Welcome back to our ongoing series on How to Play Bach’s Fifth French Suite. In our first part we covered the Allemande section, Last time we covered the Courante, Today we will be exploring the lyrical Sarabande Movement.
Even though this movement is very different from the first two that precede it, the same principles apply; which is to delineate the melodies from one-another with phrasing.
There are some differences between the first two movements that I would like to point out. In those movements, I employed a clipped staccato accentuating the detachment between notes. This achieves clear delineation of the musical lines. In this movement, you will want to approach the staccatos a bit differently.
It’s a common misconception that staccato means short. It actually means “detached” and there are different techniques you can employ depending on the piece. For more information on playing staccato please check out our previous video on the subject.
In fast movements, you will want to play staccato notes short, but in a more lyrical and slow movement, you can play them detached but with more length so the notes don’t have a clipped sound which can diminish the lyricism. By performing the eighth notes detached but not short you can produce a subtle delineation of voices without the harsh tone that short staccato notes produce.
There isn’t a right or wrong way to approach the phrasing of this movement. However, I like to give the eighth notes a clean and nuanced detachment rather than the sudden shortness that works so well in the faster first two movements. However, you will want to avoid having the musical lines blend with each other which would be more appropriate in late 19th-century Romantic period music. One of the defining aspects of the Baroque era of music is the delineation of counterpoint – hearing the distinctness of each musical line.
Thanks again for joining me Robert Estrin Robert@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729