Klarinet Archive - Posting 000166.txt from 1994/01

From: James Langdell <James.Langdell@-----.COM>
Subj: Repeats in minuets
Date: Mon, 24 Jan 1994 20:08:28 -0500

Dan Leeson wrote:

>And example of this has to do with the taking of repeat signs in minuets.
>Because of the lack of clarity, a convention has developed about how to
>play minuets. No one needs to tell a performer how to do this today, since
>we all do it automatically; i.e., all repeats first time through, no repeats
>second and later times through. This impacts how we play, for example,
>the Gran Partitta which has two minuets, both of which have two trios.

I've wondered what documentation exists for the practice of leaving
out internal repeats when you return to a minuet after playing its trio
section. I provide music for groups dancing to Mozart's and Beethoven's
dance music. The dance patterns in the choreographies we use often depend
on all repeats being taken in full each time. I frequently need to remind
the other musicians to take the repeats literally, since they're so
accustomed to the concert practice of leaving out some internal repeats.

So, how early is there any written documentation to this practice of
leaving out repeats in dance movements? Is there any indication of
this being strictly a practice in music-played-for-listening as opposed to
music-played-for-active-dancing?

--James Langdell jamesc@-----.com
Sun Microsystems Mountain View, Calif.