Piece of the Month - July 2002

Pavana Mr Daniel
A pavan by Daniel Bacheler from Lord Herbert of Cherbury's lute book, the only source for this piece (f.52v.-53). The source is not easy to read: the scribe has copied out the repeat of the C section, later decided that it was unsatisfactory, crossed it out and tried to write a replacement without having enough room, so the music snakes from one page to the foot of the previous page and back. There are various other crossings-out and minor mistakes. The first attempt at a C' section is completely different from the second. Both seem to be in Bacheler's style, but the first is seriously wayward and the second really does seem to be an improvement - this is the version reproduced here. I am puzzled by the apparent sequence of events: it does suggest that the varied repeats might be by the scribe himself rather than Bacheler, yet they seem quite convincing, sharing many characteristics with Bacheler pieces from other sources. No matter - it's a lovely piece. Don't listen to the computer, go and play it, con espressione.

Downloads:

pavana.ft2

pavana.tab

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