The Instrumental Suite

[Shelly Hicks]

As an instrumental genre, a suite is associated with dance music and
consists of a several dances. Almost all the earliest specimens of
instrumental music with which we are acquainted appear in the form of
Dance Tunes. During the later Middle Ages, and the period which
immediately followed them the most popular airs of this description
were the Allemande, the Courante, the Minuet, the Sarabande, the
Gavotte, the Bourr'e, the Giga, the Loure, the Chaconne, the
Passecaille, the Pavane, the Branle, and the Galliard.
The Allemande in its latest and most perfect form was a Movement in
Common Time, consisting of two Strains, each of which usually began
with a short "Starting-Note." The first Strain generally ended with a
Modulation to the Scale of the Dominant; the second, as a matter of
course, on the Tonic Harmony, and both were always repeated. It has
been said that this particular form of the Allemande did not really
originate in a Dance Tune, but it is difficult to support the
assertion. The Courante was a brisk Movement in Triple Time
consisting, like the Allemande, of two Strains, each of which began
with a short "Starting-Note", the first generally ending with the
usual modulation to the scale of the Dominant.
The Minuet was a slower Movement in 3/4 time consisting of two
strains, generally, though not always, beginning with an odd Crotchet.
The Minuets in Samson, and Don Giovanni, (each beginning with a full
bar), are among the finest in existence.
The Sarabande was an Air, of Spanish origin, slower and more stately
than the Minuet, and almost always written in 3/2 time. Handel's
delightful air, Lascia ch'io pianga, in Rinaldo, originally appeared,
as an instrumental Sarabande, in his earlier opera Almira.
The Gavotte was a more spirited Dance in Alla breve time with two
minim beats in the bar. Like the Allemande and Minuet, it consisted of
two strains, the first of which usually terminated in the Scale of the
Dominant, while both invariably began and ended at the half-bar. The
"Gavotte and Rondo" from Bach's Sixth Violin Sonata exhibits the
movement in a peculiarly beautiful and highly-developed form.
The Bourr'e differed from the Gavotte, in that it was written in
simple common time C with four Crotchet Beats in the Bar; each of its
two parts beginning at the fourth Beat, and ending at the third. The
Bourr'e from Bach's Violoncello Sonata in Es, is a remarkably
interesting example of the style. The Giga was a rapid Dance Movement,
in 12/8 time and in two parts, each of which began with an odd quaver,
by way of a starting-note. Corelli sometimes wrote his Gigas in 6/8
time. The Loure was a slower kind of Giga, usually written in 6/4
time, though some late examples may be found in 3/4.
The Chaconns was a Basque or Spanish Dance, the Music to which took
the form of Variations, on a Ground-Bass, consisting of a single
Strain, of four or eight Bars, in 3/4 time beginning always upon the
first Beat of the Bar. The finest Chaconnes extant are by Handel and
Bach.
The Passecaille differed from the Chaconne, only in being a little
slower, and in beginning always on the third Beat of the Bar, instead
of the first.
The Pavane (from the Latin, Pavo, a Peacock) was a very slow and
stately Movement, in common time, consisting, generally, of three
Strains, each of which began and ended with a half-bar.
The Branle was an old French Dance, in Common Time, written in two
Strains, of which the first was sometimes longer than the second, both
beginning always upon the first Beat of the Bar.
The Galliard was a somewhat rollicking Dance, in 3/4 time, beginning
on the third Beat of the Bar. It was a favorite custom with Composers
of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, to string together some
five or six of these quaint old Dance Tunes into a continuous piece,
called a Suite. As a general rule, the Suite began with a more or less
ornate Prelude in common time C and ended with a Giga; the second
place being occupied by an Allemande, and the third by a Courante. But
this law was by no means a strict one. Sometimes a Gavotte was
substituted for the final Giga. Sometimes its place was supplied by an
Air et Doubles, or an Air with Variations. The finest examples are six
Suites Anglaises, and as many Suites Fran?oises by Sebastian Bach, and
sixteen grand Suites by Handel.



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