The English Suites, BWV 806–811, are a set of six suites 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 six French Suites, BWV
812–817, the six Partitas, BWV
825-830 and the Overture
in the French style, BWV 831.
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History
These six suites 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.[citation
needed].
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 19th-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.[citation
needed] 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.[1]
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 preludes
of French lute or keyboard style, however, Bach's preludes in the English Suites
are composed in strict meter.
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The six English Suites
- 1st Suite in A major, BWV 806
- Prelude, Allemande, Courante I,
Courante II, Double I, Double II, Sarabande, Bourrée I, Bourrée II, Gigue. This suite is
unusual in that it has two Courantes, and two Doubles for the second
Courante.
- 2nd Suite in A minor, BWV 807
- Prelude, Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, Bourrée I, Bourrée
II, Gigue
- 3rd Suite in G minor, BWV 808
- Prelude, Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, Gavotte 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, Passepied 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.
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Notable recordings
● On
harpsichord
● On
piano
■ From WIKIPEDIA
■
