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Lecture Notes in Electrical Engineering 713

Marcin Kubica
Adam Opara
Dariusz Kania

Technology
Mapping
for LUT-Based
FPGA
Lecture Notes in Electrical Engineering

Volume 713

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Marcin Kubica Adam Opara
• •

Dariusz Kania

Technology Mapping
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123
Marcin Kubica Adam Opara
Silesian University of Technology Silesian University of Technology
Gliwice, Poland Gliwice, Poland

Dariusz Kania
Silesian University of Technology
Gliwice, Poland

ISSN 1876-1100 ISSN 1876-1119 (electronic)

Lecture Notes in Electrical Engineering
ISBN 978-3-030-60487-5 ISBN 978-3-030-60488-2 (eBook)
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Preface

This book is a summary of the authors’ many years of research in the field of logic
synthesis. These studies concentrated in the areas of function decomposition,
technological mapping or recently cyber-physical systems. These issues were the
subject of two doctoral dissertations: Adam Opara: “Dekompozycyjne metody
syntezy układów kombinacyjnych wykorzystujące binarne diagramy decyzyjne”
(2009) and Marcin Kubica: “Dekompozycja i odwzorowanie technologiczne z
wykorzystaniem binarnych diagramów decyzyjnych” (2014) in Silesian University
of Technology. The ideas underlying these Ph.D. theses have been developed over
the years, which has been the basis of many scientific publications that are refer-
enced in the book.
The motivation for the book was the desire to present comprehensively the
issues that the authors have dealt with in recent years. The book is a presentation of
a number of ideas published in earlier articles, to which the reader is directed and
the appropriate reference materials. This type of approach allows a more complete
presentation of the essence of problems and solutions proposed by the authors,
meticulously presented in the indicated articles. The authors emphasize that this
book is a review, and the original source of ideas presented are the authors’
publications and doctoral dissertations, from which the authors took materials
necessary to create this book.
We would like to thank the reviewers and colleagues for many valuable com-
ments, which were the inspiration for continuous improvement of developed
methods and influenced the final form of this book. We thank wives, daughters and
all relatives for invaluable help and understanding.

Gliwice, Poland Marcin Kubica

Adam Opara
Dariusz Kania

v
Contents

1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... 1
1.1 ASIC Implementation of Digital Circuits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... 1
1.2 Influence of Architecture on the Way of Conducting Logic
Synthesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.3 Academic Systems of Logic Synthesis Oriented at FPGA . . . . . 6
1.4 System on Chip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2 Methods for Representing Boolean Functions—Basic
Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.1 Hypercube, Cube, Implicant, Minterm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.2 Two-Level Description of a Boolean Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
2.3 Truth Table, Karnaugh Map, Binary Decision Tree . . . . . . . . . . 20
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
3 Binary Decision Diagrams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....... 25
3.1 BDD Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....... 29
3.2 Basics of Software Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....... 31
3.2.1 Representation of Diagram Nodes in Computer
Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....... 31
3.2.2 Negation Attribute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....... 33
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....... 35
4 Theoretical Basis of Decomposition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
4.1 Functional Decomposition Theorem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
4.2 Complex Decomposition Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
4.3 Iterative Decomposition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
4.4 Multiple Decomposition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
4.5 Direction of Decomposition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

vii
viii Contents

5 Decomposition of Functions Described Using BDD . . . . . . . . . . . .. 53

5.1 Methods for Performing Function Decomposition Using
Single Cuts of the BDD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
5.1.1 Simple Serial Decomposition—Single Cut Method . . . . 53
5.1.2 Iterative Decomposition—Single Cut Method . . . . . . . . 55
5.1.3 Multiple Decomposition—A Single Cut Method . . . . . . 56
5.2 Methods of Realizing Function Decomposition Using Multiple
Cuts of the BDD Diagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 57
5.2.1 SMTBDD in the Decomposition Process . . . . . . . . . . .. 59
5.2.2 Simple Serial Decomposition—Multiple Cutting
Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 60
5.2.3 Multiple Decomposition—Multiple Cutting Method . . .. 60
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 63
6 Ordering Variables in BDD Diagrams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
7 Nondisjoint Decomposition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
8 Decomposition of Multioutput Functions Described Using BDD ... 77
8.1 Creating Common Bound Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... 77
8.2 Method of Creating Multioutput Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... 82
8.3 Methods of Merging Single Functions into Multioutput
Using PMTBDD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... 86
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... 91
9 Partial Sharing of Logic Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....... . . . . 93
9.1 Equivalence Classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....... . . . . 96
9.2 Partial Sharing in SMTBDD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....... . . . . 97
9.3 Searching for Equivalence Classes with MTBDD Usage . . . . . . 98
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....... . . . . 112
10 Ability of the Configuration of Configurable Logic Blocks . . . . . . . 115
10.1 Configuration Features of Logic Cells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
11 Technology Mapping of Logic Functions in LUT Blocks . . . . . . . . 119
11.1 Selection of Cutting Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
11.2 Methods for Determining the Efficiency of Technology
Mapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
11.3 Triangle Tables, Including Nondisjoint Decomposition . . . . . . . 126
11.4 Technology Mapping that Takes into Account the Sharing
of Logic Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Contents ix

12 Technology Mapping of Logic Functions in Complex Logic

Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
12.1 Technology Mapping in ALM Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
12.2 Methods for Assessing Technology Mapping in ALM
Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
12.3 Technology Mapping of Nondisjoint Decomposition . . . . . . . . . 144
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
13 Decomposition Methods of FSM Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
13.1 Finite State Machine Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
13.2 Technology Mapping of the FSM Combination Part in
Configuration Logic Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
14 Algorithms for Decomposition and Technological Mapping . . . . . . 153
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
15 Results of Experiments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
15.1 Comparison of MultiDec and DekBDD Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
15.2 Comparison with Selected Academic Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
15.3 Effect of Triangle Tables on the Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
15.4 Comparison of the MultiDec System with Commercial
Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
15.5 Synthesis of Sequential Circuits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
15.6 Technology Mapping in Complex Logic Blocks—Results
of Experiments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
16 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Chapter 1
Introduction

The design process of digital systems requires the use of specialized computer-aided
design (CAD) software. The diversity of digital circuit implementations and the
domination of application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) create many problems
in the field of automatic synthesis. Describing the designed systems and converting
description to a form implemented in hardware are challenging. These problems have
contributed to the development of high-level forms of system description, which may
include hardware description languages or even system description languages.
The description of a system at a high level of abstraction, for example, using
hardware description languages (VHDL, VERILOG HDL), renders the process of
compiling various language forms extremely important. A very important issue of
modern logic synthesis is linking the elements of synthesis with the problems of
technology mapping of circuits. Only effective synthesis algorithms, including tech-
nology mapping methods that are well suited to the architecture of circuits, can enable
“good” system design (effectively using the logic resources of the structure).
The intention of the authors of this book is to present various aspects of modern
logic synthesis with a focus on the issues of technology mapping of designed circuits
in Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) structures. The issues of synthesis and
technology mapping are discussed primarily in connection with binary decision
diagrams.

1.1 ASIC Implementation of Digital Circuits

In the group of currently produced integrated digital circuits, a person can distinguish
standard circuits, which are intended for general, universal applications and special-
ized circuits (Application-Specific Integrated Circuits - ASIC) that are designed or
adapted to the individual needs of the user.
Implementations of digital systems based on standard integrated circuits that are
selected from an extensive range of mass-produced components currently do not have

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 1

M. Kubica et al., Technology Mapping for LUT-Based FPGA, Lecture Notes
in Electrical Engineering 713, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-60488-2_1
2 1 Introduction

economic justification, even with a small production series. Solutions in the form of
various forms of ASICs are substantially more profitable. Integrated circuits of this
type are manufactured or adapted to the individual needs of the customer. Several
types of circuits can be distinguished in the ASIC circuit group. They differ in the
degree of resource individualization, method of initial preparation of gate matrices
and method of adapting the “semifinished products” to the needs of the recipient.
Four groups of ASICs exist: full custom, standard cells, gate arrays and
programmable logic devices. In the case of full custom circuits, an entire system
is created on a “clean” silicon surface, which renders it profitable only for the largest
production series. Designing circuits in the form of gate arrays and standard cells
requires the use of prepared library elements that are adapted to the applied tech-
nology or semifinished products that contain appropriate matrices of elementary
elements (transistors, and resistors). In each case, an appropriate specification of the
digital system is combined with the selection of library elements. The process of
creating an integrated circuit completes the execution of masks that enable you to
connect the components.
For small production runs, PLDs are utilized (PLD—Programmable Logic
Devices). In this case, the process of adapting a circuit to the user’s needs is achieved
by programming. The development of programmable devices has enabled them to
address a growing area of applications. The key advantage of this form of implementa-
tion of an integrated circuit is its easy modification, which consists of reprogramming
a device. This type of feature predisposes programmable structures to applications
that are aimed at prototyping. In addition, this type of solution does not require the use
of very advanced technology lines, and the entire process of manufacturing a digital
system can occur at the designer’s desk. The constantly increasing complexity of
programmable structures and the increasing availability of software affect the high
attractiveness of this type of solution. A significant advantage of this technology is
the possibility of reprogramming a system in a manufactured and operating digital
system.
Field Programmable Gate Arrays are currently the market-dominating family
of PLDs. They consist of programmable logic cells (blocks) and additional logic
resources for connecting them and exchanging information with the environment.
The most popular FPGAs are LUT-based FPGAs [1, 2] that contain configurable logic
blocks, I/O blocks (IOB) and interconnect areas that are used to make connections.
Configurable logic blocks enable the implementation of each logic function with a
specific and usually small number of variables. The logic structure of these blocks is
similar to the structure of the first programmable read only memory (PROM) types.
Configuration data, which are responsible for the way connections are made inside
a device, are most often contained in RAM memory cells. The simplified structure
of FPGAs is shown in Fig. 1.1. A configurable logic block usually contains LUT
array blocks with few inputs but enable any function. A LUT-type logic block that
contains n-inputs and m-outputs is abbreviated LUTn/m.
In specific solutions, larger structures are created, e.g., referred to as “slice”
cells in Xilinx devices, and in addition to LUT4/1 blocks, they contain additional
programmable multiplexers, programmable connections, and elementary arithmetic
1.1 ASIC Implementation of Digital Circuits 3

