As revealed in the previous chapter, the term double was used interchangeably with the word variation (in the examined period). Therefore, I was looking for both terms, but also for pieces with doubles/variations without their designation but clearly belonging to this category. In total, I was able to find 115 instances of pieces (such as a movement from a sonata or alone-standing pieces, for instance airs or brunettes) which include one or more doubles/variations. Some of the variations were designated only with numbers, some were missing any designation at all and in one instance, they were designated as divisions.1 The first graph below displays the ratio of different designations for doubles/variations within the collected pieces, expressed in percentage: in 72 instances was used designation Double, in 33 instances Variation, Division was used only once, numbers were used four times, two times a designation Alio Modo was used, and in three instances, there was no designation.

The second graph displays the ratio of pieces with different numbers of doubles/variations, expressed in percentage: in 71 instances, there was only one double/variation included, in 16 instances, there were two, a set of three variations appeared nine times, a set of four variations seven times, a set of five variations was included four times, and in total in eight instances, there were sets of more than five variations.

After examining all the collected doubles/variations, I decided to divide them into three categories, according to their style: diminutive doubles, ornamental doubles and sets of variations (which are in this context characteristic very often for the last movements of sonatas in the Galant style).

Diminutive doubles are characterized by dividing the original note values into shorter note values, which mostly move in regular rhythm with notes of equal value. For example, if there is a melody originally composed mostly with quarter notes or eighth notes, the first double would be most probably composed entirely with eighth notes, with the movement usually stopping in the cadences. Occasionally, the first double is composed with triplets, and the following second double consists of sixteenth-notes motion.2

Figure 1: Example of a diminutive Double: M. P. de Montéclair, Je jure par tes yeux.

Ornamental doubles are, in my understanding, those that contain florid ornamentation based not on dividing the note values into shorter notes, but rather on embellishing single notes or intervals with little graces (in France called agréments), or more florid ornaments (in France called passages), creating a variety of gestures. The quickening of the movement is the natural consequence of the ornamentation, but in comparison to the diminutive doubles, ornamental doubles do not create a flow of a regular rhythm but rather dress the original rhythm of the melody into a highly decorative cloak. Sometimes, the doubles contain ornaments combined with the regular diminutions of the melody. I consider these examples as part of the group of ornamental doubles, too, for the prevalent element of the ornamentation in them is the variety of the embellishments and of the rhythmical movement and melodic gestures.

Figure 2: Example of an ornamental Double: J.-M. Hotteterre, Ruisseau qui dans la pleine.

Sets of variations became a significant feature of the late Baroque and the Galant style and they very often were placed as the final movement of a sonata. In that case, a sonata was closed with an elegant Menuet of a short or medium length, which was followed by mostly two or more variations; occasionally, there was only one variation (depending on the length of the main melody). The closing movement with variations could be also a Vivace or Allegro in duple meter, as will be shown later. Rarely, the closing movement could also be called Air or Aria, which refers to the cantabile character of the movement but is not yet related to the Air variée, highly popular in the second half of the 18^th century.  The popularity of creating sets of variations is proven also by the existence of many alone-standing pieces (very often of a dance character, such as Menuets or Sarabands) which appear in many collections of pieces for flute. Very often, some of the variations have a diminutive character regarding their fluent movement of a regular rhythm of diminished note values. However, these variations consist of many leaps and chordal arpeggiated figures, which were so typical for the later Baroque or Galant style (compared to the earlier style of diminutions), and therefore they too belong to this category.

Figure 3: Example of a set of variations: M. Blavet, Menuet L'inconu.

Another category, typical especially for the French style of composition in this period, is the ornamentation of the refrain in Rondos. Since their ornamentation usually conveys the same elements and characteristics, typical for doubles (such as an accumulation of embellishments or gradual diminishing of the note values with each repeated refrain), I call them “double-like embellishments”. As their analysis brings additional value for understanding the ornamentation of doubles, I included them on the list of the examined pieces. However, they were not considered in the descriptions of individual categories of doubles.

Figure 4: Example of a double-like embellishment: M. Blavet, Andante form Sonata in D major no. 6, op. 3.

The process of analysing the collected pieces and composing new doubles after their example was divided into the following steps:

1.      Analysing and extracting elements typical for each category separately (diminutive, ornamental, sets of variations)

2.      Defining the characteristics and compositional tools of doubles in each category 

3.     Choosing a specific piece in each original category to provide a source of inspiration and information as a “template” for creating a new double

4.      Describing important elements of the chosen specific piece, regarding for instance these aspects:

   • Rhythmical patterns used and their consistency within the piece
   • The shape of the original melody and how it is reflected in the double
   • The solution used in the double for the cadences and closing the phrases
   • The influence of the tempo of the piece on the chosen type of the double and the chosen patterns in it 
   • The occurrence of the written-out repeat in the double
   • The role and the influence of the text, if applicable
   • The role of the harmony and the bass line, if applicable
   • The solution of the double for a Da Capo piece

5.      Composing new doubles with an awareness of the elements described 

6.      Making artistic choices concerning the final shape of the new doubles or solutions for specific places, based on individual taste, experience and personal responsibility3

The complete list of the pieces, collected and examined for the purpose of this research, is provided as Appendix 1 of this exposition.

All the original doubles and variations, created in the period of the research process by the author, are presented in the collection L’Art de doubler in Appendix 2. The collection is structured in the same way as the following chapters of this exposition, starting with diminutive doubles, continuing with ornamental doubles and finishing with sets of variations. While some of the pieces were already performed in public, other pieces of this collection are only meant to provide examples to those who feel inspired by them and to show the flexibility that creating doubles offers to the performer. At the same time, not all the doubles that appear in the provided collection are further discussed in the following chapters.

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