Publications by Gregory Decker
Published in You’ve Got Something: A Cole Porter Companion. Edited by Don M. Randel, Matthew Shaf... more Published in You’ve Got Something: A Cole Porter Companion. Edited by Don M. Randel, Matthew Shaftel, and Susan Forscher Weiss.Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2016.
An introduction to and annotated bibliography of secondary sources on Cole Porter and his music. Contains 101 annotated entries.
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Published in Intégral, vol. 28/29 (double issue), April 2016
Giovanni Maria Artusi’s famous cond... more Published in Intégral, vol. 28/29 (double issue), April 2016
Giovanni Maria Artusi’s famous condemnation of contrapuntal procedure in Monteverdi’s madrigal setting “Cruda Amarilli” comprises one half of what is probably the most famous theoretical-philosophical argument over western music in the early modern period. Artusi’s argument centered on misuse of mode and poor handling of contrapuntal dissonance, while Monteverdi’s and his brother Giulio Cesare’s contention was that, as Susan McClary has put it, “the words made me do it" (2004, 182). Thus, Monteverdi’s setting of Giovanni Battista Guarini’s dramatic-pastoral monologue is held up as the touchstone of the seconda pratica madrigal and Artusi’s examples of its poor counterpoint (as defined by Zarlino) are often thought of as its defining characteristic. Yet a number of scholars have recently demonstrated that in “Cruda Amarilli” and, indeed, in the late sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century Italian madrigal in general, dissonance treatment is only one significant musical element in stylistically informed hermeneutic interpretation. To be sure, the excerpts of Monteverdi’s madrigal that Artusi highlighted do respond to the text of the piece and are therefore expressive. However, a close reading of the musical and poetic texts by Monteverdi and other composers in his milieu reveals that the connection between words and music in these works runs deeper: strategic oppositions (and sometimes ambiguities) of mode, counterpoint, and style interact to create rich poetic interpretations in which dualities of emotion, characterization, affect, and symbolism often played a great role. In this article, I explore the specific compositional strategies that Monteverdi and two of his contemporaries—Luca Marenzio and Sigismondo d’India—used to create varying text expressions and interpretations in their respective settings of “Cruda Amarilli,” and I contextualize these composers’ literary and musical choices within the greater world of the Italian madrigal genre. While Monteverdi’s work relies on modal-cadential patterning to evoke Amaryllis’s dual nature referenced in the text, Marenzio’s and d’India’s compositional choices complicate this oft-cited opposition. I read Marenzio’s version as focusing less on the dual nature of Amaryllis’s name (see below) and more on the tension between remaining true and renunciation that is inherent in unrequited love; d’India’s setting turns back to Amaryllis, but paints her nature as ambiguous rather than binary.
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Published in The Opera Journal, 47/2, September 2014
With few exceptions, there is a distinct pa... more Published in The Opera Journal, 47/2, September 2014
With few exceptions, there is a distinct paucity of modern analytical studies regarding the association of music and drama in Baroque opera seria. Authors who do mention these works restrict themselves to passing comments or assume that they are inherently undramatic and, presumably, not worthy of study. However, in this article, I contend that compelling relationships between music and drama may be revealed if the analysis of these operas is approached in a way that acknowledges the aesthetic principles that influenced their composition. Though Joseph Kerman ([1956] 1988, 214) proposes that music can enter into a relationship with characterization, dramatic atmosphere, or action in opera, the emphasis on the solo aria tilts the focus of Baroque opera to what Charles Rosen terms “dramatic expression,” ([1971] 1997, 43). Solo arias constitute the chief mode of expression in Baroque opera seria, and these musical monologues, through the intersection of music and drama, reveal the personalities and motivations of the characters who perform them. Of Kerman’s three dramatic possibilities, then, it is characterization that takes precedence in Baroque opera.