FPGA
Interconnect Area

I/O Block

LUT-based Logic Block

LUT

n/m

Fig. 1.1 Architecture of LUT-based FPGAs

blocks. The basic element of these solutions is the LUT block, which works in various
configurations. Sometimes larger structures can be created within a block; however,
the resources of neighboring cells are always utilized, creating significant imple-
mentation restrictions [2]. An example of logic resources available in slice blocks
of Spartan 3 devices enable the creation of LUT blocks with more inputs than the
elementary LUT5/1 block, as shown in Fig. 1.2.
Note that arithmetic elements appear increasingly often in logic blocks of FPGAs
or outside of them. These elements include fast transfer circuits or specialized multi-
pliers. FPGA structures are used to accelerate calculations by hardware implemen-
tation, which explains the emphasis on optimizing arithmetic operations. A conse-
quence of this is embedding in the FPGA structure numerous dedicated modules,
enabling, for example, rapid multiplication and increasing the efficiency of various
types of computational applications.
A characteristic feature of FPGA structures is the segmental nature of the connec-
tions (Fig. 1.3). Each connection point can be modeled as an RC system with delay.
The propagation time introduced by the connection paths depends on the location
of the connected blocks inside the FPGA. In addition, the connection resources in
FPGAs are limited, making the placement of blocks within the structure (placement,
fitting) and the way of routing extremely important. In addition to general purpose
connections, the FPGA has a limited number of long lines—usually vertical and hori-
zontal—which create less delay and are usually employed to distribute time-critical
signals.
4 1 Introduction

Fig. 1.2 Architecture of

“Slice”—various LUT block
configurations FIXINB
F8 X
FIXINA
LUT6/1
F5
F5

LUT5/1
FIXINB
FX
F6
FIXINA

LUT7/1
F5
F5

FIXINB FX
F7
FIXINA
LUT6/1

F5
F5

LUT5/1

FIXINB
F6 FX
FIXINA

F5
F5

Other structures of elementary blocks occur in less popular devices. Actual

devices, which are sometimes referred to as multiplexer-based FPGAs, are good
example. In this case, the basic element of the configurable block is the multiplexer
that operates in various configurations [3]. In addition to FPGAs, CPLDs that consist
of matrix of AND gates variously connected to configurable logic cells maintain a
significant place in the area of programmable systems. Although the area of applica-
tion of CPLD devices has significantly decreased in recent years, these device have
an important role, especially in energy-saving systems. New synthesis algorithms
that focus on the effective use of logic resources of PAL-based CPLDs have been
developed [4–10].
1.2 Influence of Architecture … 5

t1
t2

I/O I/O I/O I/O t1>t2

I/O CLB CLB CLB CLB I/O

I/O CLB CLB CLB CLB I/O

Interconnect Area

I/O CLB CLB CLB CLB I/O

I/O CLB CLB CLB CLB I/O

I/O I/O I/O I/O

Fig. 1.3 Programmable connections in the FPGA structure

1.2 Influence of Architecture on the Way of Conducting

Logic Synthesis

The specificity of programmable devices makes the synthesis process different from
the classic synthesis of digital circuits that are implemented using separate elements,
i.e., gates, flip-flops, or larger functional blocks, such as multiplexers and counters.
The synthesis process in programmable structures is reduced to “fitting” the designed
circuit into the programmable structure. The designer’s task is to properly describe
the circuit and verify the results. The synthesis process is usually automatically
performed. Unfortunately, the results are not optimal [11–14].
In the first design stage, the task of the designer is to specify the designed circuit.
Various HDL languages are commonly employed for this purpose. A traditional
circuit description is possible using a schematic editor and library elements that
were created and optimized for the selected programmable structure.
The next stage is the compilation of the description, which is usually integrated
with minimization procedures. The large variety and complexity of programmable
structures means that one of the basic stages of synthesis is to divide a project into
appropriate parts, which are implemented in individual PLDs or logic blocks that
occur in CPLDs and FPGAs. Simple programmable devices (PLA, FPLA) did not
introduce any restrictions related to the possibilities of connections within a structure.
A similar situation applies to CPLDs. The most important stages of the synthesis in
this case are two closely related processes: the process of dividing a project into
appropriate blocks and the selection of appropriate programmable structures (logic
blocks) for their implementation. In the case of simple programmable logic devices
(PAL, PLA), the problem is searching for implementation obtained as a result of a
division of modules on separate circuits [15]. In the case of CPLDs, the division
involves the division of the project into individual logic blocks within a structure. In
6 1 Introduction

most cases, CPLD structures consist of PAL-based logic blocks that contain a certain
number of terms; thus, the synthesis goal is to effectively use them [16–19]. In the
background of an effective technology mapping of the designed system in CPLDs,
an effective use of terms or PAL-based logic blocks that contain the number of terms
characteristic for individual systems families [20].
In FPGAs, an extremely important stage of synthesis is decomposition, which
causes the division of the designed circuit into appropriate configurable logic blocks.
Due to limited connection resources, two problems become critical: placement of
blocks within the structure and routing. The synthesis process always ends with
the creation of a configuration data file that is sent during configuration to the
programmable device.
Since the beginning of the 90s of the last century, many complex synthesis
methods, which are subject to constant modification, have been created due to the
need to adapt them to new structures of programmable devices. The variety of forms
of digital circuit implementation enables the creation of universal design tools that
are dedicated to the entire range of PLDs from various manufacturers. The advan-
tage of these design support systems is their versatility and the associated ability
to transfer projects between different families of programmable devices. The final
stages of technology mapping are performed in a company’s tools, which are devel-
oped by a specific manufacturer of PLDs. Because the target structure is not included
in the initial stage of synthesis, universal tools usually do not ensure the efficient
use of programmable device resources, although recently this rule does not apply.
Unfortunately, portability usually does not correlate with the resource efficiency of
programmable structures.
The second group of design support tools are specialized tools included in the
company’s software packages provided by manufacturers of PLDs. These tools
usually enable a more efficient use of specific properties of structures but can be
used for a limited group of programmable devices, which is a serious disadvantage.
A simplified block diagram of the design process is shown in Fig. 1.4.

1.3 Academic Systems of Logic Synthesis Oriented

at FPGA

Logic synthesis is the subject of many scientific papers. As a rule, the work is limited
to a single stage of synthesis. In the 1980s, the subject of function minimization was
popular and produced algorithms such as Espresso [21]. In the 90s and the beginning
of the twenty-first century, work focused on topics related to function decomposition
and technologic mapping.
The first logic synthesis algorithms dedicated to an LUT-based FPGA were based
on logic synthesis collaborated to gate-based circuits (MIS-PGA [22, 23], ASYL
[24, 25], Chortle [26]). These algorithms used various elements of multilevel opti-
mization, factorization of Boolean expressions, variable partitioning, lexicographical
1.3 Academic Systems of Logic Synthesis Oriented at FPGA 7

Fig. 1.4 Block diagram of

Project description
the design process
HDL (VHDL, Verilog)

Compilation
creating a netlist

Behavioral simulation Optimization

minimization, decomposition

?
Technology mapping
mapping
placement, fitting
Post-technology routing
mapping simulation

Creating
configuration data
Simulation
verification

Configuration

ordering of variables, and dynamic programming. LUT mapping steps were often
based on the iterative division of a network of gates. In the initial step, the network of
gates corresponded to a Boolean expression after a two-level minimization. Network
mapping was based on an appropriate choice of nodes [26–30]. The technology
mapping process transforms a technology-independent logic network into a network
of logic nodes. Each logic node was represented by a k-input LUT. State-of-art FPGA
technology mappers, which are based on a division of a logic network, are presented
in [31–33].
Decomposition is a crucial element of a logic synthesis dedicated to an LUT-
based FPGA. Decomposition enables a project to be divided into the parts that have
a given number of inputs, because LUTs enable a function that has a limited number
of variables (4, 5 or 6) to be carried out. Ashenhurst-Curtis theory [25, 34, 35] is
a background for many decomposition algorithms that are oriented to LUT-based
FPGAs. This model of decomposition became the basis of the second group of tech-
nology mapping approaches [26, 36–40]. These algorithms often use graph coloring
techniques [40–44], function transformation [40, 45], and a combination of classic
decomposition with the procedures of outputs’ division. A classic decomposition
model is used in the synthesis process that is oriented to PAL-based CPLD [7, 46,
47]. The main interest, however, is concerned with the methods that use Binary
Decision Diagrams (BDD) [48–59]. Description of logic functions in the form of
BDD may cause substantial limitation of memory usage and makes the operations
8 1 Introduction

run faster. Due to these advantages, synthesis systems such as BDS [60], BDS–PGA
[61], and DDBDD [62] have appeared and produce very efficient solutions that are
similar to a system’s DAOmap [31] or ABC [63], which use AIG graphs. In recent
years, the decomposition process has used resynthesis elements more frequently
[37, 64, 65]. Regarding the synthesis process, the configurability of logic blocks is
considered; the ALMmap tool is an example [66].
In recent years, research on system-oriented synthesis that focuses on System on
Chip has become increasingly popular and is associated with the synthesis of Cyber-
Physical Systems [14, 67, 68], where establishing a clear border between a physical
layer of a system and implemented calculating techniques is difficult. Aspects related
to the synthesis of energy-saving systems are also very important [69–73].

