Analysis of Lesson No. 1 in E minor for keyboard by J. B. Loeillet
Jean-Baptiste Loeillet (1680-1730) was a Flemish musician and composer, born in Belgium. It is possible that he was brought up by his violinist uncle after his father’s death in 1685. In around 1705 he settled in London, and so is often referred to as Jean-Baptiste Loeillet of London as to differentiate from another famous composer, John-Baptiste Loeillet of Ghent. Whilst living in London, his surname was often spelt phonetically as ‘Lully’ or ‘Lullie’, and he anglicised his first name to John. He gave frequent appearances as a flautist and oboist in opera orchestras between 1707 and 1710, is mentioned in 1707 as a member of the Drury Lane orchestra, and in 1709 is mentioned as the principle oboist of the opera band at the Queen’s Theatre, Haymarket. In around 1710, he began to hold concerts in his home in Covent Garden. Although there was no advertisement of his private concerts in newspapers, and therefore the repertoire is unknown, it can be assumed that they included some of his own works, and he famously held a concert in which Corelli’s concerti grossi op. 6 were first played in England. It is said that Loeillet may have made the transverse flute popular in England, although this is not a verified story and may not be founded. He died in July 1730 in London.
Loeillet was a distinguished and celebrated harpsichord teacher, and wrote nine suites of lessons for harpsichord or spinet, which are stylistic of the English keyboard tradition and include several characteristic components. He also wrote trio sonatas for recorder and oboe, as well as for two flutes and two violins. It is suggested by the Roose edition that Lesson No.1 in E minor was published around 1712, and is one of nine suites of lessons written by Loeillet.
A suite was one of the typical forms of keyboard music introduced in the 17th century, along with paired preludes, fugues, and sonatas. The first writer to describe a Baroque suite suggested that it must comprise of five dances, including the allemande, courante, sarabande, and gigue, with one other dance added at the discretion of the composer, usually a minuet, gavotte or bourrée. These movements had a common tonic and resembled one another in a sense of style and nature. Printing of keyboard music began to take place in England in the early 17th century, and so anthologies of secular songs such as dances and variations came into the public domain. This printing meant that the public had easier access to music and therefore were more likely to learn to play instruments, or play music in their own home for entertainment.
Lesson No.1 in E minor was written specifically for harpsichord or spinet, both instruments that were popular in the 17th and 18th centuries. The term ‘harpsichord’ is often used to refer to similar instruments such as the clavicytherium, spinet, and virginal, in which all use a plucking mechanism to produce sound, and therefore have no sustaining power. This means that the music written for it is often scalic and forward moving, which is clear in Loeillet’s suites. By the middle of the 18th century the harpsichord had developed to a standard size of 5 octaves, and often had two keyboards, but due to its inability to perform dynamic graduation its popularity decreased as the pianoforte became more favoured.
The Allemande is a dance in duple metre and of moderate tempo, with two or three strains, and is a standard movement of a suite. The Allemande (or Almand, as suggested by Roose) in Lessons No. 1 in E minor is in common time, C, as expected, and is marked ‘andante’ in the Osterle edition, which is an expected tempo marking, although typically this would not be present as the performer would be expected to know the tempo of an allemande. The piece has an anacrusis, which is ideal for a dance as it prepares the dancer for the first beat of the bar, however this suite was more likely to have been listened to rather than danced to due to the instrument on which it was played, as a harpsichord would not be heard in a hall above a group of dancers.
As expected of an Allemande, the movement is in binary form, with a clear A and B section divided by a double bar line in the Osterle edition, and by repeat marks in the Roose edition. Both sections make use of an anacrusis, although the A section has a semiquaver and the B section a quaver. In the melody, Loeillet uses techniques such as sequences, for example a descending sequence is seen in bar 6 beat 4 to bar 7 beat 3. Whilst the right hand is often conjunct, and leaps are followed by stepwise movement, the left hand is often disjunct and involves wide leaps, especially in the B section, for example the first bar of the B section.
