Category: Bach
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A Thought On Courantes…
Courante means running or flowing and has got the same route as our english word current (as in water). There’s a French form (courante) and Italian form (courrente). They are the same dance, although the Italian is more spritely and lively and the French is more elegant and restrained. This reminds us that French and…
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A Thought On Minuets…
Minuets are the quintessential courtly dance and were one of the most loved dance forms of the baroque period. It even survived, and thrived, well into the classical period, although its function had changed from a dance into just a movement in a classical symphony. Johann Mattheson wrote that a minuet should possess “… moderate…
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A Thought On Gigues…
Although sometimes accredited to the Italians, I think the gigue is a quintessentially British (I’m including Ireland in there) dance and is full of rustic vigour. Thomas Mace, an English contemporary of Bach’s, described gigues as, “Light-Squibbish Things, only fit for Fantastical, and Easie-Light-Headed People.”
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More on Rhetoric…
The word rhetoric derives from the Greek ‘rhetorike’, which means ‘to recite’, and is attributed to a certain way of persuasive speaking by an orator which is used to induce an emotional response from the audience in order to convince them of the speaker’s point. Cicero wrote that the aim of an orator was ‘docere,…
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Thinking About Rhetoric…
As a performer I am always looking for rhetorical ways into the music. I can do this by ‘decomposing’ the piece – and then layering it back up, like putting on sheets of tracing paper. These different sheets are: – Invention (idea) – Elaboration (structure and harmonic outline) – Decoration (ornamentation) – Oration (performance) (Invention)…
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A Thought On Sarabandes…
The tango originated in the brothels of Buenos Aries. Nowadays, it’s a much more respectful dance, especially if you go to Finland. The sarabande had a very very similar life, starting as a fast, vivacious dance in Central America in the 16th Century, which was then brought to Europe and banned in Spain in 1583,…