Jodie Blackshaw (b. 1971) is an Australian composer, educator, and thinker. She has spent her career intertwining composition and education as closely as possible through the music she has written and the extensive resources she produces for each piece. She calls this intersection “Classtrumental music.” She arrived at this practice through close work with all kinds of students in remote areas, and their ensembles that often demanded a flexible approach to instrumentation and ability level. She credits Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences Theory and the Orff-Schulwerk approach to music education as other major influences. The Australian Music Centre offers a colorful take on her and her music:

Have you ever played a ‘Blackshaw’ with your school band or wind ensemble? If you have, then you know that a work by this Australian composer-educator is different from the norm. You will also know that it takes you, the Director, on an alternate educational pathway that, for some, is a little uncomfortable at first. That said, you would also know that it is a surprise package, an audience favourite, and presents you with interesting conducting challenges. After performing it you realise that your students have ‘got a lot out of it’ and that it was one of the most engaging music making experiences of your academic year.

Read even more about her at the Australian Music Centre, GIA Music, C. Alan Publications, and her outstanding website.

Blackshaw wrote Terpsichorean Dances in 2005 and dedicated to it to the students of the “St. Patrick’s College Band Program, Sutherland, New South Wales, Australia, from 1999-2002,” adding that “Their infectious enthusiasm, unwavering support, and raw talent will always be an inspiration to me.” It won 2nd place in the Frank Ticheli Composition Contest in 2006. The material for the piece came from the work of Michael Praetorius, as Blackshaw details in her program note (to which I have added a few links):

Michael Praetorius (1571-1621), German composer and archivist, was fanatical about recording the details of the many countries he visited, with a focus on the kind of music and musical instruments he encountered. The culmination of this fascination was his three-volume treatise, Syntagma Musicum, a compendium of information on German music, musical instruments, and performance practice. But much more well-known today is Praetorius’ 1612 collection of 312 dances from the royal courts of France, known as Terpsichore, named for the Greek muse of dance. These dances were not composed by Praetorius; instead, he recorded and harmonized the melodies into three, four, five, and sometimes even six parts in order to avoid their imminent extinction.

In this setting for concert band, three dances from the collection are featured: Springtanz (Leaping Dance); Der Lautenspieler, (the Lute Player); and Der Schutzenkönig, (the Archer King). To favor Praetorius’s infatuation with different musical instruments, this setting employs a variety of colors, and features the soloist and sections alike. Performers are invited to play in an animated nature to reinforce the strong sense of pulse required in all dance music. And though the lagerphone was unknown to Praetorius, it is equally a joyous jangle.

Here is Terpsichorean Dances in live performance:

The program note and recording above just scratch the surface. Blackshaw is a strong believer in providing educational resources, so her score includes an extensive note to the conductor and rehearsal notes. She also has a dedicated resource page for Terpsichorean Dances on her website. It is REQUIRED reading! In addition, you can read this analysis, check out this article in MBM Times, look at the score, get it from J. W. Pepper, and read about it at the Wind Repertory Project.

Preatorius did not specify the instrumentation of his Terpsichore. Because of this, the dances that he collected and published have been variously arranged for all sorts of instruments. Here is the Springtanz for solo guitar:

Der Lautenspieler for trombone choir:

An early music ensemble does Der Schutzenkönig:

Another early music ensemble does a collection of the dances from Terpsichore.

Finally, if this hasn’t brought you enough joy yet, check out this video about the lagerphone, which Blackshaw calls for in this piece and several others: