The term “galanterie” was used by 18th-century composers to describe the optional movements of a Baroque dance suite. A suite required four standard movements — the allemande, courante, sarabande, and gigue — but between the sarabande and the gigue a composer could insert a rogue dance: a bourrée, gavotte, minuet, or passacaglia, just to name a few of the options.
In Galanteries (which I describe as “a suite of misfit dances”) four such movement types are given pride of place: the bourrée, the air (a pair, in fact), the chaconne, and the passepied.
Composed April–May 2024