History of Gavotte Dance - Dance History Articles History of Gavotte Dance Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear. -Ambrose Redmoon History of Gavotte Dance History of Gavotte Dance The gavotte (also gavot or gavote) originated as a French folk dance, taking its name from the Gavot people of the Pays de Gap region of Dauphin�, where the dance originated. It is notated in 4/4 or 2/2 time and is of moderate tempo. The distinctive rhythmic feature of the 18th-century French court gavotte is that phrases begin in the middle of the bar; that is, in either 4/4 or 2/2 time, the phrases begin on the third quarter note (crotchet) of the bar, creating a half-measure (half-bar) upbeat.

On the contrary, the music for the earlier court gavotte, first described by Thoinot Arbeau in 1589, invariably began on the downbeat of a duple measure, and the various folk gavottes found in mid-20th-century Brittany were danced to music in 4/4, 2/4, 9/8, and 5/8 time. The 19th-century column-dance also called "gavotte" has nothing at all in common with the dances of the 16th to the 18th centuries. The gavotte is first described in the late 16th century, as a suite or miscellany of double branles, danced in a line or circle to music in duple time, "with little springs in the manner of the Haut Barrois" branle, with some of the dance steps "divided" with figures borrowed from the galliard. The basic step pattern is the same as for the common or double branle, with the line of dancers moving alternately to the left and right with a double � gauche and double � droite.

In the double branle, each of these composite steps consists of four components: -- a pied largi (firm outward step), -- pied approche (the other foot drawn near but not quite up to the first), -- another pied largi, -- a pied joint (following foot drawn against the leading one). The basic gavotte steps differ as follows: in the initial double � gauche a skip (petit saut) is inserted after each of the four components; the second pied largi is replaced by a marque pied crois� (the following, right foot crossed over the left and with the toe contacting the floor); the final pied approche is replaced by a gr�ve crois�e (the right foot crosses over the left and is raised in the air). The double � droite begins now with a pieds joints and petit saut, followed by two quick steps, a marque pied gauche crois� and marque pied droit crois�, during beat two, a gr�ve droit crois�e and petit saut on beat three, and concluding on the last beat with pieds joints and a capriole (leap into the air with entrechat).

Baroque Music The gavotte became popular in the court of Louis XIV where Jean-Baptiste Lully was the leading court composer. Consequently several other composers of the Baroque period incorporated the dance as one of many optional additions to the standard instrumental suite of the era. The examples in suites and partitas by Johann Sebastian Bach are best known. When present in the Baroque suite, the gavotte is often played after the sarabande and before the gigue, along with other optional dances such as the minuet, bourr�e, rigaudon, and passepied. The gavotte could be played at a variety of tempi; in his Musicalisches Lexicon (Leipzig, 1732), Johann Gottfried Walther wrote that the gavotte is "often quick, but occasionally slow"; and Johann Joachim Quantz wrote in Versuch einer Anweisung die Fl�te traversiere zu spielen (Berlin, 1752) that "A gavotte is almost like a rigaudon, but is a little more moderate in tempo." The gavotte in the Baroque period is typically in binary form.

A notable exception is the Gavotte en Rondeau ("Gavotte in rondo form") from J.S. Bach's Partita No. 3 in E Major for solo violin, BWV 1006. Later Manifestations Later composers, particularly in the 19th century, wrote gavottes that began like the 16th-century gavotte on the downbeat rather than on the half-measure upbeat. The famous Gavotte in D by Gossec is such an example, as is the Gavotte in Massenet's Manon. A gavotte also occurs in the second act of The Gondoliers by Gilbert and Sullivan and the Finale of the First Act of Ruddigore also by Gilbert and Sullivan. Sergei Prokofiev employs a gavotte instead of a minuet in his "Classical" Symphony. References in Popular Culture Carly Simon's song "You're So Vain" includes the lyric "You had one eye in the mirror as you watched yourself gavotte". In this context it can be taken to mean a pretentious or egotistical style of dancing.

The Stephen Sondheim musical Sunday in the Park With George uses the word gavotte as a satirical device in the otherwise irregular, non-steadily rhythmical, song "It's Hot Up Here" to start the second Act, "We're stuck up here in this gavotte." The Johnny Mercer song "Strip Polka" includes the lyric "Oh, she hates corny waltzes and she hates the gavotte". Geneticist W. D. Hamilton in his paper entitled "Gamblers since life began: barnacles, aphids, elms." in the Quarterly Review of Biology (1975) made an attempt at wit by referring to the drilled formality of the mechanisms of individual reproduction as "the gavotte of chromosomes". Agustin Barrios wrote a solo guitar piece called Madrigal Gavotte, which is a combination of the two styles. In the anime Kiniro no Corda (La Corda D'Oro), the "Gavotte in D by Gossec" is heard many times, though referred to only as "Gavotte".

In the novel Good Omens, it is noted that one cannot determine how many angels can dance on the head of a pin, because angels do not dance--the exception being the Principality Aziraphale, who once learned to do the gavotte. The "Cutting Gavotte" is an attack in the Japanese version of the RPG Infinite Undiscovery. In the Broadway musical 1776 during the song "Cool, Considerate Men", reference is made to "Mr. Adams' new gavotte"--a reference regarding John Adams' ideas for a declaration of independence from Great Britain. In the 1967 movie, How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, the song "A Secretary Is Not A Toy" refers to a gavotte. The song discourages personal indiscretions with secretaries at the firm. The reference to a gavotte is meant to be ironic, as the original dance accompanying the song from the Broadway show was a modified gavotte. In the manga and anime One Piece, the skeleton musician character Brooke (and his "zombie," Ryuuma, which was given life by Brooke's shadow) has a signature technique: Gavotte Bond en Avant.

