complicated 'chaconne' and 'passacaglia,' both elaborations upon a ground-bass. The original patterns of the principal dances came from various countries—the allemande probably from southern Germany, the courante in one of its forms from France, in the other from Italy, the sarabande from Spain, the gigue from England. The added forms were chiefly French.
In the choice and order of the movements the primary purpose was variety. The allemande was usually understood to be introductory (even when there was a prelude besides); the courante included matter requiring more close and technical attention; the sarabande had greater lyrical and emotional value; and the gigue was originally the fullest of life and humor, but often was handled with much contrapuntal intricacy. All were usually in the same key.
The suite was the earliest of composite forms to reach maturity.
It stands apart from analogous forms in the comparative rigidity
of the inner structure of its movements. Hence it cannot properly
be called the direct ancestor of the modern sonata and
symphony, though it undoubtedly influenced them.
The dance-form that dominates the suite is somewhat akin to song-form
in that it consists of definite and balanced sections or strains. In the
simplest examples there are two such strains, each eight measures long
and both repeated. These are properly somewhat contrasted in style,
the first often ending in the key of the dominant. But this rudimentary
structure was generally much expanded, though tending always to retain
the sharp partition into brief strains.
That which distinguished these dances from songs was the prominence throughout of the special rhythmic or metric pattern that belonged to the given dance. Whether or not decided melodic themes were adopted was immaterial, though in artistic examples such themes were sometimes conspicuous. The treatment might be homophonic, harmonic or contrapuntal, or any mixture of the three. Much ingenuity was needed to keep within the strict bounds of the strains and to maintain the characteristic metric pattern, and yet to achieve continuity, variety and positive interest.
Somewhat analogous to the suite in structural plan was the
'double' or 'variation,' which also came to be prominent in
the early 18th century. This was a series of movements developed
out of a simple song or dance taken as a theme, each
successive movement presenting the theme either intact, but
with manifold decorations, or under varying disguises of treatment.
Another allied form was the 'rondo,' in which a melodic
theme recurs at intervals without substantial change, the appearances
being separated by varying episodes or digressions.
