The Dancing Master (first edition: The English Dancing Master) is a dancing manual containing the music and instructions for English Country Dances. It was published in several editions by John Playford and his successors from 1651 until c1728. Dances from The Dancing Master were re-published in arrangements by Cecil Sharp in the early 20th century. The first edition of The Dancing Master contained 105 dances with single line melodies. Subsequent editions introduced new songs and dances, while dropping others.
Known Editions and Supplements
- 1651 - 1st edition (the only edition to be called The English Dancing Master, published by John Playford)
- 1652 - 2nd edition
- 1657 - 3rd edition
- 1665 - 3rd edition
- 1670 - 4th edition
- 1675 - 5th edition
- 1679 - 6th edition
- 1679 - A Supplement to The Dancing-Master
- 1686 - 7th edition
- 1687? - Tunes of other Country-Dances
- 1688? - A new Additional Sheet to the Dancing-Master
- 1689? - A new Addition to the Dancing-Master
- 1690 - 8th edition (the first marked as published by Henry Playford)
- 1695 - 9th edition
- 1696 - The second Part of the Dancing Master
- 1698 - The Second Part of the Dancing Master, 2nd edition
- 1698? - [Untitled supplement]
- 1698? - An Additional Sheet to the Second Part of the Dancing-Master
- 1698 - 10th edition
- 1701 - 11th edition
- 1702 - Twenty Four New Country Dances. Printed by William Pearson for Henry Playford
- 1703 - 12th edition
- 1706 - 13th edition (the first edition published by John Young)
- 1709 - 14th edition
- 1710? - Vol. the second, 1st edition
- 1713 - 15th edition
- 1714? - Vol. the second, 2nd edition
- 1716 - 16th edition
- 1718 - Vol. the second, 3rd edition
- 1721 - Vol. the first, 17th edition
- c1726 - The Third Volume, 2nd edition
- c1728 - Vol. the first, 18th edition
- 1728 - Vol. the second, 4th edition
See also
External links
- http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/musdi.004 10th Edition, facsimile at Library of Congress.
- http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~flip/contrib/dance/playford.html First Edition
- http://www.shipbrook.com/jeff/playford/ Second Edition
- http://www.izaak.unh.edu/nhltmd/indexes/dancingmaster/ Summary of all editions
- http://www.cam.ac.uk/societies/round/playford/ What are 'Playford' dances?
- http://www.earthlydelights.com.au/english2.htm Online Playford Dance Reconstructions by John Garden
- http://www.tongang.se/masters The Dancing Masters: One of several music ensembles around the world devoting their music entirely to Playford's dances
