Pavane

For other uses, see Pavane (disambiguation)}}}.

The pavane, or pavan, is a processional dance common in Europe during the 16th century.

Contents

1 Origin of term
2 History
3 Music
4 Dance
5 Modern use

Origin of term

Named from an origin in Padua (padovano), from Sanskrit meaning wind, or from the stately sweep of a lady's train likened to a peacock's tail. The term also describes the special music accompanying the dance, often paired with a livelier galliard.

History

The decorous sweep of the pavane suited the new more sober Spanish-influenced courtly manners of 16th century Italy, and the pavane may have originated in Spain. It appears in dance manuals in England, France, and Italy. The musical pavane survived hundreds of years after the dance itself was abandoned, especially in the form of the tombeau. At Louis XIV's court the pavane was superseded by the courante.

Music

Slow duple time
Generally follows binary form - AA1, BB1, etc.
It generally uses counterpoint or homophonic accompaniment.
The rhythm (often accompanied by a side drum) was minim-crotchet-crotchet (1/2-1/4-1/4) or similar, and this was generally followed with little variation by the melody; there were rarely minims in the centre of the bar, for example.
This form is generally paired with the Galliard

Dance

As a dance, the pavane was often used by a single couple as a processional. In Thoinot Arbeau's French dance manual, it is generally an improvised dance, with the dancers throwing in ornamentation (divisions) of the steps. In the English Measure manuscripts, the pavane is one of several similar dances classed as measures, and is simple and choreographed. In Italian sources, the pavane is often a fairly complicated dance, with galliard and other sections.

Modern use

The step used in the pavane survives to the modern day in the hesitation step sometimes used in weddings.

More recent works titled "pavane" often have a deliberately archaic mood. Examples include:

The classical composition Pavane (1887) by Gabriel Fauré
The classical composition Pavane for a Dead Princess (1899) by Maurice Ravel
The choreography The Moor’s Pavane (1949) by José Limón

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