"The allemande is a broken, serious, and well-constructed harmony, which is the image of content or satisfied spirit, which enjoys good order and calm."
Mattheson 1739[1]
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Translated to mean ‘German,’ the allemande essentially originated as a German variant of the basse danse, with its earliest known documentation found in a 1521 dance manual published in London based on basse danses.[2] With rhythmic similarities to the bourree and the gavotte, the dance was popular in both the theatre and ballroom, although it was short lived as by 1636, Mersenne wrote that ‘the allemande was no longer danced to but only played.’[3] In 17th century France, the allemande was rarely danced to, but instead recognised as a standard component in the instrumental suite, and was popular within harpsichord suites.
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The instrumental allemande should contain a serious yet proud character and is described by Brossard as a ‘sort of grave, solemn music, whose measure is full and moving.’[4] It is not too dissimilar from the prelude with its free and improvisatory manner and elaborate ornaments. A tempo should therefore be chosen to accommodate these features, but also allow for the forward motion of shorter note values which drive the movement onwards.
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Allemandes are most often written in binary form and are in common or cut time, although some feature a time signature of 2. A quaver or semiquaver upbeat is characteristic and should lead to the placement of the first downbeat, which is frequently the same note. Notes inégales should be applied to semiquavers in stepwise movement.
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One choreography by Louis Pecour of an allemande from 1702 has survived today. The dance is for a couple and includes many springing steps and uses interlocking hand and arm gestures. It has very few similarities to the slower, processional instrumental allemande popular during this same period as it adopts a much faster tempo and more joyful character.
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[1] Mattheson, J. (1981) Der vollkommene Capellmeister. [Translated E. C. Harriss]
[2] Little, M. E; Cusick, S. G. (2001) Grove Music Online: Allemande
[3] Mather, B. B. (1987) Dance Rhythms of the French Baroque
[4] Brossard, S. (1740) Dictionnaire de Musique. [Translated by J. Grassineau]
"The allemande is a broken, serious, and well-constructed harmony, which is the image of content or satisfied spirit, which enjoys good order and calm."
Mattheson 1739[1]
​
Translated to mean ‘German,’ the allemande essentially originated as a German variant of the basse danse, with its earliest known documentation found in a 1521 dance manual published in London based on basse danses.[2] With rhythmic similarities to the bourree and the gavotte, the dance was popular in both the theatre and ballroom, although it was short lived as by 1636, Mersenne wrote that ‘the allemande was no longer danced to but only played.’[3] In 17th century France, the allemande was rarely danced to, but instead recognised as a standard component in the instrumental suite, and was popular within harpsichord suites.
​
The instrumental allemande should contain a serious yet proud character and is described by Brossard as a ‘sort of grave, solemn music, whose measure is full and moving.’[4] It is not too dissimilar from the prelude with its free and improvisatory manner and elaborate ornaments. A tempo should therefore be chosen to accommodate these features, but also allow for the forward motion of shorter note values which drive the movement onwards.
​
Allemandes are most often written in binary form and are in common or cut time, although some feature a time signature of 2. A quaver or semiquaver upbeat is characteristic and should lead to the placement of the first downbeat, which is frequently the same note. Notes inégales should be applied to semiquavers in stepwise movement.
​
One choreography by Louis Pecour of an allemande from 1702 has survived today. The dance is for a couple and includes many springing steps and uses interlocking hand and arm gestures. It has very few similarities to the slower, processional instrumental allemande popular during this same period as it adopts a much faster tempo and more joyful character.
​
​
[1] Mattheson, J. (1981) Der vollkommene Capellmeister. [Translated E. C. Harriss]
[2] Little, M. E; Cusick, S. G. (2001) Grove Music Online: Allemande
[3] Mather, B. B. (1987) Dance Rhythms of the French Baroque
[4] Brossard, S. (1740) Dictionnaire de Musique. [Translated by J. Grassineau]
The Passepied
Fig. 33 from Le Maître à Danser by Pierre Rameau (1725)
“An air in all respects very like a minuet, except ‘tis more brisk and lively.”
Brossard (1701) [1]
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The passepied was favoured at the French court during the 17th and 18th centuries, where it was commonly danced in theatres, but also performed at balls and featured within chamber music. Originally from Brittany, the passepied (pass-feet) gets its name from a step where the dancer beats one foot against the other, and then places it down.[2] It is frequently compared with the menuet, appears in pairs where the first passpied is repeated after the second (as a de capo) and is often linked with pairs of rigaudons. The dance is commonly associated with pastoral scenes in ballets and operas.
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A lively and light-hearted dance, the passepied is characterised as playful, gay, and flirtatious and is performed at a brisk, fast tempo. Considered the fastest triple metre dance, the passepied should be ‘played a little more lightly, and slightly faster’ than the menuet,[3] with pendulum markings recommending a tempo of 86-100 per bar (or dotted crotchet when in 3/8), which is somewhat faster than those given for the menuet. To decide on a suitable tempo, Brossard states than performers should consider the speed of a minuet, then play a passepied a little faster.[4]
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Most passepieds feature a time signature of 3, 3/8 or 6/8, and are written in binary form. The dance consists of longer phrase lengths with fewer points of arrival in comparison to the menuet.[5] Phrases are 4 bars long and begin with an upbeat, corresponding to the phrasing of the dance sequences, and contain much more rhythmically exciting patterns with offbeat accents, hemiolas, and syncopations in a ‘more vigorous manner’ than the menuet.[6]
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Whilst most passepieds were performed on stage, no theatrical choreographies survive in notation. Choreographies for the ballroom are for couples and consist of many variations on the pas de menuet which are performed smaller and faster than in a menuet. The steps are performed so fast that it is said that audiences are more aware of the evolving geometric floor patterns, which include couples making circles and angular movements towards and away from one another, instead of the footwork.[7] Musicians should therefore use short and light articulations to maintain the bounce and energy that is replicated within the choreography. Pairs of passepieds may be required, or extra repeats performed, to enable dancers to complete all of the choreography given.
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[1] Brossard, S. (1769) Dictionnaire de Musique. [Translated J. Grassineau with appendix by J. J. Rousseau]
[2] Mather, B. B. (1987) Dance Rhythms of the French Baroque
[3] Quantz, J. (2001) On Playing the Flute. [Translated E. R. Reilly]
[4] Little, M; Jenne, N. (1991) Dance and the Music of J. S. Bach
[5] Little, M; Jenne, N. (1991) Dance and the Music of J. S. Bach
[6] Little, M; Jenne, N. (1991) Dance and the Music of J. S. Bach
[7] Mather, B. B. (1987) Dance Rhythms of the French Baroque