Hornpipe

What it means

The hornpipe is an English dance attested since the sixteenth century. Where the name comes from is not clearly established; it is often traced to a wind instrument of the same name, to whose accompaniment the dance is supposed to have originally been danced, but clear evidence for this is lacking, and other explanations have been proposed.

The dance has changed its shape in the course of time. The older form of the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries is usually in 3/2 time, that is, with three half notes per bar, and is characterized by syncopated rhythms in which accents fall on unexpected beats. The younger form, which established itself in the nineteenth century, by contrast is in duple time, usually 2/4, and has dotted rhythms. This younger form is today the better known and is connected with sailors and folk music.

The 3/2 metre therefore holds only for the older form. Whoever plays a hornpipe should check which type is meant.

In the notation

The older hornpipe appears in 3/2 time with syncopated figures and hemiolas. The younger appears in duple time with characteristic dotted rhythms and an ending of three accented quarter notes. Both are articulated into repeated sections.

Musical use

The older form is found in English art music around 1700, in suites, stage music, and dance collections. The younger form belongs to the folk music of the British Isles and is alive there to this day, especially in Ireland and Scotland.

The presumed namesake instrument is known under the Welsh name pibgorn. Purcell and Handel composed hornpipes in the older, syncopated form; Handel's hornpipe from the Water Music (1717) is among his best-known pieces.

Performance practice

First settle which type is present, for metre, rhythm, and character differ fundamentally. With the older form bring out the syncopations distinctly, with the younger the dotted rhythms. Keep the tempo dance-like. And listen to recordings from the respective tradition.