Grove's dictionary of music and musicians

742 SUITE SUITE
that it may be well to notice them first. Theae
appear to have been called by the older writers
Galanterien, and more lately Intermezzi ; and
seem to have been regarded as asort of concession
to popular taste. But in any way they answer
the purposes of form exceedingly well. A very
great variety of dances is introduced at this
Wjl^A The most familiar are the Gavottes,
KraHies, Minuets, and Paasepieds. But besides
these the most distinguished writers introduced
Loures, Polonaises, movements called Arias, and
, other less familiar_forms. _IhjEir-oharacter on
the average is especially light and simple, and in
the dance numbers it is remarkable that they
always preserve their dance character more
decidedly and obviously than any other member
of the group. It is not possible to describe
them all in detail, as they are too numerous, but
their aspect in the group is for the most part
similar, and is analogous to that of the Scherzo
or Minuet and Trio in the modern sonata. They
evidently strengthen the balance on either side
of the sarabande both in quality and amount.
In many cases there is a considerable group of
them, and in these cases it is that the Aria is
sometimes introduced. This movement has little
connection with the modern piece of the same
name, as it is generally a short movement in
the same balanced form as the other movements,
but free from the dance basis and rule of time.
It is generally moderately slow, and sometimes
consistently melodious, as in Mattheson's Suite
in A ; but often it is little more than a string of
figures, without even melody of much importance.
The group of Intermezzi is generally contrasted
with the Sarabande and the Gigiie either by a
square time or by the interchange of moderate
movement, such as that of the Minuet ; and the
conciseness and distinctness of the type is always
sufficient to make the relations on both sides
perfectly clear.
The Gigue which concludes the series is
theoretically, and in, most cases actually, of
light and rapid style. It is usually based on
some rhythmic combination of 3 feet, but even
this is not invariable. The balance is in favour
of 12-8 time ; but 6-8 is also common, and
12-16 and 3-8 not unfrequent ; while a few
are in some form of common time, as the slow
Gigue in the first French Suite of Bach, and
the remarkable example in his last Partita in
E minor. The old fancy for concluding a work
with a fugue' is illustrated by the common
occurrence of fugal treatment in this member
alone of the regular group of the true suite
series. The treatment is met with in all directions
;
in Kuhnau, Mattheson, Handel, Couperin,
as well as Bach. The method of application is
commonly to begin and carry out a free sort of
fugue in the first half, concluding like the other
movements in the dominant key ; and to take
up the same subject freely ' al rovescio ' or by
contrary motion in the second half, with regular
answer as in a fresh fughetta, and carry it out
on that basis with the usual direction of
modulation, concluding in the original key.
Thus the fugal treatment is an accessory to
the usual form of the suite movement, which
is here as regularly and invariably maintained
as in the other members of the group.
The most important accessory which is commonly
added to this nucleus is the Prelude. It
appears in a variety of forms, and under a great
variety of. names. (It is worth noticing that all
six introductory movements of Bach's Partitas
have different titles.) The chief point which is
most obvious in relation to the other movements
is that their characteristic form of nearly equal
halves is systematically avoided ; in fact any
other form seems to have been taken in preference.
In many important examples it is the
longest and most elaborate movement of aU.
In some it is a sort of rhapsody or irregular
group of arpeggios and other figures based
on simple series of chords. Bach commonly
developed it on the same broad outlines as
some of his largest sonata movements, and the
first and last of the Italian Concerto—that is,
the distinct balancing section of clear musical
character and full close at the beginning and
end of the movement, and the long passage of
development and modulation in the middle,
sometimes embracing new figures. Thia»is
illustrated by the Preludes to the Suites
Anglaises in A minor, G minor, F and E minor.
In other examples the treatment is fngal, or
contains a complete fugue along with other
matter of more rhapsodical cast, as in the
Toccata of the Partita in E minor ; or yet
again it is in the form of a Fantasia, or of the
Overture as then understood. The effect is
certainly to add breadth and stability to the
group in no mean degree, and the contrast
with the rest of the movements is in every
respect unmistakable. This completes the
general outline of the Suite in its finest and
most consistently complete form, as illustrated
in Bach's Suites Anglaises, which must be
regarded as the culminating point of the Suite
as an art-form.
In the matter of actual distribution of
movements there are plenty of examples of
experiments, even in the time when the usual
nucleus had come to be generally recognised ;
in fact, there is hardly any large collection of
suites which does not present some exceptions
to the rules. Bach's departures from the usual
outlines are chiefly in the earliest examples, such
as the Partitas, in one of which he concludes
with a rondo and a caprice. The 'Ouverture
k la mani^re Fran§aise,' for Clavier, is in
appearance a Suite, but it is clear that Bach
had not only the Clavier Suite type in his
mind in laying out its plan, but also the freer
distribution of numbers in the so-called French
Overture said to date from LuUy. In this