Eileen Gilligan Flute

Partita in A minor for Solo Flute BWV 1013 by Johann Sebastian Bach is a significant piece of flute repertoire. Written somewhere between 1717 and 1723 for Baroque flute in four movements, it demands a considerable amount from the performer. The Allemande is musically demanding, stamina is required, and the breathing capacity and philosophy of the performer are tested.

The movements are:
Allemande – Graceful dance, moderate tempo, in quadruple meter (beat) and in binary form (two sections).
Corrente– A triple meter dance in binary form, it existed in two versions: the French courante, which was generally stately and the Italian corrente, which was in a rapid triple meter.
Sarabande– A slow, elegant dance, became one of the four standard dances of the baroque suite.
Bouree Anglaise– The Bourree is a dance that originated in France, is reasonably fast with quick footsteps. The Anglaise is the same but has a slightly different phrase structure, eg the arpeggiated passages.

This article covers the Allemande. I will be releasing the other movements in due course with articles pertaining to them.
Having context when interpreting and performing is so important. Without understanding where a piece fits and the influences surrounding it, a player can go off on a tangent that may be inappropriate musically.
The period in which the Partita was written was before the Passions, Masses, Art of Fugue and the Goldberg Variations. It was written in a time he was composing chamber music, keyboard works and other instrumental works.
Works composed around the same time that influenced my thoughts and interpretation are the keyboard two part inventions , Well Tempered Clavier- Book1 BWV 846 -849, the cello suites particularly the Allemande from Suite No.1 in G Major and the French Suites which begin with an Allemande, in particular,Suite No.1BWV 812 in D Minor and Suite No.4 BWV 815 in E Flat Major.

Bach’s wonderful mastery of counterpoint (many voices or voice play) is fascinating and very present in the flute Allemande. The cello works influenced my approach to articulation style and the keyboard works influenced my phrasing, musical flow and articulation patterns and choices. The performer has to decide whether to slur with patterns or articulate the movement. The keyboard and string works help with this decision musically.
Because of its complex compositional nature, the Allemande runs the risk of being mechanical. It is often analysed down to the last semiquaver with no mention of expression, colour or musical flow.

“We are talking about music, we don’t actually play music by rules, not real music.” Stephen Preston.

Whilst it is crucial to understand it’s form, keys and gorgeous modulations, that is just the very start and basics of the performers musical journey. The real work starts after that. Finding the underlying melody and making it sing and flow musically without emphasising any unnecessary notes is the key to musical expression of the movement.
I don’t think the musical journey ever stops with this Allemande. It is formidable.
The Allemande is essentially a dance, and this dance has two voices simultaneously weaving their way through wonderful key modulations. This is where colour comes into play and can be made the most of. When performing a dance, it important to consider elegant body movements and foot work in choice of tempo and phrasing. Therein lies the greatest challenge for the performer both musically and technically.
The other challenge for the performer if playing on a Boehm system flute is capturing the warmth and colours of the Baroque flute. The Boehm system requires more air than the Baroque flute and is sometimes difficult to get the necessary warmth in the tone for this movement. The Boehm system flute does bring a life and certain brilliance to the work.

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