Born: November 22, 1710, WeimarDied: July 1, 1784, Berlin (age 73)
glossary
allemande, allemanda, allemand, almain, almaine, alman—In the Renaissance/Baroque eras, a moderately slow, serious dance usually in duple meter and binary form. Often the first movement of suite. From the French word for "German." Later usage (e.g. Haydn, etc.) might suggest more generally "in a German style", e.g. a folk dance, perhaps even lively and in a triple meter like a Ländler.
chaconne, ciaconna [I], ciacona, chiacona, ciaccona, chacony—a Baroque term for a musical form comprising a series of variations over an unchanging short theme or ground base. chaconne and passacaglia are closely related if not indistinguishablewiki
chamber music, Kammermusik [G], musique de chambre [F], musica da camera [I], musica cameralis [L]—"Classical Music" for a small ensemble, generally 8 or fewer players with a canonical emphasis on 3-6 players. explore
gigue, jig, giga, gigg—A lively dance (of English origin); often the finale of a Baroque suite. Compound meters exhibit both duple and triple meter rhythms.
partita [I], parthia, partie—originally, an instrumental piece as well as, more specifically, a variation. Eventually, a synonym for suite.
sarabande, saraband, sarabanda—A Spanish Renaissance / Baroque dance in triple meter. In France and Germany, it tended to be slow and stately.
suite—a set of instrumental pieces (movements) played together to create a larger whole. Suites tend towards collections of dances, frequently in the same key, preceded by a prelude, introduction or overture.
tema con variazioni, con variazioni, Tema e variazioni, theme and variations, Thema mit Variationen [G], Thème varié [F]—a common movement form featuring an initial theme followed by a series of variations on that theme, each of which adjusts any number of parameters to achieve variety, e.g. tempo, rhythm, key, instrumentation, etc.A challenge to the composers ingenuity and a delight for the listener