rhetoric 17thc french sarabande ranum em 1986
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Audible Rhetoric and Mute Rhetoric: The 17th-Century French Sarabande
Author(s): Patricia RanumSource: Early Music, Vol. 14, No. 1 (Feb., 1986), pp. 22-30+32-36+39Published by: Oxford University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3127596Accessed: 23-01-2016 23:28 UTC
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7/25/2019 Rhetoric 17thC French Sarabande Ranum EM 1986
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Patricia Ranum
A u d i b l e r h e t o r i c n d
m u t
r h e t o r i c t h e
17th century
r e n c h s r b nde
. . .
. .
~2~c '>-ipaM/dC >-r
F
~
lnli- ?12?"
1 Danseurs de
Sarabande
from the Ballet des
quatre parties
du
monde
(Paris,
Bibliotheque
Nationale
19165;
photo
Giraudon)
In
1724
Jacques
Bonnet
categorized
the so-called
'Spanish'
sarabande
as an
unusually
expressive
ex-
ception
among
the
various
French
dances:
Almost
all the
dances that
are danced
at balls
and assemblies
employ
no
expression
i.e.
no
expressive
gestures],
with
the
exception
of
the
Spanish
sarabande
with
castanets,
or
the
English jig,
for the
courante
typifies
the
gravite
staidness]
of
French
dancing.'
In
singling
out
the
'Spanish'
sarabande,
Bonnet
implies
the existence
in the 18th
century
of a
'French'
sara-
bande
that
is less
demonstrative
than its Iberian
cousin,
which
steadfastly
retained
its castanets
and
expressive gestures
a
century
after
emigrating
to
France.
A mere
half
century
prior
to Bonnet's
reference
to
the
'Spanish'
dance,
sources
fail
to
mention
a staid
'French' sarabande.
Antoine
Furetiere's
Dictionnaire
universel
(1690), compiled during
the
1670s,
presented
an
exotic
Mediterranean
dance:
SARABANDE.
A
musicalcomposition, dance n triplemetre,
and which
usually
finishes
with a raised
hand when
beating
time,
in
contrast
to the
Courante,
which ends
with a lowered
hand. Like the
Chaconne,
the Sarabande
came from
the
Saracens...
It
is
usually
danced to the sound of the
guitar
or
castanets. Its
mouvement2
s
gay
and amorous.
GESTE.
he sarabande
employs
lascivious
postures
and
gestures.
It
was
'gay
and
amorous',
terms
that
implied
a
strong
22 EARLY
MUSIC
FEBRUARY
1986
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undercurrent
of
seduction.
Indeed,
its
gestures-or
expression-were
'lascivious'.
In
addition, Furetiere
described
a
distinctive
sarabande
phrasing
that
moves
in full
bars,
a
phrasing
that stands in marked
contrast
to
that of
the
courante,
Bonnet's
quintessential
French
dance.
If,
as
late as the
1680s,
the sarabande
was
on the
surface Iberian and lascivious, a subtle change was
nonetheless
taking
place
in
the
lyrics
of
sung
sara-
bandes.
The distinctive balanced
phrasing
(ex.1a)
of
the
1640s
was
gradually
being
abandoned
in favour
of
the unbalanced
line
(ex.
1
b) preferredby
French
poets.
Exx.2and 3 show
the first of the
many
stanzas of two
sung
'sarabandes
or
dancing' published by
Jean
Boyer
in 1642.
(Phrasing
breaks created
by
the
mid-line
caesura or
by
the
rhyme
are
shown
in
all
examples by
the double slashes used
in
ex.1.)
Save for the con-
cluding pair
of
lines with their
hemiola
rhythm,
each
line
in
ex.2 ends at a musical
barline.
This
same
balanced,
assertive
phrasing
is
also found
in
'sara-
bandes for
guitar',
in
other
words,
for
'Spanish'
sara-
bandes.3
On the
other
hand,
ex.3
quickly
leaves this
balanced
phrasing
and
moves to the unbalanced line
that
typifies
the French
sarabande after
1690.4
Thus,
Ex.2(b)
1 Cloris,
-do
you-wish
to
know
The effect-of
your power,
Cleante-
night-
and
day
Burns-with love.
2 'Tis he-who-full-of trust
Within
his
soul
Cherishes-the flame
That he
nourishes-for
you.
Beware-lest his
eyes,
More
brilliant-than the
skies,
Should lose-their
clarity
Because of
your
beauty:
3 You read-his
passion
On his
visage
The
living image
Of
affection.
Will
sighs-and
tears,
The
proof-of
his
anguish,
Bring
an
end-to
his
life
Without
your help?
4
Must-the
charms
Of
a
heartless woman
In
addition to
pain
Cause-his death?
Ex. The
phrasing
f
sarabandes
(a)
a balanced
hrase
.
3 J J J IJ
J
J
I
J
JJ
(b)
an
unbalanced
hrase
3 ? ?
// 1 ii /
Ex.2(a)
ean
Boyer,
Sarabande
our
danser',
Ie
ivrede chansonsa
danser
t d boire
Paris,
642),
.36v
A
•e
r
r0,0
; I
1
M
I
Clo-RIS,
I
VEUX
-tu sa-VOIR //
L'ef-FET de TON
pou-VOIR//
(Cloris,
do
you
want
to know The effect of
thy power,)
A
,
Cl
-
an
-/te
nuit /
et
JOUR
(//)Brfi-//le
d'A
-
MOUR //
(Cl~ante
night
and
day
Burns
with
love:)
C'EST
luy
/
qui
/
PLEIN
/
de FOY//
De
-
DANS
son i
-
me//
('Tis
he who full
of trust
within his
soul,)
Che
-
rit
/
la
fl
-
me//
Quil
NOUR-rit
/
POUR TOY//
(Cherishes
the
flame
That he nourishes
for
thee.)
Clo-RIS,
VEUX-tu sa-VOIR
/
L'ef-FET
de TON
pou-VOIR,
/
Cle-an-
/
te
nuit
/
et
JOUR
/
Brfi-
/
le
d'A-MOUR.
/
C'ESTuy / qui / PLEIN de FOY/
De-DANS
son
a-me
//
Che-rit
/
la
fla-me
//
Qu'il
NOUR-rit
POUR
TOY.//
PRENDS
ar-
/
de
que
SES
YEUX
/
PLUS
bril-LANTS
que
LES
CIEUX
/
VONT
per-
/
dre
LEUR
CLAIR-TE
/
POUR
a
BEAU-TE:
/
Tu
lis
/
sa
pas-si-ON
//
DANS SON
vi-sa-ge,
//
Vi-van-te
i-ma-ge
//
De
l'af-fec-ti-ON.
//
LES
sou-PIRS
et
LES
PLEURS,
//
Te-MOINS
de SES
dou-LEURS,
//
Fi-ni-RONT-ILS SES
JOURS
//
SANS TON
se-COURS?
/
Faut-il
/
que
LES
ap-PAS
/
D'u-ne
in-hu-mai-ne,
//
Ou-tre la
pei-ne,
//
Don-
/
nent le
TRES-PAS?
/
EARLY
MUSIC
FEBRUARY
1986
23
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by
the
1660s,
the
Spanish
sarabande,
a
recent
immi-
grant,
had
to some
extent
already
adapted
to the
manners of
the
French
court. It was
abandoning
the
assertive
phrasing
of its
native
land for
the
more
tender
verse
structure of
its
adopted
country.
In so
doing,
it
abandoned none
of its
expressiveness.
In
1671 Father
FranqoisPomey
included a
definition
of
the
sarabande
in
his
French
and
Latin Dictionnaire
royal,
first
published
at
Lyons.
This
Jesuit
teacher of
rhetoric
agreed
with
the
academician
Furetiere,
and at
the same
time added
several
important
details:
SARABANDE,
altatio
numerosa,
quam
arabanda
ocant
[a
metred
dance
that
they
call
the
sarabande].
he
sarabande
s a
passionate
ance hat
originated
ith
he Moors f Grenada
and that the
Spanish Inquisition
outlawed because it
deemed
t
capable
of
arousing
ender
passions,captivating
the heart
with
he
eyes,
and
disturbing
he
tranquillity
f the
mind.
ForPomey the sarabande was 'Spanish',and so lewd
that
it was
outlawed
by
the
Church.
Like
Furetibre,
he
considered
the
metre
of
a
sarabandeso essential to its
character that
he
gave
the dance the
Latin
name
Saltatio
numerosa.This 'metre' is
not,
however,
the
rhythm
created
by
the
double slashes of
phrase
and
half-phrase,
but the
rhythm
created
by
'number',
hat
is,
by
the
way
crotchets
are
placed
within
those
larger
units
in
groups
of
one,
two,
three or four notes.
