Écossaise

Romantic works

Definition

A lively dance in duple meter of Scottish or French origin, popular in the early 19th century as a short binary-form piano miniature, usually grouped into sets.

Historical Context

Despite its name suggesting Scottish origins, the écossaise as a keyboard form was primarily a French and Viennese salon genre of the early Romantic period. Schubert, Beethoven, and Chopin all wrote sets of écossaises for piano. They are typically brief (8–16 bars each), high-spirited, and in a brisk 2/4 meter. The form largely fell out of fashion by the mid-19th century.

Works (19)

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