Ein guter neuer Dantz

Dancing Peasants (late 16th Century). Woodcut by unknown German artist. [Source: German History in Documents and Images. http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/sub_image.cfm?image_id=3299 ]

Ein guter neuer Danz’ edited by Hans Haselbock (Wiesbaden: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1989)

During the Christmas and New Year period 2016-17 I found myself playing the organ at a variety of venues here and there across London (UK). As part of my seasonal offerings I decided to try out a newly acquired set of nine renaissance-era dances edited for keyboard by Hans Haselböck: Ein guter neuer Dantz (Wiesbaden: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1989).

I was pleasantly surprised by the number of people who, having heard these little pieces, not only commenting how much they enjoyed them but also asking about them. So without more ado here below are details of the music with some recordings of them.

The instrument used here is tuned to a period-appropriate quarter-comma meantime (pure thirds) temperament set at A=427, lower than present-day concert pitch . The pieces, as they are published, are either in G or F and make playful use of of F\F# and C\C# contrasts, thus adding spice to the already piquant quarter-comma temperament. However, despite such talk of temperament and pitch, I make no claims to presenting an historically informed performance these brief and unpretentious dance-pieces, and I hope that you too might find something to enjoy in them.