Michel Praetorius - Terpsichore (Traditerra)

Information

Composer: Michel Praetorius

1. Terpsichore: Ballet des Amazones. Bransle de Montirande
2. Terpsichore: La Sarabande. Courantes
3. Terpsichore: Bransle Gay double. Bransle de la Schappe
4. Terpsichore: Courantes
5. Terpsichore: Bransle double
6. Terpsichore: Bransle de la Royne
7. Terpsichore: Bransle simple
8. Terpsichore: Courantes II
9. Terpsichore: Bransle de la Torche
10. Terpsichore: Courantes III

Traditerra

    Vladimir Molodtsov, renaissance bagpipes

    Ekaterina Lozbeneva, renaissance bagpipes

    Ksenia Kudryavtseva, recorders

    Dmitry Cherevko, renaissance guitar, cittern

    Yuri Posypanov, landsknechttrommel, pandereta

Date: 2026

Label: Melodiya

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Early music is not the most prominent aspect of contemporary culture, yet it remains historically significant. The ensemble Traditerra has recorded works from the legacy of Michael Praetorius, a major 17th-century German composer and collector of music. Praetorius is highly respected within the field of historically informed performance, known for his contributions to Lutheran sacred music and for documenting musical practices in his influential treatise The Structure of Music. He also preserved and published works by other composers, becoming an important guardian of his era’s repertoire. Traditerra’s recording highlights a rare part of his output: secular dance music from Terpsichore, selecting ten pieces—mainly elegant variations of the traditional branle.

Following historically informed performance practices, the ensemble Traditerra recorded the music using authentic instruments described by Michael Praetorius. Their instrumentation includes Renaissance bagpipes, citterns, four-course guitars, recorders, and a variety of percussion instruments, reflecting the sound world of the early seventeenth century. The ensemble consists of five musicians: Vladimir Molodtsov and Ksenia Kudryavtseva, who perform on period brass instruments; Ekaterina Lozbeneva, a multi-instrumentalist; Dmitry Cherevko, a specialist in historical plucked instruments; and percussionist Yuri Posypanov. Through this combination of period instruments and specialized performers, the group aims to recreate the timbres and performance style characteristic of Praetorius’s era.

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