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APPENDICES
20
Appendix 1: Rhythm types
Throughout the track listings, an indication of the dance rhythm of the music is given
where appropriate. Some explanatory notes about these are necessary before continuing
to the discussion of the dance rhythms themselves.
Aria or song types
The term ‘aria’ or ‘song’ has been used in many cases throughout to denote those pieces of
music which are marked by a smooth, lyrical melody line and a sonorous accompaniment
performed without any strongly accented rhythm. Such pieces are most common, as one
would expect, in selections for adage and ports de bras, where a ‘singing quality’ is
required as much of the music as it is of the dance.
Dance rhythms and dance rhythm ʹtypesʹ
In some cases, there is no doubt as to the dance rhythm involved, because the composer
has called the piece ʹmazurkaʹ or ʹwaltzʹ. In others, the music approximates to a certain
type of dance rhythm, without fitting neatly into one category or another. The music for
track 2 (A02: Mattinata, by Leoncavallo), for example, is defined as an ʹEnglish waltzʹ type,
but this is only true because of the way it is played for this exercise. In its original form as
a composition for the tenor Enrico Caruso (1873‐1921), it remains first and foremost a
song.
Comic aria types
A few pieces, such as the Dance of the Hours from La Gioconda, or the music for Dr
Coppélius at the end of Act II of Coppélia defy definition as dance rhythms, but are
nonetheless instantly recognisable as a certain type of ballet music. Although it is not a
technical or commonly used term, they have here been called ʹcomic aria typesʹ, since they
have a lot in common with that genre – very short phrases marked by speech‐like
articulation (the author Marian Smith in Ballet and Opera in the Age of Giselle (SMITH, 2000)
calls this ʹtalkativeʹ music).
Dance rhythms in Rhythm & Character sections
Unless the name of a dance rhythm has been explicitly stated in the original source of the
music, no categories have been assigned in the rhythm and character sections. Firstly,
many of the pieces are songs, rather than dances. Secondly, there is not enough reliable
and accessible research on the musical characteristics of Central European folk dance to be
able to say with any confidence that a piece of music is definitely one thing or another,
and it would be misleading to do so.