A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Farandole

by W. Barclay Squire

FARANDOLE. A national Provençal dance. No satisfactory derivation has been given of the name. Diez ('Etymologisches Wörterbuch der Romanischen Sprachen') connects it with the Spanish Farandula, a company of strolling players, which he derives from the German fahrende. A still more unlikely derivation has been suggested from the Greek φάλαγξ and δουλος, because the dancers in the Farandole are linked together in a long chain. The dance is very probably of Greek origin, and seems to be a direct descendant of the Cranes' Dance, the invention of which was ascribed to Theseus, who instituted it to celebrate his escape from the Labyrinth. This dance is alluded to at the end of the hymn to Delos of Callimachus: it is still danced in Greece and the islands of the Ægean, and may well have been introduced into the South of France from Marseilles. The Farandole consists of a long string of young men and women, sometimes as many as a hundred in number, holding one another by the hands, or by ribbons or handkerchiefs. The leader is always a bachelor, and he is preceded by one or more playing the galoubet, i.e. a small wooden flute-à-bec, and the tambourin. [See vol. iv. p.55.] With his left hand the leader holds the hand of his partner, in his right he waves a flag, handkerchief, or ribbon, which serves as a signal for his followers. As the Farandole proceeds through the streets of the town the string of dancers is constantly recruited by fresh additions. The leader (to quote the poet Mistral) 'makes it come and go, turn backwards and forwards … sometimes he forms it into a ring, sometimes winds it in a spiral, then he breaks off from his followers and dances in front, then he joins on again, and makes it pass rapidly under the uplifted arms of the last couple.'^[1] The Farandole is usually danced at all the great feasts in the towns of Provence, such as the feast of Corpus Domini, or the 'Coursos de la Tarasquo,' which were founded by King Réné on April 14, 1474, and take place at Tarascon annually on July 29. In the latter the Farandole is preceded by the huge effigy of a legendary monster—the Tarasque—borne by several men and attended by the gaily dressed 'chevaliers de la Tarasque.' The music of the Farandole is in 6-8 time, with a strongly accentuated rhythm. The following is the traditional 'Farandoulo dei Tarascaire' of Tarascon:—

The Farandole has occasionally been used for less innocent purposes than that of a mere dance: in 1815 General Ramel was murdered at Toulouse by the infuriated populace, who made use of their national dance to surround and butcher him.

The Farandole has been introduced on the stage in Gounod's 'Mireille,' and in Daudet's 'L'Arlésienne' (with Bizet's music), but the dance is not suited for the purposes of a ballet. Further information concerning it will be found sub voce in Larousse's Dictionary, in Vidal's 'Lou Tambourin,' Désanat's 'Coursos de la Tarasquo,' Mistral's 'Mireille,' 'Fêtes de la Tarasque,' and introduction to Mathieù's 'La Farandoulo,' and in the works of Hyacinthe Morel. A good description of the dance occurs in Daudet's 'Numa Roumestan.'

[ W. B. S. ]

1. Ansèume Mathieù. La Farandoulo, published with a translation and notes by F. Mistral, Avignon, 1862.