Annotation:Confess
X:1 T:Confesse T:Confesse, or the Court Lady T:Confesse, His Tune M:6/8 L:1/8 B:Chappell - Popular Music of the Olden Times (1859) S:Dancing Master, 1650 Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:Dmin D | D2E F2G | A2A A3 | B3A2A | d2d ^c2D | D2E F2G | A2A A3 | B3 A2A | d2d ^c2A | e2c f2d | ec2 A2=B | cA2 ^G2A | A^G2 A2A | F2G A>BA | BA2 G3 | A2d ^c2d | e^c2 d2 ||
CONFESS. AKA and see "Confesse, His Tune," "Court Lady," "Rosamond." English, Country Dance Tune and Air (6/8 time). E Minor (Barnes, Karpeles, Raven, Sharp): D Minor (Chappell). Standard tuning (fiddle). One part (Chappell): ABB (Barnes, Sharp): AABB (Karpeles, Raven). The melody with directions for a country dance were first published in Playford's English Dancing Master of 1651 and were retained in the long-running Dancing Master series through the 10th edition of 1698, after which it was dropped. The title "Court Lady" first appeared as an alternate title in the 4th edition of 1670, and remained with the main title until the melody was dropped. "Confesse, His Tune," another alternate title, is similar to "Mr. Basse, His Tune," and references a French dancing master named Nicholas Confesse who was attached to the Jacobean court. He choreographed The Lords Masque in 1613, staged as part of the wedding celebration of the Earl of Somerset, King James's favorite, and other masques, as well as taught dancing to the court. He is associated with a courante popular among lutenists called "Confesse's Courante", which he may or may not have composed (he may simply have delivered the steps).
Confesse was employed in two early masques by Ben Jonson, Oberon and Love free’d from Ignorance and Folly, both dating to 1611 and published in Johnson’s first Folio, 1616. Confesse commanded a large fee for his services:
In the money value of that time his fees were striking: for his part in creating the second Johnson masque, he received £50 to the £40 paid each to Ben Johnson and Inigo Jones. Such payments indicate that dance was more valued than libretto or scenery. Confesse was rehearsing royalty and the aristocracy (Ed:--i.e. participants of the masque]. Later, he was involved in the creation of The Lords’ Masque, 14 February, 1613, commissioned by King James himself for the night of the wedding of Princess Elizabeth and the Elector Palatine, Frederick. Confesse therefore with Thomas Campion and Inigo Jones undertook to create
"An artifact exclusively for court performance on a single momentous occasion, paid for by royal patronage"[1].
- ↑ Keith Whitlock, “John Playford’s English Dancing Master 1650/51 as Cultural Politics”, Folk Music Journal, vol. 7, No. 5, 1999, p. 554