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A suite, in Western classical music and jazz, is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral/
concert band A concert band, also called a wind band, wind ensemble, wind symphony, wind orchestra, symphonic band, the symphonic winds, or symphonic wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of members of the woodwind, brass, and percussion famil ...
pieces. It originated in the late 14th century as a pairing of dance tunes and grew in scope to comprise up to five dances, sometimes with a
prelude Prelude may refer to: Music *Prelude (music), a musical form *Prelude (band), an English-based folk band *Prelude Records (record label), a former New York-based dance independent record label *Chorale prelude, a short liturgical composition for ...
, by the early 17th century. The separate movements were often thematically and tonally linked. The term can also be used to refer to similar forms in other musical traditions, such as the
Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...
fasıl and the Arab nuubaat. In the
Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
era, the suite was an important
musical form In music, ''form'' refers to the structure of a musical composition or musical improvisation, performance. In his book, ''Worlds of Music'', Jeff Todd Titon suggests that a number of organizational elements may determine the formal structure of a ...
, also known as ''Suite de danses'', ''Ordre'' (the term favored by
François Couperin François Couperin (; 10 November 1668 – 11 September 1733) was a French Baroque composer, organist and harpsichordist. He was known as ''Couperin le Grand'' ("Couperin the Great") to distinguish him from other members of the musically talented ...
), '' Partita'', or ''Ouverture'' (after the theatrical "
overture Overture (from French ''ouverture'', "opening") in music was originally the instrumental introduction to a ballet, opera, or oratorio in the 17th century. During the early Romantic era, composers such as Beethoven and Mendelssohn composed overt ...
" which often included a series of dances) as with the orchestral suites of
Christoph Graupner Christoph Graupner (13 January 1683 – 10 May 1760) was a German composer and harpsichordist of late Baroque music who was a contemporary of Johann Sebastian Bach, Georg Philipp Telemann and George Frideric Handel. Life Born in Hartmannsdorf ...
, Telemann and
J.S. Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suite ...
. During the 18th century, the suite fell out of favour as a cyclical form, giving way to the
symphony A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning com ...
,
sonata Sonata (; Italian: , pl. ''sonate''; from Latin and Italian: ''sonare'' rchaic Italian; replaced in the modern language by ''suonare'' "to sound"), in music, literally means a piece ''played'' as opposed to a cantata (Latin and Italian ''cant ...
and
concerto A concerto (; plural ''concertos'', or ''concerti'' from the Italian plural) is, from the late Baroque era, mostly understood as an instrumental composition, written for one or more soloists accompanied by an orchestra or other ensemble. The typi ...
. It was revived in the later 19th century, but in a different form, often presenting extracts from a ballet ('' Nutcracker Suite''), the
incidental music Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, or some other presentation form that is not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as t ...
to a play ('' L'Arlésienne'', ''
Masquerade Masquerade or Masquerader may refer to: Events * Masquerade ball, a costumed dance event * Masquerade ceremony, a rite or cultural event in many parts of the world, especially the Caribbean and Africa * Masqueraders, the performers in the West ...
''), opera,
film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
(''
Lieutenant Kije Suite A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...
'') or video game (
Motoaki Takenouchi is a Japanese composer, most recognized for his video game soundtracks during the 1990s, particularly for the '' Shining'' series of games. He has worked for companies such as Sega, Enix, Climax Entertainment, and Game Arts. Takenouchi studied m ...
's 1994 suite to the '' Shining'' series), or entirely original movements ('' Holberg Suite'', ''
The Planets ''The Planets'', Op. 32, is a seven- movement orchestral suite by the English composer Gustav Holst, written between 1914 and 1917. In the last movement the orchestra is joined by a wordless female chorus. Each movement of the suite is name ...
'').


