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91
e. other dances: minuet, gavotte, bourée,
passepied, hornpipe
4. sometimes opened with an overture
5. binary (A- A- B- B), or ternary (A- B- A) form
a. A section: moves from home key to contrasting
key
b. B section: contrasting key, closely related
melodic material
6. written for solo instrument, chamber ensembles,
orchestra
III. Handel and the Orchestral Suite
A. Water Music, and Music for the Royal Fireworks
1. Water Music: five- movement orchestral suite
a. outdoor per for mance: royal party, Thames
River
b. lively rhythms, catchy melodies
B. LG 16: Handel: Water Music, Suite in D Major,
Alla hornpipe (1717, first per for mance)
1. ternary form (A- B- A)
2. A section:
a. major key, triple meter
b. disjunct theme
c. decorative trills in strings and woodwinds
d. regal brass and timpani answer
3. B section:
a. reflective, minor key
b. strings and woodwinds (no brass)
OVERVIEW
The dance suite is introduced as a genre that signals the
impor tant role of technology in the evolution of musical
instruments during the Baroque era. Handel’s Water Music
OUTLINE
I. Baroque Instruments
A. Focus on instruments and instrumental music
1. encouraged by wealthy patrons
2. collaboration of craftspeople and musicians
3. instruments featured in large- scale Baroque
genres
4. elaborate instrumental music conveyed grandeur
on special occasions
B. Dramatic improvements to instruments
1. strings:
a. gut strings, softer more penetrating sound
b. Northern Italy string instrument makers:
Stradivarius, Guarneri, Amati
2. woodwinds:
a. all made of wood
b. expanded range, subtlety
c. suggest pastoral scenes
3. brass:
a. “natu ral instruments,” valveless; demand
virtuosity
b. trumpets: bright sonority
c. French horn: mellow, hunt- like sound
4. recent interest in authenticity
II. The Baroque Suite
A. Suite: group of short dances
1. all in same key, contrasting moods
2. performed by diverse array of instruments
3. international influence
a. German allemande
b. French courante
c. Spanish sarabande
d. En glish gigue
CHAPTERfi26 Grace and Grandeur: The Baroque
Dance Suite
92 | Chapterfi26
The documentary features Andrew Manze and the
En glish Concert in a historical reenactment of the
famous 1717 Water Music royal pro cession on the river
Thames.
ASSIGNMENT SUGGESTIONS
1. Identify the forms of the following short dances. Remem-
ber to listen not only for phrases, but also for cadences, key
changes, and changes in texture and/or instrumentation:
Bach: Orchestral Suite No.2in B Minor, BWV 1067,
VIII: Badinerie (A B)
Handel: Water Music Suite No. 3 in G, HWV 350,
V:Minuet II (A- B- A)
Lully: Canarie from Armide, Act IV, scene 2 (A- B)
Rameau: Prologue to Dardanus: Tambourin 1 and 2
(A B A)
2. Listen to the Alla hornpipe from Handel’s Water Music.
Describe the differences you hear between the A and B
sections. How do the passages for brass instruments and
string instruments differ? Review what you know about
these instruments. Is there a mechanical or technologi-
cal explanation for these differences?
TEACHING CHALLENGES
Make sure to emphasize that repeats are optional in the per-
for mance of dance suite movements. Make a note beforehand
of which listening examples repeat the A and B sections and
which do not. This will eliminate potential confusion as your
students listen for the forms of these pieces.
SUPPLEMENTAL REPERTORY
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Hogwood, Christopher. Handel: Water Music and Music for the
Royal Fireworks. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge Univer-
is the case study of this chapter: it exemplifies the standard
formal designs of the Baroque suite and is scored for the lat-
est string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments of
the day.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. To understand the technological advancements in
instrument design and construction during the
Baroque era
2. To understand the Baroque suite as one of the most
impor tant genres of instrumental music of its day
3. To understand the musical design of the Baroque suite
as exemplified in Handel’s Water Music
LECTURE SUGGESTIONS
1. Show your class images of Baroque era instruments
and compare them with modern instruments. The
André Mertens Galleries for Musical Instruments at
New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art maintain an
interactive website that allows users to view images
and hear audio clips of the collection. Highlights from
the Baroque collection include string instruments by
Stradivarius and Amati, trumpets from the Nuremburg
school, and keyboards by Cristofori, Ruckers, and
Todini. Gallery 684 includes all of the string, key-
board, woodwind, brass, and percussion instruments
most commonly played during the Baroque era (includ-
ing ones similar to those called for in Handel’s Water
Music): www . metmuseum . org / collections / galleries
/ musical - instruments / 684.
2 . After reviewing the form of the Alla hornpipe from
orchestra with modern instruments (e.g., the 1961 EMI
recording with Herbert von Karajan leading the Ber-
3. Show clips from the 2009 BBC documentary Handel’s
Grace and Grandeur: The Baroque Dance Suite | 93
“ANOTHER HEARING” SAMPLE
MINI- ESSAY & RUBRIC
Part 3, LG 16, p.fi150
Compare/contrast per for mances of Alla hornpipe from
Handel’s Water Music (Philharmonia Baroque vs. New York
Philharmonic).
There is a striking difference between the per for mance of
Handel’s Alla hornpipe (from Water Music, Suite in DMajor)
nuanced. The inclusion of the timpani to accompany the brass
statements of the A theme lends a wonderful regal expres-
ence with the B section. In the B section, individual instru-
ments are more clearly heard (particularly violin and
bassoons), but the harpsichord gets drowned out. The most
striking timbral contrast, however, is that there are no timpani
melodies could be heard. This approach, as heard in the Phil-
harmonia’s recording, is no less effective for the listener who
has the advantage of a first- rate sound system and isn’t com-
peting with ambient sounds near the river. While the New
York Philharmonic orchestra plays well, the slower tempo
and lack of attention to nuanced expression lend a certain
Lawson, Colin, and Robin Stowell, eds. Cambridge Handbooks to the
Historical Per for mance of Music. Cambridge and New York: Cam-
bridge University Press, 2000–. A useful and informative series on
vari ous instruments and their development throughout the early
stages of their evolution (including the Baroque era). At pres ent, the
series includes monographs on historical per for mance in general,
the clarinet, violin and viola, flute, keyboards, and horn.
YOUR TURN TO EXPLORE
MODEL RESPONSE
ments are introduced playing multiple countermelodies, and
on the second repeat of the first section (2:56), the ensemble
increases to include brass and percussion played at fortissimo
levels. In contrast to the hornpipe, Sousa’s march has four dis-
was composed and performed (and still is) for marching or
parade settings. As one still sees today, contrasting sec-
tions of marching band music typically correspond to shift-
ing movements of the ensemble. For both pieces, the
contrasting timbres and episodes might also be explained on
a more practical level: to give the wind instrumentalists a
94 | Chapterfi26
— The student provides full details in terms of title, com-
poser, and performing ensembles.
—The student provides details about the piece gleaned
RUBRIC
— The student has answered, in an or ga nized way, the three
