Gavotte II from the 6th ’Cello Suite by J.S. Bach
About the Gavotte
he gavotte is a 17th century French dance in moderate 4/4 time which usually has phrases that begin and end in the middle of the measure. Bach used gavottes in his instrumental suites as optional dances, typically in pairs intended to be performed da capo. An interesting aspect of Bach’s compositional technique was to write the second gavotte in a contrasting style to the first; in this instance the second gavotte is in the form of a musette, a piece which imitates the old French bagpipes of the same name. A defining characteristic of the musette is a drone, played here on the open third string of the ukulele.
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