Sarabande in B minor

Saraband - Sarabanda

The Sarabande is a slow and expressive dance movement.

The typical rhythmic pattern of the Sarabande is : quarter note - dotted quarter note - eighth note - dotted half note

This pattern is played with the dotted rhythm exaggerated : quarter note - double dotted quarter note - sixteenth note - dotted half note
Hence the second beat of the first measure is accented and often ornamented (in this case with a trill).

This Sarabande by Johann Jakob Froberger is a work very much representative of the Baroque period.

While playing it, the pianist or harpsichordist must give great care to the ornamentation and style typical to the Sarabande, and especially to the double dotted rhythm which is probably its main characteristic.

In particular, the following points are important :

• All dotted quarter notes must be performed as double dotted and followed by a sixteenth note rather than an eighth note. This applies to all occurences of this rhythmic figure (measures 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, 14 and 15).
• The second beat of every odd numbered measure is to be slightly accented and often ornamented with a trill (except for measure 13)
• Sometimes, the trill may be played only the second time, as we do in measures 1, 3, 5 and 14
• The first note of the trill may be slightly prolonged to add an elegant touch of dissonance
• The chords at the end of phrases may be broken rapidly, which produces a beautiful sound especially on the harpsichord

Duration : 01:36

Source : Johann Jakob Froberger, Miscellaneous Keyboard Pieces.