versatility, and ranges of the tenor and bass sackbuts and the tenor and lower dulcians made their incorporation into the loud bands inevitable, and hugely successful. Termed the Alta capella or “loud band” by Johannes Tinctoris in the 1490s, this combination of reeds and brass together still persists in the cobla bands in Catalonia today. The second aspect in play is the sense of counterpoint as a conversation among equals, as each voice in these compositions shares importance, melodic material, and consequence for the overall musical matrix. The greatest joy, and responsibility, in performing these works comes from being alert to the other members of the ensemble, responding at any one moment to others’ comments, initiating musical remarks oneself, and coming together at shared points of agreement—especially at cadences, the periods of musical statements. One might say that this is or should be a requirement of all shared music making no matter the age or the style. However, this perspective is most characteristic of and demanded from those performing the fugal, imitative counterpoint as it developed throughout the sixteenth century. Finally, dance stands as yet another significant compositional form in this fugal survey. In fact, a commonplace of current scholarly opinion holds that all early music, Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque alike, is heavily imbued with elements of dance, not just specific dance forms themselves, such as the passameze, the allemande, the bransle, the gigue, the gavotte, the ballet, and more, but the rhythms, figures, and gestures of dance music in general. Michael Praetorius is well known, and well appreciated today, for his famous collection of dances, the Terpsichore of 1612. His collection is international in scope, preserving not only German dance forms but also much from the French, Flemish, English, and Italian traditions as well, both courtly and rustic. The Passamezze, Alamande, and Volta in this final set display many of the elements of fugal, polyphonic, contrapuntal writing that developed throughout the late Medieval and Renaissance periods, and bring the concert to a rousing conclusion, just as they must have done over 400 years ago. —Bob Wiemken
ARTIST PROFILES Piffaro, The Renaissance Band delights audiences with polished recreations of the rustic music of the peasantry and the elegant sounds of the official wind bands of the late Medieval and Renaissance periods. Its ever-expanding instrumentarium includes shawms, dulcians, sackbuts, recorders, krumhorns, bagpipes, lutes, guitars, harps, and a variety of percussion—all careful reconstructions of instruments from the period. Under the direction of Artistic Directors Joan Kimball and Bob Wiemken, Piffaro concertizes extensively, both close to home with its four-concert season in Philadelphia, as well as nationally and internationally. The ensemble débuted at Tage Alter Musik in Regensburg, Germany, in 1993, and has returned to Europe frequently over the decades, performing at major festivals in Austria, Germany, France, Belgium, Italy, Spain, and the Czech Republic. Piffaro has 2021–2022 Season
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