LORD OF THE DANCE

Three centuries ago, Bach had completed his set of six Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin. In the second of two articles, Lewis Kaplan, senior member of the Juilliard School faculty, discusses interpretation of the three partitas – with reference to Bach’s autograph score

Title page of Bach’s 1720 Sonatas and Partitas manuscript

Did Bach dance? The answer to that question is unknown, but what we do know for certain is that he was familiar with the dances of his time. Probably he saw them performed at weddings or other social gatherings while growing up in Eisenach, and he may even have performed music at court dances in Weimar. This would have been useful to him when he set about writing his suites or, to use the German name, partitas, works comprising several dance movements that together create a larger structure. In his three unaccompanied partitas for solo violin, Bach created virtuosic works which display his enormous creativity: no two are alike, with each taking a different form and encompassing an enormous emotional range. His harmonic writing, as always, has no peer.

The most typical set of dances in a Baroque suite or partita are allemande, courante, sarabande and gigue. They are not meant as music to dance to; instead, they are stylised dances, or works retaining the elements of each dance form, including metre, tempo and gesture, but brought to a more sophisticated level. My favourite analogy of something that has become similarly stylised is jeans, which nowadays are worn by most of us. Jeans were invented by Levi Strauss in the 1860s for men doing hard physical work – cowboys, lumberjacks and railway workers. The denim material was strong, they were tight so as not to interfere with one’s work and the stitching was reinforced with copper rivets to prevent tearing. About a century later, along came some famous fashion designers who retained the coarse, tight look and big pockets, but who used much finer material and refashioned the design as a more contemporary look. Now, instead of the original modest cost, one paid a king’s ransom for the honour of purchasing them and wearing them to a cocktail party.

Now, Bach didn’t invent stylised dances; he had some talented predecessors – Biber, Westhoff, Pisendel and others – to give him a model and do some initial groundwork. Instead, he brought these dance forms (just as he did with other musical forms) to their highest level, magically interweaving moments of quite danceable music with more sophisticated commentary on the dances. Herein lies the great joy in performing and listening to Bach’s take on stylised dances.

JS Bach: master of stylised dance

Let’s have a look at the three partitas and hopefully we can gain a glimpse into what Bach was thinking. The first (BWV1002) is in B minor and, no surprise, begins with an allemande (example 1). This is a dance in four – not in eight, as many people play it. It makes sense rhythmically in four and harmonically as well, and I think this is how Bach probably heard and imagined it. I mentioned previously that the components of every dance are metre, tempo and gesture.

The allemande is a moderately slow dance, stately in character; it features a short up-beat at the start which is repeated throughout and which represents a skipping step. Another repeated gesture in Bach’s Allemande is the light triplet semiquaver (s) figure that first appears in bars 7 and 8. This is an indication of the lightness of this movement, and I suggest that, in line with the four-in-a-bar approach, a pair of triplets should be played to each beat.

Bach follows not with a courante but with a double, which is a bit unusual. In fact, Bach follows each of the four movements here with a double – basically a variation of the preceding dance. I believe that he intended these doubles to be played in double tempo, each in a unique way. For the Double of the BWV1002 Allemande, Bach changes the time signature to alla breve, the crotchet (q) of the Allemande equalling the minim (h) of the Double. The harmony is the same but is in two, and the up-beat gesture is clear throughout – following each set of three slurred semiquavers.

The following Courante is a lively dance in triple time, presenting a contrast to the Allemande in terms of both tempo and metre. It too has an up-beat gesture (typical of a courante), followed by a light staccato arpeggio. This in turn is followed by a three-note legato arpeggio, and closes with a four-note descending scale figure. It is written in two-bar groupings, and each bar can be interpreted as being in one. It is obvious that Bach enjoyed playing with each of the three elements contained in those first two bars – variously inverting them, taking them off the beat and surprising us with unexpected chords. I think a touch of humour in interpretation might even have Bach’s approval. Although the beat and tempo remain the same in both the Courante and the following Double, the latter seems faster because it is written in semiquavers rather than quavers (e).

Bach has opened with two fairly light dances and then seems to say, ‘Let’s get serious.’ The Sarabande is emotionally the high point of Partita no.1, in triple metre, stately and dignified (example 2). The rhythmic (dance) gesture is the first beat leading into the second, and this is varied by Bach. Also, note the descending four-note scale figure first in the soprano (bar 2 leading into bar 3) and twice in the bass in bars 4–5 (G, F sharp, E, D and D, C sharp, B, A). This figure occurs frequently and is one of Bach’s favourite devices both melodically and harmonically. It’s a great opportunity to make what you want of what he has written.

The following Double raises another question: why is it written in 9/8, when it could have been written in 3/4, like the Sarabande,

using triplet quavers? Bach is definitely trying to tell us something, likely that we should continue with the same dignity we have given the Sarabande. The triplet would seem lighter, more jovial, but the quaver in 9/8 seems to call attention to every note, giving each more importance as well as accentuating the harmony.

