English Suites (BWV 806–811)
Encyclopedia
The English Suites, BWV
806–811, are a set of six suite
s written by the German
composer Johann Sebastian Bach
for harpsichord
and generally thought to be the earliest of Bach's 19 suites for keyboard
, the others being the 6 French Suites, BWV 812-817, the 6 Partitas, BWV 825-830 and the Overture in the French style, BWV 831
.
s for keyboard are thought to be the earliest set that Bach composed. Originally, their date of composition was thought to have been between 1718 and 1720, but more recent research suggests that the composition was likely earlier, around 1715, while the composer was living in Weimar
..
Bach's English Suites display less affinity with Baroque English keyboard style than the French Suites do to French Baroque keyboard style; the name "English" is thought to date back to a claim made by the nineteenth-century Bach biographer Johann Nikolaus Forkel
that these works might have been composed for an English nobleman. No evidence has emerged to substantiate this claim. It has also been suggested that the name is a tribute to Charles Dieupart
, whose fame was greatest in England, and on whose Six Suittes de clavessin Bach's English Suites were in part based.
Surface characteristics of the English Suites strongly resemble those of Bach's French Suites and Partitas, particularly in the sequential dance-movement structural organization and treatment of ornamentation. These suites also resemble the Baroque French keyboard suite typified by the generation of composers including Jean-Henri d'Anglebert
, and the dance-suite tradition of French lutenists that preceded it.
In the English Suites especially, Bach's affinity with French lute music is demonstrated by his inclusion of a prelude
for each suite, departing from an earlier tradition of German derivations of French suite (those of Johann Jakob Froberger
and Georg Boehm are examples), which saw a relatively strict progression of the dance movements (Allemande
, Courante
, Sarabande
and Gigue
) and which did not typically feature a Prelude. Unlike the unmeasured prelude
s of French lute or keyboard style, however, Bach's preludes in the English Suites are composed in strict meter.
Note that the key sequence follows the same series of notes as the chorale 'Jesu, meine Freude'; this is unlikely to be accidental.
BWV
The Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis is the numbering system identifying compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach. The prefix BWV, followed by the work's number, is the shorthand identification for Bach's compositions...
806–811, are a set of six suite
Suite
In music, a suite is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral pieces normally performed in a concert setting rather than as accompaniment; they may be extracts from an opera, ballet , or incidental music to a play or film , or they may be entirely original movements .In the...
s written by the German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
composer Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
for harpsichord
Harpsichord
A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...
and generally thought to be the earliest of Bach's 19 suites for keyboard
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, the others being the 6 French Suites, BWV 812-817, the 6 Partitas, BWV 825-830 and the Overture in the French style, BWV 831
Overture in the French style, BWV 831
The Overture in the French style, BWV 831, original title Ouvertüre nach Französischer Art, also known as the French Overture and published as the second half of Clavier-Übung II in 1735 , is a suite in B minor for two-manual harpsichord written by Johann Sebastian Bach...
.
History
These six suiteSuite
In music, a suite is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral pieces normally performed in a concert setting rather than as accompaniment; they may be extracts from an opera, ballet , or incidental music to a play or film , or they may be entirely original movements .In the...
s for keyboard are thought to be the earliest set that Bach composed. Originally, their date of composition was thought to have been between 1718 and 1720, but more recent research suggests that the composition was likely earlier, around 1715, while the composer was living in Weimar
Weimar
Weimar is a city in Germany famous for its cultural heritage. It is located in the federal state of Thuringia , north of the Thüringer Wald, east of Erfurt, and southwest of Halle and Leipzig. Its current population is approximately 65,000. The oldest record of the city dates from the year 899...
..
Bach's English Suites display less affinity with Baroque English keyboard style than the French Suites do to French Baroque keyboard style; the name "English" is thought to date back to a claim made by the nineteenth-century Bach biographer Johann Nikolaus Forkel
Johann Nikolaus Forkel
Johann Nikolaus Forkel , was a German musician, musicologist and music theorist.-Biography:...
that these works might have been composed for an English nobleman. No evidence has emerged to substantiate this claim. It has also been suggested that the name is a tribute to Charles Dieupart
Charles Dieupart
Charles Dieupart was a French harpsichordist, violinist, and composer. Although he was known as Charles to his contemporaries, his real name may have been François. He was most probably born in Paris, but spent much of his life in London, where he settled sometime after 1702/3...
