SKU: A0.914743

This Gigue is the finale of a four-movement sonata composed in 2018. Publication of the entire sonata is forthcoming. In the interim, I am offering three movements – the Passacaglia, Sarabande and Gigue – as single standalone works. I have performed them in my own concert programs both as part of the larger sonata and on their own. I believe that they work equally well both ways.

The Gigue form is a lively dance in triple meter that stems from the Irish jig. It probably originated in England and Ireland in the 16th century. In the Baroque period and beyond, composers have often used gigues as the final movement of dance suites.

The Gigue offered here is a galloping romp in 6/8 time with eighth notes running throughout most of the piece. It recalls similar gigues by the lutenist Sylvius Leopold Weiss (1687-1750) and the Tarantelle by Johann Kaspar Mertz (1806-1856). (The Tarantella is a similar lively dance form in triple time).

Like the Passacaglia, the Gigue uses an E harmonic minor scale with an added (structural) B flat that helps to blur the sense of strict tonality. The second section includes hints of G and B tonal areas before returning to E minor to end the piece.