In this article, I explore the manner in which structural and expressive musical devices contribute to characterization in Baroque opera, using the role of Cleopatra in George Friderich Handel’s Giulio Cesare in Egitto (1724) as a case study. To examine structure, I use a reductive voice-leading approach and employ Channan Willner’s concept of tonal and durational periodicities in Baroque music (2005 and 2006). Musical topoi are the primary expressive elements at work in the arias; although a complete exposition of Baroque topics is not feasible, the generalized musical characteristics and expressive content associated with the topics that are relevant to the opera will be explicated. The integration of the structural, semiotic, and dramatic analyses leads to hermeneutic interpretation, moving from general associative indications to character-specific meanings.
Handel’s Cleopatra lends herself well to this character study—her interactions with other characters and her emotional reactions in the arias are intriguing because her motives for seducing Caesar are, on the surface, ambiguous. She may wish to manipulate him into forging an alliance with her; alternatively, it is possible that Cleopatra is actually in love with Caesar. An examination of dramatic and musical evidence, however, reveals Cleopatra’s motivations for cultivating a relationship with Caesar as chiefly political. This characterization, in Cleopatra’s case, is achieved through incongruence among projected topical associations, stylistic level, and surface-level dramatic information. In the famous aria “V’adoro, pupille,” for example, conflict between the projected stylistic levels of the prevailing topic (the Sarabande) and the hypermetric structure provides extra-dramatic commentary on the incongruence between her high standing and her rather ignoble plans, and the resulting affect is “feigned dignity.” The affect highlights Cleopatra’s inclination to deceive those around her for her own benefit. Examples from Cleopatra’s music and contemporaneous Baroque arias demonstrate that the relationship between music and drama in the Baroque opera seria can be rich and revealing if the possibilities and limitations of the genre are taken into account.
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Published in Music Theory Online 19.4, December 2013
Like pendant portraits in Baroque visual ar... more Published in Music Theory Online 19.4, December 2013
Like pendant portraits in Baroque visual art, which were meant to be viewed and understood as pairs, contemporaneous opera seria arias may be interpreted with respect to one another. In this article, I illustrate the usefulness of regarding arias as pendants by examining two pairs from G.F. Handel’s opera Rodelinda (1725). Structural and semiotic investigations comprise my musical analyses with a focus on musical topics, voice leading, and musical gestures. The analytical methodology of Matthew Shaftel (2009) coupled with the foundational interpretive frameworks of Robert Hatten (1994 and 2004), Lawrence Kramer (1990), and Wye Jamison Allanbrook (1983) provide a consistent set of strategies with which to negotiate the disparate domains of musical structure and dramatic content. Examples of aria pairs sung by two different characters and by the same character are considered. Viewing two arias as pendants aids in developing specific interpretations and has broader ramifications for understanding characterization throughout the work.
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Music Theory Online, Apr 1, 2012
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Conference Presentations by Gregory Decker
Dissertation by Gregory Decker
With few exceptions, there is a distinct paucity of modern analytical studies regarding the assoc... more With few exceptions, there is a distinct paucity of modern analytical studies regarding the association of music and drama in Baroque opera seria. Few authors even mention the works, and those who do tend to make comments about them only in passing or assume that they are inherently not dramatic and, presumably, not worthy of study. It is possible, however,
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Drafts by Gregory Decker
Singing in Signs: New Semiotic Explorations of Opera, 2020
In Singing in Signs: New Semiotic Explorations of Opera. Edited by Gregory J. Decker and Matthew ... more In Singing in Signs: New Semiotic Explorations of Opera. Edited by Gregory J. Decker and Matthew Shaftel. New York, Oxford University Press.
In this chapter, I make a case for the interpretive significance of Baroque topics by examining historical thought and modern analytical precedent, detailing the types of significations these topics might convey, and presenting case studies that demonstrate the efficacy of musical topics in the analysis of opera seria. These case studies are drawn from the Italian language operas of G.F. Handel and focus on his uses of the minuet and the gigue. The strategic use of dance topics in the late Baroque was likely meaningful to Handel’s audiences and can still be useful for interpretation today.