Indeed,
the
larger
phrasing
does not
preoccupy
Pomey. During
this
period
of
transition,
he does not address the
question
of
whether
the dancer
moves to the balanced
phrasing
of ex.2 or the unbalanced one of ex.3. His
chief
concern
is the
passionate
nature of this
'Spanish'
dance.
The lascivious
gestures
and
postures
of
the sara-
bande did
not
prevent
the Jesuit
pedagogue
from
dwelling
at
length
upon
this
dance. A detailed
bilingual
'Description
of a Danced
Sarabande',
written
between
1664
and
1671,
was included in an
appendix
to
Pomey's
dictionary.5
The French
ext
appears
as illus.4.
The
description
will
be
analyzed
at
length
later
in
this
article.
(A
transcription
of
the French
original,
with
English translation,
can
be found on
page 35.)
Song
and dance
as
oratory
Pomey's precious
document confirms
the
presence
of
what some
considered
to be lascivious
postures
and
gestures
in the
mid-century
sarabandein
France. It
also
provides
sufficient information
to
permit
some
study
of
the dance as a
unitary experience,
that
is,
a
study
not
only
of
the notes and
lyrics,
but
of
gestures
Ex.3
First
stanza
of
Belle
riviere,
another
'Sarabande
pour
danser'
by
Jean
Boyer,
IIe
livre de
chansons
a
danser et
a
boire
(Paris,
1642),
f.37v
I.
1
1
'
i
,ImI
',
Bel
-
le
ri
-
vi
-
re,
/
SUR
qui
/
na
gu6
-
re//
(Lovely
river,
on
whom
long
since)
Phi
-
LIS
I
jet
-
TOIT
/
SES
DOUX
re
-
GARDS
//
(Philis
cast
her
sweet
glances]
A
*
-0"
1.
1
-f;•a
aI.
r
'
"
POUR BIEN
PLEU
-
RER
(//)
I'ab-men
CE//
de
SES char
-
mes,//
(To
greatly
mourn
the absence
of her
charms,)
A
_,,-L-
,-1..-]
I
Tu AS MOINS
/
d'EAU//que
je
n'au
-
ray
/
de
lar
-
mes.//
(You
have
less water
than I
shall have
tears.)
as
well,
in the
light
of the
rhetorical
theory
of the
period.
The
analysis
of
all these dimensions
is
inspired
by
numerous statements
in
rhetoric handbooks
of
the
period,
which liken dance
steps
to
the
individual
syllables
of
a
song,
the
complete
lyrics
of that
song
to
an
oration,
and
the
actor's
expressive
gestures
to
the
orator's
figures
of
speech.
For
example,
in 1702 Michel
de
Saint-Lambert
compared
a
piece
of
music to an oration
and sub-
divided
the musical
composition
into smaller
units
that he
equated
with
the sections
of
a
speech.6
And,
indeed, the lyricsof 100 selected dance songs written
between 1619
and
17507
leave
little
doubt
that the
train of
thought
in a French air
assumes the
four-part
organization
of
a
speech
described
in
the
various
rhetoric
handbooks.8
(These
four
parts
are
marked'l,
2,
3
and
4' in the
examples
to this
article.)
This
same
four-part
division
is evident
in
Pomey's
description
(illus.4),
where
each
section
of the
dance
is
separated
from the
next
by
a
space.
That
the
mute
rhetoric
of the
dance
and the
audible
rhetoric
of the
singer
are both
founded
upon
the
principles
of
public speaking
is confirmed
by
com-
paring
the
wording
of
Pomey's
definition
'Sarabande',
quoted
in full
earlier,
with
the
definition
of the
'Art
of
Rhetoric'
by
his
contemporary,
Rene
Bary.
Bary
wrote:
'Rhetoric
is a
discipline
that
reveals the means
of
persuading,
moving
and
pleasing.'9
The
orator's
goal
is
threefold.
He must
persuade
his audience
or,
to
use
another of
Bary's xpressions,
'unsettletheir
minds'.A
consummate
actor,
he must
move his listeners
by
24
EARLY MUSIC
FEBRUARY 1986
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Ex.4
Jean-Baptiste
Lully,
Sarabandedes
contrefeseurs',
Ballet
de
la raillerie
(1659;
F-Pn,
Vm6
4,
p.71)
1.
2+4//4//
A.
EN-FIN
/
je
VOUS
re-VOIS,//
CHAR-man-te
COUR//
(At
last
I see
you
again, Charming Court, )
2.
1+3//3+2//
LIEU/
TANT
ai -
ME
/ Ou
na -
quit/
l'a
-
MOUR//
(Place
so beloved where was
born the
love)
2
+
Que
j'ay/POURCli -
m
-
ne//
(That
I bear
Climine.
)
S.
3+5
//5/
..
I
Et
je
VOIS
/
de
-
PUIS MON
re-TOUR//Que
cet-te
in-hu
-
mai
-
ne
//
(And
see
since
my
eturn
That
his
nhuman
ne)
I
Com-me le pre- MIER JOUR EST IN-SENsi-ble
(As on
the first day
is
insensitive)
a
ma
pel
-
ne.//
(to
my pain.
)
portraying
on
his
face
and
registering
in
his
voice
the
emotions
he
wishes his
audience
to feel in
earnest.10
Andfinally, he must pleasethem
by
the
'regular'
and
'agreeable'
rhythms
of
his
speech,
a
rhythm
that
he
continually
varies
according
to
the mood
he
wishes to
create.
The
dancer is
confronted
by
a
similar
challenge.
He
too
must
persuade
his
audience,
or,
in
Pomey's
words
(which
closely
resemble
Bary's)
disturb
he
tranquillity
of
the mind'.
Like
the
orator,
he
must
move
his
audience
and 'steal
hearts
by
his
glances'.
He
also
pleases
onlookers,
forhis dance
is
'metred',
numerosa;
and
it is metre or 'number'
Fr.:
nombre, adence;
Lat.:
numerus)
hat make
a dance
agreeable.'2
Thus,
by
definition,
both the dancer
and the
orator
set
out to
persuade,
to
move,
and to
please
their
audiences.'3
In other words,
they
both
employ
the
art
of rhetoric.
They
sharetheir reliance
upon
this artwith
the
singer,
who,
at least
as
early
as Mersenne,
was
described as
a
'harmonic
orator'.'4
Before
turning
to
the
English
translation
of
Pomey's
Description';
et
us
look
more
closely
at these three
facets of 1
7th-century
rhetorical
theory,
in order to
recognize
them in
the
audible rhetoric
of four harmonic
orators,
and
in
the
mute rhetoric
of
Pomey's
male
dancer.
'Persuading,moving
and
pleasing'
Persuasionwas accomplished chiefly by the orator's
skilful use
of the so-called
'figures'
of
speech.
Hand-
books describe
the orator as locked in
something
of
a
combat
with his listeners
from his
opening
statement.
He must convince
them
by
his
artful
deployment
of
exclamations,
questions,
dramatic
pauses,
repetitions,
strongly
contrasted
statements,
exaggerations,
and
so
on.
As Bernard
Lamy,
another
contemporary
f
Pomey's,
pointed
out:
'These turns
of
phrase,
which are
the
characteristics
traced
by
the
passions
during
speech,
are the famous
figures
to
which
rhetoricians
refer.'"
Thus,
figures
of
speech
express
the
passions16
hat
the
orator s actingout andhopes to stir n the hearts ofhis
listeners. In
other
words,
figures
of
speech
not
only
persuade,
they
also move
the
audience.
These
figures
of
speech
are the
verbal
equivalents
of
certain
postures
that the
body
assumes
when
seized
by
strong
emotions:
Allthe
figures
of
speech
naturally
mployed
when
excited,
create
the same effect
as the
postures
of
the
body;
as
postures
are
appropriate
or
protecting hysical
hings,
so
figures
of
speech
can
conquer
r
nfluence he
mind.
Words
are the soul's
spiritual
weapons."7
Although they
'protect
physical things', postures
and
gestures
are
by
extension
the
soul's
physical
weapons.
Through
posture
and
gesture,
the
mute
rhetoric
of
dance,
painting
and
sculpture
stirs
the
passions.
Specific
postures
and
facial
expressions
that
hadbeen
observed
as
typical
of
certain
emotional
states
were
called
upon
to
reproduce
these
emotions in
stone
and
on
canvas.
8
On
the
stage,
in
the
pulpit,
and
before the
bar,
hese
same
postures
and
expressions
accompanied
EARLY
MUSIC
FEBRUARY
1986
25
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the verbal
figures
of
speech.
For
example,
while
uttering
the
repeated
exclamations,
'No
no ..
.',
an
actor or orator would
assume the
posture
associated
with
the
passion
called 'aversion'.He would
step
back-
wards or
at
least
lean
away
from his audience and
would extend his arm toward
them,
the hand at
right
angles
to the arm and the
palm exposed.'9
He would
also
avert his
eyes,
to show 'aversion'.
