A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Quadrille

by William Barclay Squire

QUADRILLE (German Contretanz), a dance executed by an equal number of couples drawn up in a square. The name (which is derived from the Italian squadra) was originally not solely applied to dances, but was used to denote a small company or squadron of horsemen, from 3 to 15 in number, magnificently mounted and caparisoned to take part in a tournament or carrousel. The name was next given to 4, 6, 8, or 16 dancers, dressed alike, who danced in one or more companies in the elaborate French ballets^[1] of the 18th century. The introduction of 'contredanses' into the ballet, which first took place in the 5th act of Rousseau's 'Fêtes de Polymnie' (1745), and the consequent popularity of these dances, are the origin of the dance which, at first known as the 'Quadrille de Contredanses' was soon abbreviated into 'quadrille.' The quadrille was settled in its present shape at the beginning of the 19th century, and it has undergone but little change, save in the simplification of its steps. It was very popular in Paris during the Consulate and the first Empire, and after the fall of Napoleon was brought to England by Lady Jersey, who in 1815 danced it for the first time at Almack's^[2] with Lady Harriet Butler, Lady Susan Ryde, Miss Montgomery, Count St. Aldegonde, Mr. Montgomery, Mr. Montague, and Mr. Standish. The English took it up with the same eagerness which they displayed with regard to the polka in 1845, and the caricatures of the period abound with amusing illustrations of the quadrille mania. It became popular in Berlin in 1821.

The quadrille consists of five distinct parts, which bear the name of the 'contredanses' to which they owe their origin. No. i is 'Le Pantalon,' the name of which is derived from a song which began as follows:

Le pantalon
De Madelon
N'a pas de fond,

and was adapted to the dance. The music consists of 32 bars in 6-8 time. No. 2 is 'L'Été,' the name of a very difficult and graceful 'contredanse' popular in the year 1800; it consists of 32 bars in 2-4. time. No. 3 is 'La Poule' (32 bars in 6-8 time) which dates from the year 1802. For No. 4 (32 bars in 2-4 time) two figures are danced, 'La Trénise,' named after the celebrated dancer Trenitz, and 'La Pastourelle,' perhaps a survival of the old 'Pastorale.' No. 5—'Finale'—consists of three parts, repeated four times. In all these figures (except the Finale, which sometimes ends with a coda) the dance begins at the 9th bar of the music, the first 8 bars being repeated at the end by way of conclusion. The music of quadrilles is scarcely ever original; operatic and popular tunes are strung together, and even the works of the great composers are sometimes made use of.^[3] The quadrilles of Musard are almost the only exception; they may lay claim to some recognition as graceful original musical compositions.

[ W. B. S. ]

1. The Ballets were divided into 5 acts, each act into 3, 6, 9, or 12 'entrées,' and each 'entrée' was performed by on or more 'quadrilles' of dancers.
2. See Captain Gronow's Reminiscences (1861).
3. Some of our readers may recollect the clever 'Bologna Quadrilles' on themes from Rossini's 'Stabat Mater,' which were published shortly after the appearance ot that work. The plates of these quadrilles were destroyed on the publishers learning the source from which the author had obtained the melodies.