore; Bianco Fiore; La Biscia Amorosa; La Caccia d'Amore; Barriera Nuova;

LL: Played at a stately pace. I find most of these renditions too slow. I use the Allegrezza d'Amore for teaching before going onto the quicker playings on Il Ballarino and on Homage to Amor.

Tielman Susato: Dansereye 1551. New London Consort.
(CD) L'Oiseau-Lyre. 436131-2, 1993.

AB: Phillip Pickett stuff. Includes: sutie of 4 bransles; basse dance "mon desir;" 7 allemandes; 2 pavans; 8 galliards; Moresca.

DH: Never used it for dancing to, so I've no idea of its suitability. Typical New London Consort `big band' sound. Pavanne La Battaille also features on Trionfi! by the same ensemble.

To Celebrate a Prince: Dance in the Time of Lorenzo de Medici. Dolmetsch Historical Dance Society, 1992. Cassette only. Available from DHDS for £s;9 plus £s;1.25 shipping. Companion book is £s;6 plus £s;2 shipping. Petit Rose, Verceppe, Prexonera, La Ingrata, Leoncello Vecchio and Novo, Colonese, Ducheso, Fiore de Vertu, Principessa, Tesara, Cupido, Mignotta Vechia & Nova, Marchexana, Gratioso.

To Drive the Cold Winter Away. St. George's Canzona. Tape: MHS MHC9432K, 1986.
[AB:] Contains: official branle; pavans; Staines Morris; Fandango; Green Garters; Satarelli; galliards; various Praetorius stuff

Un Bal Chez Rabelais. (LP) Harmonia Mundi HM 931.

MR: All dances, mostly pavans, galliardes, bransles and rondes from Gervaise, Phalese, etc. Liner notes include a list of some dances mentioned by Rabelais, general instructions for dancing a pavan, galliarde and common bassedanse a la Arbeau.

Un bal Renaissance. La Maurache et Melusine. LP: Unidisc UD301419

MD: my favourite LP, consists of bransles and allemandes, also nice to just hear, but thought to be danced. (Includes a little bit of instructions on the inside cover.)

Viva Rey Fernando, Renaissance music from the Neopolitan Court 1442-1556,
Hesperion XX Jordi Savall.

VS: Two of the pieces listed are: Figlie Guilielmin (basse danse) from Cornazano, and Collinetto (ballo) from Guglielmo Ebreo da Pesaro. Figlie Guilelmina is a ballo, while Colinetto is a bassadanza and is only in Cornazano, so right off, they obviously have muddled stuff. The first piece may be a bassedanze - it wasn't recognizable, but I'm not into them. It may very well be Collinetto. The second is neither Colinnetto, nor Figlie Guilelmina, but is Vida de Culin. There's also Il Re de Spagna, bassa and alta danza, from de la Torre. A:*** U:*

Washerwomen, War, and Pease. New York Renaissance Band. See: Orchesographie.

Where Beauty Moves and Wit Delights. The New World Renaissance Band. Nightwatch. NW 1002 CD. 1993

JPD: Daphne, Staines Morris, Goddesses. Other non-dance stuff. Daphne could work for Hit and Misse (even has a 12-count hey), but too many repeats, and vocals that might throw off dancers. Goddesses only has 6 repeats (needs 11): a little slow, but it's one of the few existing recordings for this dance. Staines Morris has only three full repeats of the music. Would need to be spliced. Liner notes do not contain info on instrumentation. Aesthetic Appeal: *** Usability: **

Appendix I: Brief Mentions

We had far more good stuff than we could print. Most of the following consist only partly of dance music or have a more limited or specialized appeal, or were not included because we had too-incomplete information about them. The material on these has been highly condensed.

Ancient Airs and Dances. O'Dette, Paul (with Rogers Covey-Crump, Tenor) (Hyperion CDA66228)

LH: These are the original lute songs and dances used by Respighi in his orchestral "Suites of Ancient Airs and Dances." Paul O'Dette is, of course, a wonderful lutenist and, even if you can't dance to some of these, it's wonderful listening. Lovely version of Caroso's "Laura Soave."

The Art of the Bawdy Song. Baltimore Consort. CD
Dances: Cuckolds all a-row, Argeers, Gathering Peascods, Ladie Lie near me
JT: Not bad at all, considering it's not primarily a dance CD. Aesthetic: *** Usability: **.5

The Art of the Lute in the Middle Ages. L'Ensemble Perceval. (tape) MHS MHC6391, 1982. Various 13th and 14th century "dance" tunes.

