pavane

Stately Renaissance steps

A pavane is a slow, stately court dance of the 16th and 17th centuries, performed by couples in elaborate dress.

The music for such a dance follows a measured, dignified tempo in duple meter.

The word survives mainly in classical music titles and historical contexts: Ravel's Pavane for a Dead Princess.

Also spelled pavan.

stately

courtly

Refined and dignified

dignifiedComposed and respectable
majesticImpressively dignified and beautiful
solemnSerious and dignified

measured · formal · processional · slow · grave · noble · elegant · graceful · ceremonial · regal

dance

minuet

Formal 18th-century dance

sarabandeStately triple-time court dance
allemandeYolk-thickened mother sauce
gigueBaroque suite's closing dance

quadrille · mazurka · gavotte · volta

composers

Ravel

IrelandNorth Atlantic island republic
orchestrationScoring for instrumental ensemble
neoclassicalReviving ancient aesthetic principles

music

lute

Pear-bodied fretted strings

harpsichordPlucked-string keyboard instrument
consortRoyal spouse
violBowed Renaissance instrument

recorder · tabor · shawm · sackbut · virginal · clavichord · rebec · cornett · regal

renaissance

Byrd

Polar aviation pioneer

PraetoriusEarly German composer
tablatureFingering-based musical notation
chansonFrench vocal composition

Fitzwilliam · masque · revels · Inns of Court

Opposites

tempo and movement quality

pavanejig

Spirited folk dance

tarantella · gigue · volta · allemande · polka

formality and social context

pavanejig

Spirited folk dance

reel · folk dance · country dance · barn dance · hoedown

Family

Familiarity: Top 1,000,000
Profile: Used worldwide · Timeless · Rated G