1.4 System on Chip

Technology development has enabled the manufacture of systems of once unimagin-

able complexity. This manufacture influences the expansion of the area of application
of devices, such as hardware control systems [74–78], signal processing systems [79–
82], hardware calculation methods [75, 83–85], hardware implementation of fuzzy
systems [86–88], reconfigurable control systems concurrent [89–92], advanced data
coding systems [80, 93, 94] and data analysis in transmission systems [95].
In most cases, the modern digital system is a microprocessor system that is
surrounded by a peripheral digital system. This type of system is referred to as System
on Chip. The programmable device is produced by merging various elements into
one structure. The structure can be adapted to a user’s needs, which is a characteristic
feature of ASICs. One of the groups of systems on the chip, in which the main role
is played by programmable structures, comprise the programmable systems on chip
(programmable System on Chip (pSoC)). Formerly inaccessible systems implemen-
tation methods become real due to pSoC structures, which enable the building of
dedicated complex devices, such as industrial PLC controllers [96–99].
Because these systems are currently developing dynamically, clearly classifying
various solutions that appear on the market is difficult. The development of hard-
ware description languages meant that complex elements of pSoC circuits (proces-
sors, arithmetic circuits) do not have to be created in the production process of an
integrated circuit. Adaptation to needs can be achieved by programming the system.
This possibility is created by virtual components, which are program resources of
the system and resemble parameterized macros that were previously detected in
synthesis tools. Thus, in pSoC systems, in addition to the programmable part, two
types of additional resources can be distinguished: hardware resources produced in
the integrated circuit production process and program resources implemented in the
programming process, which are available in the form of various virtual components
offered by many companies.
Programmable devices currently enable the development of hardware-software
codesign systems that perform computational tasks in a multithreaded manner
1.4 System on Chip 9

supported by hardware methods of thread switching and selection [100]. The problem
of selection of virtual components, combined with issues of concurrent hardware
and software synthesis and related to the design of these systems by methods of
description (SystemC, SystemVerilog), is the basis for the development of circuits or
programmable systems at the current time. A modern programmable system usually
has the option of partial dynamic reconfiguration. This feature creates completely
new possibilities for using the systems [101, 102] and introduces new problems into
the synthesis process. In this type of programmable structure, for example, you can
implement multicontext systems.
In recent years, the design process has been moved to areas very far from purely
hardware issues. Designers describe systems at increasingly higher levels of abstrac-
tion, indicating that they often do not identify the hardware resources of the imple-
mented system. According to the authors, this approach is not conducive to creating
effective logic synthesis algorithms. This fact has become a motivation for writing this
book. The development of programmable structures has constantly introduced new
synthesis problems. Some of these problems have not been satisfactorily resolved. An
example is the problem of decomposition. Despite the development of various decom-
position methods, an effective method for dividing the designed system into config-
urable logic blocks contained in FPGAs does not exist. Showing circuits that use
substantially fewer logic blocks than solutions obtained using commercial synthesis
tools remains extremely easy [10, 11, 42, 103–108].
This book is an attempt to present a series of original concepts of technology
mapping of digital circuits in FPGAs. The process of technology mapping is closely
related to the process of decomposition of logic functions described by binary
decision diagrams.

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Chapter 2
Methods for Representing Boolean
Functions—Basic Definitions

In the process of logic synthesis, the method of representing Boolean functions has
great importance. The development of synthesis methods is inseparably connected
with the search for new forms of description [1–4]. A “good” description of logic
expressions should be effective in terms of memory usage while ensuring easy
optimization of Boolean expressions that are mapped in modern digital circuits.
This chapter focuses on several basic forms of function representation. These
characters are directly related to the following considerations, which cover various
issues of synthesis and technology mapping. Basic definitions are also presented,
and they enable a precise description of various synthesis issues.

2.1 Hypercube, Cube, Implicant, Minterm

Let Bn be an n-dimensional binary space, which is often referred to as an n-

dimensional cube or hypercube. A hypercube is a representation of an n-dimensional
space, where each point is associated with n-binary coordinates [5].
Each point of the 4-dimensional space is associated with a unique vector that can
be described by the product of 4 literals. A literal is a variable or its negation. For
example, a point of space with coordinates 0101 corresponds to the product of four
literals d̄cb̄a. The product of literals is sometimes referred to as a subcube or cube.
If all elements of space appear in the product of literals, we refer to a 0 dimensional
cube. Any subspace that is selected can be described by the product of literals. For
example, in the 4-dimensional space represented by the hypercube in Fig. 2.1, one
of the planes describes the product d̄a. This product corresponds to the vector 0--1.
In this case, we refer to a 2nd-order cube due to two elements of indeterminacy.
In the general case, the Boolean function f maps the set Bn into the set {0,1,-},
where B = {0,1}, i.e., f: f : Bn → {0,1,-}. Thus, each function can be uniquely defined
by specifying two of three sets of Bn space points, for which the values 0, 1 and - are
assumed. These sets are referred to as the OFF-set, ON-set and Don’t Care (DC)-set.

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 15

M. Kubica et al., Technology Mapping for LUT-Based FPGA, Lecture Notes
in Electrical Engineering 713, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-60488-2_2
16 2 Methods for Representing Boolean …

b
0010 0011

0110
0111 b
1010 1011
0000 0001

a 1111
1110
0100
0101 1000 1001

c a
1100
1101

c d

Fig. 2.1 Four-dimensional hypercube

Consider the logic function f: B4 → B, which is represented by a 4-dimensional

hypercube. The values of the functions 0, 1, and - for individual coordinates are
marked with the symbols o, •, and x, respectively (Fig. 2.2).
An unambiguous description of the function is possible by specifying two of
the three subsets of the B4 space, i.e., ON-set and OFF-set, ON-set and DC-set, or
OFF-set and DC-set, where

b
0010 0011

0110
0111 b
1010 1011
0000 0001

a 1111
1110
0100
0101 1000 1001

c a
1100
1101

c d

Fig. 2.2 Description of the example function f: B4 → B1

2.1 Hypercube, Cube, Implicant, Minterm 17

OFF = {0000, 0100, 0110, 1000, 1010, 1100, 1110}dcba

ON = {0001, 0101, 1001, 1011, 1101, 1111}dcba
DC = {0010, 0011, 0111}dcba .

Definition 2.1 An implicant of the Boolean function f: Bn → B is a pair of vectors

with the dimensions n and 1, which are referred to as the input part and the output
part. The input part contains elements of the set {0,1,-}, while the output part contains
the element 1. The input part corresponds to the product of literals, for which the
function takes the value 1 or DC.
Definition 2.2 A prime implicant of the Boolean function f: Bn → B is the implicant
described by the product of literals, among which no literal can be removed and the
reduced product remains the implicant of the function.
Definition 2.3 A minterm of the Boolean function f: Bn → B is the implicant (product
of n literals), which in the input part contains only elements of the set {0,1}.
An example of the implicants of the function shown in Fig. 2.2 can be the pair of
vectors 1--1 1 that correspond to the expression ad. The space points correspond to
the implicant and lie on one plane, for which the variable a and d assumes the value
1. The implicant 1--1 1 covers the four minterms 1001 1, 1011 1, 1101 1 and 1111 1.
A very important issue is the simultaneous description of several functions.
In the case of a multioutput function, the concepts of multioutput implicants and
multioutput minterms have a significant role.
Definition 2.4 The multioutput implicant of the logic function f: Bn → Bm is a pair
of vectors with the dimensions n (input part) and m (output part). The input part
contains elements of the set {0,1,-}, and in the case of the implicant of a single
function, represents the product of literals. The output part assumes the values of 0
or 1, where the value 1 is understood and ensures that the corresponding function
for the vector that corresponds to the input part assumes the value 1 or indefinite
value, while the value 0 does not contain any information about the value of the
corresponding function.
Definition 2.5 The multioutput minterm of the Boolean function f: Bn → Bm is a
multioutput implicant, which in the input part contains n-elements that belong to the
set {0,1} (full product of n-literals) and in the output part contains only one 1.
We present in a 3-dimensional Boolean space a set of two functions f0 and f1,
which are described using three two-output terms: 11- 11, --1 10, and −01 01, where
the order of the elements corresponds to the variables cba and the values of the
function f0f1.
A certain problem that causes ambiguity is a misunderstanding of the symbol 0
in the output part of a multioutput implicant. This problem occurs in the case of the
symbol 0 located in the output part of the multioutput implicant --1 10. This implicant
entails four minterms of the function f1, i.e., 001 10; 011 10, 101 10, 111 10. However,
the implicant does not contain any information about the function f1. For example,
18 2 Methods for Representing Boolean …

Fig. 2.3 Implicants of b b

functions f0 and f1 010 011 010 011

111 111
110 110

000 001 000 001

a a
100 100
101 101
c c
f0 f1

the symbol 0 in the output part that corresponds to the function f1 of the multioutput
minterm 001 10 does not mean that the function f1 for the cba vector equal to 001
assumes the value 0. The value of this function defines the multioutput implicant -01
01, which does not contain any information about the function f1 (Fig. 2.3).
Understanding the concept of the multioutput implicant and multioutput minterm
enables a proper interpretation of a very popular description of functions in the
Berkeley format used by the program to minimize Espresso [6–8].

