Pavane (novel) the site of a semaphore station, and the castle at Corfe is a key presence in the book. Over all, the long arm of the Popes reached out to punish and reward; the Church Militant remained supreme. But by the middle of the twentieth century widespread mutterings were making themselves heard. Rebellion was once more in the air . . . The title alludes to the stately and melancholy dance, the pavane, the book being divided thematically into measures and a coda. After a brief Prologue explaining the back-story, the stories are: "Pavane" soon found an important place in the
Pavane pour une infante défunte given on 27 February 1911 in Manchester, England, conducted by Sir Henry Wood. Reviewing the concert, the critic Samuel Langford called the work "most beautiful" and added, "The piece is hardly representative of the composer, with whom elusive harmonies woven in rapid figuration are the usual medium of expression. In the "Pavane" we get normal, almost archaic harmonies, subdued expression, and a somewhat remote beauty of melody." The first gramophone recording of the "Pavane" was made in 1921 in Paris. A later recording, made in Paris in 1932 is sometimes thought to have been conducted by the composer, but was