The Gresley Papers Music

Links

• Norman Gray has an excellent set of Notes on the Gresley Dance Collection
• Caitlin de Courcy has reconstructed two of the dances
• Reconstructions by Robert Hurggett
• The Gresley Dance Collection (PDF) containing settings for 13 of the dances in 4 pages by Al Cofrin (Avatar of Catsprey)

My Contribution

I've typed in Fallow's transcriptions of the music in the Gresley papers

This is my first swing at getting this music up. I'm sure there are mistakes!

Song	MIDI file	NWC file	PDF file
ZIP archive	everything
Prenes a gard	MIDI	NWC	PDF
Eglamo?? - No 2 p. 73	MIDI	NWC	PDF
Title Ilegible - No 3, p.75	MIDI	NWC	PDF
Title Ilegible - No 4, p.75-74	MIDI	NWC	PDF
Title Ilegible - No 5, p.74	MIDI	NWC	PDF
Northumberland:3 - No 6, p.77	MIDI	NWC	PDF
Att???? - No 7, p.77	MIDI	NWC	PDF
Esper??:3 - No 8, p.76	MIDI	NWC	PDF
Bary??:2 - No 9, p.76	MIDI	NWC	PDF
Temper?? 3 - No 10, p.79	MIDI	NWC	PDF
La duches - No 11, p.79	MIDI	NWC	PDF
Talbott:2 - No 12, p.78	MIDI	NWC	PDF
Ly bens distoays - No 13, p.78	MIDI	NWC	PDF

• Ly bens was modified as follows from corrections by Rosina:
  
  After bar 8, insert 2 bars, as follows:
  bar 9: E f G.
  bar 10: A. G.
  After bar 9 (in the stuff you have ... it will be after bar 11 after you add the above), add:
  new bar 12: Middle C (I assumed a full bar duration)
  

An article from somewhere!

The manuscript was found by David Fallows among the Gresley Papers held in the Derbyshire Record Office, Matlock. He dates it to c1500 +/- 20 years.

Fallows, David: "The Gresley dance collection, c. 1500",
RMA research chronicle, xxix (1996), pp. 1-20.

There are 91 choreographic titles listed, but evidently only 26 actual choreographies.
Jennifer says that it seems to be an amalgam of French and Italian dance elements with more of an Italian flavor. There are English words for both French and Italian steps, but lots of flexibility in step combinations and patterns.
The Matlock dances seem very similar to Italian balli in that they offer a variety of floor patterns for various numbers of dancers. The majority are for two or three dancers, 2 dances are for 4, and seven dances do not specify.
The table of steps she gives has these names for the English steps:
singlis
doblis
obeysawance (she equates with riverenza)

torne
wholl torne
half torne
lepe
stop

brawl
flowrdelice (???)
trett (???)
retrett (???)
rak/rakkis (???)
horn pepy
hertt

She also gives these terms as directional indicators ("a feature lacking in the French basse danse, but common in both the Italian ballo and bassadanza")

bak
furth / furthright
out / outward
com froo / throth tham / goo throth
contrary hyme
com / mett together
goo behend
goo compas
change places
change handes
torne aboute
move / a mevyng
loke over the shuldyr

Another interesting point is that she says the tunes are "remarkably similar" to Italian balli. They are written moslty in major prolation, share a similar range of notes, and are written in semibreves and minims (unlike French basse danses that are in even breves).

She gives an example of musical repeat schemes for two of the Matlock dances:
_Prenes in gre_ AAA B CC A B
_Northumberland_ AAA B CCC B C DD E

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