Originally published 1612 | ||
 | ||
Similar Four Dances from Terp, Syntagma Musicum, Fitzwilliam Virginal Book, The Dancing Master | ||
Terpsichore is a compendium of more than 300 instrumental dances published in 1612 by the German composer Michael Praetorius. The collection takes its name from the muse of dance.
Contents
In his introduction Praetorius takes credit for arranging the music rather than composing the tunes. The collection is based on French dance repertoire of the time, although scholars have identified some of the tunes as coming from elsewhere, for example England.
The work was rediscovered in the twentieth century by the early music movement. The Early Music Consort is among the groups that have recorded some of the dances.
Instrumentation
Terpsichore contains some notes which relate to instrumentation, but does not specify which instruments should play particular parts. A variety of instruments have been used to play Terpsichore.
Sometimes performers draw on another work by Praetorius, Syntagma Musicum, which is an important source of information regarding historical instruments. The Early Music Consort used this approach. However, Syntagma Musicum is not necessarily a guide to the instrumentation of Terpsichore. The musicologist Peter Holman suggests that the dances were conceived primarily for violin consorts, although "Praetorius was clearly aware that potential purchasers in Germany might want to play them on wind instruments".