Two Dances from the 1730s

Taken from "Twenty-Four Dances for the year 1738 with proper tunes Figures or Directions for each Dance." published by Benjamin Cooke in 1738.

Benjamin Cooke (? - 1743) was an organist, music publisher and music seller based at the Golden Harp in New Street, Covent Garden, from 1726 to 1743. Cooke had, in 1723, married the widow of John Jones, who had operated as an instrument maker and music publisher at the Golden Harp until 1720.

His second wife, Elizabeth Wayet, was the sister-in-law of Lancelot (Capability) Brown, the legendary garden designer, who gave birth to the composer Benjamin Cooke(1734 - 1793).

As well as collections of dance music, Cooke's production included a seminal edition of the collected works of Arcangelo Corelli in study scores comprising all five books of sonatas and the twelve concerti grossi. Indeed,  Cooke was in many ways a pioneering music publisher with his insistence on sourcing music from composers or their agents rather than other publisher's material.