Consuela Lee’s 1959 Dance Suite for Small Orchestra was written as the subject of Lee’s dissertation at Northwestern University in 1959, with its six short movements modeled after Bach and Handel suites. This 2024 publication contains both the newly-engraved music and the original dissertation text.

From the composer:

“The purpose of this study is to show characteristics of certain movements incorporated in suites by Bach and Handel and similarity in these movements to those used in the Dance Suite for Small Orchestra composed by the author.

The suite as an instrumental form owes its origin to the pipers of the seventeenth century, who used to string together various national dances. German clavichord players adopted the form from them and developed it. The general rule was that it should consist of at least four pieces ” allemande, courante, sarabande and gigue.

It was the French who expanded the suite by introducing all possible dances. Marchand and Couperin, especially, were responsible for including the gavotte, minuet, passapied, a Breton dance (which was similar to the minuet) and bouree. The French also used rondeau, rigaudon, polonaise and even independent movements in no particular dance form.

Bach uses all French models but preserves moderation where they run to extremes. He follows tradition in placing dances that were not originally a part of the suite between the sarabande and the gigue so that the latter comes as a conclusion. He generally places the non-dance movements at the beginning. Handel is much more moderate in his use of extra movements. However, there appear more of the variation-type movements in the Handel suites.

After examining suites by Handel and Bach, the following dances were chosen ” mainly for their varied rhythms and their characters as social dance music ” to comprise a modern suite written in baroque style and sometimes form.

Rondeau

Musette

Loure

Minuets I and II

Gigue

Bach’s French and English Suites were the greatest source of inspiration to the composer, therefore it is only fitting that the majority of references be made to these works.”