French Suite No. 1 in D Minor: Sarabande
Braunstein, Michetti, et al. Monplaisir Garden (from c. 1721), Peterhof (Petrodvorets)
Braunstein, Michetti, et al. Monplaisir Garden (from c. 1721), Peterhof (Petrodvorets)
The French Suite in D Minor was composed in 1987. This six-movement work clearly shows my affection for the music of Bach and Handel, although no identical dance sequence is found in either of the German masters' keyboard compositions.
The sarabande--a Spanish dance of Mexican origin--takes on a decidedly French guise with its lively dotted rhythms and swooping triplet figures. (The baroque style was nothing if not contentiously international!)