Tedesca

What it means

Tedesca is the Italian word for “German” and designates a dance in the German manner. It often appears in the turn of phrase alla tedesca, “in the German manner”, as a character marking above a movement.

The term was not fixed to a single dance, and its meaning shifted. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries it designated dances that were regarded as German, including early forms of the allemande — whose French name likewise means “German”. In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, by contrast, alla tedesca mostly meant the character of a German dance in triple metre, that is, of a Ländler or early waltz.

This double meaning is to be noted when reading: in older music the term points rather to the allemande, in music around 1800 to the Ländler-like triple metre.

In the notation

As a movement heading or character marking, the designation stands above the first staff. In the later meaning, the movement stands in triple metre with an accompaniment of bass on the one and chords on the following beats. The form is clearly structured, often into repeated sections.

Musical use

The marking alla tedesca appears in the music of the Viennese Classical era and its successors, over movements that are meant to take on the character of a German dance, for instance in string quartets and sonatas. It points to the popular triple-metre dances from which the waltz developed, and gives a movement a cosy, rustic tone.

Alla tedesca means in the style of a German dance, mostly in triple metre like a Ländler. Beethoven used the designation, for instance, in the String Quartet Op. 130. There the movement stands as Alla danza tedesca. In Vienna the German dance became popular in the late eighteenth century; Mozart and Haydn wrote numerous German dances for balls.

Performance practice

Clarify from the period which meaning is intended. In the later meaning, play with the heavy, earthy step of a Ländler: accent on the one, moderate tempo, plain melodic writing. Avoid the elegance of a Viennese waltz. And keep the character cosy, not brilliant.