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Forthcoming
Topics in the eighteenth century are often understood as suggesting specific dramatic interpretat... more Topics in the eighteenth century are often understood as suggesting specific dramatic interpretation either through musical combination (e.g., troping, see Hatten 1994) or when considered in combination with other domains, like the libretto and plot of an opera. A topic used this way might be said to particularize, providing subtext to a character’s words or context for surrounding music. The use of topics in Broadway shows are often somewhat different, though. Topical oppositions, where they exist, are frequently only musical. That is, the affective or socio-cultural associations with a given number’s musical topic may not have much friction with the lyrics, dramatic situation, or character singing, but the accrued use of topics throughout the work may create musical oppositions on a larger-scale. Instead of particularizing, then, in many cases, topics in musicals imbue the work with atmosphere, providing generalizations about time, place, and characterization Thus, these stylistic references, while similar in semiotic structure to eighteenth-century topics, are not always analogous in hermeneutic spirit. In this essay, I explore the generalizing potential of musical topics and some instances of particularization in three Broadway shows: The Secret Garden (1991), Sweeney Tood (1979), and The Fantasticks (1960).
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Papers by Gregory Decker
This book offers a series of essays that show the integrated role that musical structure (includi... more This book offers a series of essays that show the integrated role that musical structure (including harmony, melody, rhythm, meter, form, and musical association) plays in making sense of what transpires onstage in musicals. Written by a group of music analysts who care deeply about musical theater, this collection provides new understanding of how musicals are put together, how composers and lyricists structure words and music to complement one another, and how music helps us understand the human relationships and historical and social contexts. Using a wide range of musical examples, representing the history of musical theater from the 1920s to the present day, the book explores how music interacts with dramatic elements within individual shows and other pieces within and outside of the genre. These essays invite readers to consider issues that are fundamental both to our understanding of musical theater and to the multiple ways we engage with music.
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Singing in Signs, 2020
This chapter makes a case for the interpretive significance of Baroque topics by examining histor... more This chapter makes a case for the interpretive significance of Baroque topics by examining historical thought and modern analytical precedent, detailing the types of significations these topics might convey, and presenting case studies that demonstrate the efficacy of musical topics in the analysis of opera seria. These case studies are drawn from the Italian-language operas of G. F. Handel and focus on his uses of the minuet and the gigue. The strategic use of dance topics in the late Baroque was likely meaningful to Handel’s audiences and can still be useful for interpretation today.
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Music Theory Online, 2013
Like pendant portraits in Baroque visual art, which were meant to be viewed and understood as pai... more Like pendant portraits in Baroque visual art, which were meant to be viewed and understood as pairs, contemporaneous opera seria arias may be interpreted with respect to one another. In this article, I illustrate the usefulness of regarding arias as pendants by examining two pairs from G.F. Handel’s operaRodelinda(1725). Structural and semiotic investigations comprise my musical analyses with a focus on musical topics, voice leading, and musical gestures. The analytical methodology of Matthew Shaftel (2009) coupled with the foundational interpretive frameworks of Robert Hatten (1994 and 2004), Lawrence Kramer (1990), and Wye Jamison Allanbrook (1983) provide a consistent set of strategies with which to negotiate the disparate domains of musical structure and dramatic content. Examples of aria pairs sung by two different characters and by the same character are considered. Viewing two arias as pendants aids in developing specific interpretations and has broader ramifications for unde...
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University of Illinois Press, 2017
This chapter presents an annotated list of secondary sources whose major focus is either Cole Por... more This chapter presents an annotated list of secondary sources whose major focus is either Cole Porter and his music or subjects closely related to his life and works. The bibliography will be of use to researchers who study Porter, his music, and the historical and cultural milieu in which he worked; it will also be of interest to those wishing to grasp the state of the field, as it serves as a general overview of the available research. The sources have been organized into six categories: biography; critical interpretation; musical construction; studies of particular songs, shows, or lyrics; contextual sources; and encyclopedic sources. Several sources that do not fall easily into any of these groupings have been listed separately.
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Publications by Gregory Decker
An introduction to and annotated bibliography of secondary sources on Cole Porter and his music. Contains 101 annotated entries.