The audience takes
pleasure
n
the
regularity
of
the
orator's
phrasing,
that
is,
in
his
observance
of the
lengthened
syllables
and the
pauses
that end each
carefully
planned
clause of
an
oration.20
The same
pauses-shown
by
double
slashes
in
our
examples-
were
employed
in
oratory,
verse drama and
operatic
airs,
in love
songs, drinkingsongs
and
dance
songs.
As
the
lyrics
of these
examples
show,
balanced
phrases
go
hand-in-hand with
assertive,
exclamatory
state-
ments,
while unbalanced
phrases
usually
express
tender,plaintive thoughts-or implyhemiolas. Since
the ear
easily
picks
out these
contrasting phrasings
and the emotions
with which
they
are
associated,
the
position
of the double
slashes within each four-
measure
phrase
is
of
prime
importance
to the rhetoric
of the
sung
sarabande.
Although
the
rhythm
of these
pauses
determines
the
general
mood of each
line,
this
largerphrasing
is
not
the stuff of
which
strong passions
are made. Rhetoric-
ians
pointed
out
that,
although
sentences should
always
employ
a
regularlyrecurring
rhythm
of
pauses
at
the
end of each
clause,
the
rhythms
of the
smaller
grammaticalunits should 'perpetuallyvary'.2' ndeed,
it is
through
these smaller
units that the
passions
are
portrayed
n
speech
and verse. In other
words,
within
the
relatively
inflexible structure of
poetry
and the
very
inflexible
musical metre to which that
poetry
is
set
(both
described
n
detail
by Rosow),
French
Baroque
poets
varied
speech
rhythms
from line to
line,
accor-
ding
to
the emotions
they
wished to
stir.
These
passionate
rhythms
combine with
the
figures
of
rhetoric to create the
'character',
he
'movement',
the
mood
of a
speech,
a
song
or
a
dance.
These
rhythms
are
determined
by
three factors: the
length
of
the
individual
syllables,
the number of
syllables
in a
group,
and
the melodies of emotional
speech;
the first
two
will
be discussed here.22
Familiarity
with these
passionate speech rhythms
is essential to an under-
standing
of the
sarabande,
for statements in 17th-and
18th-century
treatises liken the
rhythmic
units of
speech
to the
steps
of a
dance,
and
Pomey's
dancer
seems to have been
drawing
a similar
analogy.
2 A
Spaniarddancing
the sarabande at
the
opera:
engraving byNicholas Bonnart,
cl685
Passionate
rhythms
In
this
article the term
syllable
length
is not
synony-
mous
with
the shorts
and
longs
of
poetic
scansion.
Instead,
it
means the
short
and
long
syllables
'of
declamation' that
Benigne
de
Bacilly
summarized
in
his handbook
of
1668.23
That is to
say,
the
'long
syllables'
discussed
here are the
long,
sustained
sounds
of French
oratory.
Bacilly
and
his
successors
are
unequivocal:
a
long syllable
must be
made
to
seem
'long',
despite
the
inadequacies
of
musical notation.
The
length
of the
syllable
therefore
overrides
the
position
of its
note
within a
musical bar.
In
other
words,
a
long
syllable
on the
final note
of a bar must
seem
long
to the ear. It
should not be
neglected
as if
it
were an
embarrassing
error
by
the
librettist,
simply
on
the
grounds
that it
occupies
a
weak
position
in
the bar
or
is a
candidate for the
rhythmic
alteration
of
notes
26
EARLY
MUSIC FEBRUARY 1986
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inegales.
(These
long
syllables
are
shown
in
capital
letters
throughout
the
examples.)
The number of
syllables
in
a
group
is
of
prime
importance
to
French declamation of the
passions.
These
groups,
or
rhythmic
units,
are set off
by
single
slashes
throughout
the
sung
dances
in
this article.
Rhythmicunits are not synonymous with the metric
feet of standard
poetic
scansion. French
Baroque
poetry
s
based
upon
units of from one to six
syllables,
each
ending
with a
pair
of
lengthened
syllables (which
in
many
cases are
also
long
syllables
of
declamation).
On the other
hand,
the
classical feet
of
scansion lack
one-, four-,
five- and
six-syllable
units.
This discre-
pancy,
combined with the
pair
of
lengthened
syllables
at
the
end of each
rhythmic
unit,
prompted
numerous
Baroque
writersto insist that
applying
classical
scan-
sion to
French was an
anachronism,
an exercise
in
antiquarianism.24
The shorter a French rhythmic unit, the more
intense it
appears
in
comparison
with
surrounding
units. One- and
two-syllable
units are therefore
per-
ceived
as
containing
key
words,
and their
syllables
are
intuitively
lengthened.
(Readers
will
note that
many
of
these short units
are,
in
addition,
made
up
entirely
of
long
syllables,
and
that
they usually
express
the
key
ideas of the
song.)
These short units are
employed
in
exclamations and commands.
Three-syllable
units are
perceived
as
balanced
and calm. Units of four
syllables
and more
approach
what could be called the
fluid,
'unsustained'
style
of conversation or of
hasty,
emo-
tional remarks.
Short
rhythmic
units
of one or two
syllables
are
capable
of
overriding
he accents of
musical
metre
and
the
end-accentuation
described
by
Rosow. That
is,
a
one- or
two-syllable
unit
employed
in
early-
or mid-
line
(especially
if its
syllables
are also
long
or on
a
raised
pitch)
will
attract
the
listener's attention
from
the end-accents at caesura
and
rhyme(heureux
n
ex.6),
on occasion
creating
the effect of
a
displaced
double
slash
(Brile
in
ex.2,
and
labsence in
ex.3,
with its
long
and
expressive
lyric
e).25
Syllable lengths
and
rhythmic
units combine
in
various
ways
to create the
rhythms
of
the
passions.
A
run
of
long
syllables,
especially
if
broken
into short
units,
makes a
speech
seem
to move
slowly.
A run
of
short
syllables
in
long
units is heard as
movingrapidly,
while
a
unit of
similar
length
with numerous
long
syllables
seems
dragged
out and
suspenseful.26
Shifts from
one
passion
to another
are often re-
vealed
by
a series
of words with 'feminine'
endings,
that
is,
words
that
end with
a
mute e.
(The
penultimate
long
syllable
of these
words is shown
in
bold face
type
in
the
various
examples.)
As the
single
slashes
and
bold face
type
in
lines 3
and 4
of ex.2
show,
this mute
e
is heard as
starting
a
new word or a new
rhythmic
unit
and crosses
the
slash like a
wave,
rising
to
a
crest
before sinking to the soft 'uh' of the e.27This gliding,
connected
rhythm,
often
employed
to
evoke
flowing
water
(ex.3),
appears
chiefly
in
insinuating, cajoling,
flattering
passages
of
songs
and
recitative.
In
its
extreme
form,
the
penultimate
syllable
swells like a
great
wave and adds
pomposity
to the
speech
of
kings,
to evocations
of the
gods,
or to
exaggerated
remarks.
These,
then,
are
the
passionate
rhythms
that create
the
'movement'
of
a French
Baroque
dance
song.
They
'move'
the
audience
by
arousing
a
variety
of
passions,
and
they
create
the effect of
changing
the
'tempo'
at
which
the words are
sung
within the inflexible
musical
beat.Theyare the keyto the performanceof all French
Baroque
music,
for
they
are
inseparable
from the
figures
of
speech
and the
body
gestures
of the
art of
rhetoric.
Indeed,
Pomey's
dancer mimes these
speech
rhy-
3 An
orator
speaking
before
an
oratorical
academy.
engraving
by
Sebastien Le
Clerc,
1680
EARLY
MUSIC FEBRUARY
1986 27
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thms,
perpetually
varying
the
rhythms
of
his
steps.
As
the'movement' of his
passions
increases
or
wanes,
the
rhythms
these
passions
stir
within him are
reinforced
by
his
gestures
and his
facial
expressions,
much
as the
important
syllables
of
a
French
song
are
strengthened
by expressive
articulation and
lengthened
vowels.
In
addition,
from time
to
time he
mimes with his
body
the
rhetorical
figures
of
speech.
Ex.5 Andre
Campra,
Air
pour
une
Espagnole',
sung
between
repetitions
of an
instrumental
sarabande,
L'Europe
alante
(Paris,
1698), .152
1. 2
+2//4//
A
+
SO
-
yez
/ CON
-
STANTS. //
DANS VOS
a
-
MOURS,
//
a-
(Be
faithful.
In
your
love,
//
Lov-
4
3
2+3+3//
M A N T S
E S T
P R E S T
-
ers,
one
is
ready
to
surrender;)
8 4
5
2.
2+3/3//
+
...
...
.
