"The book will be of great interest to instrumentalists and singers looking for new sources of chamber music, as well as to all those who wish to experience a musical form that played an important role in France for over two centuries." --French Review

..". an excellent resource for anyone who wants to play, sing, and/or dance to these delightful little pieces. The authors approach this work in the careful, thoughtful, and scholarly manner which is a trademark of Betty Mather's style... I highly recommend this book to anyone intersted in any aspect of the noel and/or its...

Dance Music of the French Baroque brings together information on rhythm from the interrelated fields of music, dance, poetry, rhetoric, and philosophy. Part I is devoted to the various factors involved in dance rhythms, including tempos, rhythmic feet, dance steps, declamation of lyrics, instrumental articulation, and performance of ornaments.

Part II describes in alphabetic order the fifteen most frequently encountered dances of the period and identifies the most typical performance of each in relation to the factors discussed in Part I. With reference to numerous illustrations and...