In the Robert Pinsky poem Impossible To Tell the gavotte is mentioned in the first line. "The Ascot Gavotte" is a song in the 1956 musical My Fair Lady by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe. Alfred Blatter, Revisiting Music Theory: A Guide to the Practice (London and New York: Routledge, 2007): 28. ISBN 0-415-97439-9 (cloth); ISBN 0-415-97440-2 (NY, pbk). Meredith Ellis Little, "Gavotte", The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell (London: Macmillan Publishers). Curt Sachs, World History of the Dance, translated by Bessie Sch�nberg (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1963): 389. Thoinot Arbeau, Orchesography, translated by Mary Stewart Evans, with a new introduction and notes by Julia Sutton and a new Labanotation section by Mireille Backer and Julia Sutton.

American Musicological Society Reprint Series (New York: Dover Publications, 1967): 128-30, 175-76. ISBN 0-486-21745-0. Quoted in the preface to Johann Sebastian Bach The French Suites: Embellished Version B�renreiter Urtext Edition. (Kassel: B�renreiter,). Johann Joachim Quantz, On Playing the Flute, a complete translation with an introduction and notes by Edward R. Reilly (London: Faber & Faber, Ltd., 1966; paperback reprint, New York: Schirmer Books. 1975): 291. • Tinnitus Masking Sounds • Relaxation and Stress Relief Sounds If you want rainbows, you have to put up with the rain. -Dolly Parton Dance J.S.BACH ❤ Violin Partita No.3 ❤ Gavotte en Rondeau ❤ - YouTube J.S.BACH ❤ Violin Partita No.3 ❤ Gavotte en Rondeau ❤ Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video?

Sign in to report inappropriate content. Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Uploaded on Jan 21, 2012 The gavotte (also gavot or gavote) originated as a French folk dance, taking its name from the Gavot people of the Pays de Gap region of Dauphiné, where the dance originated.[citation needed] It is notated in 4/4 or 2/2 time and is of moderate tempo. The distinctive rhythmic feature of the 18th-century French court gavotte is that phrases begin in the middle of the bar; that is, in either 4/4 or 2/2 time, the phrases begin on the third quarter note (crotchet) of the bar, creating a half-measure (half-bar) upbeat The whole partita was transcribed by Bach for lute solo, cataloged as BWV 1006a.[1] The most commonly found recordings are usually of the Preludio. The Preludio demands advanced bowing technique[citation needed] and consists almost entirely of semiquavers (i.e. sixteenth notes).

The Preludio was also transcribed by Bach for solo organ, oboes, trumpets and strings in the opening sinfonia of the cantata Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir, BWV 29 in D major, and was as well used as an introduction to the second part of the cantata Herr Gott, Beherrscher aller Dinge, BWV 120a. The "Gavotte en Rondeau" is famously included on the Voyager Golden Record and often heard in TV or radio programs. In 1933 Sergei Rachmaninoff transcribed for piano (and subsequently recorded) the Preludio, Gavotte, and Giga from this partita (as TN 111/1). Category Gavotte G Gavotte The gavotte (also gavot or gavote) originated as a French folk dance , taking its name from the Gavot people of the Pays de Gap region of Dauphiné, where the dance originated. It is notated in 4/4 or 2/2 time and is of moderate tempo .

The distinctive rhythmic feature of the original gavotte is that phrases begin in the middle of the bar; that is, in either 4/4 or 2/2 time, the phrases begin on the third quarter note of the bar, creating a half-measure upbeat, as illustrated below: J.-M. Guilcher’s study of the gavotte in Brittany (1963) revealed great variety in modern practice, especially in the type of steps used, floor patterns and formations and musical accompaniment. Gavottes in some areas are accompanied by singing, with a soloist alternating either with a group or with another soloist; in other areas gavottes are accompanied by instruments..... such as the violin, drum, bagpipe or a kind of shawm . Unlike the branle, in which sideways motion was achieved by the dancer’s continually bringing the feet together, the gavotte required crossing of the feet twice in each step pattern, and each step was followed by a hop. Various pantomimic motions, such as the choice of a leader for the next dance, usually formed part of a gavotte performance.

The gavotte in Baroque music The gavotte became popular in the court of Louis XIV where Jean-Baptiste Lully was the leading court composer. Consequently several other composers of the Baroque period incorporated the dance as one of many optional additions to the standard instrumental suite of the era. The examples in suites and partitas by Johann Sebastian Bach are best known. When present in the Baroque suite, the gavotte is often played after the sarabande and before the gigue , along with other optional dances such as minuet , bourrée, rigaudon, and passepied. The gavotte could be played at a variety of tempi; in his Musicalisches Lexicon (Leipzig, 1732), Johann Gottfried Walther wrote that the gavotte is "often quick, but occasionally slow"; and Johann Joachim Quantz wrote in Versuch einer Anweisung die Flöte traversiere zu spielen (Berlin, 1752) that "A gavotte is almost like the rigaudon, but somewhat more moderate in tempo." The gavotte in the Baroque period is typically in binary form.

