ABSTRACT
As with Salamone Rossi, a large part of Cavalier Giovanni Battista Buonamente's instrumental output consists of ostensibly functional short sinfonias and dance music, no doubt stemming from the requirements of their respective courts. In the empire, then, the distinction between such 'tafelmusik' and functional dance music for balls was already established by the time of Buonamente's arrival, and it is highly likely that his dance music was used in both capacities. If the situation regarding the gagliarda is confusing, that of the corrente the most popular dance in ensemble collections is positively bewildering since it is not discussed in detail in any of the treatises apart from a brief description in Negri. It is even impossible to arrive at a uniform conception of speed since references in collections point to the existence of both a slow and quick form. In comparison with the gagliarde, Buonamente's correnti are fairly slight, the longest achieving thirty-eight bars.