2.2 Two-Level Description of a Boolean Function

One way to describe a Boolean function is the Berkeley format, which is accepted
by the program to minimize Espresso [7, 8]. The function description file consists of
three groups of lines:
• lines that contain comments starting with the character “#”,
• lines that contain keywords that start with the character “.”,
• lines that describe Boolean functions that start with one of the characters “0”, “1”
or “-“.
Keywords determine the way in which each character is interpreted to form a
description of the [9] function. The order in which the keywords appear is strictly
defined. Their minimum set should contain the words “.i” and “.o”, where: i[d] defines
the number of inputs of the function, .o[d] is the number of outputs of the function,
where d represents the corresponding decimal number. Labels can be assigned to
individual inputs and outputs using the following structures: .ilb [s1]… [sn] - assign
symbolic names to all variables of the function; and .ob [s1]… [sn] - assign symbolic
names to all functions, where [si] is the name of the corresponding function input
or output. The description of logic functions is supplemented by two additional
keywords: .p [d] - specifies the number of lines that form the description of the
2.2 Two-Level Description of a Boolean Function 19

function (d—decimal number) and (.e (.end) - end of description marker). Details of
the Espresso format for the function description are provided in [9].
As previously mentioned, the unambiguous description of the function Bn → {0,
1,-}m enables two of three disjoint subsets of Bn spaces to be specified, for which the
function assumes the values of 0, 1 and—are referred to as the On-set, OFF-set and
DC-set, respectively. If the “.type” keyword is not included in the function description
file, the function description should be interpreted to include the description ON-set
and DC-set, and OFF-set, which can be designated as the complement of the sum
of specific sets. This interpretation affects the way characters are interpreted in the
lines that describe the implications of the functions, where the symbol 1 means that
the cube belongs to the ON-set, the symbol - indicates that the cube belongs to the
DC-set, and the symbol 0 should be interpreted that the cube does not belong to the
description of the function.
Thus, each line in the descriptive part of the function Bn → {0,1,-}m consists
of the n element input part, and this part contains the elements {0,1,-} and the m
element output part, which consists of the elements {0,1}. In the case of a description
of the function sets, some n-element input parts can be used to describe at least one
function. The information in the output part, of which the cube does not belong
to the description of the selected function, enables significant compression of the
description. An example of a 3-inputs description and 2-outputs function is presented
in Fig. 2.4.
The extension of the two-level description of a Boolean function is the description
of sequential automata in the form of the KISS format. In this case, in the place of
multioutput implicants, the following lines contain a symbolic description of FSM
transitions, which are sometimes referred to as symbolic implicants. An example of
a symbolic implicant can be the line 011 s1 s2 01, which means that an FSM in the
state s1 at the input vector 011 goes to the state s2 and simultaneously sets the FSM

a) b)
b b
010 011 010 011
.i 3
.o 2
.ilb c b a
111 111 .ob. f0 f1
110 110
.p 3
000 001 000 001 11- 11
--1 10
a a -01 01
.e
100 100
101 101
c c
f0 f1
Fig. 2.4 An example of the description of the function B3 → B2 in the form of hypercube with
marked terms (a) and the corresponding file in the form * .pla (b)
20 2 Methods for Representing Boolean …

outputs 01 on the FSM outputs. Details of the FSM description in KISS format are
provided in the [10].

2.3 Truth Table, Karnaugh Map, Binary Decision Tree

One of the original forms of describing Boolean functions is the truth table. The
description of a 3-input function using a truth table requires the creation of an
array of 23 rows associated with subsequent combinations of variables and their
corresponding function values, as shown in Fig. 2.5.
Many forms of the description of logic functions, from the point of view of logic
synthesis, do not have any practical significance. Imagine the size of the truth table
that would be used to describe a 16-output combinational system implemented in a
small 100-I/O programmable device. If we wanted to map this table in the computer’s
memory, we would need to use 284 * 16 memory cells. These types of values exceed
the available memory capacities many times.
The development of synthesis methods is inseparably connected with the search
for additional effective ways to describe logic functions [4]. In the initial period of
development of digital technology, the basic problem of synthesis is the minimization
of logic expressions [11]. The classic goal of logic minimization is to reduce expres-
sions that comprise the sum of products. This minimization goal is closely related
to the problem of implementing digital circuits using a gate network. The resulting
network of gates should contain the minimum number of gates that have the smallest
possible number of inputs. This network directly translates to a minimization of
integrated circuits and the number of soldering points, reducing the cost of a printed

Fig. 2.5 An example of a

truth table that describes the c b a y
function y = f (c, b, a)
0 0 0 0

0 0 1 0

0 1 0 0

0 1 1 1

1 0 0 0

1 0 1 1

1 1 0 0

1 1 1 1
Discovering Diverse Content Through
Random Scribd Documents
produced by lines and groups of dancers in the sight of a huge
audience all looking at the stage from different angles.
Beaujoyeux’s claim to appeal to and satisfy “l’œil, l’oreille, et
l’entendement” is also interesting, and quite in accord with modern
ideas of the Ballet.
The entertainment itself must have been a remarkable affair. It
began with a fine water display by a fountain with twelve sides, on
each of which were two naiads, with musical instruments, for the
“concert,” which accompanied the singers. Above the fountain-basin,
which was full of fish, rose another on pillars, where twelve niches
made seats for so many nymphs. In the middle, dolphins carried a
crown and formed a throne for the Queen. Two other basins rose
again above, formed of other dolphins grouped, which spouted great
jets of water, and the whole was topped by a golden ball five feet in
diameter.
It was from this “machine,” drawn by sea-horses and accompanied
by twelve tritons and as many sirens with their instruments, that
there descended the Queen, the Princesse de Lorraine, the Duchesses
de Mercueil, de Guise, de Nevers, d’Aumale and de Joyeuse, Marechal
de Raiz, and de l’Archant and the Demoiselles de Pons, de Bourdeille
and de Cypierre—who had all been seated in golden cars, and who
were dressed in silver cloth and crêpe encrusted with gold bullion and
precious stones. Thus they made the first entrance, arranging
themselves in twelve different figures. At the first entrance they were
six abreast and three in front in a triangle, of which the Queen formed
the first point.
After this impressive opening the ballet meandered through the
story of Circe, with musical interludes, songs and dances, and
elaborate allegory. But as the first act began at ten in the evening and
the last did not finish till after five in the morning, it will be seen that
the production was as lengthy as it was magnificent. Some idea of the
splendour of the fête, indeed, may be gathered from the fact that it
cost something over three and a half million francs. The conclusion
was graceful. The Queen and the Princesses, who had represented
naiads and nereids, presented gold medals to the princes and
seigneurs who, in the guise of tritons, had danced with them—
presumably as a reward for their patience! This presentation of gifts
became quite a custom at these courtly ballets, and doubtless the
modern cotillon is a survival.
The “Ballet Comique” set a fashion throughout Europe, and various
Courts vied with each other in similar entertainments. The English
Court had, of course, already had its ceremonial balls, masked balls
and “masques,” but their splendour had been nothing to this, and the
subsequent fêtes at the Courts of Elizabeth and James were directly
influenced by the example of the French in this direction, as we shall
see when we come to deal with the English masque as a form of
Ballet.
Let us first, however, consider the dances of the period, for which
we have an excellent authority in the work of Thoinot Arbeau.
CHAPTER VII

T H O I N OT A R B E AU ’ S “ O R C H É S O G R A P H I E ,” 1 5 8 8

“I n Spring,” we know, “the young man’s fancy lightly turns to

thoughts of love.” In the winter of life it would seem that an old
man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of the dances that his time-
stiffened limbs can no more achieve with their earlier agility and
grace, and he takes to—writing about them. For it is strange but true
that some of the most entertaining volumes on the subject are those
written on the history of the dance by “grave and reverend
seigneurs”; who, one would imagine, had long foregone all thought of
youthful pastimes and turned their minds to solemner affairs. Three
such, at least, I can recall—Thoinot Arbeau, Bonnet, and Baron.
Over three centuries ago—nay, nearly four, we come upon a
somewhat sage and elderly gentleman, Thoinot Arbeau, whose book
with its strange title, Orchésographie, was published in 1588.
Was it shyness, or sheer fraud that made him write it under a false
name, a nom de théâtre it would almost seem. For Thoinot Arbeau
was not his name, but a sort of anagram on his real one, which was
Jehan Tabourot. Moreover, he was sixty-seven when he wrote it, and
was a Canon of the Church! He was born at Dijon in 1519, and was
the son of one Estienne Tabourot, a King’s Counsellor! Think of it—
born four hundred years ago, yet he speaks to our time, telling us,
albeit in somewhat stiff and difficult French, of the dances that were
in vogue in his dancing days.
As to the strange title of his work, its meaning will of course be
apparent to all who know anything of the history of the subject, for
they will remember that the Greek word for the dance was
Orcheisthai (the Orchestra being the floor-space where the dancers
performed); and so Orchésographie is merely a treatise on the writing
of dances; that is, the setting of them down in such form that
subsequent readers could study the dances therefrom.
 The recording of the actual steps of dances has always been a
problem, and other leading masters in France (such as Beauchamps,
Pécourt, Feuillet) and in England (such as Weaver) had several more
or less successful shots during the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries at inventing a sort of dance-shorthand.
The very first author to attempt such a thing with any real success
was apparently our friend Arbeau; for earlier works, such as that of
Caroso, are very poor. Into the full details of his system, however, I do
not propose to enter now, for the matter is somewhat technical. The
interest of Arbeau’s work, however, is by no means mainly technical.
The book, which was published at Lengres in 1588, is written in the
form of a dialogue “by which everyone can easily learn and practise
the honest exercise of the dances,” to give the quaint phraseology of
the original, the two speakers being Arbeau the author, and Capriol, a
youth who some few years earlier had left Lengres to go to Paris and
Orleans and now, on his return, has sought out Arbeau to learn from
him all that he can of dancing. Thoinot at first does not recognise him
because, as he says, “You have grown so, and I believe that you have
also enlarged your spirit by virtue and knowledge.” He asks the young
man’s opinion of the study of Law, remarking that he was also once a
law-student.
Capriol expresses his admiration for the law as a necessary
institution, but complains that his neglect of the polite arts, while in
the company of the Orleans law-students, has made him dull and
wooden. He says that his knowledge of fencing and tennis makes him
an acceptable companion with other youths, but he fails as a dancer
to please the demoiselles, a point on which, it seems to him, depends
the whole reputation of a young man who contemplates marriage.
Then follows some sound advice, with curious details, from Arbeau,
on the advantages of dancing as a matrimonial agent, and he
acclaims the art as one necessary to social welfare.
Capriol agrees and expresses his disgust that the dance should
have been so subject to bitter attacks, of which he quotes historic
instances. Arbeau neatly responds that, “For one who has blamed, an
infinity have esteemed and praised the art,” also following with quoted
examples, saying, indeed, that “Le S. prophete royal dauid dāça au
deuāt de l’arche de Dieu,” or, in other words, that “the holy prophet,
King David, danced before the Ark of God.”
In the course of their conversation, Arbeau makes learned
references to the derivation of the word “Dance,” mentioning others
then in use that were allied to it, such as saulter (from the Latin
saltare), caroler (hence our “carols,” or songs which, originally,
accompanied certain religious dances), baler, and trepiner, Capriol
remembers that the ancients had three kinds of dances: the sedate
Emmeleia, the gay Kordax, and the mixed Sikinnis, the first of which
Arbeau likens (quite unhistorically) to the pavanes and basse-dance of
his own period; the second, to the gaillardes, voltas, corantos,
gavottes (note that—a reference to the gavotte in 1588!) and branles
(or, as Elizabethan Englishmen called them, “brawls”); while the third,
he declares, must have been similar to the branles doubles and to
“the dance which we call bouffons or matachins.”
Then, very wisely, he points out that most objections to dancing
have been provoked not by decent but by—objectionable dancing!
And as Capriol hastily assures his austere but kindly teacher that he
wants none of that sort, but that he is anxious to teach his twelve-
year-old sister what Arbeau is good enough to teach him, the old man
proceeds on most polite and methodical lines.
Arbeau, truly remarking that rhythm is the basis of the dance, as it
was always of all military marching and evolutions, then goes on to
give a wonderful disquisition on that glorious instrument, the drum,
and a masterly analysis of its rhythmic possibilities, both as an inspirer
of soldiers on the march and as a stimulus to the dance.
The old man’s enthusiasm for an instrument that has never really
received its due homage is truly fine, and he gives no less than
seventy-six examples of drum-beat on a common-time basis. He
follows this with an exposition of fife-playing (with musical examples);
his earnest plea for this study of drum (tambour) and fife being only
preparatory to a study of the basse-dances, which were properly
accompanied by both instruments.
As several of these dances of three centuries agone have been
revived in our time, it is of interest to consider them in some detail,
more especially as they formed the choregraphic basis of all the
ballets subsequently for some two centuries. Arbeau informs us that
most of what he calls the “recreative” dances (or as we might say
“social,” as opposed to the more ceremonial affairs necessitating an
orchestra) were performed in his forebears’ time to the music of the
flute and little drum.
Capriol asks: “Tell me, what are these dances and how are they
done?”
To which Arbeau replies that they danced, in his father’s days,
“pavanes, basse-dances, branles and courantes, which have been in
use some forty or fifty years.”
Capriol asks: “How did our fathers dance the basse-dance?”
Arbeau replied that they had two sorts, the one common and
regular, the other irregular, the former being danced to “chansons
régulieres,” and the latter to “chansons irrégulieres,” and proceeds to
explain that, for the former songs, there were sixteen bars which
were repeated, making thirty-two to commence with; then a middle
part of sixteen bars; and a close of sixteen, repeated; making eighty
bars in all. If the air of the song was longer than this, the basse-
dance played on it was termed “irregular.” He then explains that the
basse-dance proper was in three parts, the term being really only
applied to the first; the second being called “retour de la basse-
dance,” and the third and last being termed “tordion.”
Then comes the following:
“Memoire des mouvements pour la basse-dance.
R b ss d r d r b ss ddd r d
r b ss d r b c.”