History

Estienne du Tertre Estienne du Tertre (fl. mid-16th century) was a French composer. He spent most of his life in Paris and worked as an editor for the publisher Attaingnant. Many of his chanson A (, , french: chanson française, link=no, ; ) is generally any ...
published ''suyttes de bransles'' in 1557, giving the first general use of the term "suite" 'suyttes' in music, although the usual form of the time was as pairs of dances. The first recognizable suite is Peuerl's ''Newe Padouan, Intrada, Dantz, and Galliarda'' of 1611, in which the four dances of the title appear repeatedly in ten suites. The ''Banchetto musicale'' by Johann Schein (1617) contains 20 sequences of five different dances. The first four-movement suite credited to a named composer, '' Sandley's Suite'', was published in 1663.


Baroque era

The
Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
suite consisted of allemande,
courante The ''courante'', ''corrente'', ''coranto'' and ''corant'' are some of the names given to a family of triple metre dances from the late Renaissance and the Baroque era. In a Baroque dance suite an Italian or French courante is typically paired ...
,
sarabande The sarabande (from es, zarabanda) is a dance in triple metre, or the music written for such a dance. History The Sarabande evolved from a Spanish dance with Arab influences, danced by a lively double line of couples with castanets. A dance cal ...
, and gigue, in that order, and developed during the 17th century in France, the gigue appearing later than the others. Johann Jakob Froberger is usually credited with establishing the classical suite through his compositions in this form, which were widely published and copied, although this was largely due to his publishers standardizing the order; Froberger's original manuscripts have many different orderings of the movements, e.g. the gigue preceding the sarabande. The publisher's standardized order was, however, highly influential especially on the works of Bach. Many later suites included other movements placed between sarabande and gigue. These optional movements were known as ''
galanterie The term is sometimes used for movements in the Baroque dance suite whose inclusion is variable, unlike the fixed core of allemande, courante, sarabande and gigue. These pieces usually follow the sarabande. In early 18th-century Germany, re ...
s'': common examples are the minuet, gavotte, passepied, and bourrée. Often there would be two contrasting ''galanteries'' with the same name, e.g. Minuet I and II, to be played ''alternativement'', meaning that the first dance is played again after the second (but without the internal repeats), thus I, II, I. The later addition of an overture to make up an "overture-suite" was extremely popular with German composers; Telemann claimed to have written over 200 overture-suites,
Christoph Graupner Christoph Graupner (13 January 1683 – 10 May 1760) was a German composer and harpsichordist of late Baroque music who was a contemporary of Johann Sebastian Bach, Georg Philipp Telemann and George Frideric Handel. Life Born in Hartmannsdorf ...
wrote 86 orchestral overture-suites and 57 partitas for
harpsichord A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism ...
,
J.S. Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suite ...
had his four orchestral suites along with other suites, and
Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training i ...
put his '' Water Music'' and '' Music for the Royal Fireworks'' in this form. Handel wrote 22 keyboard suites; Bach produced multiple suites for lute, cello, violin, flute, and other instruments, as well as
English suites The ''English Suites'', BWV 806–811, are a set of six suites written by the German composer Johann Sebastian Bach for harpsichord (or clavichord) and generally thought to be the earliest of his 19 suites for keyboard (discounting several les ...
, French suites and Partitas for keyboard.
François Couperin François Couperin (; 10 November 1668 – 11 September 1733) was a French Baroque composer, organist and harpsichordist. He was known as ''Couperin le Grand'' ("Couperin the Great") to distinguish him from other members of the musically talented ...
's later suites (which he called "Ordres") often dispensed entirely with the standard dances and consisted entirely of character pieces with fanciful names.