Giovanni Maria Artusi’s famous condemnation of contrapuntal procedure in Monteverdi’s madrigal setting “Cruda Amarilli” comprises one half of what is probably the most famous theoretical-philosophical argument over western music in the early modern period. Artusi’s argument centered on misuse of mode and poor handling of contrapuntal dissonance, while Monteverdi’s and his brother Giulio Cesare’s contention was that, as Susan McClary has put it, “the words made me do it" (2004, 182). Thus, Monteverdi’s setting of Giovanni Battista Guarini’s dramatic-pastoral monologue is held up as the touchstone of the seconda pratica madrigal and Artusi’s examples of its poor counterpoint (as defined by Zarlino) are often thought of as its defining characteristic. Yet a number of scholars have recently demonstrated that in “Cruda Amarilli” and, indeed, in the late sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century Italian madrigal in general, dissonance treatment is only one significant musical element in stylistically informed hermeneutic interpretation. To be sure, the excerpts of Monteverdi’s madrigal that Artusi highlighted do respond to the text of the piece and are therefore expressive. However, a close reading of the musical and poetic texts by Monteverdi and other composers in his milieu reveals that the connection between words and music in these works runs deeper: strategic oppositions (and sometimes ambiguities) of mode, counterpoint, and style interact to create rich poetic interpretations in which dualities of emotion, characterization, affect, and symbolism often played a great role. In this article, I explore the specific compositional strategies that Monteverdi and two of his contemporaries—Luca Marenzio and Sigismondo d’India—used to create varying text expressions and interpretations in their respective settings of “Cruda Amarilli,” and I contextualize these composers’ literary and musical choices within the greater world of the Italian madrigal genre. While Monteverdi’s work relies on modal-cadential patterning to evoke Amaryllis’s dual nature referenced in the text, Marenzio’s and d’India’s compositional choices complicate this oft-cited opposition. I read Marenzio’s version as focusing less on the dual nature of Amaryllis’s name (see below) and more on the tension between remaining true and renunciation that is inherent in unrequited love; d’India’s setting turns back to Amaryllis, but paints her nature as ambiguous rather than binary.
With few exceptions, there is a distinct paucity of modern analytical studies regarding the association of music and drama in Baroque opera seria. Authors who do mention these works restrict themselves to passing comments or assume that they are inherently undramatic and, presumably, not worthy of study. However, in this article, I contend that compelling relationships between music and drama may be revealed if the analysis of these operas is approached in a way that acknowledges the aesthetic principles that influenced their composition. Though Joseph Kerman ([1956] 1988, 214) proposes that music can enter into a relationship with characterization, dramatic atmosphere, or action in opera, the emphasis on the solo aria tilts the focus of Baroque opera to what Charles Rosen terms “dramatic expression,” ([1971] 1997, 43). Solo arias constitute the chief mode of expression in Baroque opera seria, and these musical monologues, through the intersection of music and drama, reveal the personalities and motivations of the characters who perform them. Of Kerman’s three dramatic possibilities, then, it is characterization that takes precedence in Baroque opera.
In this article, I explore the manner in which structural and expressive musical devices contribute to characterization in Baroque opera, using the role of Cleopatra in George Friderich Handel’s Giulio Cesare in Egitto (1724) as a case study. To examine structure, I use a reductive voice-leading approach and employ Channan Willner’s concept of tonal and durational periodicities in Baroque music (2005 and 2006). Musical topoi are the primary expressive elements at work in the arias; although a complete exposition of Baroque topics is not feasible, the generalized musical characteristics and expressive content associated with the topics that are relevant to the opera will be explicated. The integration of the structural, semiotic, and dramatic analyses leads to hermeneutic interpretation, moving from general associative indications to character-specific meanings.
Handel’s Cleopatra lends herself well to this character study—her interactions with other characters and her emotional reactions in the arias are intriguing because her motives for seducing Caesar are, on the surface, ambiguous. She may wish to manipulate him into forging an alliance with her; alternatively, it is possible that Cleopatra is actually in love with Caesar. An examination of dramatic and musical evidence, however, reveals Cleopatra’s motivations for cultivating a relationship with Caesar as chiefly political. This characterization, in Cleopatra’s case, is achieved through incongruence among projected topical associations, stylistic level, and surface-level dramatic information. In the famous aria “V’adoro, pupille,” for example, conflict between the projected stylistic levels of the prevailing topic (the Sarabande) and the hypermetric structure provides extra-dramatic commentary on the incongruence between her high standing and her rather ignoble plans, and the resulting affect is “feigned dignity.” The affect highlights Cleopatra’s inclination to deceive those around her for her own benefit. Examples from Cleopatra’s music and contemporaneous Baroque arias demonstrate that the relationship between music and drama in the Baroque opera seria can be rich and revealing if the possibilities and limitations of the genre are taken into account.
