The Green caldron - University Library

March, 1962 17
to this combination. A case in point is the Third Orchestral Suite in D Major,
probably written at Leipzig some time after 1723.^ In this work, one of the
best examples of the suite form, Bach has incorporated characteristic elements
of each national style.
The suite, a collection of dance-tunes, is a form composed of many inter-
national elements. When Europe was torn by the Thirty Years War (starting
in 1618), people of many nations were thrown together, each nationality
bringing with it its own cultural forms. The dance-tunes of the village, the
court, and the troubadours were thus intermingled ; the Italian paduanas and
gagliards were shown to the French, who reciprocated by demonstrating their
hranles and courants. The German town pipers soon added these dances to
their own intrada and volta, and the embryonic suite was formed, music in-
tended more for listening than for dancing.^
The old German suite was originally composed of a slow, simple dance
followed by the same dance at a faster tempo, the second often having the
melody ornamented. This form, called tans and nachtanz, was repeated; and
the suite usually had four dances in all. Various dances were used, especially
the Italian hassadansa and saltarello or pavane (Spanish) and galliard (Ital-
ian). Each set, however, consisted of a slow dance followed by a more sprightly
one, and each dance had its special musical and rhythmic characteristics.
Froberger (1616-1667) is credited with setting the definite form of the
German suite as a combination of the allemande (German), the courante
(French), and saraband (Spanish), and the gigne (English jig).^
After Froberger the German suite was imported into France. Here the
form was greatly expanded, especially by the famous Lully (1633?- 1687)
and Couperin (1668-1733), to include an overture and numerous domestic
dances in addition to the four prescribed by Froberger, These new dances,
called galanteries and inserted between the saraband and final gigue, included
the gavotte, bourree, minuet, polonaise, and rondeau. The French also began
applying fanciful names to the dances ; a suite by Couperin, for instance, in-
cludes titles such as L'Auguste and Les Aheilles (the bees)."^ Even though
these dances were meant to be listened to rather than danced, the strong
rhythmic forms were kept intact.
In addition to gaining popularity in France, the suite form was also used
in other countries, especially in England and Italy. The Italians, however,
destroyed the rhythmic basis of the dances and heightened the suite to a
much more abstract form.
The suite was reintroduced into Germany from France at the time of
Bach. The form with which he worked was therefore already a mixture of
national characteristics : a German basis, French development, and dance-
tunes of many nationalities. With this fact in mind, one may inspect Bach's
Third Suite in detail.