An Outline of The History of Western Music Grout ... - The Reel Score

iii- in effect the chorale prelude is a single variation on a chorale which
may be constructed in the following ways
a: each phrase of the melody serves in turn as the subject of a short
fugue - the piece as whole adding up to chain of them
b: the phrases appear in turn usually in the top voice in long notes
with relatively little ornamentation - each appearance is preceded
by a brief imitative development in the other voices as a
"diminution" (a version in shorter notes) of the motive tha follows -
normally an introductory section develops the first phase in a fairly
extended fugue
c: the melody begins without any introduction, ornamented in a
imaginative manner, sometimes with a long melismatic phrase at
the final cadence - the accompaniment borrows many of its motives
from the chorale tune and proceeds freely with great variety from
phrase to phrase
d: the melody usually unadorned is accompanied in one or more of
the lower voices by a continuous rhythmic figure not related
motivically to the melody itself
b) Harpsichord & Clavichord Music
(1) in Baroque period - especially in Germany - it was not always clear whether a
given piece was intended for harpsichord or claivichord (or the organ)
(2) Theme & Variation
i) statement of theme followed by a series of variations (dates to the early
history of instrumental music
ii) after 1650, composers preferred to write an original song-like theme (often
called an aria) rather than follow the earlier practice of borrowing
(3) Suite
i) made up a large proportion of later Baroque Keyboard music
ii) Two distinct types existed
a- the amorphous collections produced by the French clavecinists
b- German variety clustered around four standard dances - this keyboard
suite (or partita) assumes a definite order of four dances by 1700 - each
dance has a different meter
i- allemande - probably of German origin, usually in a moderately fast
duple meter
ii- courante - French origin, in a moderate compound duple or
compound triple meter (3/2 or 6/4) - or shifts between the two.
Sometime the French courante is replaced with the Italian courante a
faster dance in 3/4 time with a more homophonic texture
iii- sarabande - Spanish (imported from Mexico), a slow movement in 3/2
or 6/4 triple meter with emphasis on the second beat
iv- gigue - Anglo-Irish, in 12/8, 6/8, or 6/4 with wide melodic skips and
continuous lively triplets. Often the style is fugal or quasi-fugal
iii) ordres of Couperin - a loose aggrigation of as many as twenty or more
miniature pieces most in dance rhythms
iv) Chaconne - a stately movement in triple meter made popular by Lully's
stage music often served as a movement of a suite