Consort 8: Pavane Belle qui tiens ma vie by Thoinot Arbeau

Consort 8 Courtly Ayres & Dances Saturday September 19, 2020 Danced by Fiona Garlick and John Barnard of The Early Dance Consort. The lovely Pavane “Belle qui tiens ma vie” comes from a French dance treatise Orchésographie, published in Lengres in 1589, and written by Jehan Tabourot, a canon of the church, under the pseudonym “Thoinot Arbeau”. Arbeau provides wonderful insights into the social dances of the mid-to late 16th century, along with instructions using a unique printing system which correlates notes of the dance tunes with their steps. He is credited with the composition of this chanson in four parts, and includes the appropriate drum rhythm to be played throughout. The Pavane was danced “walking with decorum and measured gravity”. It opened grand balls at court, heralded entrances and processions, and was played “when a maiden of good family is taken to Holy Church to be married”. Approche donc ma belle Come my beauty, Approche, toi mon bien,