Like pendant portraits in Baroque visual art, which were meant to be viewed and understood as pairs, contemporaneous opera seria arias may be interpreted with respect to one another. In this article, I illustrate the usefulness of regarding arias as pendants by examining two pairs from G.F. Handel’s opera Rodelinda (1725). Structural and semiotic investigations comprise my musical analyses with a focus on musical topics, voice leading, and musical gestures. The analytical methodology of Matthew Shaftel (2009) coupled with the foundational interpretive frameworks of Robert Hatten (1994 and 2004), Lawrence Kramer (1990), and Wye Jamison Allanbrook (1983) provide a consistent set of strategies with which to negotiate the disparate domains of musical structure and dramatic content. Examples of aria pairs sung by two different characters and by the same character are considered. Viewing two arias as pendants aids in developing specific interpretations and has broader ramifications for understanding characterization throughout the work.
Conference Presentations by Gregory Decker
Dissertation by Gregory Decker
Drafts by Gregory Decker
In this chapter, I make a case for the interpretive significance of Baroque topics by examining historical thought and modern analytical precedent, detailing the types of significations these topics might convey, and presenting case studies that demonstrate the efficacy of musical topics in the analysis of opera seria. These case studies are drawn from the Italian language operas of G.F. Handel and focus on his uses of the minuet and the gigue. The strategic use of dance topics in the late Baroque was likely meaningful to Handel’s audiences and can still be useful for interpretation today.
Papers by Gregory Decker
An introduction to and annotated bibliography of secondary sources on Cole Porter and his music. Contains 101 annotated entries.
Giovanni Maria Artusi’s famous condemnation of contrapuntal procedure in Monteverdi’s madrigal setting “Cruda Amarilli” comprises one half of what is probably the most famous theoretical-philosophical argument over western music in the early modern period. Artusi’s argument centered on misuse of mode and poor handling of contrapuntal dissonance, while Monteverdi’s and his brother Giulio Cesare’s contention was that, as Susan McClary has put it, “the words made me do it" (2004, 182). Thus, Monteverdi’s setting of Giovanni Battista Guarini’s dramatic-pastoral monologue is held up as the touchstone of the seconda pratica madrigal and Artusi’s examples of its poor counterpoint (as defined by Zarlino) are often thought of as its defining characteristic. Yet a number of scholars have recently demonstrated that in “Cruda Amarilli” and, indeed, in the late sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century Italian madrigal in general, dissonance treatment is only one significant musical element in stylistically informed hermeneutic interpretation. To be sure, the excerpts of Monteverdi’s madrigal that Artusi highlighted do respond to the text of the piece and are therefore expressive. However, a close reading of the musical and poetic texts by Monteverdi and other composers in his milieu reveals that the connection between words and music in these works runs deeper: strategic oppositions (and sometimes ambiguities) of mode, counterpoint, and style interact to create rich poetic interpretations in which dualities of emotion, characterization, affect, and symbolism often played a great role. In this article, I explore the specific compositional strategies that Monteverdi and two of his contemporaries—Luca Marenzio and Sigismondo d’India—used to create varying text expressions and interpretations in their respective settings of “Cruda Amarilli,” and I contextualize these composers’ literary and musical choices within the greater world of the Italian madrigal genre. While Monteverdi’s work relies on modal-cadential patterning to evoke Amaryllis’s dual nature referenced in the text, Marenzio’s and d’India’s compositional choices complicate this oft-cited opposition. I read Marenzio’s version as focusing less on the dual nature of Amaryllis’s name (see below) and more on the tension between remaining true and renunciation that is inherent in unrequited love; d’India’s setting turns back to Amaryllis, but paints her nature as ambiguous rather than binary.