EXAMPLE 3 Bach Partita no.2 in D minor BWV1004, Courante, bars 1–26. There is an up-beat gesture running throughout the movement

EXAMPLE 4 Bach Partita no.2 in D minor BWV1004, Chaconne, bars 1–23. The theme (bars 1–8) and the first two variations (bars 9–16 and 17–24) are each four bars repeated

The closing movement is given an interesting title by Bach: ‘Tempo di borea’. It seems to infer that this is simply ‘about’ a bourrée, when actually much of it is quite danceable. It is in duple time (alla breve) with weight on the off-beats (2 and 4) – jubilant and exuberant. When playing it one should have the feeling that everyone might get up and dance. Its double follows suit. However, instead of a crotchet up-beat, there are three quavers, making it even more lively.

Moving on to the Second Partita in D minor BWV1004, at first glance it appears that Bach followsthe book, with everything as expected – Allemande, Courante, Sarabande and Gigue; but then there’s a shocking surprise! There’s another movement at the end, the Chaconne, one of the greatest solo works in all music: Mendelssohn and Schumann added piano accompaniments, Brahms transcribed it for the piano left hand and Bartók paid homage to it in the opening movement of his Solo Violin Sonata.

But we are getting ahead of ourselves. Let’s go back to the Allemande here, which like the Allemande of BWV1002 has a short up-beat and features a triplet running figure. It is perhaps because of its key of D minor a bit more serious than the B minor Allemande. The Courante has its up-beat gesture running throughout the movement (example 3). There is an important question relating to the execution of the dotted figure that first appears in bar 3. I believe it is intended to be played as a triplet rather than as a true dotted quaver semiquaver, which gives it a happy, lilting feeling as opposed to an angular nervous one. The Sarabande’s gesture again typically leads to the second beat of each bar and is bowed up–down–down. Bach again employs a four-note descending scale figure which plays a prominent role harmonically, as in the bass part of bars 3 and 4, and melodically, in the soprano in bar 4. The Gigue is in 12/8. Bach also writes gigues in 3/8 and in 6/8, as in the Third Partita. It is a lively dance with a jaunty up-beat and a swaying motion in the first two bars between the expansive quaver motion of the first and second beats and the third and fourth beats with their semiquaver interjections. Bach could have ended Partita no.2 here, having written a delightful four movements, but instead he adds a 14-minute profound essay: a masterpiece for all time.

So, what is a chaconne and what makes this one such a monumental work? It is a dance in triple metre, similar to the sarabande in character, tempo and gesture. There is, however, a major difference: the chaconne is a theme and variations. It is constructed over an ostinato bass, which is effectively a chord progression. Bach uses one of his favourite patterns, a four-note descending scale figure (basically D–C (or C sharp)–B flat–A) – the same notes and in the same key as Corelli’s ‘La folia’. Comparing the two demonstrates the breadth, scale and complexity of Bach.

To begin with, Bach does not announce his four-note figure in a straightforward line but employs an embellished form (bass-line bar 1 to down-beat bar 9). Let’s call this ostinato A (see ostinato a, page 38). Each variation is four bars in length: the theme (bars 1–8) and the first two variations (bars 9–16 and 17–24) are each four bars repeated, with some variation towards the end in each instance (example 4). The first variation has a repeat of ostinato A (albeit with a different rhythm); the second variation introduces another version of the four-note ostinato, this one treated chromatically (bass 17–21) and which we shall call ostinato B (see ostinato b). Bach goes back and forth with ostinatos A and B until bar 49, where he introduces a third, ostinato C, this time with the stress on beats one and three instead of one and two (see ostinato c).

OSTINATO A Bach Partita no.2 in D minor BWV1004, Chaconne, bars 1–9. The first figure appears in the bass line

OSTINATO B Bach Partita no.2 in D minor BWV1004, Chaconne, bars 17–25. The second version of the four-note ostinato is again in the bass line and treated chromatically

OSTINATO C Bach Partita no.2 in D minor BWV1004, Chaconne, bars 49–57. This time the stress is on beats one and three instead of one and two

In bars 85–8, there’s a brilliant cadenza based on Bach’s four-note motif, which leads to a three-note version of his scale starting in the bass on the second beat of bar 93 (A, B flat, C), ostinato D (see ostinato d). Bach closes this D minor section with a virtuosic compositional tour de force combining ostinatos A, B and D. A begins in the bass in bar 125; B, in transposed form to begin on G, is in the soprano beginning in bar 129; and D is in the bass from the second beat of bar 129 in an inverted form that was introduced in bar 113. The D major section is a contrast in every way to the preceding D minor. It is not only the brightness of D major that causes the change, as we are also introduced to a new ostinato, which we will call E, making its appearance in the bass bars 133–6 (see ostinato e). The section has an enormous emotional range, which is miraculous since ostinato E recurs faithfully every four bars. Following a virtuosic arpeggiated variation in bars 201–8, Bach returns to D minor.

In this final section, Bach uses ostinatos A, B and C, but his ideas and the character are new, heavily chromatic in one variation, with virtuosic arpeggios in another. In closing, Bach returns to the opening theme with its ostinato A, a final harmonic, commanding chord progression that leaves the listener in awe as though God has spoken.

