# Bourree...?



## hawk (Oct 1, 2007)

Hi folks,

Today I was listening to Handle's Water Music Suite. In suite numbers 1-2 there are pieces called Bourree.
Jethro Tull did a piece called Bourree (which I loved). I am wondering about the term? At first I thought might it be a "dance"? however the Bourree in suite no 1 does not seem to have a danceable tempo.

I know I could look this up somewhere on line but the more posts I write the quicker I become a "SENIOR" member (que fan fare) 
Thanks for any enlightenment.


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## Morigan (Oct 16, 2006)

Well your first intuition was right: the bourrée is an old French/Spanish dance from the Baroque period. It was a quick dance in double time. Composers often inserted bourrées in their suites (the suites are composed of dances only, if you exclude the overture), along with minuets, gavottes, sarabandes, gigues, allemandes, courantes, etc.!!


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## BuddhaBandit (Dec 31, 2007)

Ah Jethro Tull... their bourrée (from Stand Up, I believe?) isn't so much a typical dance (except for that great bass/flute intro) as it is a prog-rock takeoff. Gotta love Ian Anderson; if you like Tull's more classically-oriented pieces, you might want to check out "by Kind Permission Of" off of their first hits comp, Living In the Past.


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## opus67 (Jan 30, 2007)

hawk said:


> I know I could look this up somewhere on line but the more posts I write the quicker I become a "SENIOR" member (que fan fare)
> Thanks for any enlightenment.


Post what you're listening to at half-hour intervals (even if it's just an air-conditioner or fan). If it's a longish symphony, post the movement. (At least, that's what I used to do.   )


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## hawk (Oct 1, 2007)

Opus you are brilliant!!! 

Thanks for your sage advice and hope it gives to me for becoming a "SENIOR"


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## hawk (Oct 1, 2007)

Back to the topic...
The two pieces I mentioned above, at least to my untrained ears sound totally different (tempo wise). One sounds like a dance piece while the other is much slower. 
If I were to use a metronome what setting (approx) would the bourree be?
When I hear a menuet or waltz they the tempo "feels" the same no matter the music.


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## Morigan (Oct 16, 2006)

Well, the tempo is not something that can be measured or predetermined with precision in classical music. The only way it was indicated by the composers was the italian words they wrote over the staves: allegro (fast), andante (at a walking pace), largo (slowly), etc.

What determines the type of dance is the time signature, the meter. A waltz is in three times : ONE two three ONE two three ONE two three... (notice the accent on the first beat)

Now, if a bourrée is usually a quick dance in double time, it doesn't mean you can't write a slow one. As long as you use the right meter: ONE two ONE two ONE two.

I hope this quick explanation sheds some light for you


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## hawk (Oct 1, 2007)

Thank you Morigan for the explanation. 
If I understand what you are saying Meter and Tempo are two different things. Tempo, might be, in modern terms, equivalent to beats per minute whereas meter is how it is structured and articulated musically. Am I close?
In many Algonquin music traditions there are dances based on this ONE two ONE two rythmic structure. They have different names and forms such as: the Two Step, the Round Dance etc but all (musically ) from the same rythmic form usually created by the drum or rattle.


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## Morigan (Oct 16, 2006)

You are correct. Tempo is simply the speed of the music whereas meter is the structure of the rhythm.


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## hawk (Oct 1, 2007)

Again thank you for the explanation. You're a good teacher!


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## Ephemerid (Nov 30, 2007)

Hawk, I thought of you today  I downloaded Benjamin Britten's *Simple Symphony *for strings tonight and here are the titles of the movements:

I. _Boisterous Bourree_ 
II. Playful Pizzicato
III. Sentimental Sarabande
IV. Frolicsome Finale


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