My Music Portfolio.
Minuets
What is a Minuet?
Minuet
noun
1. A slow, stately ballroom dance for two in triple time, popular especially in the 18th century.
verb
1. Dance a minuet.
The word came about in the late 17th century, and originated from the French word "menuet" which means ‘fine and delicate’, a diminutive of menu ‘small’.
A Minuet is a French dance that was one of the most popular social dances in aristocratic society from the mid-17th century to the late 18th. It was used as an optional movement in Baroque suites, and frequently appeared in movements of late 18th-century multi-movement forms such as the sonata, the string quartet, and the symphony, where it was usually paired with a trio. As an aristocratic social dance the minuet was dignified, graceful, relaxed and unaffected, unlike some modern re-creations in which exaggerated postures are used.
Characteristics of a Minuet
In our first music lesson here at SOTA we studied the characteristics of a minuet. We deduced that they were mostly in triple time, in a 3/4 time signature. It had a a two part structure, making to be in Binary Form, due to the harmony changing. It was usually fast paced for people to dance to.
The Dance
Due minuets being in an "AB" structure, the dance has two parts to it. In the "A" section of the piece, we had to walk back and forth, syncronised with our partner. On every second beat of the bar, we had to lean our weight on our right foot, and gently kick back the left.In the "B" section of the piece, we were to wak in circular motion joining both hands with our partner's. The dance has left an impact on me, where I now can differenciate a minuet from other pieces clearly, as they are distictively in Binary Form.
Minuet
Here is an example of a minuet. This is Minuet in Gmajor, composed by Bach.
Performance
This is a minuet my group, consisting of Nicole, Rachel, Si Han, Danielle, Rae and myself, composed as an assignment.
Reflections
I feel like I have learnt a lot from studying minuets. Before, I had little to no knowledge on the dance and the music played for it. However throughout the weeks of analysing pieces, learning a simpliflied version of the dance and composing our own minuets, I now know the characteristics and the history behind them. This has definitely expanded the world of music and dance for me and I'm glad we had the chance to explore such genres.