Dance and the Music of J. S. Bach

Description

This work includes stylised dance music and music based on dance rhythms pervade Bach's compositions. Although the music of this very special genre has long been a part of every serious musician's repertoire, little has been written about it. The original edition of this addressed works that bore the names of dances-a considerable corpus. In this expanded version of their practical and insightful study, Meredith Little and Natalie Jenne apply the same principals to the study of a great number of Bach's works that use identifiable dance rhythms but do not bear dance-specific titles. Part I describes French dance practices in the cities and courts most familiar to Bach. The terminology and analytical tools necessary for discussing dance music of Bach's time are laid out. Part II presents the dance forms that Bach used, annotating all of his named dances. Little and Jenne draw on choreographies, harmony, theorists' writings, and the music of many seventeenth- and eighteenth-century composers in order to arrive at a model for each dance type. In Appendix A, all of Bach's named dances are listed in convenient tabular form; included are the BWV number for each piece, the date of composition, the larger work in which it appears, the instrumentation, and the meter. Appendix B supplies the same data for pieces recognisable as dance types but not named as such. More than ever, this book will stimulate both the musical scholar and the performer with a new perspective at the rhythmic workings of Bach's remarkable repertoire of dance-based music. Preface to the Expanded Edition Preface to the First Edition Part I: Introduction Chapter 1. French Court Dance in Bach's World Chapter 2. Terms and Procedures Part II: Bach's Dance Music Chapter 3. The Bouree Chapter 4. The Gavotte Chapter 5. The Minuet Chapter 6. The Passepied Chapter 7. The Sarabande Chapter 8. The Courante Chapter 9. The Corrente Chapter 10. The Gigue Chapter 11. The Loure and the Forlana Chapter 12. The Polonaise Chapter 13. The Chaconne and the Passacaglia Chapter 14. Dance Rhythms in Bach's Larger Works Appendix A. Titled Dances by J. S. Bach Appendix B. Dance Rhythms in Bach's Larger Works Notes Bibliography Index