, whose fame was greatest in England, and on whose Six Suittes de clavessin Bach's English Suites were in part based.
Surface characteristics of the English Suites strongly resemble those of Bach's French Suites and Partitas, particularly in the sequential dance-movement structural organization and treatment of ornamentation. These suites also resemble the Baroque French keyboard suite typified by the generation of composers including Jean-Henri d'Anglebert
Jean-Henri d'Anglebert
Jean-Henri d'Anglebert was a French composer, harpsichordist and organist. He was one of the foremost keyboard composers of his day.-Life:...
, and the dance-suite tradition of French lutenists that preceded it.
In the English Suites especially, Bach's affinity with French lute music is demonstrated by his inclusion of a prelude
Prelude (music)
A prelude is a short piece of music, the form of which may vary from piece to piece. The prelude can be thought of as a preface. It may stand on its own or introduce another work...
for each suite, departing from an earlier tradition of German derivations of French suite (those of Johann Jakob Froberger
Johann Jakob Froberger
Johann Jakob Froberger was a German Baroque composer, keyboard virtuoso, and organist. He was among the most famous composers of the era and influenced practically every major composer in Europe by developing the genre of keyboard suite and contributing greatly to the exchange of musical...
and Georg Boehm are examples), which saw a relatively strict progression of the dance movements (Allemande
Allemande
An allemande is one of the most popular instrumental dance forms in Baroque music, and a standard element of a suite...
, Courante
Courante
The courante, corrente, coranto and corant are some of the names given to a family of triple metre dances from the late Renaissance and the Baroque era....
, Sarabande
Sarabande
In music, the sarabande is a dance in triple metre. The second and third beats of each measure are often tied, giving the dance a distinctive rhythm of quarter notes and eighth notes in alternation...
and Gigue
Gigue
The gigue or giga is a lively baroque dance originating from the British jig. It was imported into France in the mid-17th century and usually appears at the end of a suite...
) and which did not typically feature a Prelude. Unlike the unmeasured prelude
Unmeasured prelude
Unmeasured or non-measured prelude is a prelude in which the duration of each note is left to the performer. Typically the term is used for 17th century harpsichord compositions that are written without rhythm or metre indications, although various composers of the Classical music era were...
s of French lute or keyboard style, however, Bach's preludes in the English Suites are composed in strict meter.
The six English Suites
- 1st Suite in A major, BWV 806
- PreludePrelude (music)A prelude is a short piece of music, the form of which may vary from piece to piece. The prelude can be thought of as a preface. It may stand on its own or introduce another work...
, AllemandeAllemandeAn allemande is one of the most popular instrumental dance forms in Baroque music, and a standard element of a suite...
, CouranteCouranteThe courante, corrente, coranto and corant are some of the names given to a family of triple metre dances from the late Renaissance and the Baroque era....
I, Courante II, SarabandeSarabandeIn music, the sarabande is a dance in triple metre. The second and third beats of each measure are often tied, giving the dance a distinctive rhythm of quarter notes and eighth notes in alternation...
, BourréeBourréeThe bourrée is a dance of French origin common in Auvergne and Biscay in Spain in the 17th century. It is danced in quick double time, somewhat resembling the gavotte. The main difference between the two is the anacrusis, or upbeat; a bourrée starts on the last beat of a bar, creating a...
I, Bourrée II, GigueGigueThe gigue or giga is a lively baroque dance originating from the British jig. It was imported into France in the mid-17th century and usually appears at the end of a suite...
- 2nd Suite in A minor, BWV 807
- Prelude, Allemande, Courante, SarabandeSarabandeIn music, the sarabande is a dance in triple metre. The second and third beats of each measure are often tied, giving the dance a distinctive rhythm of quarter notes and eighth notes in alternation...
