Gli Toccha la Mano [2003]
This work was written for a project by Orkest de Volharding and the English ensemble Icebreaker in 2003. It was performed ten times: five times in The Netherlands and five times in England. I’m not sure which performance this recording is from, but it may be the one on the West Bank in London.
The title “Gli Toccha la Mano” (He Touches the Hand) is found in 15th-century manuscripts on the art of dancing. While in country dances it was common to grab each other’s arm or hand, in the more sophisticated court dances, like the basse danse, the man would touch the lady’s hand in a refined manner.
The basse danse (low dance), a slow 15th-century court dance, serves as the basic foundation for several of my works. Unlike most other dances, the basse danse has no fixed sequence of steps. A limited number of steps are defined, such as the pas simple (single step), pas double (double step), etc., but the number and order of steps is free, making the structure of the dance very flexible.
One of the oldest manuscripts mentioning the basse danse is a Spanish anonymous poem called “Danza general de la muerte” (General Dance of Death). In it, Death invites several high-ranking individuals, such as the King, the Emperor, the Pope, the Bishop, and others, to dance with him the Final Dance. Naturally, none of them is eager to comply. The King says: “yo no querría ir a tan baja danza” (I don’t want to join that basse danse).
The live sung text of “Gli Toccha la Mano” is taken from this “Danza general de la muerte.” The text heard in the samples (both sung, spoken, and elaborated by computer) comes from a 15th-century manuscript titled “De pratica seu arte tripudii” (The Practice or Art of Dancing) by Guglielmo Ebreo of Pesaro, dance master at the court of Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan. In this manuscript, the dance master teaches us how to dance the basse danse.
- Orkest de Volharding and Icebreaker conducted by Jurjen Hempel; soprano: Cristina Zavalloni
Text in samples [by Cristina Zavalloni]: Guglielmo Ebreo of Pesaro: De pratica seu arte tripudii
[translation: Barbara Sparti
, Clarendon Press, London, 1993]
Text sung: Danza General de la Muerte [14th century, anonymous]
