writing a gigue

Hello all.

I have not visited a while.

I went crazy here last half term when I randomly wanted to write loads of Gavottes, lol!

But now, I have to write a gigue...

I've decided to do it with counterpoint, 2 violins, in 6/8 time.

I'll probably do it in major key so it's lively :D

Do gigues modulate, and what do you do for the structure?

There's hardly any information on the internet, wikipedia says nothing about the structure.

Go and look at Gigues in the musical literature. It also depends on the style you want to write, as Bach's Gigues will be quite different than Schoenberg's Gigues.. :x

What he said.

Briefly...while I'm not sure of the dance form at its purest, the stylised gigue employed in baroque suites consists of two halves, usually repeated, consisting of about 16 to 24 measures each. The first half states its main theme, then modulates to the dominant (in a major key) or the relative major (in a minor key). The second half modulates back to the tonic key and wraps things up, usually repeating either the main thematic material or whatever material was introduced during the latter part of the first half.

This is extremely general, and there are many variations on this basic form possible. Do as juji suggests and examine/listen to some examples.

Check this out:

Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706): Canon and Gigue in D

This is my favourite performance of the famous Pachelbel Canon, followed by its less famous companion, the gigue. Just for edification, listen to the canon first and dig how much more meaninful the piece is at this tempo, played on instruments of the period - makes a lot more sense this way than the dirge it usually is, I think; then check out the Gigue, which follows immediately. Pachelbel's treatment is contrapuntal, but you can still hear the form. Each half contains exactly 20 measures, and follows the pattern I outlined.

Good luck!