After their first and second Pride and Prejudice Collections, I knew just what to expect from the Pemberley Players' Pride and Prejudice Collection Volume III: a very beautifully performed set of dance tunes, of which many are considerably out of date for Jane Austen's lifetime, let alone her novels, and of which none of the reasonably period tunes are played in a useful repeat pattern. I was actually wrong about one thing: two of the tunes are played in a historical repeat pattern! What luck!
Otherwise, this CD is about what I expected: eighteen tunes, of which eleven are way too early for a Austen-oriented collection. Despite the name, these CDs are really mixes of tunes covering a century and a half or so, mostly before the Austen era. The Pemberley Players are superb musicians and extremely nice people who let me use some of their tunes in our stage production of Pride and Prejudice back in April, but I do wish they would make an all-Austen-era recording rather than a modern English country dance mix.
The CD itself is enormously improved in presentation. The dates and sources for each tune are listed on the back along with a note about the intended dance formation. That saved me a lot of tracking down tune dates or paging through dance notation. Music and dance notation come along in PDF form. The CD can be ordered directly from Fain Music in the UK, or from CDSS in the USA. Fain Music also sells it as a download.
The out of period tunes, dated from 1650-1728: "Mr. Isaac's Maggot", "Maiden Lane", "Hyde Park", "Parson upon Dorothy", "Picking of Sticks", "Draper's Maggot", "Hunsdon House", "Well Hall", "The Merry, Merry Milkmaids", "Love's Triumph", and "Row Well Ye Mariners". I will admit, for 17th-century dancing, it's nice to have recordings of some of these. They're just a peculiar choice for an Austen-themed CD, being between 50 and 125 years before she was even born.
The period tunes appear in sources ranging from 1757 to 1794; the latter part of that range actually includes Austen's dancing days. As before, some are played only three times through for modern three-couple sets, and most of the others are played the magic modern number of times, that being seven. Neither of these repeats is useful for historical country dancing, so once again editing is necessary if they're to be of much use.
Played three times through: "The Young Widow" and "The Corporation". The former is actually, to the best of my knowledge, found only in American sources, but it's certainly the right time period. Three times through means the musical pattern can be ignored and these 32-bar-repeat tunes can be danced as if 16 bars six times through, which allows for a three-couple set. With larger numbers, editing will be required. "The Corporation" is also a very nice reel, usable for that form of dance.
Played seven times through: "The Dressed Ship", "The Spaniard", and "The Ladies Joy". These are at once too long and too short for country dancing off the Austen era and need to either have one repeat trimmed off or have more of them stuck on to get up to the twelve, sixteen, or more called for in period practice.
And last but not least, played SIX times through, a number perfect for a historical progression in a set of only three couples, are "Wakefield Hunt" and "Cream Pot". I am excited to get two tracks usable for Austen-era country dancing with no editing needed! "Wakefield Hunt" is a long one, with a 48b repeat pattern in the music.
The tempo range on the period tunes runs from a very sedate 74 bpm for "The Corporation" to a brisk 117 bpm for "The Young Widow".
As before, it's hard to recommend this CD for actual Austen-era dancing, given how few dances are usble without editing, but it's certainly superb listening and the collection of 1650-1728 dances is useful for earlier-period dancing.
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