Rousseau’s letter upon it “an excellent piece of musical criticism,” combining “good sense, taste, and reason” (iv. 615): he dismisses Sebastian Bach in half a dozen lines; and, although he devotes much space to Handel’s operas, his oratorios are often dismissed with the barest record of their existence by a line in a note. Israel in Egypt, Acis and Galatea, &c., are unnoticed.
The present collection will sufficiently prove that “the number of our secular and popular melodies” was not quite as “circumscribed” as Dr. Burney has represented; but, indeed, he had a book in his library which alone gave a complete refutation to his limited estimate. I have now before me one of the editions of The Dancing Master, a collection of Country Dances, published by Playford, which was formerly in Burney’s possession. It contains more than two hundred tunes, the names of which must convince an ordinary reader that at least a considerable number among them are song and ballad tunes, while a musician will as readily perceive many others to be of the same class, from the construction of the melody. If a doubt should remain as to the character of the airs in collections of this kind, further evidence is by no means wanting. Sir Thomas Elyot, writing in 1531, and describing many ancient modes of dancing, says (in The Governour), “As for the special names [of the dances], they were taken as they be now, either of the names of the first inventour, or of the measure and number they do conteine, or of the first words of the ditties which the song comprehendeth, whereoff the daunce was made;” and, to approach nearer to the time of the publication in question, Charles Butler, in 1636, speaks of “the infinite multitude of ballads set to sundry pleasant and delightful tunes by cunning and witty composers, with country dances fitted unto them.” See his Principles of Musick.
The eighteen editions of The Dancing Master are of great assistance in the chronological arrangement of our popular tunes from 1650 to 1728;[1] for, although some airs run through every edition, we may tell by the omission of others, when they fell into desuetude, as well as the airs by which their places were supplied.
- ↑ The first edition of this collection is entitled “The English Dancing Mastor: or Plaine and easie rules for the dancing of Country Dances, with the tune to each dance (104 pages of music). Printed by Thomas Harpor, and are to be sold by John Fleyford, at his shop in the Inner Temple, neere the Church doore.” The date is 1651, but it was entered at Stationers’ Hall on 7th Nov., 1650. This edition is on larger paper than any of the subsequent. The next is “The Dancing Master, . . . . with the tune to each dance, to be play’d on the treble Violin: the second edition, enlarged and corrected from many grosse errors which were in the former edition.” This was “Printed for John Playford,” in 1652 (112 pages of music). The two next editions, those of 1657 and 1665, each contain 132 country dances, and are counted by Playford as one edition. To both were added “the tunes of the most usual French dances, and also other new and pleasant English tunes for the treble Violin.” That of 1665 was “Printed by W. G., and sold by J. Playford and Z. Watkins, at their shop in the Temple.” It has 88 tunes for the violin at the end. (The tunes for the violin were afterwards printed separately as Apollo’s Banquet, and are not included in any other edition of The Dancing Master.) The date of the fourth edition is 1670 (155 pages of music). Fifth edition, 1675, and 160 pages of music. (The contents of the sixth edition are ascertained to be almost identical with the fifth, by the new tunes added to tho seventh being marked with *, but I have not seen a copy. From advertisements in Playford’s other publications, it appears to have been printed in 1680.) The seventh edition bears date 1686 (208 pages), but to this “an additional sheet,” containing 32 tunes, was first added, then “a new additional sheet” of 12 pages,” and lastly “a new addition” of 6 more. The eighth edition was “Printed by E. Jones for H. Playford,” and great changes made in the airs. It has 220 pages,—date, 1690. The ninth edition, 196 pages,—date, 1695. “The second part of the Dancing Master,” 24 pages,—date, 1696. The tenth edition, 215 pages,—date, 1698; also the second edition of the second part, ending on p. 48 (irregularly paged), 1698. The eleventh is the first edition in the new tied note, 812 pages,—date, 1701. The twelfth edition goes back to the old note, 354 pages,—date, 1703. The later editions are well known, but the above are scarce.
