Info: Malcolm Arnold - English Dances

Subject: RE: Info: Malcolm Arnold - English Dances
From: GUEST,MTB
Date: 14 Mar 16 - 11:03 AM

Hi,

I think you can classify all of Arnold's English Dances as jigs or reels or hornpipes etc.
The one you're particularly interested in I would put as a minuet. The minuet form was common in early 17th century French and Italian dances and made its way into Playford's Country Dance Master from 1651 onwards before being taken up by classical composers as a "minuet and trio".

MTB

Subject: Info: Malcolm Arnold - English Dances
From: Harry Rivers
Date: 14 Mar 16 - 10:21 AM

Hi there,

Could anyone tell if the tunes used in the sets of English Dances by Malcolm Arnold belong to any folk "tune families"?

Wikiwotsit says . . "inspired by, although not based upon, country folk tunes and dances" but several of them feel as if they've always been around. Is this because the style is part of the English psyche or is it because they've been used to represent 'Englishness' so often over the last 60+ years that they have become almost "traditional"?

I'm interested in them all but especially No 3 in Set 2 (Grazioso) which starts at about 4.20 in here . . . .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeL_vhMpIgA


All the best,
Harry