The Partita in A Minor BWV 1013 by J.S. Bach is one of the most consequential works in the flute repertoire. One that will test the player on all levels. The Sarabande challenges the player to collect all their musical thoughts, control tone and colour as well as the expressive musical line. The player has to be intellectually sure of every musical and technical aspect before starting work on this movement. Keep in mind the Sarabande comes after the Corrente and before the Bourree Anglaise, so it is quite a mind and musical switch for the player to sink into.
There are some basic points to think about:

• Because it is a seemingly simple melody doesn’t make it easy.
• Tone quality (Warmth) the baroque flute was capable of much warmth in tonal quality. How does that affect the Boehm system player?
• Tempo (it is a dance)
• Key colour -what do we do with that?
• Form- so what does that mean for us?
• What is the skeleton- What thoughts does the skeleton lead me to think about?
• Articulation – to do or not to do?
• Phrasing, – important to know what you are trying to say musically, where you are going and shape it tastefully. This is why we master 24 Little Melodic Studies by Marcel Moyse which is easier said than done. All 24 of these are on the website in the members section with detailed video guides, notes and sound files.
In this article I would like to focus on ornamentation as it can make or break a performance and musical message.
We are all faced when playing Baroque music, – do we ornament? if so, where? what? and how? Why would we ornament on the repeat if we wouldn’t ornament first time?
Before deciding it is worth reading various reference books to get perspective and make an educated decision.

From a personal perspective after much reference and thought I chose not to ornament because I felt perfection could not be enhanced. Trying to add anything would destroy the beauty of a melodic line only Bach could write. Whilst it is stylistic to ornament, and I do very often in other composers such as Handel, sometimes it can be inappropriate to the composer and his writing. Nothing in Bach or any note he writes is by accident. Every note is there for a musical reason. The Sarabande stands all on its own with no adornment. It is a really powerful melody and musical statement.
These are some of the aspects that influenced my decision not to ornament.

Johann Joachim Quantz (1697-1773)

Flautist, composer, flute maker, teacher of Frederick the Great of Prussia, author of the influential method book on musical performance (1752) On Playing The Flute”

“Variations must be undertaken only after the plain air has already been heard; otherwise the lister cannot know if variations are actually present. A well-written melody, which is already sufficiently pleasing in itself, must never be varie, unless you believe it can be improved. If you wish to vary something, you must always do it in such fashion that the addition is still more agreeable in the singing phrases, and still more brillaint in the passage-work, than they stand as written. Not a little insight and expeience are required for this. Without an understanding of composition, success is impossible. Those who lack this skill will always do better to prefer the invention of the composer to their own fancies. A long series of quick notes does not always suffice. They may, indeed, excite admiration, but they do not touch the heart as easily as the plain notes, and this, after all, is the true object of music, and the most difficult one. … my advice is  not to give youself over too much to variations, but rather to apply yourself to playing a plain air nobly, truly, and clearly. … If a plaing air does not touch him who executes it, it can make but a slight impression on his listeners. From On Playing the Flute Chap XIII section 9, p. 139 .

Also by Quantz from “On Playing the Flute”. Chapter XIV S5 Page 163

“To play an Adagio well, you must enter as much as possible into a calm and almost melancholy mood, so that you execute what you have to play in the same state of mind as that in which the composer wrote it. A true Adagio must resemble a flattering petition. For just as anyone who wishes to request something from a person to whom he owes particular respect will scarcely achieve his object with bold and impudent threats, so here you will scarcely engage, soften, and touch your listeners with a bold and bizarre manner of playing. For that which does not come from the heart does not easily reach the heart.”

 Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg, was a German composer and writer remembered for his theoretical and critical writings on music.

 Marpurg believed that ’embellishing baroque music is one of the most delightful aspects of performing it’, he also argued that there is no need for or desire to over-embellish. He considered that a performer who repeatedly adds too much ornamentation is like a gentleman who bows at every word as he pays homage to a woman.

 Dr. Stephen Preston, English flautist specialising in period performance of Baroque and Classical music on original instruments. He also plays modern flute focusing on performance techniques for the Boehm system player to understand and perform stylistically period music through historical forms of dance and other approaches.

Stephen Preston quotes:

 “If I ornament something it has got to be better”

 “The expressive value of what we do is lost too early in the technical value of of what we can achieve”

 Article and interview with Dr. Stephen Preston on Baroque style:

Stephen can be contacted here for lessons. Can be a life changing experience.

 [email protected]

 Spending time thinking, listening to recordings and reading reference material can cut down practice time and produce a quality performance. In the end it is up to the individual player to make up their own mind about what works musically and communicate that to the listener. The listener will tell you whether you have reached their heart or not.

 For flute players Marcel Moyse Melodious Study, No 2. is the starting reference point for phrase control and key colour in the Sarabande. If one can’t understand and play No 2. in ¾ and A Minor then the Sarabande will be impossible.