Style brisé (French: "broken style") is a general term for irregulararpeggiated texture in instrumental music of theBaroque period. It is commonly used in discussion of music forlute,keyboard instruments, or theviol.
The original French term, in use around 1700, isstyle luthé ("lute style"). It was used byFrançois Couperin when referring to arpeggiated textures in his pieces such asLa Mézangère,Les Charmes andLes Barricades Mystérieuses. Continuous pieces with an abundance of irregularly broken chords originated in French lute music of the 17th century. The modern termstyle brisé was first used by scholarLionel de La Laurencie when discussing the style of two French lutenists –Ennemond Gaultier (c.1575–1651) andDenis Gaultier (1603–1672).[1][2] La Laurencie may have simply translated the corresponding German term, which has been used since at least the early 18th century.[3]
In his 1972 study of French lute music, scholar Wallace Rave compiled a list of features he believed to be characteristic ofstyle brisé. Rave's list included the following:[4][5]
As shown by later studies by David J. Buch, such features may appear in moderation, or be completely absent from certain pieces that still feature some irregular arpeggiation, for example in accompaniment to a regularly constructed melodic line: a scheme found already in Denis Gaultier's works. Another key feature ofstyle brisé pointed out by Buch is the adoption of imitative or pseudo-imitative textures.[6]
Early 17th century examples include the collectionLe trésor d’Orphée (1600) byAntoine Francisque,Robert Ballard's lute books of 1611 and 1614, and other publications of the time. Idiomatic lute figurations found in such pieces were later transferred to the harpsichord in the works of numerous composers: particularly important examples includeLouis Couperin'sunmeasured preludes,Johann Jakob Froberger'sallemandes, free preludes byJean-Henri d'Anglebert andLouis-Nicolas Clérambault, and others.[3] By the early 18th century various forms ofstyle brisé were common techniques in keyboard music.Johann Pachelbel'sHexachordum Apollinis, which was among the most successful keyboard publications of the time, included a number of variations instyle brisé.[7]
