All Souls Seminars in Medieval and Renaissance Music: Helen Coffey (The Open University)

Presenter: Helen Coffey (The Open University)
Title: Music for Dancing in the Empire of Maximilian I
Discussants: Christiane Wiesenfeldt (University of Heidelberg) and Martin Kirnbauer (Schola Cantorum, Basel)

The sketches for the illustrated tale of Freydal — one of several pictorial works commissioned by Maximilian I to commemorate the cultural significance of his court — have long been of interest to music historians due to their depiction of diverse forms of dancing accompanied by various combinations of instruments. This paper will explore the extent to which the musicians depicted in Freydal might be regarded as representative of the instrumental ensembles that accompanied dances both at Maximilian’s court and across his Empire. It will consider the degree to which court and civic society engaged with a shared repertoire of dance music and steps, and how instrumental music for dancing thereby contributed to the representation and interaction of members of the social elite across Maximilian’s realm.