N
COEUR /
QU'ON
at
-
ta
-
/que
TOU
-
JOURS//
(A
heart
that
is attacked
always)
6
6 o
2+2+4//
+
I1
Se
la-/
seEN-
FIN
/
de
se
def
- fen
-
DRE:
//
(Wearies at last
of
defending
itself:)
I
.
4
3
3.
1
+ 2
+
2+3//
12
1
+
-DRE: TOST
/
ou
TARD
/
ii VIENT/D'HEU-REUX
JOURS//
(Sooner
or later
come
happy
days)
4.
3+3//
a
qui
SCAIT/LES
at
-
ten
-
DRE.//TOSTOU
-DRE.
To he who knows how to wait.
)
The
following presentation
of
Pomey's
Description
of a
Danced
Sarabande'
co-ordinates
this
dancer's
mute oration
with
pertinent
statements
from
rhetoric
handbooks
and with the audible
rhetoric
in the four
sections of four
dance
songs.
Exx.2a
and
2b serve
as
our model
for the rhetoric
of
sung
sarabandes
early
in
the
century. (Ex.3,
which
represents
the
opening
statement of
a
multistrophed
song,
is
excluded
from
this
analysis.)
Exx.4,
5 and 6
carry
the sarabande
throughLully
and
into
the 18th
century.
This
emphasis
upon
oratory
does not
imply
that
musicians
studied
rhetoric
in
exclusive
secondary
schools,
the better
to
'orate'
their
performance.
Nonetheless,
composers,
singers,
instrumentalists
and dancers
alike
were suffi-
ciently
acquainted
with the
rules of that
art to
apply
them to
performance.
Pomey's
'Description': 1)
The Exordium
Accordingto rhetorical theory, an oration generally
has four
parts:
an
introduction,
an account
of the
matter
being
discussed,
a
presentation
of
the
pros
and
cons,
and
a
concluding
statement.
The
introduction,
or
exordium,
erves
as a
prelude
to the
body
of
the
speech,
setting
the mood:
'Musicians
use
preludes
to
prepare
the
listener's
ear,
actors use
prologues,
and
orators
use exordiums.28
Here
the
orator
should
speak
gently
and
peacefully
on
a rather low
pitch.
His
face
and
gestures
should
be
restrained,
modest
and
slow.
He
should not
gesture
with his
hands
until
he has
uttered several
sentences.29
In dance songs of all types, the exordium usually
takes the form
of
a statement
addressed
to
a
specific
audience:
in
our
examples,
Cloris,
overs,
and so on.
In
the exordiums
of
most
sung
sarabandes
written
be-
tween
1642
and the
1730s,
'slow'
two-syllable
units
with numerous
long
syllables
predominate.30
For
the
earlier
part
of
this
period,
they
are assembled
into
a
balanced
phrasing
(exx.1
a, 2,
3 and
4). By
1700
the
unbalanced
French
phrasing
predominates
(exx.
b
and
6),
although
the
virtually
abandoned
balanced
phrasing
occasionally
resurfaces
(as
in
the
song
by
a
Spaniard
n
ex.5).
Pomey's
dancer
mimes
the
salutation of the exor-
dium
by
assuming
the
dancer's
equivalent
of
the
imposing
posture
that
17th-century
artists
give
an
orator
who
is about
to
speak.
(A
monarch
or a
general
stands
with one
arm
down
athis
side,
the other
crossed
over his
chest.)
Like
the
orator,
the
dancer
completes
his
greeting
before
bringing
his hands
into
play
and
assuming
the
orator's
posture
portrayed
by
Sebastien
28
EARLY
MUSIC
FEBRUARY
1986
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Le
Clerc
in 1680
(illus.3)-a
posture
similar
to
that
shownin
18th-century
dancebooks.3I
His
step
rhythms
imitate
the orator's
speech
rhythms.
To
the
balanced
phrasing usually
employed
in
this section
until
1690,
he
moves
with
an
'equal
and
slow
rhythm'
hat
inspires
respect
and
gives'pleasure'.
(See
paragraphs
1]
and
[2].
References
to
step rhythms
are italicized
throughout
the Englishtranslation.)
(2)
The
Narration
Having
set
the tone
in these
opening
remarks
and
impressed
his
audience
by
his
bearing,
the
orator
moves
to the
second
part
of
his
speech,
the narration
f
the
point
he
wishes
to
make.
Handbooks
advise
him
to
predict
dire
events
if
his
warnings go
unheeded.32
Any
figure
of
rhetoric
used in
this
section
should
be
emphatic
(e.g.
an
exclamation),
and
'his
voice
and
gestures
should
fit
the
subject
and
the
figures'.33
Increasing
emotion
should
not,
however,
lead
to
vehement
speech
or
exaggerated
gestures
this
early
in
the
oration.
Instead,
the
orator
should
add
emphasis
by
introducing
a
new
speech
rhythm
and
tone
of
voice,
at the
same time
moving
his
hands
more
expressively
than
before.34
These
suggestions
were
heeded
by
the
versifiers
of
the
four
dance
songs.
In
ex.2
the
singer
predicts
a
catastrophe,
while in
ex.6 he
exclaims. In
dance
songs
of all
types,
the
speech
rhythms
of
the
narration
usually
differ
noticeably
from
those
of
the
exordium.
For
example,
a
series
of
feminine
endings
is
often
set
to a melody that on paperresembles another section
(exx.2,
text,
and
5).
For
more
than
a
century,
sara-
bandes
employ
increasingly
longer
units
as
the
dance
progresses,
usually
shifting
to
three-syllable
units in
the
narration. In
other
words,
the
singer
seems
to
be
increasing
the
speed
of
his
words
as
his
emotions
heighten.
This
increased
emotion
often
goes
hand
in
hand
with
erratic
rhythms
in
both
lyrics
and
music.
Thus,
ex.4
expresses
its
passion
through
a
unit
set
to
quavers
that
takes
the
form
of
two
extra
bars
inserted
between
the
usual
four-bar
phrases.
Instead
of
adding
measures,
the harmonicoratorof ex.5 omits one, whilethe singer
in
ex.6
pours
out
his
emotion
in
alternating
dotted
crotchets
and
quavers.
Pomey's dancer
seems
aware
of
these
rhetorical
conventions.
He
restricts
his
hand
and
torso
motions,
concentrating
upon
the
rhythms
of
his
feet.
He
glides
rather
han
steps,
blurring
his
footwork
as
if
miming
a
run
of
feminine
endings,
where
the
divisions
between
Ex.6
Marin
Marais,
Sarabande
pour
une
prestresse',
Alcione
(Paris,
1706),
p.163
1. 1
+
3
//2+2
+
2//
+
+
DIEU/
ES
a-MANTS,//HEU-REUX/ui
ENT
TES
fl
-
mes
(God
of
lovers,
happy
he
who feels
thy
fires)
Sa
L
3.
4//4
+2//
(da
-drea
ng
Nil
.o)
ohingu
ldsh
witehouttthey;)
exclamation
in
ex.6.-
tres
BIENS//N'ENdchancer
then
flies
off
with
es
Oapparently
miming
the
apossession
called
'aversion'
or
##4
4.
1+1+1+2+2//
+
+
NON,
/
NON, /
RIEN
/netPLAnST/SANS
TOY
aI
(No,
No,
nothing
pleases
without
thee.)
rhetorical
figures,
as
he
costruggles
o
'unsettering
he
exclamatiminds'
f
his
audienex6.
he
and,
y
the
n flies
offf
his
section
'destroy
their
obstepsinacy'.
t one
pointmake
is
argumentscks
p,
'strontaneity
nd
invincible',
he
employ
his
movexaggerated
igures
hat
into
he
second
section
of his
speech,
the
orator29
rhetorical
figures,
as
he
struggles
to
'unsettle
the
minds'
of
his
audience
and,
by
the
end
of this
section,
'destroy
their
obstinacy'.
To
make
his
arguments
'strong
and
invincible',
he employs
exaggerated
igures
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Nicolas Poussin
(c1594-1665).
Dance
to
the Music of Time
(detail)
London,
Wallace
Collection.
32
EARLY
MUSIC FEBRUARY
1986
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7/25/2019 Rhetoric 17thC French Sarabande Ranum EM 1986
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/rhetoric-17thc-french-sarabande-ranum-em-1986 13/16
equivalent
f the 'oratorical'
nd
pathetic
ccents'
that
s,
the
pitch
accentsor
long
syllables
hat
so often
fall onweak
notes of the
musical
measure].46
This observation
may
well
provide
a tool for historians
of the dance.
The
lyrics
of
sung
sarabandes indeed confirm
that
within the larger structure of 'end-accentuation',
speech
rhythms
and their emotional connotations
convey
the
passions
of a dance to the audience.
In like
manner,
we
know from Diderot
that,
within the
larger
structure of
reposes
in
a
dance,
tiny
differences
in
footwork,
posture
and
gesture
permitted
he dancer to
express
the emotions associated with
a
given
dance. It
remainsfor dance historians to discern
these'pathetic'
figures
and
gestures
concealed within the
arabesques
of
18th-century
choreographies.