Earlier, I asked what makes this a monumental work. Bach’s use of different versions of the four-note scale figure alone, although enormously impressive, would be only a partial display of his genius. Add to this his use of harmony, the way he changes the chord progressions at will, always with logic and extraordinary imagination; his thematic material, building variation upon variation; his sense of proportion, knowing when he has explored an idea to its limit and when to introduce a new one. However, dear violinist, if the harmony is not in the forefront of the interpretation, much of the greatness is lost.

IN THE CHACONNE’S CLOSING, BACH RETURNS TO THE OPENING THEME, A FINAL HARMONIC, COMMANDING CHORD PROGRESSION THAT LEAVES THE LISTENER IN AWE

There is another aspect that must be mentioned, and that is Bach and numerology, a subject that writers tend to touch on very lightly or totally ignore. There are many examples of Bach’s use of numbers, and indeed he used them to insert his own name into many of his compositions: B, which in German pitch nomenclature is B flat, A, C and H, which is B natural. In the alphabet B=2, A=1, C=3 and H=8. Together, they total 14. The total number of bars in the Chaconne is 257: 2+5+7=14. How did Bach arrive at this odd number with four-bar variations? His concluding variation is nine bars long, or 3x3 – three being a significant number to a numerologist. He also uses the inverse golden ratio, 0.618: multiplying the total number of bars, 257, by this figure gives us 158.8, and a high point of the Chaconne indeed falls on the bar-line between bars 158 and 159 (example 5). It heralds the introduction of a repeated-note motif which first appears in three-note form in the variations beginning at bars 161 and 165 and is then expanded to four notes in successive variations.

OSTINATO D Bach Partita no.2 in D minor BWV1004, Chaconne, bars 93–105 (but written as a simplified version in fewer bars). The three-note version of his scale starts in the bass on the second beat of bar 93

OSTINATO E Bach Partita no.2 in D minor BWV1004, Chaconne, bars 133–40. This section in D major has an enormous emotional range

EXAMPLE 5 Bach Partita no.2 in D minor BWV1004, Chaconne, bars 153–79. A high point of the movement comes at bars 158–9, 0.618 of the way through the piece, in accordance with the inverse golden ratio

EXAMPLE 6 Partita no.3 in E major BWV1006, Gigue. A bright, sunny, light-hearted conclusion to the Third Partita

What is Bach saying? I don’t pretend to know. I think it presumptuous to state an answer definitively, as the work is too complex for any single idea. However, I do believe Bach has more in mind than just another set of variations.

On a personal note, for many years I regarded numerology as a superstition, something to be smiled at condescendingly in our more certain world. However, recently, I began to think about two of the greatest minds in all history, Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein. What could be simpler than the latter’s formula E = mc2? Newton and Einstein changed the world forever using equations – yes, mathematics. Was Bach on to something? Does it change the way one views the Chaconne? I would argue, yes, certainly in our understanding of its form as well as its emotional content. I believe having this evidence compels one to come to some major decisions about performing this great work.

Lewis Kaplan

For the Third Partita BWV1006 we are in E major, a bright key without inhibitions. This is the only occasion in these pieces where Bach opens with a prelude, thoughhe opens with one in each of the six Cello Suites, which perhaps came after the violin set. As I asked in my previous article on the three sonatas, how does Bach retain interest in a movement that is almost entirely in semiquavers? I think it is his use of patterns that contrast at just the right moment and, of course, his harmony. He even dares to go to G sharp major (with its six sharps and one double sharp) in bars 39 and 40. It is throughout a virtuosic display of colour.

Next is the Loure, a moderately slow type of dance that possibly had its origins in Normandy. It is written in 6/4, but its gesture lies in a large feeling of two, each half of the bar basically bowed down–down–up. The dotted rhythm gives it a lilting feeling, but Bach’s harmony gives it complexity and a touch of seriousness.

The Gavotte en rondeau is fun, similar to the bourées discussed here but a bit broader and with a two-note emphasised up-beat. The opening eight bars are quite danceable, but what makes the movement especially interesting is how Bach moves further away from the dance with each alternating episode in the rondo form.

Bach follows with two minuets, and there’s no surprise here. Minuets come in tempos ranging from fairly slow to fairly fast. These two offer great flexibility, but keep in mind that the third beat of a minuet is an invitation to the first. Bach’s second minuet is a contrast to the first, in that it moves stepwise and the opening four bars, as indicated with slurs by Bach, are legato. He alternates the legato bars with more rhythmic ones, reminding us that we are still playing minuets.

The Bourée is similar to the earlier Tempo di borea in B minor, in gesture and in tempo, and in the way it is joyous and uninhibited. It is, however, considerably shorter. Bach takes full advantage of his key of E major. In the concluding 6/8 Gigue, he swings to and fro in each bar, in a bright, sunny, light-hearted conclusion to the Third Partita (example 6).

BRIAN KAPLAN

We come to the end of our all too brief journey through Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin. For me, these works are a never-ending exploration, one in which Bach reveals the possibilities of the human soul – our happiness, sadness and grief. We tune in to conversations with multiple people and voices, and we experience the joy of life itself. We can all thank Bach for enriching both the violin repertoire and our lives.