Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750)
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Partita No.6 in E minor, BWV 830 (1731)
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Glenn Gould (1932 - 1982)
Recorded in 1974
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The Partita No. 6 in E minor, BWV 830, by Johann Sebastian Bach, is a suite of seven movements for harpsichord. Published in 1731, it is part of Clavier-Übung I.
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Prior to publication, two movements (Corrente and Tempo di Gavotta) of BWV 830 formed part of the first version of the sixth sonata in E minor for obbligato harpsichord and violin, BWV 1019.
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1. Toccata (0:00)
The Toccata is one of the most complicated and highly organic movements of the
partita. It consists of three sections (ABA'): two outer free improvisational sections and
the fugue in the middle. Although the characteristics of these sections differ, they grow
out from the basic motives and the harmonic frame.
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2. Allemanda (9:31)
The word "allemanda" is an Italian translation of the original German dance, the allemande. In fact, in Anna Magdalena's version of 1725, Bach had used the original name, Allemande.
Speaking of this change, Fernando Valenti proposes that Bach might have wanted to emphasize the more flowing and decorative Italian quality in this allemande. Indeed, this movement projects the feeling of improvisation due to the filling in of notes between the main harmonic pillars, usually thirty-second notes.
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3. Corrente (12:24)
Along with the Tempo di Gavotta, the Corrente is one of two movements taken from an early version of the Sonata in G major for violin and obbligato cembalo, BWV 1090.
The Corrente is another Italian dance movement and this is one of the longest correnti written by Bach (116 measures). It is framed as a binary form like other dances, but its actual form is rounded binary, II:A:II:BA':ll. The constant syncopation between the hands is the main characteristic of the movement.
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4. Air (15:43)
Bach added the Air movement in the 1731 version. Its insertion between the Corrente and the Sarabande breaks the usual order of the allemande-courante-sarabande sequence, which was the norm of the dance suite in Bach's time.
This exceptional order is found in only two of Bach's works, the D major Partita and the E minor Partita, which raises the question whether this order was intended by Bach himself or has occurred only for the efficient use of the page in the edition. This latter argument allows the possibility of playing this movement in a different place in the work, that is, after the Sarabande. The individual performer may well reach a different conclusion from thisexperiment.
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5. Sarabande (16:40)
At first the Sarabande appears to be so similar to the Toccata that listeners might well wonder to which movement a given passage might belong. Only by a close analysis can one see how the two movements are related and discover the structural functions of the resemblance.
The Sarabande was originally a Spanish dance, written in 3/4 or 3/2. It requires a slow tempo with a stress on the second beat. Noble in character, it calls for a certain grandeur, dignity, and majesty. It has been said that the Sarabande in the E minor Partita is the ultimate "pulverization" of a dance form in all of Bach's works. It has little to do with the original sarabande dance and sounds abstract and complicated due to its plethora of decorative thirty-second notes.
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6. Tempo di Gavotta (21:33)
The penultimate movement, Tempo di Gavotta, has only a few characteristics of the gavotte: it is written in alla breve meter and begins on the upbeat with two quarter notes.
However, the triple subdivision of the beat does not fit in the usual gavotte dance
rhythm. In fact, Philipp Spitta suggests it is more in the manner of an Italian giga than a gavotte.
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7. Gigue (22:44)
The typical gigue is a lively and spirited piece usually in 6/8, 12/8, or 12/16,
which characteristically contains a triple grouping of notes. The Gigue in the E minor Partita is an exception, which gives rise to different views on the rhythmic interpretation of this movement.
Like the courante, the gigue developed into two forms, French and Italian. The French gigue is imitative in texture, and its initial theme is usually stated in an inversion at the opening of the second part. The Gigue in the E minor Partita follows this example. In dance suites in the Baroque period, it is often common to find a stronger connection between the first and the last movements than among other movements. This is also true in the E minor Partita, especially since both movements, Toccata and Gigue, contain the fugue form.
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David Schulenberg describes this partita: "The Sixth Partita is the crowning work of the set and Bach's greatest suite. The allemande and sarabande contain some of the most audacious and dramatic melodic embellishment ever written, and the work opens and closes with two particularly ambitious contrapuntal movements."