A notable exception is the rondo form of the Gavotte from Bach's Partita No. 3 in E Major for solo violin, BWV 1006. Later manifestations Later composers, particularly in the nineteenth century, began to write gavottes to begin on the downbeat rather than on the half-measure upbeat. The famous Gavotte in D by Gossec is such an example, as is the Gavotte in Massenet's Manon. A gavotte also occurs in the second act of The Gondoliers by Gilbert and Sullivan and the Finale of the First Act of Ruddigore also by Gilbert and Sullivan. Late in the nineteenth century and well into the twentieth, composers especially of piano music began to write self-contained gavottes in Scherzo and Trio form , in which the section that would normally be labelled "Trio" is instead labelled "Musette". Sometimes these works are called simply "Gavotte", and sometimes "Gavotte and Musette".

In each work of this type, the first section is a complete gavotte, usually in the traditional binary form, and the second section marked "Musette" is simply another gavotte, usually also in binary form, and usually in either a different key or the same key but of opposite mode (major instead of minor, or vice-versa). The Musette section's distinguishing feature is that the left-hand part features prolonged pedal points for much or even all of its duration, which attempt to mimic the drones of bagpipes. (The musette was a variety of bagpipe, and also a dance form.) These pedal points consist of either prolonged or repeated bass notes, usually on the tonic note of the Musette section. At the end of the Musette, the Gavotte is usually written out again instead of indicated by the instruction "D.C." (Da capo), because of changes the composer wishes to introduce in the reappearance of the Gavotte section.

These works are usually in a late romantic 19th-century style which may occasionally introduce elements of early 20th-century-style harmony, but, in keeping with the origins of the gavotte, it usually also evokes elements of the Baroque style, often with some liberty. Examples of gavottes of this type exist by Giovanni Sgambati, Eugen d'Albert, Arthur Benjamin (subtitled "Chinoiserie"), and Una Bourne (an early Australian composer). In the musical My Fair Lady (1956), the number titled "Ascot Gavotte" does away completely with the traditional rhythmic pattern by having a quarter-note upbeat in the phrases while retaining the mildly march-like stateliness of the dance to characterize the stilted, high-society world of the attendants at the horserace. In contrast, "The Venice Gavotte" from the American operetta Candide (from the same year) presents the original half-bar-upbeat rhythm of this particular dance type. The gavotte from Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella is somewhat of a blend, having some phrases beginning on the upbeat and some beginning on the downbeat.

References in popular culture Carly Simon's song "You're So Vain" includes the lyric "You had one eye in the mirror as you watched yourself gavotte", in this context it can be taken to mean a pretentious or egotistical style of dancing. The Stephen Sondheim musical Sunday in the Park With George uses the word "gavotte" as a satirical device in the otherwise irregular, non-steadily rhythmical, song "It's Hot Up Here" to start the second Act, "We're stuck up here in this gavotte." Geneticist W.D. Hamilton in his paper entitled "Gamblers since life began: barnacles, aphids, elms." in the Quarterly Review of Biology (1975) made an earnest attempt at wit by referring to the drilled formality of the mechanisms of individual reproduction as "the gavotte of chromosomes". Agustin Barrios wrote a solo guitar piece called Madrigal Gavotte, which is a combination of the two styles. In the anime Kiniro no Corda (La Corda D'Oro), they play the "Gavotte in D by Gossec" many times, but they call it only "Gavotte".

In the novel Good Omens, it is noted that one cannot determine how many angels can dance on the head of a pin, because angels do not dance--the exception being the Principality Aziraphale, who once learned to do the Gavotte. The "Cutting Gavotte" is an attack in the Japanese version of the RPG Infinite Undiscovery. In the Broadway musical 1776 during the song "Cool, Considerate Men", reference is made to "Mr. Adams' new gavotte"--a reference regarding John Adams' ideas for a declaration of independence from Great Britain. In the 1967 movie, How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, the song "A Secretary Is Not A Toy" refers to a gavotte. The song discourages personal indiscretions with secretaries at the firm. The reference to a gavotte insinuates that a gavotte equates to an intimate encounter. In the manga and anime One Piece, the skeleton musician character Brooke (and his "zombie," Ryuuma, which was given life by Brooke's shadow) has a signature technique: Gavotte Bond en Avant.

In the Anime 'La Corda dOro - Primo Passo' Gavotte is one of the first pieces that the main character plays on the piece, it is referred to a beginners song In the Robert Pinsky poem Impossible To Tell the gavotte is mentioned in the first line. (Wikipedia) Gavotte - Piano Tutorials - Greatest Piano Tutorials Gavotte Gavotte Piano Tutorials The gavotte originated as a French folk dance, taking its name from the Gavot people of the Pays de Gap region of Dauphiné, where the dance originated. It is notated in 4/4 or 2/2 time and is of moderate tempo. The distinctive rhythmic feature of the 18th-century French court gavotte is that phrases begin in the middle of the bar; that is, in either 4/4 or 2/2 time, the phrases begin on the third quarter note of the bar, creating a half-measure upbeat, as illustrated below: (Wikipedia) Gavotte (J.-B. Lully) - Free Flute Sheet Music | flutetunes.com Free Flute Sheet Music There are no recordings for this tune yet. Submit yours !

Sunday 25 April 2010 Tune of the Day: Gavotte by Jean-Baptiste Lully The gavotte originated as a French folk dance, taking its name from the Gavot people of the Pays de Gap region, where the dance originated. It is notated in 4/4 or 2/2 time and is of moderate tempo. The distinctive rhythmic feature of the original gavotte is that phrases begin in the middle of the bar; that is, in 4/4 time, the phrases begin on the third quarter note of the bar, creating a half-measure upbeat. The gavotte became popular in the court of Louis XIV where Jean-Baptiste Lully was the leading court composer. Consequently several other composers of the Baroque period incorporated the dance as one of many optional additions to the standard instrumental suite of the era. The examples in suites and partitas by Johann Sebastian Bach are best known. Other Tunes in the same Categories Baroque: Isabella Alexandra - Solo Violin 5th Season Final Performance: French Baroque Gavotte - J.B.