Not unnaturally Capriol, who is for ever asking quite intelligent

questions, wants a translation of this cryptic-looking array of letters. It
is better understood when one hears that “R” stands for reverence,
“b” for a branle, “ss” for deux simples, “d” for a double (or three
“ddd” for three “doubles”); the small “r” stands for a réprise, and “c”
for congé; all of which are terms understood by dancers of to-day.
He gives very careful directions not only for performing the
“reverence,” the “simple,” the “double,” the “réprise,” and the “congé,”
but for performing the various movements of the basse-dance, the
retour, and the tordion; as, for instance, when he remarks that “You
begin the dance of the tordion, which is in triple time, just like the
basse-dance: but it is (to give his own words) plus legiere and
concitée.”
He describes the Pavane as “easy” to dance, and gives details of its
performance, together with the music of that famous and lovely
example, “Belle qui tiens ma vie captive,” the words being given in
full, for four voices and tambour accompaniment.
The Gaillarde, he says, is so-called “parce qu’il fault estre gaillard
and dispos pour la dancer,” and with much detail as to its
performance explains that while danced somewhat like the tordion the
latter is done “plus doulcement and avec actions and gestes moings
violents.”
He gives nearly a dozen musical examples for the gaillarde, one
called “La traditors my fa morire”; another “Anthoinette”; another,
with the charming title “Baisons nous belle”; another, “Si j’ayme ou
non.”
Capriol, by the way, remarks apropos after the second-named, that
“At Orleans when we give Aubades we always play on our lutes and
guiternes a gaillarde called ‘La Romanesque,’” but that it seemed so
hackneyed and trivial that he and his companions took to
“Anthoinette” as being livelier and having a better rhythm.
The Gaillarde was in triple time, and was made up of five steps (or
four steps and a leap) and one “position”; the term cinq pas also
being alternatively applied to it, hence the Shakespearean “cinque-
pace” and “sink-a-pace.”
 The Volte, from which is derived the modern valse, was described
by Arbeau as “a species of gaillarde familiar to the Provençals,”
danced, like the tordion, in triple time, and consisting of two steps
and a leap. The Volte, or Volta, as it was as often called, was popular
in England, as was the Gaillarde, and references to it are found in
Shakespeare (Troilus and Cressida) and in the one really great work
on the Dance in English literature, namely, Sir John Davies’ richly
imaginative and finely musical poem, Orchestra, or a Poeme on
Daunciny, which was published in 1596, only eight years after
Arbeau’s Orchésographie.
The Courante, Arbeau describes as very different from the Volte. It
is also (in contrast to the Pavanes and Basse-dances) a danse sautée,
but in twelve time, with running steps, requiring from time to time not
the quick, light leaping of a volte, but the sort of slow soaring for
which Vestris was famous in the eighteenth century and Volinin and
Bohn can perform so superbly to-day.
Arbeau says that in his youth the dance was given as a kind of
“ballet,” by three young men and three girls, with grace and dignity
and he bewails its subsequent decadence. The old English term was
“current traverse.” In Sir John Davies’ Orchestra one finds the
following reference:

“What shall I name those currant travases

That on a triple dactyl foot do run
Close by the ground in sliding passages?”

In Shakespeare’s Henry the Fifth, too, is the following:

“Bourbon: They bid us to the English dancing-schools

And teach lavoltas high and swift corantos;”

and Sir Toby Belch, it will be recalled, asks: “Why dost thou go to
church in a galliard and come home in a coranto? My very walk should
be a jig ... sink-a-pace.”
 There seems, however, considerable ground for question as to what
the courante, or coranto, really was, whether a slow or quick dance.
Arbeau’s directions are, for once, not quite clear. He speaks of it being
a more graceful affair in his younger days; and he was an old man at
the time his Orchésographie was published. In England it certainly
seems to have become a fairly lively dance, of which the main feature
was its “running” steps.
In France that characteristic seems to have been the same though
the tempo may have been slower. Certainly it became slower there,
for the courante under Louis Quatorze was considered a dull dance,
disappearing in favour of newer types requiring a more developed and
quicker technique.
However, dances alter in character, like everything else, in the
course of time. The waltz or valse has considerably altered since it
was first introduced into London drawing-rooms—and considered
shocking!—in the first decade of the nineteenth century; and even to-
day there is considerable difference between the valse as danced by
Swiss or German peasants, and as seen in the London ball-room. It is
probable that the courante of Arbeau’s day was as varied in
performance as the tango of our later time.
Let us return, however, to his description of other dances of the
period. The Allemande, he explains, “est une dance plaine de
mediocre gravité, familiere aux Allemâds, et croy qu’elle soit de noz
plus anciennes car nous sommes desendus des Allemandes.” But his
authority for the latter statement he does not give! It was danced by
two or more people, in twelve time, and later was a very popular
dance with Louis the Thirteenth.
A lengthy description follows of the Branle, which is also sometimes
spelt Bransle, and from which comes our English word Brawl, the
meaning of which has sadly degenerated from its original significance.
Saying that, “since you know how to dance the Pavane and the
Basse-dance, it will be easy for you to dance the branles,” he then
proceeds to give account of over a score, including two which seem
later to have assumed a right to be considered as separate dances,
namely, the Triory de Bretagne (or simply, the Triory) and the Branle
de la Haye, sometimes called merely the Haye, Hay, or Hey, which
was an interlacing chain-dance.
Among the examples he gives is a Branle d’Escosse, of which he
says: “Les branles d’Escosse estoient en vogue y a environ vingt ans,”
and it is much like the customary Scotch reel. The Branles des
Lavandières, he explains, is so-called because the dancers make a
noise by clapping their hands to represent that made by the
washerwomen who wash their clothes on the banks of the Seine.
Another, the Branle du Chandelier, was danced with lighted candles.
A description of the Gavotte follows, and it is interesting to note
that this dance which is still seen on the stage sometimes to-day, was
an established favourite as far back as 1588. Then comes an account
of the “Morisque” dance, the origin of which Arbeau places in the
Saturnalia of the ancient world, not without reason, one fancies; and
then he gives account of the Canaries, which, he says, some say takes
its name from the Canary Isles, while others derive it “from a ballet
composed for a masquerade in which the dancers were dressed as
kings and queens of Mauretania, or even as savages therefrom, with
headdress of varied plumage.” The last chapter is devoted to the
dance of Bouffons, a dance with sword and buckler supposedly
derived from ancient Rome and a never-failing source of delight to
French playgoers and opera-lovers of the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries.
Before the “Dialogue” actually closes, young Capriol politely thanks
Monsieur Arbeau for the trouble he has taken to teach him dancing,
and Arbeau responds by promising a second volume (alas! never
written) dealing with the ballets of the masquerades “made” at
Lengres. He urges him meanwhile to practise “les dances
honnestement,” and so become a worthy comrade of the planets “qui
dancent naturellement”: and he closes his discourse very prettily with
the words, “Je prie Dieu vous en donne la grace.”
We have lingered somewhat over this old manual of dancing, but
there are some half-dozen points in the history of ballet that it is of
vital importance to emphasise, and Arbeau’s book is one of them.
Dancing itself of course had continued to exist through all time. But
from the decadence of Rome until fairly late in the fifteenth century,
ballet had only a precarious sporadic existence; and the production of
Beaujoyeux’s volume of the Ballet Comique de la Royne in 1582, and
Arbeau’s Orchésographie in 1588, made a turning-point in the history
of ballet—the point where a popular amusement was once again
taken up by men of intellect and given a new form and a new spirit.
Beaujoyeux created an interest in ballet, Arbeau assisted an advance
in the technique of one of the chief elements of the art, namely,
dancing; and there can be little doubt that both men were largely
instrumental in forwarding that movement towards popular delight in
the theatrical masque and ballet which were to become an
outstanding feature of the next two centuries, the seventeenth and
the eighteenth.
CHAPTER VIII