The movement begins in E minor, and modulates through nearly-related keys such as G major in bar 8, confirmed by a perfect cadence, and B minor in bar 13, where A# is seen alongside F# and C#, although a passing G# in bar 10 beat 1 adds colour. This modulation to the relative major and the dominant is typical of the Baroque period, and the keys are confirmed by perfect cadences, which is also typical. The second section begins in B minor, the dominant of E minor, and returns to the tonic via nearly-related keys, such as G major in bar 20, with a perfect V-I cadence. The movement ends with a perfect cadence in E minor. Loeillet makes use of a descending chromatic bass line, seen for example in bar 2, and this is repeated throughout the movement, for example in bar 11, and in the B section, for example bar 17. This gives a sense of unity between the two sections.
Rhythmically, Loeillet uses a variety of note values, however there is much quaver and semiquaver movement, especially in conjunct scalic patterns, for example in bar 23. He makes use of dotted quaver – semiquaver rhythms, for example bar 7, and syncopated rhythms, for example the first bar of the B section in the left hand. There is much use of quaver movement in the left hand, with the only triads in the piece seen in bars 19-20. A motif of crotchet tied to four semiquavers is seen in the first bar of the movement, and in bars 19-20 the right hand has the same rhythmic motif. It is also seen in bar 27, where it is accompanied by a descending chromatic bass line. Both these repeats of the motif are obvious restatements of thematic material before the end of the movement – tying the A and B sections together.
A movement seen only in the Roose edition is the Corant, which is often spelt Courante. It is a dance with a rapid tempo and is often in simple triple time, although it may feature a mixture of simple triple and compound duple rhythms. Loeillet writes the Corant in 3/4, as expected, and although there are no tempo markings present, the performer would know to play it at the correct speed. The Corant features an anacrusis, which, like the Allemande, is ideal for dancing, despite the fact that the medium would not be suitable for a dancing hall.
The Corant has two clear sections of unequal length, the A section being 31 bars and the B section 40 bars long. Interestingly, only the A section is repeated, giving the structure AAB, which could be called Bar form, but not binary as both sections are not repeated. In the B section Loeillet develops his thematic material, especially making use of features such as imitation between the left and right hands, for example in bars 32-35, and antiphonal exchanges between the two hands, seen in bars 32-41. The melody often takes on the form of an arpeggio, for example in bar 5, and this outlines the chord of the bar, which in this example is E minor.
The movement begins in E minor, confirmed by a perfect V7-I cadence in bars 2-3, which is followed by a modulating circle of fifths through bars 6-9, starting with A major, and modulating through D major, G major and C major in each consecutive bar, creating a descending sequence as the motif in bars 6-7 is repeated down a tone. The use of the circle of fifths is typical of the Baroque period. The movement then modulated to B minor, which is confirmed by the appearance of A#’s, and a brief modulation to D major, the relative major, in bars 20-24. The first section ends with a perfect cadence in B minor. Loeillet also makes use of the circle of fifths modulation in the B section, although further extended through development. In bars 47-50, he modulates up a fifth each bar, and in bars 51-57 he modulates down a fifth each bar. The movement ends in E minor, with a perfect cadence in bars 69-71.
Loeillet uses plenty of rhythmic variation in this movement, including syncopation, for example in bars 42-44, and a variety of note values. Most of the melodic material is built on stepwise quaver movement, and the supporting bass line on minim or crotchets. Mostly the melody is conjunct, however there are some disjunct sections, for example in bar 27-28, where an inverted dominant pedal in the right hand can be seen on the weak quavers. He uses the same rhythmic structure in the six bars approaching the cadences at the end of the A and B sections, and this unites the two movements and brings each section to a conclusive end.
The final movement in both editions is the Gigue, (or Jigg, as suggested by Roose), a movement which is fast paced and lively, notated in compound metre and is in binary form. In the Osterle edition, the movement is marked ‘molto allegro’, which, much like the allemande, is an expected tempo marking despite the fact that the performer would have not had this in the original.
