Three Susato Dances from The Danserye: Brass Quintet Score & Parts

David Marlatt's transposition solves a real accessibility issue without compromising the music's integrity or historical character. The Philip Jones Brass Ensemble recording established these dances as standard brass quintet repertoire, and this version extends that tradition to ensembles where high trumpet writing would otherwise exclude them. You get celebrated Renaissance material that your group can actually play well, with the confidence that comes from knowing a world-class ensemble championed this music first.

These dances pulse with Renaissance vitality and directness. The melodies are unpretentious and immediately memorable, the harmonies transparent and warm, and the overall effect is one of courtly grace without the complexity that sometimes makes period music feel distant. There's genuine joy in the straightforward beauty of the writing.

Brass quintets at the intermediate level looking for concert and contest repertoire with genuine historical weight and proven musicality. This works equally well for educational ensembles introducing players to Renaissance music and for more experienced groups seeking straightforward, elegant programming that audiences recognize and enjoy.

• Approach the phrasing with the dance's original character in mind. These pieces have clear rhythmic profiles tied to specific Renaissance dance steps; letting that sense of movement shape your articulation and breathing will make the music come alive rather than feel academic.
• Balance the texture so the melody (typically in the first trumpet) projects without overwhelming the inner voices. Renaissance counterpoint depends on hearing each line, which is particularly important in a five-person ensemble where no one can hide.
• Use the natural harmonic language of the period to guide your intonation. The tertian harmonies are stable; minor adjustments to thirds and fifths will make the vertical sonorities ring rather than waver.
• Keep rhythmic precision clean without rigidity. The dances should breathe and move, not march. Slight flexibility within the pulse often feels more period-appropriate than metronomic strictness.

Program these as a unit to showcase Renaissance instrumental music in a concert context, or use individual dances to open a program with historical repertoire before moving to other eras. They pair naturally with other Renaissance and early Baroque pieces and provide a refreshing contrast to later brass repertoire without demanding specialized historical knowledge from your audience.

• Balanced ensemble voicing in Renaissance textures
• Phrasing Renaissance dance forms without modern interpretive excess
• Intonation adjustment for tertian harmonies and modal contexts
• Reading straightforward counterpoint across all five parts
• Understanding Renaissance instrumental idiom and its adaptation to modern ensembles