Music definitely does something interesting to one’s brain. My friend John Loose is a specialist in early music percussion and performed last week, along with the ensemble “Musica Pacifica”, playing dance music from the 17th and 18th centuries; composers such as Marin Marais, Rameau, and Couperin. While I no longer play the flute, I always enjoyed playing this kind of music, so meticulous, yet something that can be very improvisational as well. For this concert, the musicians (viola da gamba, violin, harpsichord, oboe, recorders & various percussive instruments) were obliged to keep a strict tempo, as there were 4 dancers performing along side, in proto-ballet movements. The gentle, unexaggerated movements were very graceful and quite different from the showy, athletic balletic moves of today.
I couldn’t keep myself from doodling to the music, following along the various dance rhythms— allemande, courante, sarabande and gigue: