Grove's dictionary of music and musicians

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SUITE SUITE V39
by the suite in its maturity. In fact their kinship
must be attributed mainly to the order of
programme music. Thus in the tenth Ordre of
Couperin, the first number is called La Triomphante
' and also 'Bruit de Guerre.' In the
'
eleventh Ordre a series of pieces represents Les
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Faates de la grande et ancienne Mxnxstrxndxsx,
in five acts, the fourth of which is 'Les
Invalides,' etc., in which the right hand is made
to represent Les ' Disloqu^s ' and the left ' Les
Boiteux,' and the last is 'Ddsordre et d&oute
de toute la troupe : .caus& par les Yvrognes, les
Singes, et les Ouis.
In Germany, composers kept their faces more
steadfastly set in the direction of purer art-form,
and the prevalence of uniformity in their distribution
of movements soon became remarkable.
Kuhnau's examples have been already referred
to, and an example given in Pauer's ' Alte Clavier
Musik ' illustrates the usual order absolutely.
Spitta mentions that the famous organist Buxtehude
made a complete suite out of variations'bn
the choral ' Auf meinem lieben Gott ' in the form
of sarabande, courante, and gigue. Twelve sets
of ' Pieces de Clavecin ' byMattheson, which were
published in London as early as 1714, two years
before Couperin's first set, are remarkably regular.
The first, in D minor, has a prelude, allemande
and double, coiirante and double, sarabande,
and gigue. The second begins with a
toccatina, the fifth with » fantasia, the ninth
with a
' Boutade,' and the tenth with a
Symphonie,' but in other respects most of them
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follow the same outlines of general distribution.
The ' Six Suits of Lessons ' of the Dutchman
Johann Loeillet, published a little earlier still,
are equally precise. From these facts it is quite
clear that by the beginning of the 18th century
certain definite principles of grouping the move-
\ments were generally known and accepted ; and
that a nucleus, consisting of allemande, courante,
sarabande, and gigue, had become the accepted
type of the art-form.
The differences between the structure of suite
movements and sonata movements have already
been traced in the article Sonata. It remains
here only to summarise, with more special reference
to the suite. While sonata movements
constantly increased in complexity, suite move-
^gnts remained almost stationary. They were
based upon the persistence of the uniform type
ofa dance rhythm, throughout the whole of each
several movement. Hence the ground principles
of subject in sonata and suite are altogether
different. In the former the subjects are concrete,
and stand out in a marked manner both in
contrast to one another and to their immediate
context and it is a vital point in the form that
;
they shall be fully and clearly recapitulated.
In the suite, on the other hand, the subject does
not stand out at all prominently from its context
but is only a well-marked presentation
of the type of motion and rhythm which is to
prevail throughout the movement.
To this there
is no contrasting subject or episode, and definite
recapitulation is no part of the scheme at all.
In a few cases—which must be regarded as accidents
in relation to the logical principles of the
form—the opening bars happen to be suflBciently
marked to have something of the character of a
sonata subject ; and in such cases it may also
happen that they are repeated with sufficient
simplicity to have the effect of recapitulation.
But nevertheless it must be maintained that this
is not part of the principle of construction.
And with reference to this point it :^ well to
remember that composers did not attain the
ultimate distinct outlines of sonata and suite
with a definite purpose and plan before them ;
but that in working with particular materials
they were led almost unconsciously to differentiate
the two forms. The plan is found to
exist when the work is done ; but it is not
theoigtically propovmded and then worked up
to. nt is not therefore a matter for surprise
that In early times some points in the development
of abstract form of the sonata kind were
worked out in dance movements of the suite
type, and applied and extended afterwards in
works which had more distinctly the sonata
character. Nevertheless the sonata is not an
outgrowth from the suite ; but, inasmuch as both
were descended from a kindred stock, before the
distinctions had become well defined, it is natural
that many works should have continued to exhibit
suggestions and traits of both sides promiscuously.
On the whole, however, it is remarkable
how soon the distinct types came to be generally
maintained ; and from the number of instances
which conform, the system can be fairly deduced.
The most marked external point is the uniformity
of key. In Corelli's earlier Senate da
Camera, which in general are decided suites,
the one exception which marks a sonata tendency
is that the slow dance is often in a different key
from the rest of the movements. In later suitei^
of all sorts the uniformity of key throughout is
almost universal. In the whole of Bach's the
only exceptions are the second minuet of the
fourtly English Suite, and the second gavotte in
that known as the Overture in French '
Style. '^
Hence the contrast is purely one of character
between the several movements ; and this is
emphasised by the absenc^f any marked contrast
of key or subject in the movements themselves.
They are almost invariably constructed
upon the simple principle of balanced halves,
each representing the same material in different
phases, and each strengthened by repetition.
The first half sets out from the tonic key, and
without any marked pause or division modulates
so as to settle into the key of the dominant or
relative major, and closes in that key. The
second half begins afresh from that point, and
proceeding in most oases by way of the key of
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Ouverture k la manlftre Fran^lse.'