‘That raises the question of what we’re doing when we study all those treatises and try to play like Couperin. Probably not everybody sounded like Couperin in Couperin’s day, or wanted to. And maybe we don’t actually want to sound like Couperin, either — we want to sound like a plausible, tasteful, expressive but individual performer.’

In 18th- and 19th-century Europe (and colonial culture in the Americas), dancing was used to make social connections and impress members of one’s class. ‘Dance and Sociability’ offers detailed descriptions of the social context for European dance among the upper classes during this period, including a thought-provoking article on how to define “grace.”

Gabriela Guadalajara is perhaps NYC’s only luthier who works exclusively on period instruments. In a brilliantly devised partnership, she is helping bring Baroque instrument-making techniques to Latin America.

Brace yourself for tri-cornered hats and fife-and-drum renditions of ‘Yankee Doodle.’ Nostalgia aside, America250 is an opportunity to reflect on the broader trajectories of our musical heritage. We lose something profound if this moment is nothing more than a self-congratulatory celebration.