An ''allemande'' (''allemanda'', ''almain(e)'', or ''alman(d)'',

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

: "German (dance)") is a

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

and Baroque dance, and one of the most common

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instru ...

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. 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 Western classical music composed from about 1600 to 1750. The Baroque style followed the Renaissance period, and was followed in turn by the Classical period after a short transiti ...

, with examples by Couperin, Purcell, Bach and

Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training i ...

. 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 paired ...

, though it is sometimes preceded by an introduction or

prelude Prelude may refer to: Music *Prelude (music), a musical form *Prelude (band), an English-based folk band *Prelude Records (record label), a former New York-based dance independent record label *Chorale prelude, a short liturgical composition for ...

. A quite different, later, Allemande, named as such in the time of

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...

and

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

, still survives in Germany and Switzerland and is a lively triple-time social dance related to the

waltz The waltz ( ), meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom and folk dance, normally in triple ( time), performed primarily in closed position. History There are many references to a sliding or gliding dance that would evolve into the wa ...

and the '' Ländler''.Scholes P., 1970, article: ''Allemande''.

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 tim ...

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 symbol of Britannia (a female personifi ...

British composers wrote many "Almans" as separate pieces.

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 instrument A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument played using a keyboard, a row of levers which 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 English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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 Johann Gottfried Walther (18 September 1684 – 23 March 1748) was a German music theorist, organist, composer, and lexicographer of the Baroque era. Walther was born at Erfurt. Not only was his life almost exactly contemporaneous to that ...

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". 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. More simply, syncopation is "a disturbance or interruption of the regular flow of rhythm": a "place ...

, 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 contain elements from numerous traditional dances and were first documente ...

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.
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