J. S. Bach – Partita for flute BWV 1013 – Allemande (1722)

The partita for flute BWV 1013 is the only composition of Bach’s for solo flute, and one of the few for flute at all. Composed in 1722 in the happy and prolific time at the court of Leopold in Anhalt-Köthen, the partita in A minor is Bach’s tribute to the traverse flute, which was gaining popularity in Germany at the very beginning of the 18th century as a richer are more sophisticated alternative to the recorder flute. In the partita Bach leverages the traverse flute’s wider and more precise range and its more powerful and consistent sound to replicate the complexity and technical difficulty of his better-known partitas for violin, particularly in the Allemande which leaves the flutist without a breather.