I am
grateful
o
Betty
Bang
Mather
or
the
many
insights
into the
performance f
French
Baroque
dances that she
shared with
me.
I
also wish to thank
Professors
Henri
Morier
f
Geneva,
van
Fonagy
of
Parisand
Joseph
Pineau
of
Poitiers
or
their
helpful
orrespondence
nd kind
words.
M.
Morierhas in addition
reatly acilitatedmy
work on
French
Baroque
declamation
by offering
me
materials
from
his
laboratory.
The
many
unremuneratedours
he
spent
marking
ach
syllable
of
meter
upon
meter
f
oscillo-
gram
print-outs
re
deeply
appreciated
am
especially
n-
debted
o
William
Christie nd all the
members
f
'Les
Arts
Florissants'
or
their
encouragement,
heir
udicious
obser-
vations
and their
willingness
o test
my
findings.
Patricia
M.
Ranum
is
a
researcher nd
translator
rom
Baltimore,
Maryland
DIVERSES DESCRIPTION S.
III*
%L
Di•'cription
'une
Sarabande
danse&.
1
danTa
one
abord,
aur
wne
ra
u
sw
wfaIt
thbar
nate,'
rr
n
ar
grv
awflrdamerdena
te
4
St
ntc
P
ave
toM
mer
.
corps
i'Se,qb
6ji.f
iorI
C" ii
a ti,
qM'i
rut toume
4
ma'Wfl
an
'
y
.
R
'il
Win#j
r-,
pma
mwuns
e
mr#B,
quual
ama
dt
plAjir.
Ea
t•ire,
'ilevawt
uavre
s
da
diGl041tin
ortant
lei
ra,
i
demy
hats,
a
d y
eaerjt
fi
4
s
5
b#Aw.xpaOue
'.P
O
aj]
s
am"nuse
ear
dmf.pox
Tau:tefl
u
ie fteu blementfan qe
r..
PAtdif.
Str
&
meoovemr
do
(rsprwdi
de
fes Umess
&fembloit
Plrtoji
gsljfrqu
sMurc:
:
Trntofto vec
I~s
ply'. ka4x
temps
I
monodc,il emwreaoitr
ndu.,
im•mo•itd
.
i
de.-
mp
dr..
d'be
ord,
a
ve
de
wfpied$
Cn
fres :
C
sid
p4ra1t
la
perr
1,I
aV*i.tfiure
d'unecadane ,
par
meo
awre
ps
prci
ri•
,
on
Ie
vooet
prrIt
u
vP
lr
,
stm
eSA
moPrIment Jloiseapide.
Tantojf
i1
U
anfoit ea
A
petits
bonds
taOteft
retloi:t grands
pA
qyua
w
rg.M
. q
Im•s
t
tetent P4.A
voiJfoent
efirefait,
fs
art
,
sAws
tI eu bimr
rcA•kU
se
ienscul
afWgisgenUe.
TaNtO.ll
pose
r
laehriet
pAr
tt,
i f
tesnuui
A
droit,"t
fm/I
re s$i
u..
•ACrfr&gil
w
~
ao pijue
milieude
1eacecOUiUdZI
uJ
ajser
te
dons
w.Asomem
ifla
,ui
slrm
yeur
am
1pwiS
Beyueupf~
ltlibtr
p
reedence
mtm
.rs
r
o
"ft
isl
dfirdso
pparsir
s'il
l
iP.
Wei,
Lre.ser
eursgluear
pfefeuua
awqwv4-te#?Mr
jos uswuireas
o~p.r
LOMinds
*oswuem
jhrl
Wia/e,
dAs
f-sy,
8Mfx
Fas
e
sMesfs
rT
Me
Ldfdes
wgads
I ai.
,a7s
que r., SU
AN,
gasst
P,~~la
a
vr
d- f
a-s
P
isw0-r-a
par
dAes
se6h
dinv
vris
r,
Fit
s
mr.
oasu
ea
s
.
'm
adh
III.
Defcriptio
altatienis mnMrof~a,qitv
dg)
Sarabanda
dik'twr.
S
A'tationem
igicur
autp1cartus
tt
cum
almiratione
fpe-
J
lantium,
ravitcr
primuin
c
ctfiiun,
quablialcnt6.
quc
matu.
tamcirti,
tamn
nuuitc,
cam
dcoid,
clqtuec
czpcudt Ic
mnvchcnv,
ut
q'ocut.lu
e fc
a
ct,
r[iIam
circlmt"rrct
maj.ltatcm
.
nec
vCeclratiossil
min?is
CGC-
cuaret,luacm
obieattnniaffidJcrct.
l'olt
p'. ,0
:0ani,
ahquan1l
mags
C
cincitans,
bra-
htaquc
soilhl
a
t,)'.lcs
.
acquc
nonmhd
tplcauos
alrus
dcbt
initabilcs
c
fltupcndos.
Nunc
decntc.gradu
Cc
pe
finleenCu
nferebat,i
ana
tam
int9'di,quaun
c,
pcr
lubr cunm
gere
idcrctur,
Au
l
v.ltigi• •
I.
abcntc
planti.
Nunc
morulis
Gamla
cum
vcnaltte
intcriccls,morum
cermatchbat
ait~qua,
tip'ernmintus
&
nchin.ins
in
latus
alrcrum,lhccoult
p.nlo pycic
D:.n
jadaram
qufi
compnlfans
m~Id
tCInpoL1u,
mcIndabat
,.cttarlct
calditatem
morC
adeC
rapido
Itdruan
ctnctlcns ut volatumpotLWRc
qjainexrccre
ltatrationem.
A..i,quafi
modctC
u'filins,
c6iidn(fquepovhet.
bat
fict; magnts
lias
alslipbasrtrcdcbat
,'tats
illUs
qui1cem
cz
aris
formuli
,
fed
Club
artilicil
fuL*
celat
attcm,tum maxiue pcodcbat,es ocultaIu idiofit
V
Nunc
qu6
voluptatem
circunquaque
rcfperg
ret,
a
in
omnem
parem•aquabili~rdirpcntrct
oblek&ama
tum,
verabat
Cc
mod6
dczttn dm,
mod6liRuriftwni
aque
ubim
medium
vCeraS=
,
in
iugym
ira
pa
cipitam
fe
voIvebat,
ut
coporis agilitcaem,
loeIma aclentas
minimr
pofec
afflqui.
In:elrum
nenounquam,
fdibus
intared
oacinenti
bus,
clabi
numcrumfiicbat Rtazu
ad
ipitat procs
immotus moe exrreasc dacnctic,a revlui
qtoc.
qucns
n moium
jactliIt,
xcrm
tu
vidchbP
aual
parne,
clm
nonduim
fc
moviffe
loco
crede•trr.
cAm,
hand
quaqam la
magam
aciida
,
p
illis
quz
(iunt
onutafccucrnum
mos vadelicet
mimt
motu
apit homadmilendu
yvarioexhibec
opowis
mocuS
a
vuiaocmlii
UwcfhabaLquIc
ct.o,
co•s
przlnx.
Nuclanguidluos
adjiciebat
ac
illcocules,cupid,.
tapis leaos&anmos ndices,quaadi&angure vide-
barturi
cant sTumn
quA edi
arus
atatp
p1gdcr. iuaitdi
4r
t
culmini al6,
elruteamn
animum
coucitatenueafe
amritan,•quam
iacratIi
CiM,
tu,
gratiam
u re
ita
b
ncbalbs.
AliqaW4n1,taundivi_
indito•.t~ian•tq
,
iphi
o
nto
morcsba
t
.cf
:lqumaon:d&ura:
twm
Cpum
CIptunCS
modcSatiore
fahateI
,
frumpii
vidcba•uut kct,
ddbtui
vidbusapimoddtnqui -
guentancr
ntfquc oculoscircumwtcere
mnlti-ri
deu
mu
covcrfionvclac
ontorfionc
tAchiorum
corp.
Xis,
Pw)c
ClcrS
fluflc
rnifCi.
nuoc
pmrturbari
roje"
&torum
tanu•t.
pepmit
fibi
rimartionis
a&
tix,
utquadrlu
ptiti~atUl
hrzc
Sa•tatio
enuit
omni•nm
tcuuett
mnimos
amoredcvin&'aoquonua
oculos
vo,
1uptac
c
ucgataImi•ationc
.4.xos.
4 Father Francois
Pomey.
'Descriptiond'une Sarabande
dansee': Le dictionnaire
royal
augment6 (Lyons,
1671). p.22
(Bibliotheque
municipale.
Rodez;
photo
R. and
P.
