This article is about the musical form. For the game, see Tarocchini.
First page of J.S. Bach's Partita for Violin No. 3

Partita (also partie, partia, parthia, or parthie[1]) closely resemble the dance suites of the Baroque Period (and are often used synonymously with suites) with the addition of a prelude movement at the beginning of each partita.[2] It was originally the name for a single-instrumental piece of music (16th and 17th centuries), but Johann Kuhnau (Thomaskantor until 1722), his student Christoph Graupner, and Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) used it for collections of musical pieces, as a synonym for suite. In the early Baroque period, a partita referred to a string of variations or a piece in parts that reflected different dances.[3]

Johann Sebastian Bach wrote two sets of partitas for different instruments. Those for solo keyboard the composer published as his Opus 1 (known as the Klavierübung I). One additional suite in B minor, the Overture in the French Style (often simply called French Overture) is sometimes also considered a partita.[4] See Partitas for keyboard (825–830) and choral partitas for organ. The "Partita" in A minor for solo flute (BWV 1013) which takes the form of a suite of four dances, has been given the title "partita" by its modern editors; it is sometimes transposed for oboe.

Bach also wrote three partitas for solo violin in 1720 which he paired with sonatas. (He titled each of them the German Partia, but they came to be called the Italian partita, which was introduced in the Bach Gesellschaft edition in 1879, being the more common term at the time.[5]) See: Sonatas and partitas for solo violin.

The most prolific composer of partitas for harpsichord was Christoph Graupner, whose works in the form number about 57. The first set was published in 1718 and dedicated to his patron Ernest Louis, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt. The last of his partitas exist in manuscripts dated 1750. They are difficult and virtuosic pieces which exhibit an astonishing variety of musical styles.[6] See: List of harpsichord pieces by Christoph Graupner. The longest partita ever written so far is Shoah for Solo Violin and Sacred Temple by Jorge Grundman, which lasts an hour and a half and was finished in 2016.

Keyboard Partitas

Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1643) wrote keyboard partitas as variations that were based on popular dance melodies of the early Baroque such the Romannesca, La Monachina, Ruggiero, and La Follio.[3] Dietrich Buxtehude (1637-1707) and Johann Froberger (1616-1667) wrote dance suites (nineteen and thirty suites respectively). Buxtehude also wrote six sets of variations, later influencing Bach and his partitas.[7] Johann Kuhnau (1660-1722) wrote 14 suites that were called Partien (French partie, meaning 'part'). His ClavierÜbung I contained seven suites in the major keys C, D, E, F, G, A, and B-flat. His ClavierÜbung II contained seven suites in the minor keys C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. Each suite (partita) had an opening prelude. Kuhnau also wrote the partita (Italian) Sechs musicalische Partien in 1697.[2] Bach wrote six partitas for the keyboard, his first published work, in 1731, under the same title ClavierÜbung I, following Kuhnau, his predecessor as cantor at the Church of St. Thomas in Leipzig, Germany.[8]

The Keyboard Partitas of Bach

Bach's six keyboard partitas were described as having "greater freedom and expansion of form than in the suites."[9] As typical of keyboard partitas and dance suites, they were written in binary form with both A and B sections repeated. The A section modulates from the tonic to the dominant key, and the B section moves from the dominant back to the tonic. There are four main movements in a dance suite. The Allemande typically comes first and features running sixteenth notes. The Corrente (Corrante) is fast, beginning with the upbeat of a single note. The Sarabande follows, also beginning with an upbeat, and is set in triple meter. It is slow and emphasizes the second beat of each measure. The final movement, the Gigue, is very fast and often in fugal form.[9]

Examples

Listed by composer:

Audio files

Johann Kuhnau: a choral partita from 'Biblische Historien'. Here it is called 'Sonata 4' (a programmatic title is added). The tune or cantus firmus is the famous chorale O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden

Der todtkrancke und wieder gesunde Hiskias, 6,56MBⓘ

References

  1. ^ Fuller, David; Eisen, Cliff (2001). "Partita [parte] (It.; Ger. Partie, Parthie, Partia, Parthia; Lat. pars)". Grove Music Online (8th ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.20982. ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0.
  2. ^ a b Apel, Willi (1967). The History of Keyboard Music to 1700. Don Mills, Ontario: Indiana University Press (published 1972). p. 667. ISBN 0-253-32795-4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  3. ^ a b Kirby, F. E. (1966). A Short History of Keyboard Music. Toronto, Ontario: The Free Press. p. 70. LCCN 66-23081.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  4. ^ Philipp Spitta, Johann Sebastian Bach: his work and influence on the music of Germany, 1685-1750, Volume 3 (Novello and company, limited, 1899) p. 156.
  5. ^ Ledbetter, David. Unaccompanied Bach, Performing the Solo Works. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2009.
  6. ^ Oswald Bill And Christoph (editors), Christoph Graupner : Thematisches Verzeichnis der musikalischen Werke (1683-1760), Stuttgart: Carus-Verlag, 2005. ISBN 3-89948-066-X
  7. ^ Gordon, Stewart (1996). A History of Keyboard Literature: Music for the Piano and Its Forerunners. New York, New York: Schirmer Books: An Imprint of Simon and Schuster Macmillan. pp. 46–47. ISBN 0-02-870965-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  8. ^ Valenti, Fernando (1989). A Performer's Guide to the Keyboard Partitas of J.S. Bach. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University. pp. 1–3. ISBN 0-300-04313-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  9. ^ a b Hutcheson, Ernest (1964). The Literature of the Piano: A Guide for Amateur and Student (3rd ed.). United States of America: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. pp. 58–60. LCCN 63-9130.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
Allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partita
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