, Bourrée I, Bourrée II, Gigue- 3rd Suite in G minor, BWV 808
- Prelude, Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, GavotteGavotteThe gavotte originated as a French folk dance, taking its name from the Gavot people of the Pays de Gap region of Dauphiné, where the dance originated. It is notated in 4/4 or 2/2 time and is of moderate tempo...
I, Gavotte II, Gigue- 4th Suite in F major, BWV 809
- Prelude, Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, Menuet I, Menuet II, Gigue
- 5th Suite in E minor, BWV 810
- Prelude, Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, PassepiedPassepiedThe passepied is a 17th- and 18th-century dance that originated in Brittany. The term can also be used to describe the music to which a passepied is set...
I, Passepied II, Gigue- 6th Suite in D minor, BWV 811
- Prelude, Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, Gavotte I, Gavotte II, Gigue
Note that the key sequence follows the same series of notes as the chorale 'Jesu, meine Freude'; this is unlikely to be accidental.
On harpsichord
- Kenneth GilbertKenneth GilbertKenneth Gilbert, OC is a Canadian harpsichordist, organist, musicologist and music educator.Gilbert was trained at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal where he was a pupil of Yvonne Hubert and Gabriel Cusson . He also studied the organ privately with Conrad Letendre in Montréal...
(Harmonia Mundi, 1981) - Gustav LeonhardtGustav LeonhardtGustav Leonhardt is a highly renowned Dutch keyboard player, conductor, musicologist, teacher and editor. Leonhardt has been a leading figure in the movement to perform music on period instruments...
(Virgin, 1984) - Huguette DreyfusHuguette DreyfusHuguette Dreyfus is a French harpsichordist born on November 30, 1928 in Mulhouse, Alsace, France.-Biography:Huguette Dreyfus began taking piano lessons at four years old. In 1946, she began working with renowned piano teacher Lazare Lévy...
(Archiv Produktion, 1974, 1990) - Colin TilneyColin Tilney-Education and professional life:Born in London, Tilney studied music and modern languages at Cambridge University, studied harpsichord with Mary Potts at Kings College, Cambridge, and became a student of Gustav Leonhardt...
(Music&Arts, 1993) - Trevor PinnockTrevor PinnockTrevor David Pinnock CBE is an English conductor, harpsichordist, and occasional organist and pianist.He is best known for his association with the period-performance orchestra The English Concert which he helped found and directed from the keyboard for over 30 years in baroque and early classical...
(Archiv Production, 1992)
On piano
- Glenn GouldGlenn GouldGlenn Herbert Gould was a Canadian pianist who became one of the best-known and most celebrated classical pianists of the 20th century. He was particularly renowned as an interpreter of the keyboard music of Johann Sebastian Bach...
(Sony, 1977) - Ivo PogorelićIvo PogorelicIvo Pogorelić is a Croatian pianist.-Early life:He was born in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, now Serbia, to a Croatian father and a Serbian mother...
(Nos. 2 & 3 on Deutsche Grammophon, 1985) - András SchiffAndrás SchiffAndrás Schiff is a Hungarian-born British classical pianist, who has won a number of awards including the Grammy and made numerous recordings.- Biography :...
(Decca, 1988) - Murray PerahiaMurray PerahiaMurray Perahia KBE is an American concert pianist and conductor.-Early life:Murray Perahia was born in the Bronx borough of New York City to a family of Sephardi Jewish origin. According to the biography on his Mozart piano sonatas CD, his first language was Judaeo-Spanish or, Ladino. The family...
, (Sony Classics, 1999) - Sviatoslav RichterSviatoslav RichterSviatoslav Teofilovich Richter was a Soviet pianist well known for the depth of his interpretations, virtuoso technique, and vast repertoire. He is widely considered one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century.-Childhood:...
, (Delos, 2004)
Media
See also
- Works for keyboard by J.S. BachWorks for keyboard by J.S. BachThe keyboard works of the German composer Johann Sebastian Bach, originally written for organ, clavichord, and harpsichord, are among the most important and well-known of his compositions...
- French Suites, BWV 812-817
- Partitas, BWV 825-830
- Bach compositions printed during the composer's lifetime