Lully - YouTube Isabella Alexandra - Solo Violin 5th Season Final Performance: French Baroque Gavotte - J.B. Lully Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Published on May 12, 2013 This is the last song of Isabella Alexandra's 5th season playing violin. So appropriate it be a French piece ;-) Please pardon the haze....thanks to the shoddy cameraman. Sound, however, is clear for your listening enjoyment. According to Wikipedia: The gavotte (also gavot or gavote) originated as a French folk dance, taking its name from the Gavot people of the Pays de Gap region of Dauphiné, where the dance originated.[citation needed] It is notated in 4/4 or 2/2 time and is of moderate tempo.

The distinctive rhythmic feature of the 18th-century French court gavotte is that phrases begin in the middle of the bar; that is, in either 4/4 or 2/2 time, the phrases begin on the third quarter note (crotchet) of the bar, creating a half-measure (half-bar) upbeat. Baroque music: The gavotte became popular in the court of Louis XIV where Jean-Baptiste Lully was the leading court composer. Consequently several other composers of the Baroque period incorporated the dance as one of many optional additions to the standard instrumental suite of the era. The examples in suites and partitas by Johann Sebastian Bach are best known. When present in the Baroque suite, the gavotte is often played after the sarabande and before the gigue, along with other optional dances such as the minuet, bourrée, rigaudon, and passepied.

The gavotte could be played at a variety of tempi; in his Musicalisches Lexicon (Leipzig, 1732), Johann Gottfried Walther wrote that the gavotte is "often quick, but occasionally slow"; and Johann Joachim Quantz wrote in Versuch einer Anweisung die Flöte traversiere zu spielen (Berlin, 1752) that "A gavotte is almost like a rigaudon, but is a little more moderate in tempo." Category Baroque Dance Forms - BestStudentViolins.com Baroque Dance Forms See also: J.S. Bach: Music | Recordings | Books | Links Bourrée: French origin common in Auvergne and Biscay in Spain in the 17th century. It is danced in quick double time, somewhat resembling the gavotte. The main difference between the two is the anacrusis, or upbeat; a bourrée starts on the last beat of a bar, creating a quarter-bar anacrusis, whereas a gavotte has a half-bar anacrusis. [See: Wikipedia ] Canarie (canary): Fast dance from the Renaissance and Baroque eras.

It was in 3/8 or 6/8 meter. The dance was named for the Canary Islands, the dance's place of origin. [See: Wikipedia ] Chaconne: Variation on a repeated short harmonic progression, often involving a fairly short repetitive bass-line (ground bass) which offered a compositional outline for variation, decoration, figuration and melodic invention. In this it closely resembles the Passacaglia. The ground bass, if there is one, may typically descend stepwise from the tonic to the dominant pitch of the scale, the harmonies given to the upper parts may emphasize the circle of fifths or a derivative pattern thereof. Though it originally emerged during the late sixteenth century in Spanish culture, having reputedly been introduced from the New World, as a quick dance-song characterized by suggestive movements and mocking texts, by the early eighteenth century the chaconne had evolved into a slow triple meter instrumental form. One of the best known and most masterful and expressive examples of the chaconne is the final movement from the Violin Partita in D minor by Johann Sebastian Bach.

This 256-measure chaconne takes a plaintive four-bar phrase through a continuous kaleidoscope of musical expression in both major and minor modes. After the baroque period, the chaconne fell into decline, though the 32 Variations in C minor by Ludwig van Beethoven belong to the form. [See: Wikipedia ] Courante: The courante, corrente, coranto and corant are some of the names given to a family of triple metre dances from the late Renaissance and the Baroque era. Modern usage will sometimes use the different spellings to distinguish types of courante (Italian spelling for the Italian dance, etc.), but in the original sources spellings were inconsistent. (In the Partitas of the Clavierübung, Bach use the different spellings courante and corrente to differentiate between the French and Italian styles, respectively.) However, in Dance and the Music of J. S. Bach by Meredith Little and Natalie Jenne, the courante and corrente are given separate chapters and treated as distinct dances.

The courante had the slowest tempo of all French court dances, and was described by Mattheson, Quantz and Rousseau as grave and majestic, whilst the corrente may be fluid and virtuosic. In Bach's unaccompanied Partita for Violin No. 2 the first movement (titled Allemanda) begins as if in 3/4 time in a manner one might initially perform and hear as a courante. The second movement is titled corrente and is rather lively. This may reflect a performance practice in which the second of paired courantes is played faster than the first. On the other hand, many "courante" movements by Bach are actually correntes as well: in the original engraving of the keyboard Partitas, movements are clearly labelled either "corrente" or "courante", but editors have frequently ignored the distinction. Although an indication of faster tempo appears to exist in Baroque composer Georg Muffat's instructions on Lullian bowing, his reference to the "rapid tempo of courantes" is a confusion in translation.

A more literal translation of the text indicates only "the speed of the movement of the notes." Courante literally means running, and in the later Renaissance the courante was danced with fast running and jumping steps, as described by Thoinot Arbeau. These steps are sometimes thought to be broken up by hops between the steps, but this is not necessarily supported by Arbeau's confusing and contradictory instructions, which described each "saut" as resulting in the completion of a new foot placement. [See: Wikipedia ] Forlane (forlana): The furlana (also spelled furlane, forlane, friulana, forlana) is an Italian folk dance from the Italian province of Friuli Venezia Giulia. Friuli was at the time a Slavonic region, controlled by the Venetian republic, and the furlana may well have originated as a Slavonic dance.