Calliope Festival. Calliope. Elektra. Tape: E4-79069. 1984. Includes: various Salterelli; Ferrareze Pavan and Galliard; various other galliards.

The Christmas Revels. Langstaff, John. (tape) CA1078, 1982.
IdH: [Includes] Abbot's Bromley Horn Pipe; Dargason; Sword Dance tunes.

The Compleat Dancing Master, Antilles AN-7003
Includes Sellinger's Round , Nonesuch, Cuckolds All Awry, and others, and amusing readings.
AH: Cuckolds does not have the right number of repeats for dancing.

Dance of the Ages, Ensemble Eduard Melkus - Ulsamer Collegium. Archiv 439 964-2. The recordings were done in the early 70s. [Paraphrasing VS: It is a 4-CD set. The first two CDs are out of period; the third includes Baroque dances we use, though the music is not particularly danceable. CD4 includes Lamento di Tristano, a Trotto, 2 Istampita and Saltarello La Regina, 3 basse danze and an alta danza...general dance stuff from 1500s (no balli!), and an Early Baroque section: Schiarazula and a bit more from Mainerio, Barriera and Celeste Giglio from Caroso (I don't do either dance, but my guess is both are too slow), and ending with 5 pieces by Caroubel.]

VS: The collection is somewhat of a disappointment, if you're hoping for 4 CDs worth of music. It has bits and pieces, but no Arbeau, no early Balli, no Playford I, and 2 questionable late Balli. I got it for $20, and like Waltzs, but I expect most people wouldn't find it useful. I also get the strong impression that it is Dance Music for Listening, not for Dancing, and that the musicians weren't working with dancers or reconstructors. This CD= A:*** U:**

Danserye -1551. Camarata Hungarica. Hungaroton/Qualiton CD: SLPX 12194; cassette MK 12194

LH: The music is absolutely wonderful but we don't do many of these dances in Caid -- really fine instrumentation and vocals (on some of the selections).

Eloge du vin et de la vigne. La Maurache. Arion CD: ARN 68248 [AD]: Mostly songs, but includes la Gelosia, Amoroso, a tourdion, three basse dances (one of which has vocal as well as instrumental accompaniment), a bransle simple (similar accompaniment), and an emminantly danceable and listenable version of Arbeau's courante.

VS: I don't know about the Gelosia and Amoroso ... it's part of a suite, apparently, with Gelosia/Amoroso/Saltarello/Anello, all played in under 3 minutes ... I doubt it's too usable.

England Be Glad!. St. George's Canzona. (tape) MHS 9337X, 1972.
Includes: Greensleeves; various galliards.

The English Lute. Odette, Paul. (tape). Nonesuch N5-1363, 1979.
IdH: Contains: various galliards, Almains; pavans.

English Lute Duets. MHS MHC 312094M (tape) 1987.
IdH: Contains: Greensleeves; pavans; galliards; Sellengers Rounde.

Golden Dance Hits of 1600, Archiv 2533 184
Mainerio: Schiarazula Marazula , others.

Gothic and Renaissance Dances (tape) MHS MHC2061, n.d.
IdH: Contains: Pavans; Almans; galliards, bransles Bourgogne and Champagne.

Greatest Dance Hits of the 1500's, Quintessence PMC-750495.
See: Dance Music of the Renaissance.

Harp Music of the Italian Renaissance. Laurence-King, Andrew. (CD) MHS 513460Y, 1993. Re-release of 80's recording. IdH: Contains: Various galliards, Negri's "La Barriera": "Brando per Quattro"' "Pastore e Quattro Ninfe"

John Dowland: Fantasies and Dreams. Bacon, Joseph. Tape: MHS MHC6497, 1982.
IdH: Contains: various Almans; galliards; jigs.

The King's Delight: 17 c. ballads for voice and violin. The King's Noyse. Harmonia Mundi, 1994. HMU 907101. CD. Instruments: Viola, violin, bass violin, lute, cittern, and voice. Dance Tunes: All in a Garden Green, Gathering Peascods, Blew-cap, Jog On, Daphne, Grimstock, Childgrove, The Beggar Boy, Mr. Isaac's Maggot.

JT: This is primarily a collection of ballads, which has some tunes which happen to be dances. Thus, they're of limited use.... Aesthetic Appeal: *** Usability: *.5

The King's Noyse. Canzonetta. (CD) Harmonia Mundi. 907127, 1994.
IdH: Contains: various Saltarelli, galliards, various "dances". Nice music--Paul Odette on lute.

