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Bach, Johann Sebastian : 6 Partiten Nr.4 Allemande

Work Overview

Music ID : 39171
Instrumentation:Piano Solo 
Genre:allemande
Total Playing Time:6 min 10 sec
Copyright:Public Domain

Commentary (1)

Author : Ooi, Kazurou

Last Updated: February 19, 2024
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Note: This article is automatically translated from the original Japanese text. The author of the original work did not supervise this translation.

This Allemande is rich in emotion and drama, characterized by its layered texture.

Generally speaking, at least in the Baroque era, it is not considered ideal for a piece's tempo to vary from section to section. While one would ideally wish to maintain a single tempo, this Allemande must be regarded as an exception.

When notes become finer and notes of shorter duration appear in succession, such as in measures 31 and 50, a hurried, anxious, or virtuosic atmosphere is not required in this Allemande. Therefore, it is appropriate to set a natural tempo for these sections with fine notes. However, if one were to take the tempo of these measures with many fine notes as the basic tempo and then play measures with notes of longer duration, such as measure 1, at that same tempo, the tempo would feel extremely slow.

Some performers strictly adhere to a single tempo, and in a sense, that approach is more logically consistent. However, if, for example, one plays measure 1 at a tempo that allows for natural singing without dragging, then, naturally, the measures with fine notes will sound faster and busier.

Therefore, one suggestion is as follows: measures with notes of longer duration, such as measure 1, should be played with a natural flow, sung without unnaturalness or dragging, and then proceed at that tempo. When reaching measures with notes of shorter duration, such as measure 19, one should then play without rushing, without anxiety, and without becoming virtuosic, but again, in a naturally singing manner.

Consequently, the tempo of measure 1 and measure 19 will naturally differ somewhat. However, this creates a natural and appropriate flow when performing this Allemande.

Writer: Ooi, Kazurou