It dates at least to 1583, when a "ballo furlano" called L'arboscello was published in Pierre Phalèse the Younger's Chorearum molliorum collectanea and in Jakob Paix's organ tablature book, though its chief popularity extended from the late 1690s to about 1750 (Little 2001). The furlana is a fast dance, in duple-time 6/8, though one exceptional example proves to be in quintuple meter, underlining the Slavonic associations also suggested by its title. [See: Wikipedia ] Gavotte: The gavotte (also gavot or gavote) originated as a French folk dance, taking its name from the Gavot people of the Pays de Gap region of Dauphiné, where the dance originated. It is notated in 4/4 or 2/2 time and is of moderate tempo.

The distinctive rhythmic feature of the original gavotte is that phrases begin in the middle of the bar; that is, in either 4/4 or 2/2 time, the phrases begin on the third quarter note of the bar, creating a half-measure upbeat, as illustrated below: The gavotte became popular in the court of Louis XIV where Jean-Baptiste Lully was the leading court composer. Consequently several other composers of the Baroque period incorporated the dance as one of many optional additions to the standard instrumental suite of the era. The examples in suites and partitas by Johann Sebastian Bach are best known. When present in the Baroque suite, the gavotte is often played after the sarabande and before the gigue, along with other optional dances such as minuet, bourrée, rigaudon, and passepied. [See: Wikipedia ] Gigue: A lively baroque dance originating from the British jig. It was imported into France in the mid-17th century and usually appears at the end of a suite. The gigue was probably never a court dance, but it was danced by nobility on social occasions and several court composers wrote gigues.

In early English theatre, it was customary to end a play's performance with a gigue, complete with music and dancing. A gigue is usually in 3/8 or in one of its compound metre derivatives, such as 6/8, 6/4, 9/8 or 12/16, although there are some gigues written in other metres (for example, the gigue from Bach's first French Suite (BWV 812), which is written in 4/4). They often have a contrapuntal texture. It often has accents on the third beats in the bar, making the gigue a lively folk dance. [See: Wikipedia ] Loure (slow gigue): Also known as the gigue lente or slow gigue, is a French Baroque dance, probably originating in Normandy and named after the sound of the instrument of the same name (a type of musette). The loure is a dance of slow or moderate tempo and in ternary meter (6/8, 3/4, or 6/4). The weight is on beat 1, which is further strengthened by the preceding anacrusis that begins the traditional loure.

In his Musicalisches Lexicon (Leipzig, 1732), Johann Gottfried Walther wrote that the loure "is slow and ceremonious; the first note of each half-measure is dotted which should be well observed". Examples of loures are found in the works of Lully (e.g., Alceste) and of Bach (e.g.: French Suite No. 5 and the Partita No. 3 for violin solo). [See: Wikipedia ] Menuet (minuet): A minuet, also spelled menuet, is a social dance of French origin for two people, usually in 3/4 time. The word was adapted from Italian minuetto and French menuet, meaning small, pretty, delicate, a diminutive of menu, from the Latin minutus; menuetto is a word that occurs only on musical scores. The name may refer to the short steps, pas menus, taken in the dance, or else be derived from the branle à mener or amener, popular group dances in early 17th-century France. At the period when it was most fashionable it was slow, soft, ceremonious, and graceful.

The name is also given to a musical composition written in the same time and rhythm, but when not accompanying an actual dance the pace was quicker. Stylistically refined minuets, apart from the social dance context, were introduced—to opera at first—by Jean-Baptiste Lully, who included no less than 92 of them in his theatrical works, and in the late 17th century the minuet was adopted into the suite, such as some of the suites of Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel. As the other dances that made up a Baroque suite dropped out of use, the minuet retained its popularity. Among Italian composers, the minuet was often considerably quicker and livelier, and was sometimes written in 3/8 or 6/8 time. A minuet was often used as the final movement in an Italian overture. Initially, before its adoption in contexts other than social dance, the minuet was usually in binary form, with two sections of usually eight bars each, but the second section eventually expanded, resulting in a kind of ternary form.

On a larger scale, two such minuets were often combined, so that the first minuet was followed by a second one, and finally by a repetition of the first. The second (or middle) minuet usually provided some form of contrast, by means of different key and orchestration. Around Lully's time, it became a common practice to score this section for a trio (such as two oboes and a bassoon, as is common in Lully). As a result, this middle section came to be called trio, even when no trace of such an orchestration remains. The minuet and trio eventually became the standard third movement in the four-movement classical symphony, Johann Stamitz being the first to employ it thus with regularity. A livelier form of the minuet later developed into the scherzo (which was generally also coupled with a trio). This term came into existence approximately from Beethoven onwards, but the form itself can be traced back to Haydn. An example of the true form of the minuet is to be found in Don Giovanni.

[ See: Wikipedia ] Rounded binary or minuet form: A :| |: B A or A' I(->V) :| |: V(or other closely related) Passacaille (passacaglia): A musical form that originated in early seventeenth-century Spain and is still used by contemporary composers. It is usually of a serious character and is often, but not always, based on a bass-ostinato and written in triple metre. The term passacaglia (Spanish: pasacalle; French: passacaille; Italian: passacaglia, passacaglio, passagallo, passacagli, passacaglie) derives from the Spanish pasar (to walk) and calle (street). It originated in early 17th century Spain as a Spanish: 'rasgueado' (strummed) interlude between instrumentally accompanied dances or songs. Despite the form's Spanish roots (confirmed by references in Spanish literature of the period), the first written examples of passacaglias are found in an Italian source dated 1606. These pieces, as well as others from Italian sources from the beginning of the century, are simple, brief sequences of chords outlining a cadential formula.

