The two books of suites each have one pavane and one galliard, though not paired as was routine at the beginning of the seventeenth century, when the galliard often was written as an elaborate variation of the pavane. This (see score below) is the galliard from book 2, shown in its beginning and ending. Note the long descending octave line in the opening. By now this shouldn't be surprising: recall that, in the first post in this series, I commented on "a characteristic—and very strong—tendency to shape melodic units of 3 to 5 measures or more in entirely or mostly unidirectional lines."
In the B-section, a line ascends from ^3 (as E4) to ^8, then promptly descends again, note by note. The close is still another line, an octave ascent from C4 to C5. Overall, then, C5 is readily heard as the focal note, and it is eventually regained by lines from below.
Another unusual time signature for a sarabande, 6/4 (not the 3/2 signature familiar from eighteenth century sarabandes like those by Handel). This sarabande closes the third suite in book 2. A focal note ^8 (as D5) at the beginning is eventually recovered in the ending of the piece by means of a sixth line that's not quite diatonic (note G#, not G-natural) and where ^8 is gained early (third bar from the end). This "wandering about ^8" is as common in the final cadence as the unidirectional melodic shapes are elsewhere (or, I should say, everywhere).
