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

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

and Baroque dance, and one of the most common

instrumental An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

styles in

Baroque music Baroque music ( or ) refers to the period or dominant style of Classical music, Western classical music composed from about 1600 to 1750. The Baroque style followed the Renaissance music, Renaissance period, and was followed in turn by the Class ...

, with examples by Couperin, Purcell,

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the or ...

and Handel. It is often the first movement of a Baroque suite of dances, paired with a subsequent

courante The ''courante'', ''corrente'', ''coranto'' and ''corant'' are some of the names given to a family of triple metre dances from the late Renaissance and the Baroque era. In a Baroque dance suite an Italian or French courante is typically pair ...

, though it is sometimes preceded by an introduction or prelude. Along with the

waltz The waltz ( , meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom dance, ballroom and folk dance, in triple (3/4 time, time), performed primarily in closed position. Along with the ländler and allemande, the waltz was sometimes referred to by the ...

and ländler, the allemande was sometimes referred to by the generic term German Dance in publications during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. A quite different, later, Allemande, named as such in the time of

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

and

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

, still survives in Germany and Switzerland and is a lively triple-time

social dance Social dances are dances that have social functions and context. Social dances are intended for participation rather than Concert dance, performance. They are often danced merely to socialise and for entertainment, though they may have Ceremoni ...

related to the

and the '' Ländler''.Scholes P., 1970, article: ''Allemande''. The name "Allemande" comes from the

name of Germany There are many widely varying names of Germany in different languages, more so than for any other European nation. For example: * the German language endonym is , from the Old High German , meaning "of the people"; * the French exonym is , ...

in French.

History

The allemande originated in the 16th century as a

duple metre Duple metre (or Am. duple meter, also known as duple time) is a musical metre characterized by a ''primary'' division of 2 beats to the bar, usually indicated by 2 and multiples (simple) or 6 and multiples ( compound) in the upper figure of the ti ...

dance of moderate tempo, already considered very old, with a characteristic "double-knocking" upbeat of two or occasionally three sixteenth notes.Bach. ''The French Suites: Embellished version''. Bärenreiter Urtext It appears to have derived 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.

Elizabethan The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The Roman symbol of Britannia (a female per ...

British 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

followed suit in their allemandes for

keyboard instrument A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument played using a keyboard, a row of levers that are pressed by the fingers. The most common of these are the piano, organ, and various electronic keyboards, including synthesizers and digital piano ...

s, 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 from ''largo'' 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 Johann Mattheson (28 September 1681 – 17 April 1764) was a German composer, critic, lexicographer and music theorist. His writings on the late Baroque and early Classical period were highly influential, specifically, "his biographical and the ...

described the allemande as "a serious and well-composed harmoniousness in arpeggiated style, expressing satisfaction or amusement, and delighting in order and calm". Its music is characterised by absence of

syncopation In music, syncopation is a variety of rhythms played together to make a piece of music, making part or all of a tune or piece of music off-beat (music), off-beat. More simply, syncopation is "a disturbance or interruption of the regular flow of ...

, combination of short motifs into larger units and contrasts of tone and motif. Some of the close embraces and turns of the allemande were carried over to

square dance A square dance is a dance for four couples, or eight dancers in total, arranged in a square, with one couple on each side, facing the middle of the square. Square dances are part of a broad spectrum of dances known by various names: country dan ...

and contra dance. In an allemande, couples hold one forearm and turn around each other to the left or right.

Triple meter dance

Late in the 18th century, "allemande" or "German Dance" came to be used for another type of dance in triple meter. Weber's ''Douze allemandes'' op. 4 of 1801 anticipate the

. Mozart and Beethoven both produced sets of German Dances in this style. A different version went on to become the Ländler.

References

Sources

External links

Video - Renaissance allemande danced in costumeVideo - "The Queens Almaine"
Renaissance allemande with music composed by

William Byrd William Byrd (; 4 July 1623) was an English Renaissance composer. Considered among the greatest composers of the Renaissance, he had a profound influence on composers both from his native country and on the Continental Europe, Continent. He i ...

.
Video - Baroque allemande, one pair (Pecour 1702)Video - Allemand - The Elegance of Baroque Social DanceMusic Video - J.S. Bach - Allemande from the fourth French Suite. Harpsichord - Jean Rondeau.
{{Authority control Dance forms in classical music Renaissance dance Renaissance music Baroque dance Baroque music Square dance