Dance genres in the first printed collections of instrumental music

Abstract

The research aims to identify Renaissance dance genres, as well as their traces, in the first printed collections of instrumental music. Particular attention is given to the editions of the Venetian music printer Ottaviano Petrucci, specifically his collection “Harmonice musices odhecaton” (1501-1503), as well as the lute tablatures of Francesco Spinacino (1507) and Joan Ambrosio Dalza (1508). The study examines the correlation between the musical genres in these publications and contemporary Italian dances. The scientific novelty lies in the results of the musical score analysis: the study reveals the specifics of early dance music notation in printed sources and establishes the interconnections between vocal models, their instrumental transcriptions (intabulations), original instrumental pieces, and Renaissance dance practice.

Research materials

1. Dalza J. A.Intabolatura de lauto Libro IV. Venezia: Octavianum Petrutium, 1508.
2. Harmonice musices Odhecaton A. Venezia: Octavianum Petrutium, 1501.
3. Harmonice musices Odhecaton B. Venezia: Octavianum Petrutium, 1502.
4. Harmonice musices Odhecaton C. Venezia: Octavianum Petrutium, 1503.
5. Il Papa. New York, Public library, MGZMB-Res. 72-254, ~1515-1520.
6. Montesardo G. Nuova inventione d'intavolatura per sonare li balletti sopra la Chitarra Spagniuola. Florence: Christofano Farescotti, 1606.
7. Spinacino F.Intabolatura de lauto Libro I. Venezia: Octavianum Petrutium, 1507a.
8. Spinacino F.Intabolatura de lauto Libro II. Venezia: Octavianum Petrutium, 1507b.
9. The Manuscript London, British Museum, Additional 29987 [Lo] (14th c.) / ed. G. Reaney. Facs. Rome: American Institute of Musicology, 1965.

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About this article

Publication history

• Received: March 13, 2026.
• Published: April 3, 2026.

Keywords

• ренессансные танцы
• сборник “Harmonice musices odhecaton”
• Оттавиано Петруччи
• Франческо Спиначино
• Жуан Амброзио Дальца
• Renaissance dances
• collection “Harmonice musices odhecaton”
• Ottaviano Petrucci
• Francesco Spinacino
• Joan Ambrosio Dalza

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