Lancon)
34
EARLYMUSICFEBRUARY
986
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Description
'une
Sarabande
ansee
[1]
Ildansa
donc
d'abord,
vec
unegrace
outd
aitcharmante,
d'un
air
grave
&
mesured
'une
adence
gale
& ente&avec
un
port
de
corps
i
noble,
i
beau,
i
libre,
&
i
digagd,
u'il
ut oute
la
majest6
'un
Roy,
&
qu'il
n'inspira
as
moins
de
respect,
u'it
donnadeplaisir.
[2]
En
suite,
s'dlevant
vec
plus
de
disposition,
&
portant
es
bras
d
demy
hauts,
&a
demy
ouverts,
l
fit
les
plus
beaux
pas
que
l'on
ait
jamais
inventez
pour
la
danse.
[3]
Tantost
il
couloit
insensiblement,
ans
que
l'on
pzit
discer[ner]
e mouvementde
ses
pieds
& de ses
jambes,
&
sembloit
pli2tost
lisser
que
marcher:
antostavec
les
plus
beaux
emps
du
monde,
l demeuroit
uspendu,
mmobile,
&
d
demypanchi
d'un
cdte,
avecun
de ses
pieds
en
I'air:
&
puis
reparant
a
perte
qu'ilavoitfaite
d'une
cadance,
ar
une
autre
plus precipitie,
n le
voyoitpresque
oler,
antson
mouvement
estoit
rapide.
[4] Tantostlavanfoitcomme
d
petitsbonds;antost l reculoit
d
grandspas; qui
tous
reglez
qu'ils
toient
paroissoient
stre
faits
sans
art,
tant il
estoit
bien
cache
sous
une
ingenieuse
negligence.
[5]
Tantost
pour
porter
a
felicitM
ar
tout,
l
se
tournoit
droit,
& tantost
l
se
tournoit
d
gauche;
&
lorsqu'il
stoit
au
juste
milieu
de
l'espace
vuide,
il
y faisoit
une
piroiette
d'un
mouveme[n]t
i
subit,
que
celuy
des
yeux
ne
le
pouvoit
uivre.
[6]
Quelquefois
l
laissoit
passer
une
cadence
entiere ans
se
mouvoir,
on
plus
qu'une
tatue;
&
puis
partant
commeun
trait
on
le
voyoit
d
'autre
bout
de la
sale,
avant
que
'on
eust
e
loisir
de
s'appercevoiru'il
estoit
parti
[7] Maistoutcelanefutrien, ncomparaisone ceque 'onvit
lorsque
cette
galante
personne
commenfa
d'exprimer
es
mouvements e
l'ame
par
ceux
du
corps,
&de
les
mettreurson
visage,
dans ses
yeux,
en ses
pas,
& en
toutesses
actions.
[8]
Tantost l
lanfoit
des
regards
anguissans
&
passionnez,
tant
que
duroit
une
cadence
lente
&
languissante;
&
puis
comme
e
lassant
d'obliger,
l
ddtournoit
es
regards,
omme
voulant
acher
a
passion;
&
par
un
mouvement
lus
precipitd,
il
diroboit
a
grace
qu'il
avoit
faite.
[9]
Quelquefois
l
exprimoit
a
colbre
& le
depit par
une
cadance
mpetueuse
&
turbulente;
&
puis
representant
ne
passion
plus
douce
par
des
mouvemens
lus
moderez,
n
le
voyoitsotpirer,epmer, laissererrerses eux anguisamment;
&
par
de
certains
ddtours
e bras
&de
corps,
onchalans,
emis,
&
passionnez,
lparutsi
admirable
tsi
charmant,
ue
tant
que
cette
Danse
enchanteresse
ura,
l
ne
deroba
pas
moins
de
coeurs,
qu'il
attacha
d'yeux
d
le
regarder.
[1]
At first
he dancedwith
a totally
charminggrace,with
a
serious
and
circumspect
air, with
an
equal
and
slow
rhythm,47
nd with
such a noble, beautiful,
free and
easy
carriage
hat
he had all the
majesty
of
a
king,
and
inspired
as much respect as he gave pleasure.
[2]
Then,
standing
taller
and more
assertively,
and
raising
his arms
to
half-height
and
keeping
them
partly
extended,
he
performed
the most beautiful
steps ever
invented for the dance.
[3]
Sometimes
he would
glide
imperceptibly,
with
no
apparent
movement
of
his feet and
legs,
and seemed
to
sliderather
han
step.
Sometimes,
with
the most
beautiful
timing
in the world,
he would remain
suspended,
mmobile,
and half
leaning
to the
side with one
foot in the
air;
and
then,
compensating
or
the
rhythmic
unit
that had
gone by,
with another
more
precipitous
nithe would
almost
fly,
so
rapidwas his motion.
[4]
Sometimes
he would
advance
with little
skips, some-
times he would
drop
back
with
long steps
that,
although
carefully
planned,
seemed
to be done
spontaneously,
so
well had he cloaked
his
art in skilful
nonchalance.
[5]
Sometimes,
for the
pleasure
of
everyone
present,
he
would turn
to the
right,
and
sometimes he
would turn
to
the left; and
when he reached
the
very
middle
of
the
empty
floor, he would
pirouette
so
quickly
hat
the
eye
could not follow.
[6]
Now and then
he would
leta whole
rhythmic
nit
go
by,
moving
no morethan
a statue and
then,
settingoff
like
an
arrow,he would be at the other end of the room before
anyone
had
time to realize
that he had
departed.
[7]
But
all this was
nothing
compared
to what
was
observed
when
this
gallant
began
to
express
the
emotions
of his soul
through
the motions
of
his
body,
and
reveal
them
in his
face,
his
eyes,
his
steps
and all
his
actions.
[8]
Sometimes
he would
cast
languid
and
passionate
glances
throughout
slow
and
languid
rhythmic
unit;
and
then,
as
though
weary
of
being
obliging,
he
would
avert
his
eyes,
as if
he
wished
to
hide his
passion;
and,
with
a
more
precipitous
motion,
would
snatch
away
he
gift
he
had
tendered.
[9] Now and then he would express angerand spite with
an
impetuous
ndturbulent
hythmic
nit;
and
then,
evoking
a sweeter
passion
by
more
moderate
motions,
he
would
sigh,
swoon,
let his
eyes
wander
languidly;
and
certain
sinuous
movements
of
the arms
and
body,
nonchalant,
disjointed
and
passionate,
made him
appear
o
admirable
and so
charming
that
throughout
this
enchanting
dance
he
won as
many
hearts as he
attracted
spectators.
EARLY
MUSIC
FEBRUARY
1986
35
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1J.Bonnet,
Histoire
endrale
de la danse sacree et
prophane Paris,
1724), p.69.
Although gravit6
can
also be rendered
as
'slowness'
or
'seriousness',
Bonnet
is
contrasting
the emotional excesses
of
the
sarabande with the
propriety
of
the
other dances.
2Although
mouvement eferred
o
both
'motion'
(or tempo,
metre)
and
'emotion',
the latter
translation
is
generally
the
more
appro-
priate.
It
is not
a
question
in
Furetiereof
an
'amorous
empo',
but
of
a
dancer
who tries to
'move' his
audience to feel
gay
and amorous.
This emotion
is to a
large
extent
conveyed by
the
rhythmic
movement of the upper voice. On these rhythms,see J. Pineau,Le
mouvement
ythmique
n
franfais
(Paris,
1979).
3The
music
has,
unfortunately,
been lost: J.
La
Mesnardiere,
Les
poesies
(Paris,
1666),
pp.48,
69,
112.
4This
phrasing
was
already
well established
by
the
1660s,
witness
the
music-less
lyrics by
P.
Perrin,
Les
oeuvres
de
podsie Paris,
1661),
pp.255,
257;
and
Bouillon,
Les
oeuvres
de Feu Monsieur
de Bouillon
(Paris,
1663),
pp.
183,
217,
218.
5In
his
'Avis au
Lecteur',
Pomey
states
that he
has
been
accumulating
materials
for this
appendix
for 'six or seven
years'.
Although
omitted from
this
article,
the
Latin version
of the
description
was
consulted
for
the
English
translation
and has
influenced
the
rendering
of
several
crucial
words.
6M.
de
Saint-Lambert,
Principes
du clavecin
Paris,
1702), p.14.
I
wish to
thank
Betty
Bang
Mather
for
calling
my
attention
to
this
statement.
7These100 songs include examplesof all the so-called 'dances of
character'.
In addition
to
all of
Lully's sung
dances,
the
sample
is
drawn
rom later
operas,
from
songbooks
published
by
the
Ballards,
and from
manuscripts
by
Lully's
contemporary,
M.-A.
Charpentier.
8Some
sources
divide
the
third
section
into two
parts:
a
present-
ation
of
your
side
and
a'refutation'
of
your
adversary's
osition.
