Set of instrumental dances or dancelike movements.
The suite originated in the paired dances of the 14th–16th centuries (pavane-galliard, basse danse-saltarello, etc.). In the 16th–17th centuries German composers began to write sets of three or four dances, as in Banchetto musicale (1617). In the late 17th century a basic ordering of four dances
{{link=allemande">allemande , courante , sarabande , and gigue
became established as standard; other dances came to be interpolated between the sarabande and gigue. In the 19th century suite came to refer to sets of instrumental excerpts from operas and ballets.