Allemande

An allemande (allemanda, almain(e), or alman(d), French: "German (dance)") is a

renaissance and baroque dance, and one of the most popular instrumental dance
styles in baroque music, with notable examples by Couperin, Purcell, Bach and
Handel. It is often the first movement of a baroque suite of dances, paired with a
subsequent courante, though it is sometimes preceded by an introduction orprelude.

A quite different, later, Allemande, named as such in the time of Mozart and
Beethoven, still survives in Germany and Switzerland and is a lively triple-time
social dance related to the waltz and the ländler.[1]

Contents
History
References
Sources
External links
Allemande.

History
The allemande originated in the 16th century as a duple metre dance of moderate
tempo, already considered very old, with a characteristic "double-knocking"
upbeat[1] of one or occasionally three sixteenth notes.[3] It appears to have derived Allemande rhythm.[2]
from a German dance but no identifiable dance and no German dance instructions
from this era survive.

The 16th century French dancing master Thoinot Arbeau and the British Inns of Court therefore preserve the first records of the
allemande, in which dancers formed a line of couples who took hands and walked the length of the room, walking three steps then
balancing on one foot. A livelier version, the allemande courante, used three springing steps and a hop.[4] Elizabethan British
[1]
composers wrote many "Almans" as separate pieces.

French composers of the 17th century experimented with the allemande, shifting to quadruple meter and ranging more widely in
tempo. This slower allemande, like the pavane, was adapted to the tombeau or memorial composition. The German composers
Froberger and Bach followed suit in their allemandes for keyboard instruments, although ensemble allemandes kept a more
traditional style. Italian and English composers were more free with the allemande, writing in counterpoint and using a variety of
tempi (Corelli wrote allemandes ranging fromlargo to presto).

In his Musikalisches Lexicon (Leipzig, 1732), Johann Gottfried Walther wrote that the allemande "must be composed and likewise
danced in a grave and ceremonious manner." Likewise in Der Vollkommene Capellmeister (Hamburg, 1739) Johann Mattheson
described the allemande as "a serious and well-composed harmoniousness in arpeggiated style, expressing satisfaction or amusement,
and delighting in order and calm".[3] Its music is characterised by absence of syncopation, combination of short motifs into larger
units and contrasts of tone and motif.

Late in the 18th century, "allemande" came to be used for another type of dance in triple meter; Weber's Douze allemandes op. 4 of
1801 anticipate the waltz. Mozart and Beethoven both produced sets of German Dances in this style.
Some of the close embraces and turns of the allemande were carried over to square dance and contra dance. In an allemande, couples
hold one forearm and turn around each other to the left or right.

References
1. Scholes P., 1970, article: Allemande.
2. Blatter, Alfred (2007). Revisiting music theory: a guide to the practice
, p.28. ISBN 0-415-97440-2.
3. Bach. The French Suites: Embellished version. Bärenreiter Urtext
4. Encyclopædia Britannica Online (2007)."Allemande" (http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9005783). Archived (http
s://web.archive.org/web/20071224074340/http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9005783)from the original on 24
December 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-11.

Sources
Scholes, Percy A. (1970).John Owen Ward (ed.). The Oxford Companion to Music(tenth, revised and rest ed.).
Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press..

External links
Video - Renaissance allemande danced in costume
Video - Baroque allemande, one pair (Pecour 1702)
Video - Allemand - The Elegance of BaroqueSocial Dance
Music Video - J.S. Bach - Allemande from thefourth French Suite. Harpsichord - Jean Rondeau.

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