18th and 19th century

By the 1750s, the suite had come to be seen as old-fashioned, superseded by the symphony and concerto, and few composers were still writing suites during that time. But since the 19th century, composers have frequently arranged ballets, operas, and other works into suites for concert performance. Arrangement into a suite can make the music more accessible and available to a wider audience, and has greatly helped popularize the music itself, such as in Tchaikovsky's suite from ''The Nutcracker'', or Aaron Copland's suite from ''
Appalachian Spring ''Appalachian Spring'' is a musical composition by Aaron Copland that was premiered in 1944 and has achieved widespread and enduring popularity as an orchestral suite. The music, scored for a thirteen-member chamber orchestra, was created upon c ...
''. Suites for orchestra or concert band usually consist of one or more movements. An example is Grieg's ''
Peer Gynt ''Peer Gynt'' (, ) is a five- act play in verse by the Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen published in 1876. Written in Norwegian, it is one of the most widely performed Norwegian plays. Ibsen believed ''Per Gynt'', the Norwegian fairy tale on wh ...
'' Orchestral Suites I and II, each consisting of four movements. Such suites may consist of :* an instrumental selection from a larger work such as an opera, ballet, film score, or musical; :* a sequence of smaller pieces tied together by a common theme, such as the nationalistically inflected suites of Grieg, Sibelius, or Tchaikovsky and ''
The Planets ''The Planets'', Op. 32, is a seven- movement orchestral suite by the English composer Gustav Holst, written between 1914 and 1917. In the last movement the orchestra is joined by a wordless female chorus. Each movement of the suite is name ...
'' by Holst; :* a work deliberately referential of Baroque themes, as in the mischievous Suite for Piano by
Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...
. Carl Nielsen made a Suite for String Orchestra his Opus 1 in 1888 at the age of 23. In the late 19th century, Sibelius's '' Karelia Suite'' was written for the students of the Helsinki university.


20th century

Brought on by Impressionism, the piano suite was reintroduced by early 20th-century French composers such as Ravel and Debussy. Debussy's ''
Pour le piano ''Pour le piano'' (''For the piano''), L. 95, is a suite for solo piano by Claude Debussy. It consists of three individually composed movements, Prélude, Sarabande and Toccata. The suite was completed and published in 1901. It was premiered on ...
'' is a suite in three movements, published in 1901, and his ''
Suite bergamasque ''Suite bergamasque'' ( L. 75) () is a piano suite by Claude Debussy. He began composing it around 1890, at the age of 28, but significantly revised it just before its 1905 publication. The popularity of the 3rd movement, "Clair de lune", has m ...
'', revised in 1905, is probably one of the most famous suites, especially the third movement, '' Clair de Lune''. Ravel is particularly well known for his '' Miroirs'' suite for piano and lesser known for '' Le tombeau de Couperin'', both requiring tremendous skill and dexterity from the pianist.
Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...
's first use of the twelve-tone technique throughout an entire work was in his Suite for Piano, op. 25. Modeled on the Baroque keyboard suite, the piece consists of six movements entitled ''Präludium'' (Prelude), ''Gavotte'', ''Musette'', ''Intermezzo'', ''Menuett'' (Minuet, with Trio), and ''Gigue''. Other famous examples of early 20th-century suites are ''
The Planets ''The Planets'', Op. 32, is a seven- movement orchestral suite by the English composer Gustav Holst, written between 1914 and 1917. In the last movement the orchestra is joined by a wordless female chorus. Each movement of the suite is name ...
'' by Gustav Holst, a "Suite for Orchestra" in which each piece represents the astrological significance of one of the seven uninhabited planets then known, as well as his First Suite in E-flat and Second Suite in F for Military Band. There are as well several examples of suites being used in the jazz genre. Perhaps the most notable composer is
Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based ...
/
Billy Strayhorn William Thomas Strayhorn (November 29, 1915 – May 31, 1967) was an American jazz composer, pianist, lyricist, and arranger, who collaborated with bandleader and composer Duke Ellington for nearly three decades. His compositions include "Take ...
, who produced many suites, amongst them: '' Black, Brown and Beige'', ''
Such Sweet Thunder ''Such Sweet Thunder'' is a Duke Ellington album, released in 1957. The record is a twelve-part suite based on the work of William Shakespeare. Background In August 1956, Duke Ellington and his orchestra were in Canada, performing in the same ci ...
'', ''
The Far East Suite ''Far East Suite'' is a 1967 concept album by American jazz musician Duke Ellington, inspired by his group's tour of Asia. Ellington and longtime collaborator Billy Strayhorn wrote the compositions. Strayhorn died in May 1967, making ''Far E ...
'', the ''
New Orleans Suite ''New Orleans Suite'' is a studio album by the American pianist, composer, and bandleader Duke Ellington, recorded and released on the Atlantic label in 1970.
'', the ''
Latin American Suite ''Latin American Suite'' is a studio album by the American pianist, composer and bandleader Duke Ellington, mainly recorded in 1968, with one track completed in 1970, and released on the Fantasy Records, Fantasy label in 1972.free jazz ( Max Roach: ''
Freedom Now Suite ''We Insist!'' (subtitled ''Max Roach's Freedom Now Suite'') is a jazz album released on Candid Records in 1961. It contains a suite which composer and drummer Max Roach and lyricist Oscar Brown had begun to develop in 1959 with a view to its perf ...
'', Don Cherry, John Coltrane's '' A Love Supreme'', etc.).