S C E N I C E F F E C T: T H E E N G L I S H M AS Q U E AS B A L L E T

I considering di Botta’s elaborate feast, and Beaujoyeux’s “ballet,” one

n
is struck by their similarity to the English “disguisings” and
masques, which, first introduced to the Court of Henry the Eighth in
1512 as a novelty from Italy, only began to assume definite literary
form about a century later. That century contributed towards the
development of scenic effect.
In studying Arbeau’s manual of contemporary dance and music, one
is struck by another thing: he is dealing with a social amusement of
the upper classes. The dances he describes were mainly the proper
accomplishment of the well born, or were such of lower origin as
might with adaptation become worthy of performance by more courtly
dancers. It is certain he does not describe all the types of dance
known to his period. The old Provençal “Rigaudon” which was later to
come into such favour owing to Camargo, is not referred to by
Arbeau; nor the languorous “Sarabande,” which was probably of
Moorish origin derived through Spain—or possibly earlier through
Augustan Rome; the lively “Chaconne” is another omission; the
“Tresca” yet another. These, and perhaps others, must have existed in
Arbeau’s time and long before; but would be among the traditional
amusements of the people, and were not yet elected to the company
of courtly dances.
It is needful to linger over these points here, for they account for
much that we find in the subsequent development of theatrical ballets
in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
Speaking of Beaujoyeux’s “Ballet Comique,” Castil Blaze, the
scholarly historian of the Paris opera, remarks that it “became the
model on which were composed a number of ballets, sung and
danced, a kind of piece which held the place of Opera among the
French and English for about a century.” That century was, roughly,
from about 1500 to 1600. And he adds: “The English gave them the
name of masque.”
In the few years after Henry VIII came to be crowned the young
monarch spent considerable time and spared no expense in
entertaining himself and his Queen with “disguisings,” “revels” and
masqued balls.
On Twelfth Night, 1511, before the banquet in the Hall at
Richmond, so records the contemporary chronicler, Edward Hall, there
“was a pageant devised like a mountain, glistering by night as though
it had been all of gold and set with stones; on the top of which
mountain was a tree of gold, the branches and boughs frysed with
gold, spreading on every side over the mountain with roses and
pomegranates; the which mountain was with (de) vices brought up
towards the King, and out of the same came a lady apparelled in cloth
of gold, and the children of honour, called the henchmen, which were
freshly disguised and danced a Morris before the King, and that done
re-entered the mountain: and then was the wassail brought in and so
brake up Christmas.”
The next year the King himself took part in a similar pageant; and
in the next, i.e. in 1513, so Hall tells us, “the King with eleven others
were disguised after the manner of Italy, called a Mask, a thing not
seen before in England. They were apparelled in garments long and
broad, wrought with gold, with visors and caps of gold; and after the
banquet these masquers came in with six gentlemen disguised in silk,
bearing staff-torches, and desired the ladies to dance.”
A little later came the introduction of singing, and dialogue as well
as dancing, some allegorical story forming the basis of the masque. In
Beaujoyeux’s “ballet” of 1582, we have all this. Up to then in England
the masque made no great advance beyond those of Henry VIII’s
early years. In Beaujoyeux’s “ballet,” however, we have all that had
been, and more. We have dancing, singing, dialogue, elaborate scenic
effect, all in illustration of a mythic and allegorical story; and
achieving a definiteness and grandeur of form hitherto unequalled, as
well as publicity which made it famous throughout Europe. In some
ways it was as much masque as “ballet,” and as much opera as
masque. Actually it did stimulate the development of the Masque in
England; and Opera in France.
At the English Courts of Henry VIII and Elizabeth, the masque
developed in the direction of scenic elaboration and splendour (with
music) that made up for its literary shortcomings, at least in its earlier
period.
At the French Courts of Henry IV and Louis XIII, what were known
as Opera-ballets (later to be separated as opera and ballet) developed
a musical richness (with scenic effect) that made up for similar literary
shortcomings. Yet again came another form in the Comedie Ballet of
Molière.
With the accession of James I of England came the real
efflorescence of the English masque, which under the hands of Ben
Jonson was to become a fairly balanced harmony of the three arts—
the poet’s, the musician’s, and the painter-designer’s.
It must of course be understood that in both the masque and ballet
there was dancing; but at the period with which we are now dealing,
namely the last decade of the sixteenth and first few decades of the
seventeenth centuries, the technique of that art was—for stage
purposes—comparatively so primitive as to make it almost a negligible
quantity. There was dancing of course—that of “henchmen” and men
and boys who performed a Morris, or bouffon-dances; and that of
courtier, Court-lady, or even, it might be, a Royal personage, who
would take part in the stately Pavane or Almain, now and then
unbending sufficiently to dance a Trenchmore (once Queen Elizabeth’s
favourite) or Canary.
But it was all either an intrusion, alien to the general purport of the
production, or else vastly overshadowed by the chief design, which
was to present, with the aid of “disguisings” and elaborate
“machines,” a sort of living picture or series of living pictures,
expressing some mythological, allegorical episodes or complimentary
idea.
 The chief aim was splendid pageantry; something mainly to please
the eye; and secondarily to charm the ear; without making too great
claims upon the intellect.
Among the leading English masque writers during the period we are
considering were George Gascoigne, Campion, Samuel Daniel, Dekker,
Chapman, William Browne, Beaumont and Fletcher and Jonson.
In France, at the Court of Henri Quatre, and under the direction of
his famous minister, the great and grave Sully—who himself took part
in them—some eighty ballets were given between 1589 and 1610,
apart from state balls and bals masqués.
In England among the more notable masques produced during
about the same period were the following:—
1585. The Masque of “Lovely London,” performed before the
Lord Mayor.
1589. A Masque planned by order of Queen Elizabeth in
honour of the wedding of King James VI of Scotland and
Anne of Denmark.
1594. A Masque before Queen Elizabeth at Whitehall.
1604. A Masque by Samuel Daniel, “The Twelve Goddesses,”
arranged by Queen Anne, Consort of James I, in honour
of the Spanish Ambassador, at Hampton Court.
1605. “The Masque of Blackness,” by Ben Jonson (his first real
masque) given on Twelfth Night at Whitehall.
1606. Ben Jonson’s “Masque of Hymen,” for the marriage of
Robert Devereux, third Earl of Essex, with the Earl of
Suffolk’s younger daughter, Frances Howard.
1608. Ben Jonson’s “Masque of Beauty”—a sequel to the
“Masque of Blackness” at the request of the Queen
Consort, who, with the Ladies of the Court, took part in
the performance. This was followed in the same year by
his “Hue and Cry after Cupid,” given at Court on Shrove
 Tuesday, in celebration of Lord Viscount Haddington’s
marriage.
1609. Ben Jonson’s “Masque of Queens” at Whitehall on
Twelfth Night.
All these were elaborate productions; those of Jonson being indeed
beautiful. Their literary value has long been realised, and one sees in
them some of his finest work. The introductory descriptions and the
stage-directions are singularly minute and careful, and, in their way,
are quite as well worth study as the beauties of his strong and noble
verse.
He writes of scenes and costumes as if he loved them: as when, in
“The Masque of Blackness,” he describes the Moon, “triumphant in a
silver throne.... Her garments white and silver, the dressing of her
head antique, and crowned with a luminary or sphere of light; which,
striking on the clouds, and brightened with silver, reflected, as natural
clouds do, the splendour of the moon. The heaven about her was
vaulted with blue silk, and set with stars of silver, which had in them
their several lights burning.”
And again: “The attire of the masquers was alike in all, without
difference: the colours azure and silver; but returned on the top with
a scroll and antique dressings of feathers, and jewels interlaced with
ropes of pearl. And for the front, ear, neck, and wrists the ornament
was of the most choice and Orient pearl: best setting off from the
Black.”
For the scenery and mechanical effects or “machines” as they were
called—there was Inigo Jones, the travelled artist-architect who had
seen many a masking in Italy; for the music there was Alfonso
Ferrabosco, son of the Italian composer, appointed music-master at
the Court of James I; and for Maître de danse, there were Thomas
Giles and Hieronimus Herne.
It was a noble company who took part in the performances. In “The
Masque of Blackness,” though there were only three speaking parts,
Oceanus, Niger and Æthiopia—the impersonators of which are not
recorded—there was no less a personage than Queen Anne herself,
Consort of King James, who appeared as Euphoris, supported by the
Countess of Bedford (Aglaia), Lady Herbert (Diaphane), the Countess
of Derby (Eucampse), Lady Rich (Ocyte), Countess of Suffolk
(Kathare) and other fair ladies of title.
The “Masque of Beauty,” a superb spectacle given at the Court
some three years later by express command of Her Majesty, had for
speaking parts only three, namely those of Boreas—“in a robe of
russet and white mixed, full and bagged; his hair and beard rough
and horrid; his wings grey, and full of snow and icicles; his mantle
borne from him with wires and in several puffs”; Januarius—“in a
throne of silver; his robe of ash colour, long, fringed with silver; a
white mantle; his wings white and his buskins”; and Vulturnus—“in a
blue coloured robe and mantle, puft as the former, but somewhat
sweeter; his face black, and on his head a red sun, showing he came
from the East.”
Following the entrance of Vulturnus, bringing—in reference to the
former “Masque of Blackness”—the good news of his discovery of a
lost isle whereon the black but lovely daughters of Niger had been
languishing in obscurity, there came a fine pageant.
“Here,” as Jonson’s stage directions describe it, “a curtain was
drawn in which the night was painted, and the scene was discovered
which (because the former was marine, and these, yet of necessity, to
come from the sea) I devised should be an island floating on a calm
water. In the midst thereof was a Seat of State, called the Throne of
Beauty, erected; divided into eight squares, and distinguished by so
many Ionic pilasters. In these squares, the sixteen masquers were
placed by couples; behind them in the centre of the throne was a
tralucent pillar, shining with several coloured lights, that reflected on
their backs. From the top of which pillar went several arches to the
pilasters, in front, little Cupids in flying posture, waving of wreaths
and lights, bore up the cornice; over which were eight figures,
representing the elements of Beauty, which advanced upon the Ionic,
and, being females, had the Corinthian order.”
 They were: Splendour, Serenitas, Germinatio, Lætitia, Temperies,
Venustas, Dignitas, and Perfectio. Minute description is given of their
garments, but is too lengthy for inclusion here. The stage directions
then proceed:

