Suite (music) These optional movements were known as "galanteries": common examples are the minuet, gavotte, passepied, and bourrée. Often there would be two contrasting "galanteries" with the same name, e.g. Minuet I and II, to be played "alternativement", meaning that the first dance is played again after the second, thus I, II, I. The later addition of an overture to make up an "overture-suite" was extremely popular with German composers; Telemann claimed to have written over 200 overture-suites, J. S. Bach had his four orchestral suites along with other suites, and Handel put his "Water Music" and "Music for the Royal Fireworks"
The Merry Wives of Windsor (opera) was to become his masterpiece in the German language. The composer himself made some changes to the libretto. It was difficult at first to find a stage that was willing to mount the opera, but following the premiere at the Königliches Opernhaus (Royal Opera House, now Berlin State Opera) in Berlin on 9 March 1849 under the baton of the composer, it achieved great success and its popularity continues to this day. Though the libretto and the dramaturgy may seem old-fashioned to today's audiences, the music is of such high quality that the work is nevertheless performed with increasing regularity.