JS BACH GIGA FROM PARTITA NO 1 IN B FLAT BWV 825

Key B flat Tempo Giga Style Baroque

Will improve your ✔ Hand-crossing technique ✔ Use of dynamics ✔ Slurs

Let us start out with a bit of informed housekeeping. If you have the volume of all Six Partitas (BWV 825-830), casually glance through it to familiarise yourself with the variety of movement names. In this particular Partita, Bach is very particular when he chooses to use the Italian name for the jig – the giga. Th is is Bach showing us that he can write in different styles and with various aims in mind; as Bach points out on his title page, these works are for a ‘refreshment of the spirit’.

The giga is a lively dance in compound time. Th is means that the bar comprises two or four beats, with each beat divided into three. Th is particular giga has four beats in