A suite is typically an ordered set of instrumental pieces which are designed to be performed together as a collection by an orchestra or soloist. Suites originated in the late fourteenth century as a pairing of dance melodies, but subsequently evolved into a much broader genre that provided an alternative to the then prevalent sonata and symphonic forms. Suites are also sometimes shortened arrangements of the music from an opera or ballet, and thus they make it possible to perform such music in purely orchestral concerts and thereby expand the audiences for the music from such operas and ballets.