With few exceptions, there is a distinct paucity of modern analytical studies regarding the association of music and drama in Baroque opera seria. Authors who do mention these works restrict themselves to passing comments or assume that they are inherently undramatic and, presumably, not worthy of study. However, in this article, I contend that compelling relationships between music and drama may be revealed if the analysis of these operas is approached in a way that acknowledges the aesthetic principles that influenced their composition. Though Joseph Kerman ([1956] 1988, 214) proposes that music can enter into a relationship with characterization, dramatic atmosphere, or action in opera, the emphasis on the solo aria tilts the focus of Baroque opera to what Charles Rosen terms “dramatic expression,” ([1971] 1997, 43). Solo arias constitute the chief mode of expression in Baroque opera seria, and these musical monologues, through the intersection of music and drama, reveal the personalities and motivations of the characters who perform them. Of Kerman’s three dramatic possibilities, then, it is characterization that takes precedence in Baroque opera.
In this article, I explore the manner in which structural and expressive musical devices contribute to characterization in Baroque opera, using the role of Cleopatra in George Friderich Handel’s Giulio Cesare in Egitto (1724) as a case study. To examine structure, I use a reductive voice-leading approach and employ Channan Willner’s concept of tonal and durational periodicities in Baroque music (2005 and 2006). Musical topoi are the primary expressive elements at work in the arias; although a complete exposition of Baroque topics is not feasible, the generalized musical characteristics and expressive content associated with the topics that are relevant to the opera will be explicated. The integration of the structural, semiotic, and dramatic analyses leads to hermeneutic interpretation, moving from general associative indications to character-specific meanings.
Handel’s Cleopatra lends herself well to this character study—her interactions with other characters and her emotional reactions in the arias are intriguing because her motives for seducing Caesar are, on the surface, ambiguous. She may wish to manipulate him into forging an alliance with her; alternatively, it is possible that Cleopatra is actually in love with Caesar. An examination of dramatic and musical evidence, however, reveals Cleopatra’s motivations for cultivating a relationship with Caesar as chiefly political. This characterization, in Cleopatra’s case, is achieved through incongruence among projected topical associations, stylistic level, and surface-level dramatic information. In the famous aria “V’adoro, pupille,” for example, conflict between the projected stylistic levels of the prevailing topic (the Sarabande) and the hypermetric structure provides extra-dramatic commentary on the incongruence between her high standing and her rather ignoble plans, and the resulting affect is “feigned dignity.” The affect highlights Cleopatra’s inclination to deceive those around her for her own benefit. Examples from Cleopatra’s music and contemporaneous Baroque arias demonstrate that the relationship between music and drama in the Baroque opera seria can be rich and revealing if the possibilities and limitations of the genre are taken into account.
Like pendant portraits in Baroque visual art, which were meant to be viewed and understood as pairs, contemporaneous opera seria arias may be interpreted with respect to one another. In this article, I illustrate the usefulness of regarding arias as pendants by examining two pairs from G.F. Handel’s opera Rodelinda (1725). Structural and semiotic investigations comprise my musical analyses with a focus on musical topics, voice leading, and musical gestures. The analytical methodology of Matthew Shaftel (2009) coupled with the foundational interpretive frameworks of Robert Hatten (1994 and 2004), Lawrence Kramer (1990), and Wye Jamison Allanbrook (1983) provide a consistent set of strategies with which to negotiate the disparate domains of musical structure and dramatic content. Examples of aria pairs sung by two different characters and by the same character are considered. Viewing two arias as pendants aids in developing specific interpretations and has broader ramifications for understanding characterization throughout the work.
In this chapter, I make a case for the interpretive significance of Baroque topics by examining historical thought and modern analytical precedent, detailing the types of significations these topics might convey, and presenting case studies that demonstrate the efficacy of musical topics in the analysis of opera seria. These case studies are drawn from the Italian language operas of G.F. Handel and focus on his uses of the minuet and the gigue. The strategic use of dance topics in the late Baroque was likely meaningful to Handel’s audiences and can still be useful for interpretation today.