Yesterday, Bright Star, a new biopic of poet John Keats opened. Jane Campion’s time capsule of the Regency Era includes music from The Regency Ballroom, the most recent recording by Berkshire musicians Liz Stell, Bill Matthiesen and Eric Buddington. This trio of flute, violin and piano, performing as Spare Parts, is one of the country’s foremost period dance ensembles and travels throughout the U.S. to play for contra dances as well as historic reenactments of formal balls. Repertoire ranges from 17th-century Playford dances through Victorian and Gilded Age balls to pre-World War I ragtime dances. Argentine tangos, milongas and vals are another passion of these versatile musicians.
Lanesborough residents Stell and Matthiesen have performed and researched historic dance music for over 20 years. They became interested in period music through social dance (“vintage” dance). Stell and Matthiesen recorded ragtime dance music (including early Argentinean and American tangos) on their 1994 Now Tango CD. The Civil War Ballroom CD followed in 1997, with a companion volume of sheet music for reenactors (The Civil War Ballroom Band Book) in 2005. Dancing by the Shore: Victorian Music from Nahant (1998) was recorded as a benefit for the Nahant (MA) Historical Society. Matthiesen recorded a solo piano CD of early Argentinean tangos, Tango Viejo; he has performed this repertoire at venues including the Troy Music Hall and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. With Mel Bay, Matthiesen published two volumes of historic sheet music: Argentinean Tangos for Keyboard (a selection by the most outstanding composers of the guardia vieja) and Habaneras, Maxixes & Tangos: The syncopated piano music of Latin America (works illustrating the roots of tango through its most popular rhythm, known as habanera). Matthiesen edited and published three volumes of traditional and contemporary waltzes, known as The Waltz Books. These have sold over 30,000 copies since first volume was released in 1992.
Buddington is a talented violinist from North Adams. He joins Spare Parts for period dances of all eras. Buddington performs regularly with other musicians, including the medieval ensemble Woodbinde and the contra dance band Coincidance.
The early 1800s, known as the Regency Era in England, is well known to fans of Jane Austen, Georgette Heyer and Patrick O’Brien (whose works were popularized in the movie Master and Commander.) Stell and Matthiesen worked with dance historian Susan de Guardiola of New Haven, CT, to develop historically accurate repertoire. Ms. de Guardiola teaches Regency Era dances and steps, as well as dances from other eras. She works with Spare Parts to present a Regency Ball every October in New Haven. The melodies recorded on The Regency Ballroom were tested and refined at these period events, contributing to the dance lilt that can be heard in the recording.
Click here to learn more about and here selections from The Regency Ballroom!
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