Dance suite

The dance suite was a collection of dance music popular in the Baroque era. It consists of the following movements in this order: * Allemande: Literally translates from French as "German”, but by the time of its canonization in the suite it was thoroughly French, and was archaic as an actual dance by the 17th century. It is a moderate dance with a meter of characterized by uniform movement in sixteenth notes, a mostly homophonic texture, even rhythms, and a generally restrained mood. *
Courante The ''courante'', ''corrente'', ''coranto'' and ''corant'' are some of the names given to a family of triple metre dances from the late Renaissance and the Baroque era. In a Baroque dance suite an Italian or French courante is typically paired ...
or Corrente: A courante is a highly structured French dance in time featuring polyphonic textures, characteristic hemiola effects implying especially in its formulaic cadences, and bursts of motion over a moderate underlying pulse. The Corrente is an Italian version in quick or , generally in two parts with a simpler harmonic structure, more uniform note values, more virtuosic character, and freer form than its French counterpart. *
Sarabande The sarabande (from es, zarabanda) is a dance in triple metre, or the music written for such a dance. History The Sarabande evolved from a Spanish dance with Arab influences, danced by a lively double line of couples with castanets. A dance cal ...
: A slow, stately dance in time, infrequently in . The original Spanish dance (inherited through Mexico) was very lively and quick, and famously controversial owing to its perceived lascivious character. However, by the time of its inclusion in the suite via France, it had been totally reimagined as a sedate centerpiece. The Sarabande tends toward harmonic richness and lyrical melody. * Gigue: The gigue or ' jig' originates in Britain and Ireland, and is a fast dance, almost always in compound time and/or triple meter, with and most common. However, the Gigue permits by far the most variation among the standard dances, with prominent examples in practically every time signature. The French gigue is characterized by a distinct jaunty dotted rhythm in and invariably written in two-part counterpoint, whereas the Italian (sometimes ‘Giga’) is a more varied and virtuosic format with running small notes in acrobatic passages. The Italian style largely superseded the French by the early-mid 18th century, at which point German composers had established it as a showpiece for not only technical virtuosity but also contrapuntal complexity, with some of JS Bach’s gigues nearly qualifying as proper fugues. A suite may be introduced by a movement such as the following. *
Prelude Prelude may refer to: Music *Prelude (music), a musical form *Prelude (band), an English-based folk band *Prelude Records (record label), a former New York-based dance independent record label *Chorale prelude, a short liturgical composition for ...
*
Entrée (ballet) Because ballet became formalized in France, a significant part of ballet terminology is in the French language. A À la seconde () (Literally "to second") If a step is done "à la seconde," it is done to the side. 'Second position'. It can also ...
: Sometimes an entrée is composed as part of a suite; but there it is purely instrumental music and no dance is performed. It is an introduction, a march-like piece played during the entrance of a dancing group, or played before a ballet. Usually in time. It is related to the Italian 'intrada'. *
Overture Overture (from French ''ouverture'', "opening") in music was originally the instrumental introduction to a ballet, opera, or oratorio in the 17th century. During the early Romantic era, composers such as Beethoven and Mendelssohn composed overt ...
Between the Sarabande and Gigue, the following Galanteries may be included. *
