A suite , in Western classical music , is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral / concert band pieces. It originated in the late 14th century as a pairing of dance tunes; and grew in scope so that by the early 17th century it comprised up to five dances, sometimes with a prelude . 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 fasıl and the Arab nuubaat .
38-466: The Water Music (German: Wassermusik ) is a collection of orchestral movements, often published as three suites , composed by George Frideric Handel . It premiered on 17 July 1717, in response to King George I 's request for a concert on the River Thames . The Water Music opens with a French overture and includes minuets , bourrées , and hornpipes . It is divided into three suites : There
76-530: A good idea to have the term 'tone center' refer to the more general class of which 'tonics' (or tone centers in tonal contexts) could be regarded as a subclass." Thus, a pitch center may function referentially or contextually in an atonal context, often acting as an axis or line of symmetry in an interval cycle . The term pitch centricity was coined by Arthur Berger in his "Problems of Pitch Organization in Stravinsky". According to Walter Piston , "the idea of
114-625: A physical altercation with the Prince of Wales, leading to the Prince of Wales asking to be named Regent. "Water Music" appears prominently in the 2003 Baby Einstein video Baby Neptune . "Water Music HWV 350 Suite No. 3 in G Major" appears in the 2012 film A Royal Affair . Captain Peter Pulcer of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald from 1966 to 1971 was noted for playing this tune over the ship's public address system as it passed through locks in
152-451: A suite in the 20th-century would come from the progressive rock band Pink Floyd . Their 1970 album Atom Heart Mother included the epic 23 minute-long Atom Heart Mother Suite on the first side of the record. The dance suite was a collection of dance music popular in the Baroque era . It consists of the following movements in this order: A suite may be introduced by a movement such as
190-456: Is distinguished from the root , which is the reference note of a chord, rather than that of the scale. In music of the common practice period , the tonic center was the most important of all the different tone centers which a composer used in a piece of music, with most pieces beginning and ending on the tonic, usually modulating to the dominant (the fifth scale degree above the tonic, or the fourth below it) in between. Two parallel keys have
228-496: Is evidence for the different arrangement found in Chrysander 's Gesellschaft edition of Handel's works (in volume 47, published in 1886), where the movements from the "suites" in D and G were mingled and published as one work with HWV 348. This sequence derives from Samuel Arnold's first edition of the complete score in 1788 and the manuscript copies dating from Handel's lifetime. Chrysander's edition also contains an earlier version of
266-610: Is recorded in The Daily Courant , the first British daily newspaper. At about 8 p.m. on Wednesday, 17 July 1717, King George I and several aristocrats boarded a royal barge at Whitehall Palace , for an excursion up the Thames toward Chelsea . The rising tide propelled the barge upstream without rowing. Another barge, provided by the City of London , transported about 50 musicians who performed Handel's music. Many other Londoners also took to
304-465: The Shining series), or entirely original movements ( Holberg Suite , The Planets ). Estienne du Tertre 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
342-701: The Great Lakes and connecting canals. From 1977 to 1996, Walt Disney World featured movements from both installments of Water Music as the background music for the Electrical Water Pageant , a parade of sea creatures lit up with electric lights off the coast of the Magic Kingdom. There are many recordings. The Music for the Royal Fireworks (1749), composed 32 years later for another outdoor performance (this time, for George II of Great Britain for
380-522: The Music for the Royal Fireworks being seen as something of a watershed). Recent recordings are generally influenced by historically informed performance . There is a chamber version of the score known as the Oxford Water Music. The title comes from the location of the manuscript rather than the assumed place of performance: the arrangement was possibly intended by Handel for performance at Cannons by
418-551: The jazz genre. Perhaps the most notable composer is Duke Ellington / Billy Strayhorn , who produced many suites, amongst them: Black, Brown and Beige , Such Sweet Thunder , The Far East Suite , the New Orleans Suite , the Latin American Suite , and many more. Suites are also used in free jazz ( Max Roach : Freedom Now Suite , Don Cherry , John Coltrane 's A Love Supreme , etc.). Another example of
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#1732851444193456-425: The movable do solfège system, the tonic note is sung as do . More generally, the tonic is the note upon which all other notes of a piece are hierarchically referenced. Scales are named after their tonics: for instance, the tonic of the C major scale is the note C . The triad formed on the tonic note, the tonic chord , is thus the most significant chord in these styles of music. In Roman numeral analysis ,
494-425: 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
532-426: The 18th century, the suite fell out of favour as a cyclical form, giving way to the symphony , sonata and concerto . It was revived in the later 19th century , but in a different form, often presenting extracts from a ballet ( Nutcracker Suite ), the incidental music to a play ( L'Arlésienne , Masquerade ), opera , film ( Lieutenant Kije Suite ) or video game ( Motoaki Takenouchi 's 1994 suite to
570-516: The British throne. The composer supposedly fell out of favour for moving to London during Queen Anne 's reign. This story was first related by Handel's early biographer John Mainwaring ; although it may have some foundation in fact, the tale as told by Mainwaring has been doubted by some Handel scholars. Another version has it that the Elector of Hanover approved of Handel's permanent move to London, knowing
608-410: 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 , French suites and Partitas for keyboard . François Couperin 's later suites (which he called "Ordres") often dispensed entirely with the standard dances and consisted entirely of character pieces with fanciful names. By
646-458: The age of 23. In the late 19th century, Sibelius's Karelia Suite was written for the students of the Helsinki university. 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 is a suite in three movements, published in 1901, and his Suite bergamasque , revised in 1905, is probably one of
684-550: The band of his patron the Duke of Chandos . It has been recorded on the Avie label . Suite (music) In the Baroque era, the suite was an important musical form , also known as Suite de danses , Ordre (the term favored by François Couperin ), Partita , or Ouverture (after the theatrical " overture " which often included a series of dances) as with the orchestral suites of Christoph Graupner , Telemann and J.S. Bach . During
