courante

American  

[koo-rahnt, koo-rahnt] / kʊˈrɑnt, kuˈrɑ̃t /

noun

• courantes
  plural

1. a dance dating back to the 17th century and characterized by a running or gliding step.

2. a piece of music for or suited to this dance.

3. Music. a movement following the allemande in the classical suite.

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courante British  

/ kʊˈrɑːnt /

noun

1. an old dance in quick triple time

2. a movement of a (mostly) 16th- to 18th-century suite based on this

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• courantes
  plural

Etymology

Origin of courante

1580–90; < Middle French; literally, running, feminine present participle of courir to run; cf. current

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

courante courantes

Jacob Ashworth — a violinist and conductor, and the artistic director of Cantata Profana — selected a courante by Susan Kander, a contemporary composer and Mr. Ashworth’s mother.

From New York Times ● May 24, 2013

Last week in Los Angeles, Les Fetes d'Hebe was given a glowing new production that reveled in each melodic appoggiatura and terpsichorean temps de courante.

From Time Magazine Archive

Then we were off, Char naming each dance: a gavotte, a slow sarabande, a courante, an allemande.

From "Ella Enchanted" by Gail Carson Levine

A French courante differed from the Italian, and certain dances were taken at different tempi in different countries.

From Critical and Historical Essays Lectures delivered at Columbia University by W. J. (Winton James) Baltzell

The sarabande and courante are likewise interesting as the prototypes of the second movement, and the bourée, minuet, etc., for their connection with the third movement.

From Music Notation and Terminology by Karl Wilson Gehrkens

Some of the most skilful pipers in the land had been engaged for the occasion, and they played gavottes, rondes, courantes, and many other dances, without intermission.

From The Diamond Fairy Book by Various