Bourrée

The Bourrée (French ) is a court dance of the French court of the 16th century, in the course of the following centuries to a folk dance in central France (Auvergne, Berry, Nivernais Morvan, Bourbonnais, Limousin ) was.

Using a wrong source interpretation in the standard work " World History of the Dance " by Curt Sachs (and subsequent authors who rely without further testing of the quoted source on him ) Bourrée is in German literature falsely claiming to that she was a native of the Auvergne folk dance, which became a courtly dance. Recent research shows quite the opposite - a courtly dance originally was taken over by the people.

History

The Bourrée was first mentioned by Herorad, the personal physician of the young King Louis XIII. , In a letter. In the period following the Bourrée can be assigned to different places just as courtly dance. The Auvergne is mentioned in connection with the Bourrée for the first time only fifty years later in Vichy: In 1665 (Clermont -Ferrand ) of Fléchier as urban practice and 1675 in Bourbonnais ( Vichy) according to the report of Madame de Sévigné. Only in the 19th century peasant examples of 3/8-Bourrées be substantiated in the Auvergne.

Music and dance

The first writing traditional Bourrées date from the 17th century and are listed in a straight stroke.

The court Bourrée and their basic step "pas de bourrée " will take place in 17-18. Century as bourrée française in the most upbeat and syncopated, lively 2/2- or Allabreve -stroke (also 4/4 and 2/4) input in ballet, opera and suite, where it is often inserted between Sarabande and Gigue. Close relations exist to rigaudon and Gavotte.

Johann Sebastian Bach coupled with a double ( diminuting variation of a suite set ), after the Bourrée is repeated.

When people dance the Bourrée found in the 19th century, a proliferation in the three-part cycle.

The misinterpreted German source

The source text to which Sachs is based on its interpretation of the text and other authors refer to have probably read without the text itself, is as follows:

The source text is taken from the memoirs of Margaret of Valois, known as the future wife of Henry IV of France, as well as La reine Margot. She was very young at that time and actually describes in the text a tribute of the provinces of the Queen against. Here, then, a kind of " public relation " festival was held at which the court wanted to show his solidarity with the provinces. Such solid concepts are an integral part of courtly politics since England's Queen Elizabeth I (ie the same era ), the imitators with this " politics of dance ."

The festival takes place in Bayonne in the Basque Country; neither the Bourrée nor the Auvergne is mentioned.

Also, although it is to dance and music of the provinces, but it is not about a popular practice; the " Bergeres " ( shepherdesses ), one of which is referred to here are not real shepherdesses, but - as was customary - aristocratic girls who represent shepherdesses, but in golden precious dresses. A common practice, not only (but especially ) the court of the Medicis.

The whole thing has the cultural diversity in the upper layers of France at that time back, but this is not a folk dance - this interested the rulers at that time not, as in any case, the Bourrée, if it were actually a dance of peasants.

The Bourrée in popular music

Johann Sebastian Bach's Bourrée in E minor ( BWV 996 from the volume ) is particularly popular in the popular music scene apparently. After the progressive rock band Jethro Tull recorded an instrumental piece which inspired and in 1969 published the album Stand Up, the set including Led Zeppelin ( live recording of Heartbreaker ) was repeatedly taken up by other groups; Paul McCartney named it as the inspiration for his song Blackbird.