85: Gigues

 Today, let’s cover a dance form that has two names—one if it’s Irish and another if it’s French. Today’s subject is, of course, the “gigue/jig.” Whatever you call it, a gigue is a fast dance in compound time (i.e., the top number of its time signature has at least one 3 among its factors, so 3, 6, 9, or 12—but overwhelmingly 6) with a very particular characteristic of the dotted quarter beat unit: 2:1, or “quarter, eighth.”

Here is a variety of gigues for your listening pleasure—in some of these, the 2:1 rhythm is obviously everywhere, and in others, it can sometimes be harder to find, so use this as a an exercise to find it in all of them:

1. First, one by Francisco Maria Veracini (found in the Suzuki repertoire): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlA9m29Uszs&list=RDnlA9m29Uszs&start_radio=1

2. Next, one by Handel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6J9PTqyrNKY&list=RD6J9PTqyrNKY&start_radio=1

3. Every single Cello Suite ends with a gigue, so here’s the one from BWV 1007: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zE9kqJvQjkM&list=RDzE9kqJvQjkM&start_radio=1

4. I’ve played this gigue from the D minor Partita, so of course, I had to include it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZmanibtEY8&list=RDJZmanibtEY8&start_radio=1

5. Here is a fugue Bach wrote which is also a gigue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsYwi8FP2E4&list=RDKsYwi8FP2E4&start_radio=1


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