Le Moyen Age Catalan. Ars Musice de Barcelone. CD: HMA 190051
MR: Not particularly useful. The only dance is the bassedanse Barcelona (from Brussells ms.)

Les Menestriers, Les Menestriers. (LP) Vanguard SRV-316 SD, 1974
MR: Contains mostly vocal music. In addition to Chanconetta Tedesca, it has the Saltarello, and a good Spagna with a strong beat.

A Little Consort Music. Little Consort Amsterdam. ETCETERA CD: KTC 1005
[AD]: Includes three short 15c bassa danzas.

A Maid in Bedlam. John Renbourn Group. Shanachie 79004
Includes Galliarde: Nacht Tanz/Schaeffertanz . MH: There is a very nice pavan and galliard in this one. Very danceable. Perhaps someone could try some original choreography?

Mary's Music. Scottish Early Music Consort. (CD) Chandos CHAN 0529, 1992.
IdH: Re-release of 80's recording. Contains: "content desir"; basse dance, various pavans and galliards; branles.

The Merry Milkmaid: Early English Country Dances. The City Waits. Soundalive Music Ltd. CD: SAMHC/CD/009

LH: Some vocal music interspersed with the dance music with the same fine instrumentation work you find with the other English early music groups that seem to specialize in the "street" type of music rather than formal, court music.

Music from the Time of Christian IV. (CD) MHS 513127X, 1992. IdH: Re-release of earlier recording. Contains various galliards, pavans; saltarelli; Pasameza; various courantes.

Musicians of Swanne Alley. In the Streets & Theatres of London. (CD) MHS 513557M, 1994. Virgin Classics CD: VC 7 90789. Includes Almans, pavans, ballads, "Passamezzo"; Grimstock; Greensleeves.

LH: The focus on this recording is on music that would be used in theatre pieces so it is a mix of song and dance. The group is headed up by premiere lutenists Lyle Nordstrom and Paul O'Dette (and the other musicians are of equal quality) so you know it's going to be great listening! Lively versions of "Stingo" and "Grimstock."

Musique dans le temps de Jacques Cartier Very recent (1995). Ensemble Claude-Gervaise. ORCD-4103. VS: Has Le Petit Rouen, Filles a marier, La Spagna, Belle Qui, some bransles.

The Parley of Instruments. Christmas Music by Michael Praetorius. (CD) Hyperion A66200, 1986. IdH: Various stuff from Terpsichore, mostly galliards.

Pass Time with Good Company, Kicking Mule Records,
Includes music for Earl of Salisbury Pavan .

Playford Replay'd
Staines Morris, Jack's Health, Hyde Park, Picking Up Sticks, Mad Robin, Mr Isaac's Maggot, St. Martin's, Argeers, Nonesuch, Step Stately, Dargason, Chestnut, Hearts Ease, Rufty Tufty, Upon a Summer's Day, Sellenger's Round, Confesse,Gathering Peasecods, Epping Forest.
DZ: Very danceable. This was a mainstay of our EC dancing for a time.

Praetorius -- Dances from Terpsichore / Misai Sioniae. The Early Music Consort of London. CD: CDM 7 69024 2. DE: A few useable Praetorius tunes, but not as good as the IMP collection.

Praetorius' Terpsichore Arabesque CD Z6531

LH: Again, this is for dances "en suite" and we don't do many of these particular court dances in Caid (although I wish we would). This is absolutely wonderful just for listening and many who have been to the RenFaire will recognize some of these.

A Reasonable Facsimile. Anne and Rob Burns. Second from the Bottom Records CD: SBR001/2

LH: For those of you who are saying, the names sound familiar, this couple put out a couple of cassettes entitled About as Close as You Can Get and The Merry Pranks of Robin Goodfellow which featured "street performances" such as you might hear at the Renaissance Faire. This CD includes both of those earlier cassettes. These are multi-talented musicians and singers who each seem to play about a hundred instruments. Some of the selections seem to be the right length for dancing and the tempos for the most part seem to echo those at RenFaire. Altogether good fun (great for getting into the right mindset on the way to an SCA event or RenFaire).