The passacaglia was redefined in late 1620s by Italian composer Girolamo Frescobaldi, who transformed it into a series of continuous variations over a bass (which itself may be varied). Later composers adopted this model, and by the nineteenth century the word came to mean a series of variations over an ostinato pattern, usually of a serious character. A similar form, the chaconne, was also first developed by Frescobaldi. The two genres are closely related, but since "composers often used the terms chaconne and passacaglia indiscriminately modern attempts to arrive at a clear distinction are arbitrary and historically unfounded". In early scholarship, attempts to formally differentiate between the historical chaconne and passacaglia were made, but researchers often came to opposite conclusions. For example, Percy Goetschius held that the chaconne is usually based on a harmonic sequence with a recurring soprano melody, and the passacaglia was formed over a ground bass pattern, whereas Clarence Lucas defined the two forms in precisely the opposite way.

More recently, however, some progress has been made toward making a useful distinction for the usage of the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, when some composers (notably Frescobaldi and François Couperin) deliberately mixed the two genres in the same composition. [See: Wikipedia ] Passepied: A 17th- and 18th-century dance that originated in Brittany. The term can also be used to describe the music to which a passepied is set. The music is an example of a dance movement in Baroque music and is almost always a movement in binary form with a fast tempo and a time signature of three quavers (or eighth notes) per bar, each section beginning with an upbeat of a single quaver. Passepieds occasionally appear in suites such as Handel's Water Music (Suite No. 1 in F) or J.S. Bach's Overture in the French Style for harpsichord where there are two Passepieds in minor and major keys respectively, to be played alternativement in the order I, II, I.

[See: Wikipedia ] Rigaudon: Also spelled rigadon, rigadoon, a French baroque dance with a lively duple metre. The music is similar to that of a bourrée, but the rigaudon is rhythmically simpler with regular phrases (eight measure phrases are most common). Also spelled Rigadoon, it is a sprightly 17th-century French folk dance for couples. Traditionally, the folkdance was associated with the provinces of Vavarais, Languedoc, Dauphiné, and Provence in southern France, and it became popular as a court dance during the reign of Louis XIV. Its hopping steps were adopted by the skillful dancers of the French and English courts, where it remained fashionable through the 18th century. By the close of the 18th century, however, it had given way in popularity as a ballroom dance (along with the passepied, bourrée, and gigue) to the minuet. [ See: Wikipedia ] Sarabande: The sarabande (It., sarabanda) is a dance in triple metre.

The second and third beats of each measure are often tied, giving the dance a distinctive rhythm of quarter notes and eighth notes in alternation. The quarters are said to corresponded with dragging steps in the dance. The sarabande is first mentioned in Central America: in 1539, a dance called a zarabanda is mentioned in a poem written in Panama by Fernando Guzmán Mexia. Apparently the dance became popular in the Spanish colonies before moving back across the Atlantic to Spain. While it was banned in Spain in 1583 for its obscenity, it was frequently cited in literature of the period (for instance in works by Cervantes and Lope de Vega). Later, it became a traditional movement of the suite during the baroque period, usually coming directly after the Courante. The baroque sarabande is commonly a slow triple rather than the much faster Spanish original, consistent with the courtly European interpretations of many Latin dances.

This slower, less spirited interpretation of the dance form was codified in the writings of various 18th century musicologists; Johann Gottfried Walther wrote in his Musicalisches Lexicon (Leipzig, 1723) that the sarabande is "a grave, somewhat short melody," and Johann Mattheson likewise wrote in Der Vollkommene Capellmeister (Hamburg, 1739) that the sarabande "expresses no passion other than ambition". The sarabande form was revived in the late-nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by composers such as Debussy and Satie and, in different styles, Vaughan Williams (in Job) and Benjamin Britten (in the Simple Symphony). In 1976 ex-Deep Purple organist Jon Lord based his album Sarabande entirely on the concept of a baroque dance suite. Performed by the Philharmonia Hungarica and a selection of rock musicians (including Andy Summers on guitar, who would later join The Police), the album mixes classical and rock influences.

One of the best-known sarabandes is the anonymous La folie espagnole whose melody appears in pieces by dozens of composers from the time of Monteverdi and Corelli through the present day. [See: Wikipedia ] Tambourin: A piece of music that imitates a drum, usually as a repetitive not-very-melodic figure in the bass. A tambourin itself is a small, two-headed drum of Arabic origin, mentioned as early as the 1080s (noted as a "tabor" in Roman de Roland). It was played together with a small flute (galoubet, flaviol). A tambourin, as a dance, hails from Provence. It was accompanied by a pipe and, curiously enough, a tambourine (modern meaning), which is also called a "tambour de Basque." A tambourin as a concert piece is lively and in duple meter. Jean-Philippe Rameau wrote many of them as parts of his operas. The most famous one is his Tambourin in E Minor from his Pièces de Clavecin, originally from his opera Les fêtes d'Hébé (1739).

[ See: Wikipedia ] Folk Dances of Europe - Modern and Other Dance - Ballet Alert! Modern and Other Dance Not recommended on shared computers Sign in anonymously September 29, 2013 For my own edification, I started putting together a list of European folk/social dances and links to video samples. So if anyone finds this of interest, please feel free to add samples (or if you can recommend better sample videos for any of these items, definitely let me know). I was looking mainly at dances that are referred to in various ballets. Note that many of these dances are also linked to a particular form of music sharing the same name. The quotes all come from Wikipedia unless otherwise noted.

