This selection of dances by William Brade contains some of the simpler pieces: almains, courantes, etc. from the 1617 collection.
These short dances are taken from William Brade’s Newe Auserlesene Branden, Intraden, Mascheraden, Baletten, Allmanden, Couranten, Volten, Auffzüge und Frembden Tänze , published in Hamburg in 1617.
William Brade was born in 1560, presumably in England, for he is referred to in the Füllsack and Hildebrand anthology of 1607 (see TM24 ↣) as Wilhelm Brade Englander. He was a famous violin player, who had among his pupils Nicholas Bleyer and the virtuoso Johann Schop. Brade’s first professional appointment was probably at the court of Johann Georg, Markgraf of Brandenburg, who ruled from 1571 to 1590, but in 1594 he began the first of several short spells at Copenhagen in the service of Christian IV; during the second of these he must have come into contact with John Dowland, who was also working under the Danish king. A letter that has survived from Graf Ernst of Schaumburg suggests that Brade may have been a slightly difficult, or at least restless, character, and this may explain why he never stayed very long in any one place: he had at least three short periods in Hamburg (where he died in 1630), three in Brandenburg, and one each in three other north German towns, Bückeburg, Schaumburg and Gottorp.
(Bernard Thomas)
