What does coranto mean?
A coranto is a spirited courtly dance that flourished across Europe in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, characterized by its quick tempo and running, gliding steps in triple metre. The English word derives from the French courante, which itself comes from the Italian corrente, meaning 'running' — a fitting origin for a dance whose figures suggested swift, flowing motion. In practice, the coranto was frequently paired with slower dances such as the allemande or pavane, providing contrast within a suite. Beyond the dance floor, the term came to denote the instrumental music composed for or in the style of the dance, and composers including John Dowland wrote well-known examples. Today 'coranto' survives mainly in the vocabulary of musicologists, dance historians, and performers of early music, appearing as a movement title in period suites and in discussions of Renaissance and Baroque repertoire. Its literary pedigree is notable too: Shakespeare refers to the dance in his plays, giving the word a cultural resonance beyond its musical role.
nounA lively courtly dance of the 16th and 17th centuries, performed in triple time and often paired with the slower allemande; also, the music written for such a dance.
- A quick, running courtly dance in triple time popular in Europe in the late 16th and early 17th centuries.
- Instrumental music composed in the style or rhythm of this dance.
"The ensemble opened the recital with a sprightly coranto from a seventeenth-century manuscript."
"At the Jacobean masque, couples whirled through a brisk coranto before retiring to supper."
"Her thesis examined how the coranto migrated from Italian ballrooms into English keyboard suites."
The standard plural adds -s; the variant 'corantoes' also appears in older texts.
"The manuscript contains several corantos attributed to anonymous Elizabethan composers."
Shakespeare mentions the coranto by name — 'the coranto of the play' — making it one of the few Renaissance dances most people have actually read about without realizing it.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of coranto
The word 'coranto' entered English in the late sixteenth century via the French courante, ultimately tracing back to the Italian corrente, meaning 'running', from the Latin verb currere ('to run'). This same Latin root produced a wide family of English words concerned with motion, among them 'current', 'courier', and 'corridor'. The English spelling diverged from the French form, giving the word its distinctively anglicized shape while retaining the sense of swift movement at its core.
How coranto is actually used
An historical term used almost exclusively in discussions of early music, dance history, and Renaissance literature; in modern concert programmes it appears chiefly as a movement title in Baroque suites. It carries a scholarly, slightly antiquarian register.
Easily confused with coranto
The courante is essentially the same dance under its French name, while 'coranto' is the English spelling and pronunciation that developed from it.
A cantata is a vocal composition with instrumental accompaniment, whereas a coranto is an instrumental dance piece or the dance itself.