Understanding Form: The Allemande 

Just a quick note: The rules I lay out in this video are the strict rules for writing an Allemande. You are certainly allowed to bend some rules, as Baroque composers themselves did. Mostly this applies to A and B sections being of equal length. Some baroque composers do not follow this, but opt more for A and B sections being "roughly" the same length. And don’t forget to check out my own Baroque Suite in the description above!! 👆🏻👆🏻👆🏻👆🏻

Always amusing to hear things like "If you follow these rules, you should have no trouble writing your own allemande" as someone who has not the slightest clue about music composition :D Great video as always

BROO my favourite music content creator is still going strong!! thank you so much!

Thank you, your videos are clear and easy to follow. I appreciate the time you take to craft them.

Thank you for making this video. I'm writing a Toccata and I'm deeply into an allemande right now and needed a few pointers. I've liked a subbed. I'm sure I'll check out all of your videos in time. Thanks again.

Thanks so much for this video! I''m really happy to meet another Baroque composer.

best classical music channel, keep up! I'm learning so much 😃

I am currently learning a suite so these series will be very helpful! Thank you very much!

Amazing content. That helps a lot. Thank you.

Thank you, this is very helpful. Clear and concise information.

Thank you for this series, it really helps me understanding baroque music better

I really loved this video and your baroque suite. I find that your channel always brings interesting insight and often neglected, but nonetheless important, information to the table in an extremely understandable fashion. A suggestion I think might be interesting would be do go through your method of composition. Obviously, everyone composes in a different way, but it would be intriguing to see how you do it! Again, thank you for these great videos!

Thank you for the clear illustrated information

this is exactly what i was looking for. i kid you not i struggle so hard to find videos on rules of composition of musical forms and as a person who never went to musical school i still want to learn all of that. most videos on these forms are just historical

Thanks for the succinct information! This is a great help.

Excellent video, my man!

Thank you so much for this ❤

Beautiful timing

YESSSS A NEW VIDEO!!

Hello, well done! Though... The Allemande was a fast dance first and became slower with time. As an video underlay you chose a fast Allemande, could be found quite on the tube. There is a very interesting essay about Bach's suites by Nikolaus Harnoncourt in "Die Geschichte der Musik", 1st volume: "Die Musik von den Anfängen bis zum Barock", Laaber 2001, pg. 377ff. Short summary: The "French Suite" which as an artificial form was created by Lully had a slow Overture, mixed up with an Allemande style part and an italian style part. The earlier Allemande did not have 2 parts with equal bar numbers, it differed quite a lot. In Bachs time, the Allemande was kind of a musical playing field since it was not danced any more. And: In the 17th century there was no regular canon for a suite at all, it was combined as anyone pleased...

Great lesson!

Wonderful Video. Visuals are very nice :)

An excellent video and great introduction to Bach's style of allemande-writing! Subscribed because I am very much looking forward to your future videos and hoping to see the one on the Courante very soon. I must mention, however that French suites very often being with a prelude (e.g.: every suite by DeMachy). Marais also sometimes has multiple preludes as well as fantasias or caprices before the allemande. Out of 36 suites of his only three are without a prelude [not counting the "Suite d'un Gout Etranger", as it isn't a typical suite. It does start with a marche, though], but they start with a fantasia or caprice. Earlier suites by French composers also have a tendency of an asymmetrical allemande; the second strain being two or sometimes four bars longer than the first. And the rule of ending strains on the third or fourth beat is also not absolute; there are both examples of ending on the first, on the third or fourth, the second or even a mix (e.g.: DeMachy, first D minor suite, first strain ending on the first beat, second one ending on the second). More importantly, though, there is generally a wider range of rhythmic figures and the "continuous 16th note motion" is more typical for the occasional doubles. Additionally, Bach's contrapuntal writing is less typical as well, for allemandes were quite often associated with arpeggiation (e.g.: Niedt).

I have been writing a Baroque suite for classical guitar and although I don't think it is a perfect example. I have tried to follow the rules that you have laid out. I feel I have learnt a lot by just trying and following your advice. The difficulty I found was the female ending and also keeping the chord progressions. In the Courante I have ended the piece using a Neapolitan chord progression to V and then to I (Flat ii - V - I ) with a Picardy I at the end, is that OK? I will upload the music soon as I haven't composed the Gavotte yet :-)

They gavotte in a baroque suite is not a standard.

Any insight on tempo or feel? How fast or slow can an allemande be played before it becomes awkward for the dancers? Nice video!

Thanks for your video, I have been playing lots of bach and favoring the allemandes and gigues mostly... now would like to try my hand at composing an allemande and who knows. But anyway, I am amazed at how besides 4/4 time there is pretty much nothing on the rhythm which was actually mostly what i was looking for as apart from the female ending the rest i was taking for granted from experience. Only things i am figuring at this point is compared to a prelude, less 'preluding' by droning on/confirming the key of the suite a good amount as in preludes... more modulation instead, and other than that maybe not a rule but a custom to use a lot of simple 16th figures or as trioles, relatively limited complexity (also being early in the suite)? Idk. Either way, considering its dance i am surprised there isnt more to say on syncopy for it to be remotely danceable.

Great video. Would like to see one done for the Ländler. Though not too common in classical music maybe, a few composers have written some great Ländlers.

Are you going to go over any other dances that show up in Baroque suites, either in combination with or as a substitute for another dance such as: Bourree -> Sometimes as a substitute for the Courante(orchestral suite no. 2 for instance), sometimes in combination with the Minuet or Gavotte, often doubled with one in Major and the other in Minor(Cello Suite no. 3 in C Major) Passipied -> Similar to the Gavotte and Minuet in character, similar to the Allemande in upbeat, and similar to the Bourree in tempo Anglaise -> I don’t know much about it other than that it translates to English

Your channel is criminally under-subscribed! Your content and quality of the videos are gold! I am very happy that you and your channel exist! I am curious, by the way, why you use German in your score, or rather it's cover: "Barock Suite für zwei Violinen"? To be a little bit nitpicky: it should be "Barocksuite", but yeah, it's me being anoying.

Sweet.

I may not know what a dominates or parallel may be, but i understood some if not most of it.

Subscribed

So when you say it repeats and modulates does that mean it would be the A section, then the A section in the dominant key, then the B section in the dominant key, and finally the B section in the original key?

bravissímo!!!!!

I read someplace that an allemande should be played with a subdivided beat--that is, eight beat to a measure. It's interesting to compare the flowing style of the Bach allemande with earlier examples from Louis Couperin and Froberger, where the emphasis is on poignant harmonies and unexpected modulations. Here's an example of Froberger: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-eqL_KKMV4GM.html

yes it all makes sense now 🤔

2:45 what about the flute partita? The starting allemande begins without an upbeat and a 16th rest

The allemande in the Partita No. 1 is perhaps my favorite of all the movements of the Bach suites. It's brisk, not slow. But I guess follows the form nonetheless.

Would it be same if it were only at 1 violin?

But Bach's allemandes are in Cut Time. What about that? I'm saying this because meter does effect the dance.

The baroque suite for 2 violins is not on I tunes!!

Where did you learn the male/female ending? Is there a book about this?

What are your sources for this?

Would have been helpful to add examples of the music

Not sure if I agree with the "slow tempo" part. Any time you see someone actually dancing this dance, it's stately and bouncy and energetic.

Let’s all compose some allemandes!

Hmm. As a Baroque dancer, I wouldn't call the Allemande 'slow in tempo', it is lively, with hops and jumps--if it is too slow the dancers have to be strong enough to remain in the air for longer than is natural.