There is much controversy and debate amongst musicologists regarding the correct tempi for 17th and 18th century works, especially when it comes to dance music. It is often assumed that each dance type has a single, fixed tempo. However, this really is not the case.

​

A range of tempi are possible for each dance, just as it is in music. Amateur musicians often have not developed the technical ability to perform a presto, with all the intricate semiquaver passages and difficulties that come with a work like this, at the same brisk tempo as a professional musician. Furthermore, a professional musician may take a largo at a slower pace to allow for more possibilities of added embellishments and artistic license, requiring more stamina and control, than a musician of a lower level. The same concept can be applied to dance, where dancers choose a tempo based on their own artistic perceptions and technical abilities. Professional level dancers are often able to execute virtuosic footwork quickly and hold the control and core strength to elongate slow gestures over more time. Whereas beginner level dancers would often choose to perform slower dances at a more moderate pace as it can be difficult to control the bends and rises at a slower tempo. Retired professional dancers may no longer have the technical abilities that they once used to, and therefore perform at a more moderate tempo overall to refrain from injuring or damaging their bodies.[1]

 

It is consequently not possible to assume that each type of dance has one suitable tempo. For example, the melodic or harmonic writing of one courante may differ from another courante, therefore the exact same tempo would not be appropriate for both dances, as rhythmic or harmonic interest may be missed by rushing through at a tempo too fast for its writing. For these reasons, guidelines indicating suitable tempi boundaries for each dance allow performers to decide upon a tempo which best realises the rhythmic, melodic, harmonic, and choreographic elements of their piece.[2] Performers must consider the time signature, any written tempo descriptions, pendulum markings, the choreography, and any individual(s) dancing.

​

Nonetheless, it is imperative that musicians are able to maintain the same tempo throughout any dance, not only to make it possible to dance to, but also because ‘it is a bounden duty to understand tempo with particular thoroughness and to observe it with the greatest strictness. Otherwise, performance will always be faulty.’[3] Therefore, whatever tempo is settled on between the musicians and dancers, it must remain constant for the entire duration of the dance.

​

All time signatures and tempo markings from the 17th century derived from its comparison to the pulse of a healthy man’s heartbeat, the walking pace of a man, or the pendulum of a clock.[4] The pendulum, a predecessor to the metronome, consisted of a weighted piece of string which hung from a fixed point and swung from side to side. The length of the string determined the speed the pendulum swung; the shorter the string, the faster it would swing.[5] Some music theorists, including L’Affilard, Uffenbach, and D’Omzembray, recorded pendulum markings that they understood each dance type to be performed at in the early 18th century, providing helpful sources of historically appropriate tempi to modern performers.