The
sources
on rhetoric
cited
in
this
article
have been
limited to
the
popular
handbooks
available
to
Pomey
c1670:
R.
Bary,
La
rhetorique
franfoise
Paris,
1665),
2
vols.;
B.
Lamy,
L'art
e
parler(Paris,
678,
but
originally
published
in
1670);
F.
Hedelin,
Abb6
d'Aubignac,
Le
pratique
u theitre
(Paris,
1657);
and
Aristotle,
La
rhitorique,
rans. F.
Cassandre
Paris,
1654).
Later
handbooks
such
as
J.-L.
Le Gallois
de
Grimarest,Trait6
u
recitatif
Paris,
1707/R1978);
and
C.
Rollin,
De
la
manire
d'enseignerles
elles
ettres
Paris,
1732),
esp.
vol.4,
pp.619-31,
supply
additional
details
about
tone of
voice,
speech
rhythms
and
gestures.On Frenchrhetoricunder Louis XIV, ee the special issue,
on
'Rh6torique
du Geste
et
de
la Voix
A
'Age
Classique',
ofXVIIe
iecle
33
(1981),
esp.
M.
Fumaroli,
CorpsEloquent,
a
summary
of
Father
Louis
de Cressolles's
Latin
rhetoric
handbook
for students
in
Jesuit
schools
(1620).
9Bary,
op
cit,
i,
p.2
10'By
means of
the
apparent
agitation
of
the
person
who
is
speaking
and
lamenting,
[figures]
causes
emotions,
that
[the
speaker]
does
not
feel,
to
pass
into
the
souls
of those
who are
watching
and
listening
to
him,'
Aubignac,
op
cit,
p.447.
11AbbW,
.
J.
d'Olivet,
TraitW
e
la
prosodiefranpoise
Geneva,
1753),
pp.55-6.
12A.
Furetiere,
Dictionnaire
universel
(The
Hague,
1690),
s.v.
'Mesure';
d'Olivet,
op
cit,
p.55.
13I
have
not
yet
found
a
French
source
that
makes
this
comparison
as
vividly
as did John
Weaver,
the
English
translator
of
Feuillet's
Chordographie:Stage-Dancingwas at first designed for Imitation;o
explain
Things
conceived
in
the
Mind,
by
Gestures
ndMotions
of
the
Body,
and
plainly
and
intelligiblyrepresentingActions,
Manners,
nd
Passions;
so that
the
Spectator
might perfectly
understand
the
Performer
by
these
his
Motions,
ho'
he
say
not
a word.
Thusfar
the
excellence
of
the
Art
appears;
but
its Beauties
consist
in
the
regulated
Motion
of
all
parts,
by
forming
the
Body,
Head,
Arms,
and
Feet,
into such
Positions,
Gestures
nd Movements
s
represent
the
aforesaid
Passions,
Manners,
nd
Actions...
so thatthe
Spectator
will
not
only
be
pleased
and
diverted
withthe
Beauty
of the
Performance
but
will also
be instructed
so as to
judge
of the Design
of
the
performer.
And,
without
the
help
of
an
Interpreter, Spectator
shall
at a
distance,
by
the
lively
representation
of
a
just
Character,
be
capable
of
understanding
the
Subject
of
the
Story
represented,
and
be able
to
distinguish
the several
Passions,
Manners nd
Actions;
s
of
Love,
Anger
nd the
like';
from his
Essay
towards
History f Dancing
(1717), quoted
by
J.
Spiegel
and P.
Machotka,
Messages
of
the
Body
(New
York,
1974),
p.31.
14M.
Mersenne, Harmonie
universelle
Paris,
1636/R1965),
'Traite
des
Consonances', ii,
pp.371-2
15Lamy, p cit, p.101
16On
he
passions,
see
R.
Descartes,
Les
passions
de
l'me,
of
1649;
and Ch.
Le
Brun,
Confirence
ur
lexpression
endrale
t
particuliere
(Paris,
1698),
first
presented
to the French
Academy
of
Arts before
1678,
trans. J.
Williams,
A
Method o
Design
the Passions
(London,
1734/R
1980).
17Lamy, p
cit,
p.82.
For
hese
postures
and facial
expressions,
see
M.
Le
Faucheur,
Trait6
e
I'action
e
'orateur
u
de a
prononciation
tdu
geste
(Paris,
1657);
Abbe
Dinouart,
L'eloquence
u
corps
ou
laction
du
prddicateur
Paris,
1761),
which borrows
heavily
from
Le
Faucheur;
Bary,op
cit, i,
pp.
110-11;
Fumaroli,
op
cit;
and the
later
illustrations
of
posture,
gesture
and
expression
in D.
Barnett,
The Performance
Practice
of
Acting:
the
Eighteenth
Century',
TheaterReview
Inter-
national,
i
(May
1977),
iii
(Oct
1977),
iii
(Feb
1978),
v(Oct
1979).
18Le
Brun,
op
cit,
passim.
g1Dinouart,
p
cit,
p.223;
cf
Barnett,
op
cit,
Oct
1979,
p.30,
plate
vii.
20Readersre referred o Lois Rosow'sarticlein an earlier ssue of
this
journal
for
a discussion
of
the
repetitious
rhythms
and
pauses
created
by
'line
length'
and 'end-accentuation'
n
the
sung poetry
of
recitatives:
'French
Baroque
Recitative
as
an
Expression
of
Tragic
Declamation',
EM,
xi
(October
1983), pp.468-79.
21Olivet,
p
cit,
p.65
22The
ollowing
section
on
'passionate
rhythms'
summarizes
the
rules for
French
Baroque
declamation
presented
in P.
Ranum,
Les
caracteres
des
dances
francaises',
Recherches
ur
la
Musique
ranfaise
classique,
xxiii
(1985),
pp.45-70.
Based
primarily
upon
17th-
and
18th-century
reatises,
these
rules
are confirmed
by
Pineau,
op
cit,
and
by
H.
Morier's
monumental
Dictionnaire
e la
podtique
t
de
la
rhetorique
Paris,
1981).
In
addition,
the
melodies
of
dance
songs
corroborate
the
observations
of
I.
F6nagy:
see
especially
his
'Emotional
Patterns
n
Intonation
and
Music',
Zeitschriftfir
honetik
SprachwissenschaftndKommunikationsforschung,
vi
(1963),
pp.293-
326.
An
interesting
distortion
of these
emotional
patterns
n French
song
involves
a raised
pitch
or
'oratorical
accent'
that
emphasizes
the
root
of
key
words,
i.e.
the
note
that
precedes
a barline.
All
of
Rosow's
opcit)
nsights
about
emphasized
words
on
metrically
weak
notes
can
be
explained
by
these
three
factors,
alone
or
in
combination.
These
rhythms,
long
syllables
and
accents
may
conflict
with the
strong
beats
of
the
bass:
see
P.
Ranum,
Le
phras6
des
danses
baroques
selon
les
paroles',
Les
goz2ts
eunis,
a
journal
published
by
the
Institut
de
Musique
et
de Danse
Anciennes
de
'lle-
de-France,
special
issue:
La
Danse.
Actes
du
er
Colloque
ur
la
danse
ancienne
Besangon,
September
1982),
pp.100-12.
23B.
e
Bacilly,L'artde
ien
chanter
Paris,
1668/R1974),
pp.327ff.
In
the
17th
century,
and
today,
the
French
nonetheless
call
two-
syllable
units
'iambs'
or
'trochees',
and
three-syllable
units
'ana-
pests'
or
'dactyls'.
Aware
hat
other
units exist
but
have
no
name,
they talk of a 'one-syllable foot, a 'four-syllablefoot, and so forth.
Nor,
to
be
accurate,
are
these
so-called
iambs
'short
plus
long';
hey
are
'quite-long
plus
long'.
On
this
progressive
lengthening
of
syllables
within
a
unit,
see Morier,
op
cit,
pp.342,
855
and
1,183.
I should
like to
come
to
the
defence
of Romain
Rolland,
who
in
addition
to
being
a
musicologist
was
Nobel
prize-winning
poet-in-
prose.
Rosow
(op
cit,
fn
7)
corrects
Rolland's
error'
n
describing
the
units
in
her
ex.1
as
'dactyls'.
They
are indeed
'dactyls'.
The
first
syllable
of
an
imperative
(arrntez,
diffdrez)
s
always
lengthened
(Bacilly,
op
cit,
pp.425-6)
and
the
final
syllable
shortened.
In the
other
two feet,
Bel(le)
s the
sole
truly
long
syllable
in the
unit
Belle
36
EARLY
MUSIC
FEBRUARY
1986
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7/25/2019 Rhetoric 17thC French Sarabande Ranum EM 1986
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Iris,
while the
long
un n un moment
s
given
a
pitch
accent
that
makes
it
appear longer
and more
important
than the other
long
syllable,
-ment.