“On the top of all the throne (as being made out of all these)
stood Harmonia, a personage whose dressing had something of all
the others, and had her robe painted full of figures. Her head was
compassed with a crown of gold, having in it seven jewels equally
set. In her hand a lyra, whereon she rested.
“This was the ornament of the throne. The ascent to which,
consisting of six steps, was covered with a multitude of Cupids
(chosen out of the best and most ingenious youth in the kingdom,
noble and others) that were torch-bearers; and all armed with
bows, quivers, wings, and other ensigns of love. On the sides of the
throne were curious and elegant arbours appointed; and behind, in
the back part of the isle, a grove of grown trees laden with golden
fruit, which other little Cupids plucked, and threw at each other,
whilst on the ground, leverets picked up the bruised apples and left
them half eaten. The ground-plat of the whole was a subtle
indented maze; and in the two foremost angles were two fountains
that ran continually, the one Hebe’s and the other Hedone’s; in the
arbours were placed the musicians, who represented the shades of
the old poets, and were attired in a priest-like habit of crimson and
purple, with laurel garlands.
“The colours of the masques were varied; the one half in orange
tawny and silver; the other in sea-green and silver. The bodies of
short skirts on white and gold to both.
“The habit and dressing for the fashion was most curious, and so
exceeding in riches, as the throne whereon they lay seemed to be a
mine of light, struck from their jewels and their garments.
“This throne, as the whole island moved forward on the water,
had a circular motion of its own, imitating that which we call motum
mundi, from the east to the west, or the right to the left side.... The
steps whereon the Cupids sat had a motion contrary, with analogy
 ad motum planetarum, from the west to the east; both which
turned with their several lights. And with these three varied
motions, at once, the whole scene shot itself to the land.”

After a chorus with echoing refrain, “Vulturnus the wind spake to

the river Thamesis, that lay along between the shores, leaning upon
his urn, that flowed with water, and crowned with flowers; with a blue
cloth of silver robe about him; and was personated by Master Thomas
Giles, who made the dances.

“Vul. Rise, Aged Thames, and by the hand

Receive the nymphs, within the land,
And in those curious squares and rounds
Wherewith thou flow’st betwixt the grounds
Of fruitful Kent and Essex fair
That lends the garlands for thy hair;
Instruct their silver feet to tread,
Whilst we, again, to sea are fled.

“With which the Winds departed; and the river received them into
the land, by couples and fours, their Cupids coming before them.
“These dancing forth a most curious dance, full of excellent
device and change, ended it in the figure of a diamond, and so,
standing still, were by the musicians with a second Song, sung by a
loud tenor, celebrated.

“So Beauty on the waters stood,

When Love had severed earth from flood!
So when he parted air from fire,
He did with concord all inspire!
And then a motion he them taught,
The elder than himself was thought.
Which thought was, yet, the child of earth,
For Love is elder than his birth.

“The song ended; they danced forth their second dance, more
subtle and full of change than the former; and so exquisitely
performed, as the king’s majesty (incited first by his own liking to
that which all others there present wished) required them both
again after some time of dancing with the lords. Which time, to give
them respite, was intermitted with a song.
“This song was followed by others.
“After which songs they danced galliards and corantos; and with
those excellent graces, that the music appointed to celebrate them,
showed it could be silent no longer; but, by the first tenor, admired
them thus:
“SONG.

“Had those that dwelt in error foul,

And held that women have no soul,
But seen these move; they would have then
Said, women were the souls of men;
So they do move each heart and eye
With the world’s soul, true harmony.

“Here they danced a third most elegant and curious dance, and
not to be described again by any art but that of their own footing,
which ending in the figure that was to produce the fourth, January
from his state saluted them thus:
 “Janu. Your Grace is great, as is your Beauty, dames;
Enough my feasts have proved your thankful flames
Now use your seat; that seat which was, before,
Though straying, uncertain, floating to each shore,
And to whose having every clime laid claim,
Each land and nation urgéd as the aim
Of their ambition, Beauty’s perfect throne,
Now made peculiar to this place alone;
And that by impulsion of your destinies,
And his attractive beams that lights these skies;
Who, though with ocean compassed, never wets
His hair therein, nor wears a beam that sets.
Long may his light adorn these happy rites,
As I renew them; and your gracious sights
Enjoy that happiness, even to envy, as when
Beauty, at large, brake forth and conquered men!

“At which they danced their last dance into their throne again.”

These quotations, though necessarily brief, illustrate the

characteristic elements in the construction of the masque—dancing,
music, song, spoken verse and elaborate scenic effect.
The reference to Thomas Giles, “who made the dances,” to the
dances themselves, “galliards and corantos,” and that charming
admission as to “a third most elegant and curious dance” not to be
described again “by any art but that of their own footing”; the
reference to the arbours in which “were placed the musicians, who
represented the shades of the old poets, and were attired in a priest-
like habit of crimson and purple, with laurel garlands”; the song of the
“first tenor”—“Had those that dwelt ...” and January’s speech
apostrophising women’s beauty; above all the loving descriptions of
the scenery and mechanical effects, must all be of uncommon interest
to those who know anything of the history of the French ballet,
because it is so closely paralleled in the descriptions given some
seventy years later by the Abbé Menestrier of the entertainments at
the Court of Louis XIV. The English “masques” of the early
seventeenth were, in effect, the French “ballets” of the early
eighteenth century. To return, however, to the English Court of James
I.
The Queen and Ladies of her Court once again took part in the
entertainment of His Majesty as representatives of the various types
of Beauty introduced in the course of the masque, and yet again were
they found in the noble “Masque of Queens,” celebrated from the
House of Fame, by the Queen of Great Britain with her Ladies, at
Whitehall, February 2nd, 1609, which was dedicated to the young
Prince Henry, as to the origin of which Ben gives the following
interesting note: “It increasing,” he says, “to the third time of my
being used in these services to Her Majesty’s personal presentations,
with the ladies whom she pleaseth to honour; it was my first and
special regard, to see to the dignity of their persons. For which reason
I chose the argument to be A celebration of honourable and true
Fame bred out of Virtue.”
All of which in a sense foreshadowed the various symbolic ballets
later at the Court of France, such as La Verité, ennemie des
apparences, which we shall come to consider in due course. The thing
to realise now is that these masques of Ben Jonson and of other men
of his period were the finest flowering of a form of entertainment
which had been struggling for definite shape throughout the previous
century, indeed from the days of di Botta’s fête in 1489, and had
received its most recent and most effective stimulus from France in
the production of Beaujoyeux’s wondrous symbolic and mythologic
“ballet” some twenty odd years before Ben Jonson’s first “masque”
was produced. The English masque—partly dramatic “interlude” with
song, music and dance introduced, was in effect a ballet, and was a
direct influence in the formation of the “opera-ballets” which were
subsequently to be the delight of the French Court for a century or
more.
CHAPTER IX

