Gavotte
tagStarted 1650Peak 1680–1775Last big hit 1840
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The gavotte is a moderate duple-meter French dance known for its half-bar upbeat and poised, squarely balanced phrasing. In classical stylization it sounds elegant but grounded, less airborne than a minuet and less ceremonially weighty than a polonaise, with crisp articulation and a courtly but unforced gait.
History
Imported from French dance culture into the Baroque suite, the gavotte became a standard movement in keyboard, chamber, and orchestral music by composers such as Lully, Rameau, Bach, and Handel; it later survived as a stylized historical sign in classical and Romantic repertories, especially when composers wanted antique grace without full-scale suite architecture.
Defining artists
Essential listening
- Gavotte en rondeau — Trevor PinnockSpotifyYouTube
- Gavotte I-II from Cello Suite No. 6 — Yo-Yo MaSpotifyYouTube
- Gavotte from Violin Partita No. 3 — Itzhak PerlmanSpotifyYouTube
- Gavotte from Holberg Suite — Academy of St Martin in the FieldsSpotifyYouTube
- Gavotte from Suite in D major — Jordi SavallSpotifyYouTube
- Gavotte from French Suite No. 5 — Murray PerahiaSpotifyYouTube
Sources
- Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Oxford Music Online
- Grove Music Online
- suite and dance-form notes from DG, Sony Classical, and Naxos