{"id":4878,"date":"2021-10-12T11:54:07","date_gmt":"2021-10-12T16:54:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/alzand.com\/?page_id=4878"},"modified":"2026-02-03T09:37:30","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T14:37:30","slug":"karim-al-zand-music-ignoble-dances","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/alzand.com\/?page_id=4878","title":{"rendered":"Karim Al-Zand: Music: Ignoble Dances"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Ignoble Dances<\/h2>\n

for flute & piano<\/h4>\n

I<\/span>gnoble Dances was written in 2020, and its music reflects upon that disconsolate year. The seven short dances draw musical influence from a variety of sources. The title of the first movement, Antemasque<\/i>, refers to a \u201cbuffoonish dance\u201d that precedes a masque<\/i>, a courtly entertainment of the 16th century. Of course, the word has gained another meaning in 2020, one that is equally buffoonish. Here the flute plays an urgent tune over an obstinate bass (ostinato<\/i>). Dance of Duplicity<\/i> presents a wistful slow drag<\/i> (a ragtime two-step) gradually undermined by repeated interruptions. Dance of Denial<\/i> is based on the Italian tarantella<\/i>, in which those bitten by the tarantula spider dance in a feverish trance until they collapse.Distanced Dance<\/i> is a melancholy solo for flute alone. In J. B. Dances a Jig in the Gloom<\/i>, a surprisingly cheerful flute tune emerges from the piano’s somber haze. Dog Whistle Dance<\/i> features the piccolo and the highest register of the piano in strident rhythmic interplay. The set concludes with a pavan<\/i>: a slow, stately Renaissance dance. In 1648, composer Thomas Tomkins wrote a lament in memory of King Charles I, entitled \u201cSad Pavan for These Distracted Tymes.\u201d In my pavan<\/i>, which draws on the Tomkins, it is the music that is distracted and the times that are sad.<\/br><\/br><\/p>\n