Help Comparing these two Baroque pieces (by Bach)?

Question

All right guys, so for my first assignment in an intro to music class, I have been asked to analyze and compare 2 pieces of music from the Baroque era: Bach, Orchestral Suite No. 4, Gavotte and Bach, Orchestral Suite No. 3, Air. After listening to each this is what I found:

Air- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlT8yeEYbMs

Issues of rhythm, meter and tempo
-Tempo is slow, doesn’t seem to vary
-Meter is duple, and the rhythm is regular, determined
Major or Minor Key
-It is in the major key, with variations in between
Texture (polyphone, homophony, and monophony)
-The texture is polyphonic
Dynamics
-There is little variation in the dynamics
Form
-The form is binary
Melody/contour
-And the melody/contour is a regular wave like pattern (up and down motion) returning to this home key (tonality)

Gavotte- (very similar qualities I though) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbP3qF3yeuk

Issues of rhythm, meter and tempo
-Tempo is faster, doesn’t seem to vary
-Meter is duple, and the rhythm is regular, determined (I think)
Major or Minor Key
-It is in the major key, (not sure if it varies?)
Texture (polyphone, homophony, and monophony)
-The texture is polyphonic
Dynamics
-There is little variation in the dynamics (I think, I’m not sure on this one)
Form
-The form is binary
Melody/contour
-And the melody/contour is a regular wave like pattern (up and down motion) returning to this home key (tonality)

Being non-music major I am having a difficult time further distinguishing the two. Basically can you guys help me find specific differences in these elements (like how is the polyphony is used differently from the one is Gavotte, or how is the rhythm different,etc). Using specific times from the video might help me specifically see and understand as well. I am having such a hard time finding specific differences because this is my first course ever in music, so if you guys can fact check my findings so far and provide any further specific help it will be GREATLY appreciated.

Answer 1

Here is a Website which might help you:

http://www.lib.utk.edu/~music/analysis/

Answer 2

I strongly recommend the following symphonies and sonatas: Cjaikovsky's concert for violin and orchestra; Dvorak's 8th symphony; Bruckner's 8th concert for violin and orchestra; Gabriel Faurè's requiem and pavane; Beethoven's 7th symphony in A major; Shostakovich's piano concert no.2 ; Grieg's piano concerto in A minor; Lizst's piano concert in a major; Camille saint-Saen's "animal carnaval" symphony; Rachmaninoff's 2nd symphony and his famous piano concert no. 3.; haendal's messiah; Vivaldi's Gloria; Haydn's sonata for piano in C minor; Beethoven's piano sonata "patetìque" and "mondscheinn"; Scarlatti's sonatas for piano; Cjaikovsky's 5th symphony ( the andante's amazing!!!). Nothing else really comes to my mind now... Hope I helped.

Answer 3

Whose music course is this supposed to be anyway?

Answer 4

Strikingly different is the instrumentation. don't forget!