The Minuet moves in bite-sized two-note groups echoed between the hands, which gives it a sense of courtly daintiness not shared by its rougher country cousin, the Gavotte.
The Air features a continuous texture of running notes, with a lively imitative dialogue between the voices in the second half. A much longer second Gavotte follows, with an unusually wide variety in phrase lengths, for a dance movement. First is the Gavotte, which in contrast with the smooth running figures of the preceding dance, moves by a succession of little leaps, imitated between the hands. The galanteries, or optional dances that precede the finale, are usually performed in the following order. The stately Sarabande that follows restores a mood of ceremonial propriety as the hands take turns echoing the opening motive, with its characteristic emphasis on the second beat of the bar. The single upper line moves in a continuous stream of running triplets while its jogging partner in the bass skips in time to it below. In the Courante we move to triple metre, and a livelier pace.
Beginning unusually low, the first half moves towards the middle register, while the second half begins correspondingly high and descends to the mid- zone of the keyboard. It is the most “conversational” of the movements in the suite, its walking bass supporting two upper voices that circle and twine round each other like two old friends who complete each other’s sentences.
The moderately paced Allemande that opens this suite exudes an air of quiet assurance and harmonious calm. The harmonic task given to each two-section dance is a simple one: to move, in the first part, from the home key to the key of the dominant, five notes up, and then in the second part, to return back to the home key, with each section played twice. 4 in E flat major, BWV 815īach composed suites for keyboard, for various solo chamber instruments, and for full orchestra, each comprising a varied and aesthetically balanced collection of dance movements written in the fashionable style of his day.
0 kommentar(er)
