Renaissance Dances: 1st Trombone

Mark Williams has captured the buoyant character of Susato's originals while writing idiomatically for young band musicians. The three dances progress logically in style and energy, making them engaging for both ensemble and audience without oversimplifying the Renaissance aesthetic. This is an ideal way to introduce students to period music within their technical reach.

These three dances transport the ensemble into a Renaissance court or town square, where music accompanied courtiers and common folk alike. The melodies have the clarity and directness of period instruments, yet the band voicing gives them warmth and depth. Moving from the stately La Mourisque through the spirited Saltarelle to the rounded Ronde creates a musical journey that feels both celebratory and elegantly restrained.

This arrangement suits concert bands at the Grade 1.5 level who are ready to explore music beyond the standard teaching band repertoire. It works equally well for bands preparing for contest or festival programs and for those seeking stylistically diverse material that doesn't demand advanced technical ranges or complex rhythmic reading.

• Shape each dance with period-appropriate phrasing. Renaissance dances typically had cleaner phrase breaks and less legato than Romantic repertoire; allow the rhythmic clarity of the original style to emerge through articulation.
• Balance the inner voices carefully in the harmonic sections. Many of the dances feature charming counter-melodic material that shouldn't disappear under the main theme.
• Use the recorded accompaniment (if available separately) to hear how these dances sit historically; this can inform the style and tempo relationships between the three pieces.
• Treat the rhythmic figures with precision rather than weight. The energy of Renaissance dance comes from rhythmic accuracy and textural clarity, not dynamic heaviness.

Program the three dances as a suite to open a concert or festival performance, establishing a sophisticated yet accessible opening that sets a positive tone. Alternatively, use individual dances as intermission pieces or as contrast within a concert of mixed-era works. The Grade 1.5 difficulty makes them suitable for early-season programming when consolidated technique may still be developing.

• Articulation control and stylistic phrasing in Renaissance idiom
• Ensemble balance between melodic and harmonic voices
• Rhythmic accuracy and precision in moderate tempos
• Awareness of historical style and period-appropriate performance practice
• Reading and executing conductor cues across multiple dance forms