Farstad's book is the best source for this music in reference to the lute. It includes exhaustive lists of composers, pieces and sources. More generally, there is Gjerdingen's book: http://www.amazon.com/Music-Galant-Style-Robert-Gjerdingen/dp/0195313712 I've read this book, but it is not particularly clarifying in terms of defining what gallant actually is. He describes a lot of processes, but there is little feeling that they add up in the end to a style.
This is still a grey area. I don't particularly like "gallant" as a musical term because it is so general. In contemporary usage, it clearly had more to do with one's general habits and lifestyle than musical characteristics. Thus, Baron calls Weiss the best, most gallant composer. I think most of us would agree that Hagen is also a gallant composer. Would we really say Weiss and Hagen are writing in the same style? Would we even say that Straube's two lute sonatas and his English guittar pieces are in the same style? There is a real mixture of approaches going on from around c.1740's (and earlier) up to the classical period: high, contrapuntal baroque a la Papa Bach, a sort of "easy baroque" a la Scarlatti, a more overtly operatic form a la Hasse, and empfindsamer stil a la C.P.E Bach. All of these things were claimed to be "gallant" and one finds all of these styles happening simultaneously. I suspect that when people say "gallant" nowadays, they really mean the Hasse incarnation, with a florid, vocal-like line over an accompaniment that is of secondary importance, usually comprised of slow-moving harmonies and stock figurations. Lot's of triplets and Lombard rhythms! This is a tough nut to crack which has gotten too little scholarly attention. I think more people are becoming interesting in the era, but there is still a lot to be done. Chris Christopher Wilke Lutenist, Guitarist and Composer www.christopherwilke.com --- On Fri, 10/22/10, G. Crona <kalei...@gmail.com> wrote: > From: G. Crona <kalei...@gmail.com> > Subject: [BAROQUE-LUTE] Re: Galant definition > To: baroque-l...@cs.dartmouth.edu > Date: Friday, October 22, 2010, 9:31 AM > I believe the standard work to be: > > http://openlibrary.org/works/OL7827880W/German_galant_lute_music_in_the_18th_century > > haven't read it myself unfortunately... > > G. > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: <theoj89...@aol.com> > To: <baroque-l...@cs.dartmouth.edu> > Sent: Friday, October 22, 2010 3:23 PM > Subject: [BAROQUE-LUTE] Galant definition > > > > > > > > Could anyone help me understand the definition of > 'Galant' music? > > Does it refer only to lute music, or to the > period/style. > > What are its characteristics - if they can be summed > up? > > Which composers would be considered most typical of > Galant style? > > Thanks for helping a enthusiastic beginner further > appreciate such a great > > literature. > > trj > > > > > > -- > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > > > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > Version: 9.0.862 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/3211 - Release > Date: 10/21/10 > 20:34:00 > > >