This is an excellent
example
of how
relying solely
upon
musical metre and 'end-accentuation'
deforms
speech rhythms.
Rehearsals or M.-A.
Charpentier's
MWd&e
onfirmed
the
importance
of
Bacilly's
syllable lengths
to
performance.
When these
lengths
are
observed,
the
deceptive
musical metre and notation assume
the
subordinate
position
described in
treatises,
and the
lyrics
are
easily
grasped by
the audience.
24Bacilly, p
cit,
pp.328-9;
d'Olivet,
op
cit,
p.101;
cf
Morier,
op
cit,
p.794,
who describes this sort of scansion
as'puerile';
andJ.
Pineau,
op
cit,
who avoids all mention
of
'feet'.
250n
the
lyric
e,
see fn 30
26Olivet,
p
cit,
p.55;
cf Pineau,
op
cit,
p.101,
and
passim.
A ten-
syllable
line
usually
has
only
three
rhythmic
units: 4
//
3
+
3
//.
If
an
exclamation
or a command
breaks the
first half line
into
smaller
units,
the line seems
to start
ponderously
and
intensively:
2
+
2
//
3
+
3
//.
Additional
short units
slow the
effect
further:2
+
2
//
2
+
2
+
2
//.
Lyrics
can,
on the
other
hand,
'speed up'
if
the same
line is
grouped:
4
//
6
//.
The
presence
of
numerous
long syllables
can
reverse
the
effect,
slowing
the
emotional
outburst of 4
//
6
//
to a
dragging
crawl.
27At
he
rhyme
of a
short
line,
the mute e
can be
expressively
ambiguous:
he ear is
not
always
sure whetherthe e
ends
one line
or
begins
the
next.
Despite
syntax,
the ear
perceives
a run
of
feminine
endings
within
a
line as
breaking
that
line
into small
but
tightly
linked units. Thus the final three lines of ex.3 are atonce caressing
and
assertive,
for
they
seem
to be
declaimed in
shorter
units than
syntax
permits:
'D'u-/nt
in-hu-mai-/ne,
ou-/tre
la
pei-/ne,
don-/
nent..
.'. For
further
information
on
these
endings,
see
Morier,
op
cit, s.v.,
'E
atone',
and
'Cadence'.
28Bary, p
cit, i,
p.229
29Le
Faucheur,
op
cit,
pp.133-5,
215-6;
Dinouart,
op
cit,
pp.181,
239,
249
30These
slow
rhythms
can
be
further
slowed
by
the
rhetorical
device called a
'lyric'
e,
employed
in
ex.9.
Placing
the
usually
weak
mute
e of
the
rhyme
or
rhythmic
unit
on the first
note
of a
bar,
causes
the
'uh'
at
the end
of rendre
o be
lengthened
and at
the same
time
receive
unwonted
force
and
expressiveness.
Thanks
to this
device,
each
section
of this
sarabande
iterally
grinds
to a
halt. A
lyric
e
of
this
sort is
often
used
in
a
context
implying
hat
something
will
last a
long
time.
(While
emphasizing
the
duration
of his
'surrender',
he
harmonic orator nonetheless shows his 'readiness' to
'attack
by
starting
wo
lines a
note earlier
than
anticipated.)
A
lyric
e
does
not
turn the
feminine
rhyme
into a
masculine
one
(Rosow,
op
cit,
pp.470-1).
About
this
expressive
device,
see
Morier,
op
cit,
p.384.
Lyric
e's
also
appear
in
ex.7
(absence
and
larmes)
and
ex.10
(enchantent).
31See
he
numerous
illustrations
in
W.
Hilton,
Dance
of
Court
nd
Theater.
he
French
Noble
Style,
1690-1725
(Princeton,
1981).
Actors
assumed
almost
identical
positions:
cf
Barnett,
op
cit,
for
example
the
illustrations in
his
article,
October
1979.
32Bary,op
cit,
i,
p.233
33Ibid,i,
pp.234-6;
Aubignac,
op
cit,
p.391.
34Le
Faucheur,
op
cit,
pp.139-40;
Dinouart,
op
cit,
pp.183,
216.
35Bary,
op
cit, i,
p.236.
36Le
Faucheur,
op
cit,
p.221;
Dinouart,
op
cit,
pp.140,
153,
185.
37Amonghe many statementsrelatingpassions andaccidentals,
see
Mersenne,
op
cit,
ii,
pp.371-2;
Bacilly, op
cit,
pp.
121-2;
and
the
later
writings
of
J.-B.
Rameau,
Observations
ur
notre
instinct
pour
la
musique' (Paris,
1754),
preface,
p.xi
in
Complete
Theoretical
Writings,
ed.
R. Jacobi
(Miscellanea
3,
American
Institute of
Musicology,
1968);
and
Castillon
the
Younger,
'Expression',
n D.
Diderot,
Encyclopedie
aisonne
(Geneva,
1779-82),
vol.xiii,
p.657.
Indeed,
my
analyses
of
Morier's
oscillograms
are
showing
that a
20th-century
French
speaker
ikewise
intuitivelysharpens
or
flattens
his tone
of voice
according
to the
emotional
content
of his
words.
38Dinouart, p
cit,
p.237.
39Le
Faucheur,
op
cit,
pp.141-2;
Dinouart,
op
cit,
pp.187-8
40Aubignac, p
cit,
p.440; Bary, op
cit, i,
p.237
41Compare
Bonnart's
illustration
with three
castanet-playing
dancers
in Hilton,
op
cit,
pp.32,
132, 144. The hand
gestures
of
the
dancers
on
pp.35
and
38
(Subligny)
are associated
with
great
emotion
in treatises
of the
period.
Could
they
too be
dancing
sarabandes?
42Dinouart,
p
cit,
p.217.
The dancers
in the illustrations
cited
in
fn45 stand
in a similar off-balance
position
that seems
more than
a
mere
attempt
to add life to
the
engravings.
Their
posture is in
marked contrast
to that assumed
during
the same
years by
people
performing
he staid menuet
(Hilton,
op
cit,
p.290)
or courante
(ibid,
p.50),
or to the
majestic
and controlled
posture
of Ballon
(ivi, p.38).
See
Spiegel
and Machotka,
op
cit,
pp.215-33,
for an
intriguing
analysis
of the
'message' conveyed
by
the
posture
in illus.
1
(their
posture
K
29):
unnatural, mmodest,
dramatic,
exhibitionist,
active,
imperious' p.222);
versus
thatin
illus.4,
the
staid
posture
associated
with most French dances
(their
position
K
23):
'receptive,
warm,
strong, deally
masculine ...
the
[position]
o which
the
subjects
felt
most attracted'
(p.222).
Ballon's
posture
resembles
their
position
K
41,
which
is
perceived
as:
'active,
giving,
warm,
other-concerned,
virile'
(p.223).
43A
projected
article
will discuss transformations
n the
Follies,
the sarabande
and the menuet.
The unbalanced
phrasing
of
the
Follies
is evident
in L. de
Brizefio's
Metodo
mui
facilissimo
(Paris,
1626).
44R.
Hudson,
'Sarabande',TheNew
Grove,
vi,
pp.489-93
45See,
or
example,
the menuet-like
posture
assumed
by
the
male
dancing
a sarabande
in
1735;
Hudson,
op
cit.
46Diderot,
op
cit,
'Accent,
vol.i,
p.285.
Two
French
dancers
focussed
upon
these oratorical
and
pathetic
accents
in
their
presentations
to the
1982 dance
colloquium
at
Besangon:
F.
Lancelot,
Les ornaments
dans
la danse
baroque',
Lesgouits
eunis,
op
cit,
pp.72-8;
and C.
Bayle,
De
la
composition
chor6ographique...
A
la
composition
chor6ographique',
Les
gouits
eunis,
op
cit,
pp.79-89.
Would
the
usefulness
of their observations
be enhanced
if
they
took
into account
the
four-partorganization
of
dances,
and
the
changing
speech
rhythms
associated
with each
part?
47I
have translated
the word cadence
hroughout
as
'rhythm'
or
'rhythmic
unit'.
On
the basis of the
French
ext
alone,
it is
tempting
o
be more
specific
and render
cadenceas'measure
of music' or
'group
of
steps'.
The Latin version
(see
illus.2)
reveals
the
inadvisability
of
such a translation.
Cadences
expressed by
four
separate
Latin
words
-motus,
tempus,
numerus
nd cantus-all
of
which,
when
applied
to
rhetoric,
refer
to
poetic
metre
or,
on
occasion,
to half lines
of
verse.
Pomey
is
clearly
referring
here to
the musical
equivalents
of
the
rhythms
created
by
the double
and
single
slashes
in the
examples
that
accompany
this
article.
EARLY
MUSIC
Early
Dance
continues in
the
May
1986
issue
EARLY
MUSIC
FEBRUARY
1986
39
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