Badinerie A scherzo (, , ; plural scherzos or scherzi), in western classical music, is a short composition – sometimes a movement from a larger work such as a symphony or a sonata. The precise definition has varied over the years, but scherzo often ...
: a brief quick dance in time that merged with the Scherzo to give rise to a movement of fast tempo in duple meter common in the Romanticism as a substitute to the Minuet. * Bourrée: A light, quick dance in time. A bourée begins with the last beat of a bar and continues with two or three bars until the 4th beat of one bar takes a light stress giving a sense of return to the beginning of the rhythm structure. * Chaconne (Chacona): a slow Spanish dance in triple meter, much used as a vehicle for
variation Variation or Variations may refer to: Science and mathematics * Variation (astronomy), any perturbation of the mean motion or orbit of a planet or satellite, particularly of the moon * Genetic variation, the difference in DNA among individual ...
on a repeated short harmonic progression with a short, repetitive, bass-line. * Gavotte: The gavotte is a dance in or related time signature. It begins on the third beat of an incomplete bar. It continues for a few bars where the third beat takes a light stress giving a sense of returning to the beginning of the rhythm structure. The gavotte tends to feature even staccato rhythms and has a charming rustic character. * Intermezzi: This section consists of two to four dances at the discretion of the composer that may include a minuet, bourrée, polonaise, and/or a gavotte. *
Loure The loure, also known as the gigue lourée or gigue lente (slow gigue), is a French Baroque dance, probably originating in Normandy and named after the sound of the instrument of the same name (a type of ''musette''). It is of slow or moderate te ...
: a slow dance of French origin named after the instrument of the same name, though examples found in suites diverge almost completely from the idiom of that instrument. Sometimes likened to a ‘slow gigue’, the Loure is usually in . * Minuet (Menuetto): A dance in a stately and graceful manner. It is often short and simple often with only clear theme and little variation. In many suites there are two minuets, in such cases the first minuet is played with repeats, then follows the second minuet with repeats, then the first minuet is repeated (''da capo'') usually without repeats. This order is standard whenever an optional dance is doubled, but the practice is most common with Minuets. The Minuet is notable in surviving the transition to the Classical period, becoming standard as the third movement in the
Sonata Sonata (; Italian: , pl. ''sonate''; from Latin and Italian: ''sonare'' rchaic Italian; replaced in the modern language by ''suonare'' "to sound"), in music, literally means a piece ''played'' as opposed to a cantata (Latin and Italian ''cant ...
form which replaced the suite as the most prominent cyclical instrumental genre. * Passacaglia (Pasacalles): a lively, often serious Spanish dance in or meter. Commonly based on a bass-ostinato. * Passepied: A French dance movement in or . The rhythm is almost always in quaver form. It begins on the last beat of an incomplete bar though the upbeat does not resolve until the end of each section (unlike the bourée or gavotte where there can be a resolution of the upbeat(s) every three or four bars. It is a light dance with a strong feeling of movement. * Pavane: A slow dance in or time of Spanish and/or Italian origin. * Polonaise: A dance in which comes in cycles of two bars. A heavy stress is placed on the first beat of the first bar and a lighter stress is placed on the second beat of the second bar giving a slight feeling of disorientation. * Siciliana (Sicilienne): A dance in or in which most of the dance is fixed to one of three typical rhythms involving syncopation and inversion of the rhythm structure. It is often in a minor key and somewhat sombre.


See also

* List of musical medleys


References

{{Authority control Musical form