Orchestral Suite

Another popular Baroque form was the suite, a series of movements based on the rhythm and style of certain traditional dances. Suites were written for solo instruments, small groups, and large orchestral ensembles. Common movements included the German allemande, the French courante, the sarabande (originally from Spain), and the English or Irish gigue (jig). Many suites also included the gavotte, a French folk dance characterized by raising rather than sliding the feet. Suite movements were designed to offer interesting contrasts in meter, tempo, and texture. Sometimes, a prelude—a non-dance movement—opened the suite.

Bach, too, wrote suites for various instruments and ensembles. This next piece, the Air from his Suite No. 3 in D Major, is often called “Air on a G String,” after a transcription for violin and piano made in the late 19th century by the German violinist August Wilhelmj, who was able to play the piece on only one string of his violin, the G string. This particular movement is not based on a dance, but the suite does include a gavotte, a bourrée (a quick French dance in duple meter), and a gigue, in addition to an opening overture. Follow along with the Listening Guide to learn more about the piece. This Air is an expression of the Baroque Doctrine of Affections, which proposed that music is capable of arousing a variety of specific emotions within the listener. At the center of the doctrine was the belief that, by making use of the proper standard musical technique, the composer could create a piece of music capable of producing a particular involuntary emotional response in his audience and, furthermore, that a musical work should awaken one specific mood or emotion in the listener, and maintain it throughout the piece. These techniques and their affective counterparts were rigorously cataloged and described by several 17th- and 18th-century theorists, who maintained, among other examples, that joy could be elicited by large intervals, sadness by small intervals; fury by a roughness of harmony coupled with a rapid melody; and obstinacy by the contrapuntal combination of highly independent (obstinate) melodies.