BALLET ON THE MOVE

I the masque was a kind of ballet that did not move from its
f
appointed place within sight of the Royal and Courtly audience, by
whom it was commanded as a spectacle for private entertainment,
there was a “ballet” which did, and became, like the “carrousels” and
“triumphs,” a very public spectacle, namely the ballet-ambulatoire, or
peripatetic “ballet,” said to have originated among the Portuguese,
and much encouraged by the Church.
The Beatification of Ignatius Loyola in 1609 is an instance of
peripatetic “ballet” famous in the history of the dance.
Interesting account of it is given by the invaluable Menestrier, who
writes:
“As the Jesuits had a war-like character, they chose the Siege of
Troy for the subject of their ballet. The first act took place before the
church of Notre Dame de Lorette. It was there they stood the wooden
horse. Full of Jesuits, the machine began to move, while numerous
dancers acted the most remarkable feats of arms of Achilles, Ajax,
Hector and Æneas. The monstrous horse and its retinue advanced,
preceded by a brilliant orchestra. They arrived at the Place St. Roch,
where the Jesuits had their church. The city of Troy, or at least a part
of its towers and ramparts, constructed of wood, occupied a third of
this place. A piece of wall was broken down, to give entrance to the
horse, the Greeks descended from the machine and the Trojans
attacked them with guns. The enemy defended with the same arms,
and the two sides fought—while dancing! Eighteen great staves filled
with fireworks caused the burning and the ruin of Troy!”
One might be puzzled to know how the author of such a drama
would introduce Saint Ignatius Loyola on the scene. The maker of the
“book,” however, had no qualms, and, leaving the Greeks and Trojans
buried beneath the ruins of Ilium, on the following day, he led the
spectators to the seashore. “Four brigantines,” the chronicler
proceeds, “richly decorated and fenced, painted and gilded, covered
with dancers and ‘choirs of music,’ present themselves at the Port.
They bring four ambassadors, who, in the name of the four quarters
of the globe, come to swear homage and fidelity, to offer presents to
the newly beatified, to thank him for his benefits and to beg his
protection for the future. All the artillery of the Forts and of the
vessels salute the brigantines on their entrance. The ambassadors
then mount the cars in waiting and advance towards the College of
the reverend fathers, with an escort of three hundred Jesuits on
horseback, dressed as Greeks! Four troops of inhabitants of the four
quarters of the world, dressed in national costumes, dance round the
cars. The realms, the provinces, represented by their genii loci, march
before their ambassador. The troop from America is the first, and
among the dancers are many children disguised as monkeys and
parrots, and twelve dwarfs, mounted on little nags. The car of Asia is
drawn by two elephants. Six superb horses form the team of the
others.” The diversity, the richness of the costumes was not the least
ornament of this singular ballet, for it is said that several of the actors
had on their garments precious stones of great value.
It is the Portuguese who claim to have invented the true
ambulatory ballets, which—designed in imitation of the Thyrennian
“pomp” described by Appius Alexander—were danced in the streets of
a town proceeding from place to place, with movable stages and
properties. The performances were given on saints’ days and with the
greatest solemnity.
In the year 1610 Pope Paul V. canonised Cardinal St. Charles
Borromée, who, under the pontificate of Pius IV., his uncle, was
patron of the kingdom of Portugal, and that grateful nation wished to
honour him publicly.
In order that it should be done with the greater solemnity, they put
his image on board a ship, as if he were coming back once more to
assume the protection of the kingdom of Portugal.
 “A richly decorated vessel with flying sails of divers colours and silk
cordage of magnificent hues, carried the image of the saint under a
canopy of gold brocade. On its appearance in the roads all the vessels
in port, superbly arrayed, advanced to meet it, and rendering military
honours, brought it back with great pomp, and a salute from the guns
of Lisbon and all the vessels in Port. The reliquaries of the patron
Saints of Portugal, carried by the nobles of state and followed by the
religious, civil and military bodies, received the new Saint on
disembarcation.”
As soon as the image was landed, it was received by all the monks
and the whole of the ecclesiastical body, who went to meet it in
procession with four large chariots containing different tableaux. The
first car represented Fame, the second the town of Milan, the third
Portugal, and the fourth the Church. Besides the chariots, each
company of monks and each Brotherhood carried its own particular
Saint on rich litters, called by the Portuguese “andarillas.” The image
of St. Charles was ornamented with precious stones to the value of
twenty-six to twenty-seven thousand crowns; several others to the
value of sixty, seventy and eighty thousand crowns, and the jewels
that were displayed at this fête were estimated at more than four
millions.
Between each chariot were troops of dancers, who represented, in
dancing, the more notable of the acts of the Saints. Octavio
Accoromboni, Bishop of Fossombrone, who obtained these honours
for St. Charles, was at this time in the town of Lisbon, where he had
gone to collect certain monies that Portugal was giving to the Pope.
He has left us a description of this fête, in which he remarks that “the
Italians and more especially the Romans, should not be surprised to
read that dances and ballets formed a part of so sacred a ceremony,
because in Portugal processions and fêtes would not seem elevated
nor serious enough unless accompanied by these manifestations of
joy.”
In order to prepare for these fêtes, dances, ballets and processions,
the Lisbon folk had decorated, several days beforehand, big masts
erected at the doors of the churches where the service was to be
held, and at different places on the roads where the processions and
performances would pass. “These masts were of pine, gilded and
decked with crowns, streamers and banners of different colours,
similar to the masts put up in France at the doors of the magistrates’
houses on the first of May in several towns of the kingdom, a custom
which has given to these masts the name of ‘Maypole.’ The Spaniards
call them ‘Mayos,’ or ‘Arboles de Enamorados’ (Lovers’ trees) because
young men plant them on the first of May at the door of their
mistresses’ houses.” The procession passed through triumphant
arches, and the streets were hung with tapestries and strewn with
flowers.
Three masts were planted at the places of the actual performance,
one at the spot at the port where the procession was to start after the
landing of the image of St. Charles, another in the middle of the
route, and the third at the door of the church where the procession
was to end, and where the image of the saint was to be placed.
These masts marked the places for the performances, for it was there
the procession stopped, and the dancers made their chief entrances in
the “ballet.” Needless to say immense sums were spent on the fête.
These are but two instances of the ballet-ambulatoire. More might
be given, but these will suffice to afford some idea of a type of
spectacle which the older historians speak of as a “ballet,” but which
is of special interest to us by reason of the contrast it forms to the
masque, which was the reverse of “ambulatory,” and from the fact
that though in direct contrast on another score, namely, that it was
not a private but a public spectacle, it was under the “immediate
patronage” of the Church!
Neither the masque nor the ballet-ambulatoire, was yet a theatrical
entertainment; but it is curious, is it not, to note that they had a
certain kinship with theatrical tradition, for these magnificent
peripatetic “ballets” of the ecclesiastics had had a primitive forerunner
in the performance of Thespis with his travelling car in Grecian towns
and villages some six centuries before the Christian era! Even as,
later, we in fourteenth-century England had our Mystery and Miracle
plays travelling from “station” to “station” in similar fashion, and our
“mummers” or mimers; while, on the other hand, the masque itself,
as a private entertainment of the English Court, with its stage, and
“machines,” scenery, dancing, music and song, not to mention its
Royal and Courtly audience, was forerunner of similar entertainments
which a century later were to become the features of the Courts of
Louis XIV and XV, and from that to develop under Royal Patronage
into the Ballet of the Theatre.
CHAPTER X

C O U RT B A L L E TS A B R O A D : 1 6 0 9 - 1 6 5 0

W hile the English Court was enjoying its masques, during the reigns
of Henry VIII, Elizabeth and James, and the French were
labouring forth their heroic ballets under Henri Quatre—more than
eighty having been given from 1589 to 1610, without counting
insignificant balls and masquerades—Italy was similarly keeping up in
the movement which her example had originally inspired.
It was the custom there to celebrate the birthday of the Princess by
an annual public fête. As one old historian records, the more usual
spectacles of these celebrations were in the form of “Carrousels,
Tournois, des Comedies, des Actions en Musique, des Festins, des
Feux d’Artifice, des Mascarades quand ces Fêtes se trouvent au temps
du Carnaval, des Presens, des Illuminations, des Chasses, des Courses
sur la Neige et sur la Glace suivant la saison, des Promenades et des
Jeux sur les Eaux.”
The Court of Savoy was particularly devoted to such
entertainments.
In 1609 there was a ballet d’armes, entitled, “Il Sol nascente nell’
oscurità dell Tile,” danced by the “Serene” Princes of Savoy, the
occasion being the anniversary of the birth of their Royal father, the
Duke Charles Emannuel.
Again, in 1611, the Prince of Piedmont gave a fête in honour to his
father’s birthday, representing “The Taking of the Isle of Cyprus.”
 Stage Effect in the 17th Century
(From a coloured engraving of a scene from “Circe,” 1694).

In the year 1615 was produced a mounted ballet at this same Court
(Savoy) for the arrival of the Prince d’Urbin. This was an attack and a
combat to music against three hundred men on foot, who formed
different companies of various shapes, lunated, oval, square and
triangular. They had drilled their horses so well that they were never
out of step with the rhythm of the music. There were numerous cars
drawn by lions, stags, elephants, rhinoceroses, etc., and as they
represented the triumph of Love over War, the Four Quarters of the
World followed the cars of the victors mounted in as many chariots.
The Car of Europe was drawn by horses, that of Africa by elephants,
that of Asia by camels, that of America by “unicorns”! The cars of this
festival had engraved work on them by Callot.
In 1618, “The Elements,” a grand ballet and tourney was
represented by the Duke of Savoy and his son, the Prince of
Piedmont, on the former’s birthday.
“The Temples of Peace and War on Mount Parnassus,” a ballet and
tourney “avec un Festin à la Chinoise,” formed the entertainment of
the following year.
 “The Judgment of Flora on the Dispute of the Nymphs over the
Crown of Flowers presented to Mme. Royale on her Birthday,” is the
long and stately title of a fête given at Turin in 1620.
“The Tribute of the Divinities of the Sky, Air, Sea and Infernal
regions,” was a grand ballet and tourney of 1621. “The Ballet of the
Seven Kings of China” was another.
“The Joy of Heaven and Earth,” a fête in honour of the Duke’s
birthday in 1624, was followed by “Bacchus triomphant des Indes,
avec une Action en Musique et une Chasse Pastorale,” in the same
year. This was a fête in honour of the Duke Charles Emmanuel’s
birthday, and was performed by the pages of the Prince Cardinal
Maurice of Savoy, at Rome on January 22nd, 1624.
“Mount Parnassus and the Muses,” “The Quarrel of the Defenders
and the Enemies of the Muses,” took place in February, 1624.
“Cadmus, victorieux du Serpent,” and “Prometheus” were notable
ballets in 1627.
One of the most remarkable, and, according to contemporaries,
beautiful mounted ballets ever composed was that of “Æolus, King of
the Winds,” which Alfonso Ruggieri Sansoverino presented at the
wedding of the Prince of Tuscany in the year 1628 in the St. Croix
Square, in Florence. On one of the sides of this square was a large
reef with a cave hollowed out of its rock and closed by a great door
secured with padlocks.
Don Anthony de Medici, who took the part of master of the combat,
having reconnoitred the course, Æolus, King of the Winds, entered,
accompanied by twelve watermen to whom he “had taught the use of
sails and the nature of the winds.” Twelve Tritons walked before him
blowing their trumpets. Eight Sirens replied on other instruments,
accompanied by Hoar-frost. Eight pages represented the many effects
of the Winds, causing cold, hot, damp, dry, clear, dull, serene or
cloudy weather.
The two sponsors walked behind their pages. The chariot of the
Ocean followed, drawn by two big whales. It represented a rock
covered with seaweed, coral and different kinds of shells. Nymphs of
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