The role of key IN CREATING AN INTERPRETATIONAL model in Baroque music (based on French Suite in D minor by J. S. Bach)
Authors: Hanna Sagalova 
Published: January 2022

Background. For anyone creating his own interpretational version of a work which belongs to Baroque culture it is highly important to understand semantics of a given key, which in this day and age becomes a valuable asset to reveal the composer’s intention, including the works like French Suite in D minor by J. S.Bach. The approach, suggested in the article, elaborates existing studies, providing them with new meaning. The aim of the article is to reveal the significance of a key in the Baroque music, particularly in J. S. Bach’s works, as a premise for present-day musicians creating new versions of performance. Methodology of a research is founded on historically-theoretical and interpretational methods of analysis. Results. The genre of a keyboard suite holds an important place in J. S. Bach’s legacy. French Suite in D minor is the first one among others. Allemande is written in accordance with the customs of their time. At the same time, tonal development of each movement reflects general aesthetic principles of movement, realizing pivotal idea of the genre. The change in tonal reference points, which happens in the frameworks of Tonic – Dominant relations, shows diverse colours and tension of the development within one key. Allemande’s harmonic complexity exposes semantical sense of the key, which influences other dances. Sarabande is presented as a concentration of ‘funebre’ lyricism, the sense of Gigue is reconstructed due to the change of expected time signature 3/8 to 4/4 and usage of pulsating dotted notes. Courante and two Menuettos are marked by a certain simplicity and “transfiguration” of musical language, which causes not only a genre, but also imagery and semantical contrast. French Suite in D minor is a relatively difficult material for creation of performer’s interpretation. Contrasts of tempo and mood of the dances typical for this genre are not so obvious in this suite as compared to other J. S. Bach’s suites in minor keys. General atmosphere of reserve and inner tension is stressed by the key of D minor, which shapes the whole cycle’s character. Conclusions. The above mentioned peculiarities of J. S. Bach’s French Suite in D minor define the performance interpretation, designed to reveal dialectic unity of opposites in compositionally-dramaturgical structure of the Suite. The performer chooses means, aimed both at creation of macro-unity and at reveal of typological features of the suite genre which is based on contrast. One of the main factors contributing to unity is tempo of performance: apart from quite similar tempos of Allemande and Courante, Gigue is noteworthy, too, as its tempo due to peculiarity of melody and pathos, uncommon for the genre, is “decelerated” in a natural way. Suite contrast can be revealed through articulation and touche, as well as through tempo in view of singularity of Sarabande. Basing on the piece under analysis, we may state that in Baroque era D minor key was already interpreted as a bearer of complex and profound meaning, devoid of mundane, as a subjective key, retaining, however, possibility to be used to reveal objective generalising senses. Thus, we think it should be a “zone of special attention” for performers.