I'll have to deal with the Southern Mediterranean another time, but here's the first group - Branle (Bransle) "16th-century French dance style which moves mainly from side to side, and is performed by couples in either a line or a circle." "According to Arbeau, every ball began with the same four branles: the double branle, the single branle, the gay branle, and the Burgundian branle." Branle Gay Sarabande "Originally, a dance considered disreputable in 16th-century Spain, and, later, a slow, stately dance that was popular in France. Possibly of Mexican origin or perhaps evolved from a Spanish dance with Arab influence that was modified in the New World, it was apparently danced by a double line of couples to castanets and lively music." --Encyclopedia Britannica "In music, the sarabande is a dance in triple metre. The second and third beats of each measure are often tied, giving the dance a distinctive rhythm of alternating quarter notes and eighth notes.

The quarter notes are said to correspond with the dragging steps in the dance." Gavotte "The gavotte originated as a French folk dance, taking its name from the Gavot people of the Pays de Gap region of Dauphiné, where the dance originated. It is notated in 4/4 or 2/2 time and is of moderate tempo. The distinctive rhythmic feature of the 18th-century French court gavotte is that phrases begin in the middle of the bar; that is, in either 4/4 or 2/2 time, the phrases begin on the third quarter note (crotchet) of the bar, creating a half-measure (half-bar) upbeat." Bourrée The bourrée is a dance of French origin common in Auvergne and Biscay in Spain in the 17th century. It is danced in quick double time, somewhat resembling the gavotte. Minuet "A minuet, also spelled menuet, is a social dance of French origin for two people, usually in 3/4 time.

The word was adapted from Italian minuetto and French menuet, and may have been from French menu meaning slender, small, referring to the very small steps, or from the early 17th-century popular group dances called branle à mener or amener." Chaconne "…a type of musical composition popular in the baroque era when it was much used as a vehicle for variation on a repeated short harmonic progression, often involving a fairly short repetitive bass-line (ground bass) which offered a compositional outline for variation, decoration, figuration and melodic invention. In this it closely resembles the Passacaglia." "The chacona was a sexily swirling dance that appeared in South America at the end of the sixteenth century and quickly spread to Europe, becoming popular both in the elite courts and in the general population." -- Alex Ross This fine article contains sound samples (thank you!): Quadrille "fashionable late 18th- and 19th-century dance for four couples in square formation.

Imported by English aristocrats in 1815 from elite Parisian ballrooms, it consisted of four, or sometimes five, contredanses; like the contredanse, the quadrille depended more on the cooperative execution of intertwining figures, or floor patterns, than on intricate stepwork." -- Encyclopedia Brtannica "Quadrille is a historic dance performed by four couples in a rectangular formation, and a precursor to traditional square dancing" Cotillion "The cotillion is a type of patterned social dance that originated in France in the 18th century. It was originally made up of four couples in a square formation, the forerunner of the quadrille; in the United States the square dance, where the "figures" are called aloud by the caller, is a form of rural contredanse that also descended from the urban cotillion.

Its name, from French cotillon, "petticoat", reflected the flash of petticoats as the changing partners turned." Tarantella "The term tarantella groups together a number of different folk dances characterized by a fast upbeat tempo, usually in 6/8 time (sometimes 18/8 or 4/4), accompanied by tambourines. It is among the most recognized forms of traditional southern Italian music." Mazurka "The mazurka (in Polish, mazurek) is a Polish folk dance in triple meter, usually at a lively tempo, and with accent on the second or third beat." Czardas "Hungarian folk dance. The Csárdás is characterized by a variation in tempo: it starts out slowly (lassú) and ends in a very fast tempo (friss, literally "fresh")." Troika "Troika is a Russian folk dance, where a man dances with two women. The Russian word troika means three-horse team/gear.

In the Russian dance the dancers imitate the prancing of horses pulling a sled or a carriage." Viennese waltz "What is now called the Viennese waltz is the original form of the waltz. It was the first ballroom dance performed in the closed hold or "waltz" position." Polonaise "A dance of Polish origin. The polonaise had a rhythm quite close to that of the Swedish semiquaver or sixteenth-note polska, and the two dances have a common origin. Polonaise is a widespread dance in carnival parties. Polonaise is always a first dance at a studniówka ("hundred-days"), the Polish equivalent of the senior prom that occurs approximately 100 days before exams." Glossary: Key Terms of Baroque Music | On Baroque Bach, Corelli, Scarlatti, Vivaldi, Handel . . . Glossary: Key Terms of Baroque Music Posted by Nabob on May 11, 2013 Adagio: Comes from the Italian expression ad agio, “at ease,” and in music refers to a slow and stately tempo.

Allemande: One of the most popular instrumental dance forms in Baroque music, and a standard element of a suite. The allemande originated in the 16th century as a duple meter dance of moderate tempo, derived from dances favored in Germany at the time. Aria: Originally any expressive melody, usually performed by a singer. The term became used almost exclusively to describe a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without orchestral accompaniment, typically part of a larger work. The most common context for arias is opera, but vocal arias also feature in oratorios and cantatas, Baroque: A style of Western art music composed from approximately 1560 to 1750.”Baroque” comes from the Portuguese word barroco, meaning misshapen pearl, a negative description of the ornate and heavily ornamented music of this period. The Baroque period saw the creation of tonality. During the period, composers and performers used more elaborate musical ornamentation, made changes in musical notation, and developed new instrumental playing techniques.

