ciples of balanced phrases, of contrasted keys and of periodic
themes, instrumental music gradually worked out a structure of
its own,[64] of which we find examples in National dances and
in the compositions of such pioneers of instrumental style as the
Italians Corelli and Vivaldi, the Frenchmen Lully, Couperin and
Rameau, and the Englishman Purcell.
[Footnote 63: For a complete account of this process see Parry’s
Evolution of the Art of Music, p. 115seq.]
[Footnote 64: This book makes no attempt to give an historical
account of the development of instrumental form. The subject
is set forth comprehensively in the article on Form in Grove’s
Dictionary (Vol. II, p. 73) and in the Fifth and Sixth Chapters
of Parry’sEvolution of the Art of Music.]
[Music:
Viens dans ce bocage belle Aminte,
Sans contrainte L’on y forme des voeux;
Viens, Viens dans ce bocage belle Aminte,
Il est fait pour les plaisirs et les jeux.]
In this rhythmic and sprightly dance of exactly 8 measures (an
old FrenchTambourintaken from Weckerlin’sEchos du Temps
Passé) we see clearly the influence of the metrical stanza of
words and of the balanced phrases in the instrumental part,
necessary to accompany the steps of the dancers. The melody
of the accompaniment was played on a flute or some simple kind
of pipe, and the bass on a Tambour de Basque—a rude form of
drum, which repeated continually the tonic and dominant of the
key; the same effect which we associate with the Bagpipe and
Hurdy-gurdy.
[Music: PURCELL: Jig.]
In this Jig, which was a favorite type with the English peasantry—
divided into three sentences of exactly 8 measures each—the
dance rhythm is very sharply defined. From various dance-
patterns a structural type was gradually evolved, of which the
chief features will now be indicated. The music was divided
intotwodistinct halves and it became the convention to gain
length by repeating each half—in the early days of the form,