722-559: The fireworks in London's Green Park , on 27 April 1749), has often been paired with the Water Music on recordings. Hamilton Harty's re-orchestration was used in some earlier recordings of the Water Music . In 1956 the Australian conductor Charles Mackerras recorded this version, but he later changed his approach to Handel turning to the composer's original orchestration (his 1959 recording of
760-403: The first two movements of HWV 349 in the key of F major composed in 1715 (originally scored for two natural horns, two oboes, bassoon, strings, and continuo), where in addition to the horn fanfares and orchestral responses, the original version contained an elaborate concerto-like first violin part. The music in each of the suites has no set order today. The first performance of the Water Music
798-493: The following. Between the Sarabande and Gigue, the following Galanteries may be included. Tonic (music) In music , the tonic is the first scale degree ( [REDACTED] ) of the diatonic scale (the first note of a scale) and the tonal center or final resolution tone that is commonly used in the final cadence in tonal (musical key -based) classical music , popular music , and traditional music . In
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#1732851444193836-480: 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
874-477: The king went ashore at Chelsea. It was rumoured that the Water Music was composed to help King George refocus London's attention from his son and heir (later George II of Great Britain ), who, worried that his time to rule would be shortened by his father's long life, threw lavish parties and dinners to compensate for it; the Water Music's first performance on the Thames was the King's way of reminding London that he
912-473: 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 '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,
950-464: The music ("Bourrée") was used as the theme music to the PBS television show The Frugal Gourmet . A performance of Water Music plays a major role in the movie The Madness of King George , in which King George III exhibits very erratic and inappropriate behavior at a concert, yelling at the orchestra to play louder (and eventually taking the place of the harpsichordist, playing very badly), culminating in
988-470: The music itself, such as in Tchaikovsky 's suite from The Nutcracker , or Aaron Copland 's suite from Appalachian Spring . Suites for orchestra or concert band usually consist of one or more movements . An example is Grieg 's Peer Gynt Orchestral Suites I and II, each consisting of four movements. Such suites may consist of Carl Nielsen made a Suite for String Orchestra his Opus 1 in 1888 at
1026-430: The opulent sound of a latter-day orchestra well in its ears. In recent years, performers have tended to avoid versions such as that of Hamilton Harty, being influenced by ideas regarding historically informed performance . Legend has it that Handel composed Water Music to regain the favour of King George I. Handel had been employed by the future king George while he was still Elector of Hanover , before he succeeded to
1064-570: 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 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
1102-451: The river to hear the concert. According to The Courant , "the whole River in a manner was covered" with boats and barges. On arriving at Chelsea, the king left his barge, then returned to it at about 11 p.m. for the return trip. The king was so pleased with Water Music that he ordered it to be repeated at least three times, both on the trip upstream to Chelsea and on the return, until he landed again at Whitehall. King George's companions in
1140-443: The royal barge included Anne Vaughan, Duchess of Bolton , Harriet Pelham-Holles, Duchess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne , Evelyn Pierrepont, 1st Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull , Sophia von Kielmansegg, Countess of Darlington , Henrietta Godolphin, 2nd Duchess of Marlborough , and George Douglas-Hamilton, 1st Earl of Orkney . Handel's orchestra is believed to have performed from about 8 p.m. until well after midnight, with only one break while
1178-544: The same tonic. For example, in both C major and C minor, the tonic is C. However, relative keys (two different scales that share a key signature ) have different tonics. For example, C major and A minor share a key signature that feature no sharps or flats, despite having different tonic pitches (C and A, respectively). The term tonic may be reserved exclusively for use in tonal contexts while tonal center or pitch center may be used in post-tonal and atonal music: "For purposes of non-tonal centric music, it might be
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1216-447: 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 wrote 86 orchestral overture-suites and 57 partitas for harpsichord , J.S. Bach had his four orchestral suites along with other suites, and Handel put his Water Music and Music for
1254-457: The separation between them would be temporary. Certainly both were aware the Elector of Hanover would eventually succeed to the British throne after Queen Anne's death. Many portions of Water Music have become familiar in popular culture. From 1958 to 1988, it was featured as the theme music for Anglia Television , a regional franchise for the East of England by ITV . From 1983 to 1997, a movement of
1292-416: The time. According to the conductor Sir Thomas Beecham : The original Handelian orchestra was composed of a handful of strings and about a dozen reed wind instruments, mainly oboes and bassoons, with an occasional reinforcement of horns, trumpets, and drums, restricted by necessity to the somewhat monotonous repetition of tonic and dominant. This makes hard going for any audience asked to listen to it with
1330-448: 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. The Baroque suite consisted of allemande , courante , sarabande , and gigue , in that order, and developed during the 17th century in France,
1368-534: The tonic chord is typically symbolized by the Roman numeral "I" if it is major and by "i" if it is minor. In very much conventionally tonal music, harmonic analysis will reveal a broad prevalence of the primary (often triadic) harmonies: tonic, dominant , and subdominant (i.e., I and its chief auxiliaries a 5th removed), and especially the first two of these. These chords may also appear as seventh chords : in major, as I , or in minor as i or rarely i : The tonic
1406-404: The works of Bach. Many later suites included other movements placed between sarabande and gigue. These optional movements were known as galanteries : 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
1444-470: Was still there and showing he could carry out gestures even grander than his son's. The Water Music is scored for a relatively large orchestra, making it suitable for outdoor performance. It is also performed in indoor concerts and has been regularly programmed. In 1920 the Irish musician Hamilton Harty made an arrangement of some of the movements for the modern orchestra. Such re-orchestrations were normal at
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