Copyright

Andrea Susanne Opielka

Published On

2024-04-25

Page Range

pp. 61–68

Language

  • English

Print Length

8 pages

3. The Minuet as Part of Instrumental and Dance Music in Europe

  • Andrea Susanne Opielka (author)
Chapter of: The Nordic Minuet: Royal Fashion and Peasant Tradition(pp. 61–68)
The chapter examines the position of the minuet in Western classical music, in particular from the second half of the seventeenth century until the end of the eighteenth century. During this period, the minuet was the most popular ballroom dance in Europe and was thus the only baroque form of dance that survived the end of the era. The chapter discusses how from early on, composers distinguished between minuet tunes for dance and stylized minuet tunes. The latter ones have appeared in different musical contexts from baroque dance suites to expressionist orchestral works, and they play an important role in masterpieces of several significant composers.

Contributors

Andrea Susanne Opielka

(author)
Member at Nordic Association for Folk Dance Research

Andrea Susanne Opielka PhD studied musicology, art history and German literature at the universities of Heidelberg and Bochum. In the winter of 2002-2003, she wrote a M.A. thesis on Faroese dance with Eyðun Andreassen, professor of ethnology at the Faroese university as supervisor. It was followed by the PhD thesis on dance games and singing games Färöische Tanzspiele: Herkunft - Verbreitung - Tradition (Saarbrücken 2009), which was also published in Danish in 2011. Since 2004, Andrea Susanne has been a member of Nordisk forening for folkedansforskning (Nordic Association for Folk Dance Research) and in 2008 was elected to the association's board as the Faroe Islands' representative. She is a member of Nff's writers' group, which among other things published the book Norden i Dans in 2007. Since 2008, Andrea Susanne has also been linked to the Nordic research network for vocal folk music and regularly participated in the network's seminars. She has also examined minuet music and written articles about it. Lectures have taken her, among others to Frankfurt, Kiel, Greifswald, Vienna, Copenhagen, Gothenburg, Växjö, Stockholm, Lahtis, Bø and several times to the Faroe Islands. She lives and works on the German island of Fehmarn.