Do you know what a suite is

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Can I dance the suite

Probably not everyone knows what a suite is. This is an old form of dance music. For the first time such works appeared in the seventeenth century, and French composers are considered the founders of this musical form. The word itself is translated from French as "sequence", "row", showing very accurately what a suite is. This is a piece of music consisting of several parts, different in character and rhythm, sometimes even contrasting with each other, but united by a common idea. At first, the suite consisted of only two parts, two dances - a slow and solemn pavane, and a cheerful and fast galliard. After some time, a four-part suite was formed, with a clearly defined sequence of sections. These were four dances, very different in rhythm - allemande, courante, sarabande and gigue. The connection of the parts took place in contrast slowly and quickly.

Over time, the suites began to include other dances - gavotte, minuet, burre, rigaudon. Developing this musical form, composers began to add a non-dance part of the suite - preludes, arias. The most famous suites were written for harpsichord by Bach and Handel. The suite becomes an integral part of the ballet,now this is the name of the divertissement that completes the second act. What is a divertissement suite? Divertimento in ballet is a series of separate dance numbers connected by one theme. Suites composed of the brightest fragments of ballets and operas are also widely known. Over time, in the nineteenth century, the suites take on a slightly different form. Very often they are like an illustration to a literary work - "Pictures at an Exhibition" by Mussorgsky, "Carnival" by Schumann. The suites become part of theatrical productions, for example, the Peer Gynt suite by Edvard Grieg. Later, such works become music for films.

Rodion Shch

edrin "Carmen Suite"

Very interesting work - "Carmen Suite" by J. Bizet - R. Shchedrin. Shchedrin decided to use the technique of musical transcription, reworking Bizet's music for the opera Carmen in a modern form. Transcription has been used before, even by very famous composers. Thus, Bach's adaptations of Vivaldi's violin concertos are known, and Liszt's music of Paganini. But, of course, to take on Bizet's great opera was a very bold experiment, and not all of his contemporaries accepted it. What is a suite at Shchedrin's? Bizet's music is compressed in time, to the size of a one-act ballet. Shchedrin gave the performed fragments a modern sound, creatively reworking the brilliant work of Biz

e. The premiere of "Carmen Suite" took place on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater on April 20, 1967. The ballet was written for MayaPlisetskaya. The ballet was directed by Cuban choreographer Alberto Alonso. Curiously, Shchedrin did not use wind instruments at all in his suite, only strings and percussion. Such a choice of instruments by the composer emphasizes the expressiveness of the characters, enhances the feeling of anxiety and the tragedy of the plot. A happy fate has developed for the transcription suite, which Shchedrin wrote so boldly. The Carmen Suite is a beloved work of all, and performances of this ballet in various theaters around the world are a constant success.