Definition of "galant" [galant]

• In music, applied to a method of instrumental composition in which the number of parts or voices in the harmony varies freely according to the tonal effect desired, without any consistent effort to treat every tone as belonging to an independent and continuous voice-part, as in the older contrapuntal style.

The Century Dictionary (Public Domain)

• "Neal Zaslaw writes: The scorn and indifference heaped upon these seven pastiche conceertos is, in my opinion, a vestigial residue of a romantic attitude to value in art, which places originality above craft, stormy affect above 'galant' airiness, complexity above simplicity and seriousness above lightheartedness."
• "'galant' airiness, complexity above simplicity and seriousness above lightheartedness."
• "He stands for everything that is gentle, forlorn, pure, unselfish, and galant."