Chapter 9 Baroque Instrumental Music The Dance Suite

Key Terms

Suite Baroque dance form Binary form Trio French overture Air Walking bass Inversion Allemande Courante Sarabande Minuet Gavotte Bourrée Siciliana Gigue

The Dance Suite

Dance music popular in Baroque era Customary to group dances in a suite

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All in same key; fast dance at the end Composed dances usually “stylized”

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Written for listening, not dancing Retain many features of music for dancing Allow greater musical sophistication Written for various performing forces

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Orchestra, chamber ensembles, or solo harpsichord or lute

Baroque Dances

Many different Baroque dances Distinguished from each other by —

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Specific dance steps A certain meter A distinctive tempo Unique rhythmic features (e.g., two-beat upbeat for gavotte) Most dances use Baroque dance form

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Also called binary form

Baroque Dance Types

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Allemande

– 4/4 – moderate – flowing motion

Courante

– 3/2 – moderate – uses 6/4 at times

Sarabande

– 3/4 – slow – often accents beat 2

Minuet

– 3/4 – moderate – straight rhythm

Gavotte

– 4/4 – moderate – double upbeat Bourrée – 2/2 – rather fast – short upbeat

Siciliana

– 12/8 – moderate – gently rocking

Gigue

– 6/8 – fast – short upbeat, lively

Baroque Dance Form

Most Baroque dances use binary form Two sections – a & b

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Each section ends with strong cadence Each section is repeated Symmetrical feel –a & b sections often share same motives, cadences, & other features

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b section usually longer than a Form can be diagrammed as —

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a a b b or abbreviated as |: a :||: b :|

Dance and Trio (1)

To create larger-scale dance works

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Composers grouped dances in suites Sometimes they grouped two dances of the same type – e.g., two minuets or two gavottes Second dance of each pair called a trio

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Minuet & Trio or Gavotte & Trio Trio often scored for three instruments First dance returns again at the end Overall ternary form – A B A

Dance and Trio (2)

Based on principles of contrast & return Trio uses different melody & rhythms, softer dynamics, lighter scoring Return of 1st dance creates satisfying conclusion Form can be diagrammed as —

The French Overture (1)

Some suites begin with French overture Originally used by Louis XIV’s orchestra

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The 24 Violins of the King Later used to begin many works —

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Operas, suites, sonatas, oratorios (Messiah) Uses binary form, but with more contrasts than usual —

The French Overture (2)

A section – slow tempo, sharply dotted rhythms, duple meter, homophonic texture B section – fast tempo, often compound meter, imitative polyphony

Bach, Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D

Likely written for student orchestra at University of Leipzig Scored for festive Baroque orchestra

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Strings, 2 oboes, 3 trumpets, 2 timpani, & continuo Includes several dance types —

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French overture, air, gavotte & trio, bourrée, & gigue

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Most are examples of Baroque dance form

Bach, Air (1)

French air = aria (song) Bach’s most famous, beloved melody Scored for strings & continuo Uses Baroque dance (binary) form Spontaneous, singing melody uses irregular rhythms

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Rising sequences build intensity in b section Melody supported by stable walking bass

Bach, Air (2)

Bach, Gavotte (1)

Scored for festive Baroque orchestra

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Trumpets create march-like feel Typical gavotte two-quarter-note upbeat Uses gavotte & trio format

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Both dances use Baroque dance form Trio typical in providing contrast with Gavotte; unusual in its use of full orchestra

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1st gavotte returns at the end

Bach, Gavotte (2)

Example of inversion in b section of Gavotte (a learned device)

Conclusions

Contrasting dances were often grouped in large-scale works called suites Dances were typically in binary form

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Two short, subtly contrasted, sections that repeat Greater length & contrast achieved by pairing like dances ( e.g., gavotte & trio ) Stylized or not, dances relied on —

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Clear melodies, simple textures, & strong rhythms