Dear Howard, Thank you for your reply. In theory, it is, I suppose, as possible for music to speed up over the years, as to slow down. However, the fact is that the tempo of musical genres in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries tended to slow down. I gave the saraband and galliard as examples. The same thing happened with the pavan and almain. I can't think off hand of music from that period where the opposite is the case, and the tempo of a particular genre of music has gradually accelerated.
One may offer any number of explanations for the phenomenon I describe. My own view is that the slowing down process is a result of musicians and dancers elaborating more and more. I'm afraid I don't think it has anything to do with their clothing. Best wishes, Stewart McCoy. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Howard Posner" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: "Lute Net" <lute@cs.dartmouth.edu> Sent: Saturday, August 13, 2005 4:54 PM Subject: [LUTE] Tempo and divisions > Stewart McCoy wrote: > > > It has often been observed that the addition of extra notes by > > musicians, or extra steps by dancers, has the effect of slowing > > music down over the years. The saraband started life as a fast, > > lively dance, and ended up as a very slow one. > > Wouldn't the reverse be just as likely: that slower tempo leads to more > notes? > There are other, more intuitive causes for dances to slow down over a > long period. > For example, the people who dance it get older. Or the dance moves up > the social ladder, > to be danced by people in more elaborate clothing. > > HP To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