Renaissance Dances from the 14th through 16th Centuries, Odyssey 32-160036
Includes Entampies, La Spagne, Pavan - Galliarde St. Roch, Pavan: La garge, Galliarde: Au joly boys, Branle de Poictou, Branle de Gay, Basse Dance: Mon sedir [?], Galliarde: La rocque, Two branles, Basse Dance: Le cueur, Hornepype

Renaissance Dances, Lionel Rogg, positif organ and The Ancient Instrument Ensemble of Zurich. VS: Has La Fille Guilmin - not sure if works.

Tanze, Lieder und Fantasien der Europaischen Renaissance, Bernhard Bohm & Jurgen Hubscher (?) Christophorus CHR 74596. VS: By the listing of contents, includes Cesarina, Nido d'Amore, Amore felice and Forza d'Amore from Caroso, a galliard, an alman, and 3 Playford, but not 1st ed.

Three, Four and Twenty Lutes. (tape) MHS MHC312204H, 1986.
Contains: saltarelli; Pass'e mezzo milanese; galliards.

A Trip to Kilburn: Playford Tunes and Their Ballads. The Baltimore Consort. (Dorian CD DOR-90238)

LH: A brand new recording (Spring 1996) with mostly dance tunes -- some of the tempos may not be what you're used to but don't be afraid to experiment: add a little courtly grace to a country dance and you get a whole new feel!

Watkins Ale: Music of the English Renaissance. The Baltimore Consort. Dorian CD: DOR-90142).
LH: This is not strictly a dance record but it's got some great stuff nonetheless and they're a great group. Rousing version of "The Buffens" to start you off and the following track, "Nutmigs and Ginger" really calls out for dancing.

Appendix II: A Few Sources for Dance Music

The entries below were culled from compilations made by two of the contributors to this discography - LH and JPD. As with the discography entries, the original information was edited considerably, and any resulting loss of information and usefulness is solely the responsibility of the editors.

Boulder Early Music Shop, 2010 14th Street, Boulder, CO 80302 (303) 499-1301 (they've been very nice over the phone even when I didn't know exactly what I was looking for!) (http://www.pellegrino.com/bems)

CDSS (Country Dance and Song Society) 17 New South Street, Northampton, MA 01060. Phone (413)584-9913. Fax (413)585-8728. Email 71231.2526@compuserve.com

DBL (Dance Books Limited) 15 Cecil Court, London WC2N 4EZ.
Telephone no. 0171 836 2314; fax 0171 497 0473; email dl@dances.demon.co.uk Primarily a bookstore: has several facsimile editions of primary sources, and various secondary sources. In addition to this, they carry some tapes which are companions to dance instruction books. They carry most of the things from Nonsuch, DHDS, and Cruickshank, but charge a little more for them (50p to L2 each, depending on the item). You can order by phone using Visa or American Express; they charge a postage and handling fee of 20% of your total order for surface mail to the U.S.

DHDS (Dolmetsch Historical Dance Society) Secretary: Diana Cruickshank, Hunter's Moon, Orcheston, Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP3 4RP. Payments must be in L Sterling. (If you are also ordering items from Diana Cruickshank as an individual, you can make out one money order directly to her for all the items, and she can transfer the necessary money to the DHDS account.)

Elderly Instruments, 1100 N. Washington, P.O. Box 14249, Lansing, MI 48901; credit card orders (517) 372-7890; fax (517) 372-5155 (http://www.elderly.com)

NED (Nonsuch: Early Dance) by Peggy Dixon., 16 Brook Dr. London, SE11 4TT Phone: 071-735-8353. Prices valid as of August 1993; postage charges will be invoiced. Payments required to be in L sterling.

Past Times, 280 Summer Street, Boston, MA 02210-1182; (800) 621-6020 (based in England). This is a very dangerous catalog (lock up your credit cards!) and its focus is definitely not music BUT they do carry a lot of recordings that correspond to the various historical periods they feature. Their recordings are not cheap and oftentimes they are simply more expensive reissues of CDs that are out under a different label and title.

PRMS (Public Radio Music Source) 1-800-75-MUSIC Several of the import label CD's listed here can be ordered by calling this number. You can pay using your credit card, a portion of the profits go to your favorite public radio station, and the music appears on your doorstep in a couple weeks.

Sylvia Woods Harp Center, P.O. Box 816, Montrose, CA 91021-0816 (818) 249-0325; (800) 272-HARP (They're very nice and ship incredibly fast)

Wail Songs, P.O. Box 29888, Oakland, CA 94604; (510) 763-6415 (they may have combined with another business -- see them at SF Cons and Filk Conventions)