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Bach, Johann Sebastian : 6 Partiten Nr.6 Tempo di Gavotta

Work Overview

Music ID : 39189
Instrumentation:Piano Solo 
Genre:gavotte
Total Playing Time:2 min 50 sec
Copyright:Public Domain

Commentary (1)

Author : Ooi, Kazurou

Last Updated: January 21, 2024
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Note: This article is automatically translated from the original Japanese text. The author of the original work did not supervise this translation.

The author believes that every note written by a composer has its own meaning.

It seems there is a "conventional performance practice" which dictates that when a dotted eighth note plus a sixteenth note appears against a triplet, the last note is not displaced.

For example, in pieces influenced by French overtures, there is a tendency to alter the written dotted rhythms to be sharper (more incisive). However, the issue of a dotted eighth note plus a sixteenth note against a triplet seems to have multiple causes, including problems on the part of the performer and issues from the score production side. Johann Joachim Quantz also pointed this out in his treatise (1752).

The opening right hand consists of two sixteenth notes and one eighth note. It is not a triplet. The next beat is a dotted eighth note and a sixteenth note, not an eighth note and a sixteenth note.

I have listened to many performances, and several harpsichordists reproduced the music faithfully to the score. On the other hand, many pianists arbitrarily alter the rhythm in their performances. If the reason for aligning the last note of a dotted eighth note plus a sixteenth note with a triplet is due to the so-called "conventional performance practice," that would be somewhat understandable, but there is no discernible reason to arbitrarily change the opening two sixteenth notes plus one eighth note into a triplet.

The same applies to Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, first movement: when a triplet is written below or above a dotted eighth note plus a sixteenth note, the sixteenth note does not align with the last note of the triplet. The same can be said for Prokofiev's Sonata No. 3.

When playing Prokofiev's Sonata No. 3, adhering faithfully to both triplets and dotted eighth notes plus sixteenth notes is extremely difficult. However, that does not mean it is permissible to superimpose dotted eighth notes plus sixteenth notes over triplets when playing the opening of Concerto No. 2.

On the other hand, regarding Chopin and Schubert, experts point out that the practice of aligning the sixteenth note of a dotted eighth note plus a sixteenth note with the last note of a triplet was common practice, and scores were written with this premise. The coda of Chopin's Ballade No. 4 is a typical example.

However, consider the Gigue from the French Suite in G major. In measure 4, the right hand has an eighth note and a sixteenth note, which perfectly aligns with the left hand's sixteenth note. If these rhythms written by Bach are correct, then the rhythm written in this Tempo di Gavotta is different from the rhythm of the Gigue from the French Suite in G major; therefore, it should be played precisely as written. While ultimately it is up to the performer, the author will play faithfully to the rhythms written here.

Furthermore, the tempo of the Tempo di Gavotta is also surprising due to the wide variety of interpretations in different performances. While the tempo of a Gavotte is said to be that of a "dance of moderate speed," what exactly constitutes a moderate speed? This question, too, will ultimately be left to the performer.

Writer: Ooi, Kazurou