Customer Reviews

Medieval and Renaissance Dances for Recorders, Dancers, and Hand Drums

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a very enjoyable book to play from. The tunes are quite simple and pleasant, and a beginner would have no problem with them. In addition to the main book, there is an insert with just the recorder music.
Makes a great addition to a renaissance collection, and can be played solo. Nothing worse than getting a book with music written for three parts or more when you are playing alone.
I was glad I bought this.

This book contains lots of helpful instructions for beginners. The hand drum portion is excellent. The instructions for the dances are a bit vague. Furthermore, it is sometimes unclear how many times a song should be repeated for different dances and basically how to match up the dance steps to the included music. The recorder music is mostly more advanced than anything a beginner could play right away, although it might serve well as a second or third book. (Also, something that bugged me -- the author did not cite the source for any of the graphics in the book, many of which I recognized from medieval sources. Even if not direct plagiarism, this was certainly irresponsible!) As a reference for those intending to put on a medieval performance, it's a nice introduction, though it should probably be supplemented by other works for those who care at all about authenticity.

This is a great book. It has an excellent selection of music with in depth descriptions and tips. Included are dances that accompany the songs and suggestions on performance. For beginners to mid level players an excellent book to add to your collection.

I have not bothered to read this whole book, because from what I've seen so far, it is very poor quality as a source for historical dance. It is a blend of historical music, a few actual historical dances and steps, and just plain making it up. Since the true historical material is not well distinguished from the author's own embellishment in the text, it is especially misleading. This book is a poor resource for learning about true Medieval and Renaissance dance.

If you have a real interest in dance of these time periods, there are much better sources, even for beginners. I would suggest Orchesography
by Thoinot Arbeau or The English Dancing Master by John Playford, as they are actual historical sources for Renaissance dance.