The Gigue is in binary form in the Osterle edition, with two repeated section, but takes on Bar form in the Roose edition, with only the A section repeated. The two sections are not equal in length, the A section having 19 bars and the B section 32, and this allows the B section to develop themes that were introduced in the A section. Both the A and B sections start with a theme that is 3 bars long, although in the B section it is a third higher, suggesting a change of key. This unites both sections, and allows the melody to be developed further in the B section.
The movement begins in E minor, but modulates through nearly related keys, such as the subdominant, A minor, in bar 4, where a G# is present, and the relative major, G major, in bar 5, before modulating to the dominant, B minor, in bar 12, confirmed by a dominant pedal on an F# in bar 15 and ending the A section with a perfect Ic-V-I cadence. The second section begins in G major, and the theme from the beginning of the A section is restated in this key, before a passing modulation to the dominant, D major, in bars 22-23. The movement then returns to G major and quickly modulates to C major in bar 24, with a perfect cadence in C major in bar 24. In bar 32, the movement begins to modulate to A minor, and a perfect cadence is seen in bar 34. It then returns to E minor in bar 35, and continues to modulate through nearly related keys until the end of the B section, where a perfect cadence in E minor is heard. This modulation to nearly related keys is expected of a Baroque suite.
As expected, the movement is in 12/8 time, and has fast quaver movement in both the left and the right hands, which is both conjunct in some sections, for example bars 1-3, and disjunct in others, for example bar 15. The Gigue makes use of a variety of note values, although the quaver is the most commonly used. Loeillet makes use of syncopation, for example in bars 35-39 the right hand begins on the second quaver of the bar. The left hand mainly uses long note values to underpin the fast quavers in the right hand, however in the B section especially, it becomes more florid and the harmonic rhythm increases to a chord a beat, seen for example in bars 27-29. The melody makes use of sequences, for example a descending sequence is seen in bar 11, and imitation between the left and right hands, for example in bar 3 to bar 4. The thematic material from section A is extended and developed in section B, the scalic runs in the left hand of bar 9 are drawn-out and repeated so that in the B section it lasts for 2 bars, from bars 30-31. This unifies the two sections, and makes the movement feel well rounded.
The two editions of this suite are very different in style. While they portray the same music, Roose and Osterle choose to present the movements very differently, and both editors have their own ideas about how the music should be played. Whilst the Osterle edition only presents two movements of the E minor suite, the Allemande and the Gigue, Roose presents all five, which is probably more likely to represent an anthology of the suites from the time. Performers from the period were expected to know the characteristics of each movement, and so Roose’s edition without tempo markings is more authentic, however for performers in the 21st century this is important, as it may not be widely known what speed to play each movement.
There is ornamentation present in both Roose and Osterle’s editions, and this is unusual for Baroque music, as although ornamentation would be present in performance, performers would normally add their own as they played. There are some interesting discrepancies between the two editions. In bar 1 of the Allemande, Osterle uses an acciaccatura, whereas Roose chooses to use an appoggiatura, and this is recurrent throughout the movements. This is interesting, because an appoggiatura leans on the following note and takes most of the notes value, whereas an acciaccatura is played as quickly as possible. This would create a very different feel between the two editions of the suite. Another interesting distinction between the two is that Roose uses mordents whilst Osterle chooses to use trills. It is suggested that in the Baroque period a mordent could imply one or more alternations, and therefore the use of it in Roose’s edition, when played at the time, is more representative of the original piece.
Performance directions between the two editions also differ. Whilst Roose does not provide any indication to speed or dynamic, allowing the performer to come to their own decisions about these features, Osterle provides performance instructions throughout each movement, including dynamics, for example a crescendo and decrescendo in bar 2 of the allemande. This is possible on modern pianos, but on a harpsichord, which this movement is specifically written to be played on, only terraced dynamics were possible, and there was no ability to crescendo or decrescendo. This shows that Osterle edited the suite for modern performers, and therefore he wants to revise the music for the modern ear. Although this may be more pleasant for a present-day listener, the Roose edition reflects the original piece more, and is more authentic in the way it is presented for the performer.