Hornpipe

The hornpipe is a traditional English folk dance in 2/4 or 4/4 time. It is danced wearing a hard shoe. This type of hornpipe is generally thought of as a sailors' dance, and perhaps the best known example is the sailors' hornpipe used as a theme for the Popeye cartoons.

Related Topics:
English - Folk dance - Sailor - Popeye

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The hornpipe is also an English baroque dance in a lively 3/2 time. Many country dance examples are found in The Dancing Master and there are also extant theatrical choreographies which make a characteristic use of step-units going across the measure. Henry Purcell and George Frideric Handel composed hornpipes, and Handel occasionally gave "alla hornpipe" as a tempo indication. Today, the most well-known baroque hornpipe tune is probably Purcell's hornpipe rondeau from the incidental music to Abdelazer, which was used by Benjamin Britten as the theme for his Young Persons' Guide To The Orchestra.

Related Topics:
Baroque dance - Country dance - The Dancing Master - Henry Purcell - George Frideric Handel - Benjamin Britten - Young Persons' Guide To The Orchestra

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