gavotte

American  

[guh-vot] / gəˈvɒt /

Or gavot

noun

1. an old French dance in moderately quick quadruple meter.

2. a piece of music for, or in the rhythm of, this dance, often forming one of the movements in the classical suite, usually following the saraband.

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gavotte British  

/ ɡəˈvɒt /

noun

1. an old formal dance in quadruple time

2. a piece of music composed for or in the rhythm of this dance

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Etymology

Origin of gavotte

1690–1700; < French < Provençal gavoto a mountaineer of Provence, a dance of such mountaineers, apparently derivative of gava bird's crop (probably < pre-Latin *gaba throat, crop, goiter), alluding to the prevalence of goiter among the mountaineers

Example Sentences

He relented with a single brief and charming encore: the Gavotte from Prokofiev’s “Cinderella,” which he coyly typed out like an inside joke between him and the piano.

From Washington Post • Apr. 19, 2023

As an encore, Trifonov played more Prokofiev: the Gavotte from his “Three Pieces From ‘Cinderella,’” based on his 1940s ballet.

From New York Times • Apr. 19, 2023

There was a shy Courante, a bustling Sarabande, a haltingly curious Gavotte, a sociable and chatty Prelude.

From New York Times • Dec. 9, 2012

He casts a hypnotic spell with Ravel's La Vallee des Cloches and Chopin's Scherzo in E Major, then snaps wide awake with Prokofiev's Gavotte from Cinderella and the sharply etched Visions Fugitives.

From Time Magazine Archive

It is characteristic of the March, Polonaise, modern Minuet, Gavotte and other dances, and of the Minuet—or Scherzo-movement, in sonatas and symphonies.

From Lessons in Music Form A Manual of Analysis of All the Structural Factors and Designs Employed in Musical Composition by Goetschius, Percy