Your Recorder Community

Galliarde l’esmerillonne comes from “Primier Livre de Danseries” published in 1571 by Pierre Phalèse. This doesn’t seem to be from a pavan/galliard pair and I don’t know the origin or story behind the title. Esmerillonne is a small hawk also called a Merlin. What interests me about this particular galliard is that there are clearly defined sections that are repeated. Only the soprano part is the same on the written out repeat while the other parts are recomposed. I can’t recall another instance where this is the case. The mood of the music is rather melancholy as it remains in the same mode and harmonic space for the entire piece.