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Learn More in these related Britannica articles: The French version of the dance suite became the prototype for later chamber-music forms. Suite , in music, a group of self-contained instrumental movements of varying character, usually in the same key. During the 17th and 18th centuries, the period of its greatest importance, the suite consisted principally of dance movements.
In the 19th and 20th centuries the term also referred more generally to a…. Dance, the movement of the body in a rhythmic way, usually to music and within a given space, for the purpose of expressing an idea or emotion, releasing energy, or simply taking delight in the movement itself.
Dance is a powerful impulse, but the art of dance is that impulse channeled by skillful…. Passacaglia, Italian, from Spanish passacalle, or pasacalle: The dance, as it first appeared in 17th-century Spain, was of unsavoury reputation and possibly quite fiery.
In the French theatre of the 17th and 18th…. Dictionary Entries near courante courageous courage under fire courant courante Courantyne couratari courb.
The endeavour to bring out these various features clearly and prominently, without injuring the flow of the whole, led to the adoption of the polyphonic style, by which the Courante is so strongly contrasted with the Allemande. Forgiven, they danced helter-skelter the Courante". Need even more definitions? Behind the Scenes How we chose 'feminism' Literally How to use a word that literally drives some people nuts. It eventually became one of the four standard dances of the baroque suite, usually in its slower guise.
Statistics for courante Look-up Popularity. Time Traveler for courante The first known use of courante was in See more words from the same year. More from Merriam-Webster on courante See words that rhyme with courante Britannica. Comments on courante What made you want to look up courante?
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Take the quiz Back to School Quiz Pop quiz! It was superseded by the piano in the 19th century.
Although it flourished in the Renaissance, the lute was still an important instrument in the early baroque, and was used to accompany songs and as part of the continuo group. During the course of the 17th century, it was gradually superseded by the theorbo, violin and harpsichord. By the middle of the 16th century, the genre was used as fertile ground for musical experimentation.
The minuet first emerged in the middle of the 17th century, and became wildly popular at the court of Louis XIV; the king himself was reported to be an excellent minuet dancer. The minuet was the only baroque dance form that did not become obsolete in the classical period, as it often concluded an opera overture and was subsequently incorporated into the symphony. In the baroque era, the term generally referred to a sacred vocal composition intended for use in church or personal devotion.
In France and Germany, the sarabande was slow and stately. The dance was first known in Mexico and Spain in the 16th century as the zarabanda , however, a wild and extremely erotic dance. Although it was banned in Spain in , it survived throughout the baroque era there and in Italy as a fast dance.
It eventually became one of the four standard dances of the baroque suite, usually in its slower guise. French opera of the 17th and 18th centuries, based on serious subjects normally drawn from classical mythology.