Baroque music expanded the size, range, and complexity of instrumental performance, and also established opera, cantata, oratorio, concerto, and sonata as musical genres. Basso continuo: Provides the harmonic structure of the music. The phrase is often shortened to continuo, and the instrumentalists playing the continuo part, if more than one, are called the continuo group. The titles of many Baroque works make mention of the continuo section, such as J. S. Bach’s Concerto for 2 violins, strings and continuo in D minor. Here’s a good example, with commentary. Brisé (or Style Brisé): Broken, arpeggiated texture in instrumental music. It usually refers to French Baroque music for lute, keyboard instruments, or the viol. Canon: A contrapuntal compositional technique that employs a melody with one or more imitations of the melody played after a given duration (e.g., quarter rest, one measure, etc.). The initial melody is called the leader, while the imitative melody, which is played in a different voice, is called the follower.

The follower must imitate the leader, either as an exact replication of its rhythms and intervals or some transformation thereof. Canticle: A hymn, psalm, or other song of praise. Chaconne: A type of musical composition popular in the Baroque era, when it was much used as a vehicle for variation on a repeated short harmonic progression, often involving a fairly short repetitive bass-line, which offered a compositional outline for variation, decoration, figuration and melodic invention. Concerto: A musical composition usually composed in three parts or movements, in which a solo instrument is accompanied by an orchestra. Contrapuntal (or counterpoint): The relationship between voices that are harmonically interdependent but independent in rhythm and contour. It has been most commonly identified in classical music, developing strongly during the Renaissance and in much of the common practice period, especially in Baroque music. The term originates from the Latin punctus contra punctum meaning “point against point.” Fantasia: A musical composition with its roots in the art of improvisation and that seldom approximates the textbook rules of any strict musical form.

Fugue: A contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject that is introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches) and recurs frequently in the course of the composition. A Fughetta is a short fugue in which the contrapuntal writing typically is not strict, and the setting less formal. Gavotte: Originated as a French folk dance, taking its name from the Gavot people of the Pays de Gap region of Dauphiné. It is notated in 4/4 or 2/2 time and is of moderate tempo. The distinctive rhythmic feature of the 18th-century French court gavotte is that phrases begin in the middle of the bar. In either 4/4 or 2/2 time, the phrases begin on the third quarter note of the bar, creating a half-measure upbeat. Gigue: A lively Baroque dance originating from the British jig. It was imported into France in the mid-17th century and usually appears at the end of a suite. The gigue was probably never a court dance, but it was danced by nobility on social occasions and several court composers wrote gigues.

Intermezzo: A composition which fits between other musical or dramatic entities, such as acts of a play or movements of a larger musical work. In music history, the term has had several different usages, which fit into two general categories: the opera intermezzo and the instrumental intermezzo. Magnificat: A canticle that’s frequently sung or spoken liturgically in Christian church services. It is one of the eight most ancient Christian hymns and perhaps the earliest Marian hymn. Motet: Highly varied choral musical compositions. Partita: Ooriginally the name for a single-instrumental piece of music (16th and 17th centuries), but Johann Sebastian Bach and other later German composers used it for collections of musical pieces, as a synonym for suite. Passacaglia: A musical form that originated in early seventeenth-century Spain and is still used by contemporary composers. It is usually of a serious character and is often, but not always, based on a bass-ostinato and written in triple meter. Prelude: A short piece of music that can be thought of as a preface. It may stand on its own or introduce another work.

It generally features a small number of rhythmic and melodic motifs that recur through the piece. Stylistically, the prelude is improvisatory in nature. The prelude can also refer to an overture, particularly to those in an opera or an oratorio. Recitative: Style of delivery in which a singer is allowed to adopt the rhythms of ordinary speech. Often used in operas, oratorios, and cantatas. Ricercar: In common contemporary usage, it refers to an early kind of fugue, particularly one of a serious character in which the subject uses long note values. Historically, it refers to a type of early Baroque instrumental composition, one that “searches out” the key or mode of a following piece. Scordatura: A cross-tuning technique. For a good example, listen to this 2-minute excerpt of Franz Biber’s Partia No. 1. Sonata: A principle of composing large-scale works. It was applied to most instrumental genres and regarded alongside the fugue as one of two fundamental methods of organizing, interpreting and analyzing concert music. Stretti: A close succession of statements of the subject in a fugue, especially in the final section.

In stretto, the subject is presented in one voice and then imitated in one or more other voices, with the imitation starting before the subject has finished. The subject is therefore superimposed upon itself contrapuntally. Toccata A piece of music typically for a keyboard or plucked string instrument featuring fast-moving, lightly fingered, or otherwise virtuosic passages or sections, with or without imitative or fugal interludes, generally emphasizing the dexterity of the performer’s fingers. Less frequently, the name is applied to works for multiple instruments (the opening of Claudio Monteverdi’s opera Orfeo being a notable example). Variation: A formal technique where material is repeated in an altered form. The changes may involve harmony, melody, counterpoint, rhythm, timbre, orchestration, or any combination of these. Vespers: The sunset evening prayer service in the Western Catholic, Eastern Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran liturgies of the canonical hours. It is also referred to in the Anglican tradition as Evening Prayer or Evensong. The term is also used in some Protestant denominations to describe evening services. Many of the definitions in this glossary are excerpted from Wikipedia.

Question: What originated as a French folk dance, notated in 4/4 or 2/2 time at moderate tempo, with a distinctive rhythmic feature, as phrases begin in the middle of the bar (on the third quarter note), creating a half-measure upbeat?
Answer: Gavotte