The ''English Suites'',

BWV The (, ; BWV) is a Catalogues of classical compositions, catalogue of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach. It was first published in 1950, edited by Wolfgang Schmieder. The catalogue's second edition appeared in 1990 and the third edition in ...

806–811, are a set of six suites written by the German composer

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...

for

harpsichord A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard, keyboard. Depressing a key raises its back end within the instrument, which in turn raises a mechanism with a small plectrum made from quill or plastic that plucks one ...

(or

clavichord The clavichord is a stringed rectangular keyboard instrument that was used largely in the Late Middle Ages, through the Renaissance music, Renaissance, Baroque music, Baroque and Classical period (music), Classical eras. Historically, it was most ...

) and generally thought to be the earliest of his 19 suites for keyboard (discounting several less well-known earlier suites), 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). They probably date from around 1713 or 1714 until 1720.

History

These six suites for keyboard are thought to be the earliest set that Bach composed aside from several miscellaneous suites written when he was much younger. Bach's English Suites display less affinity with Baroque English keyboard style than do the French Suites to French Baroque keyboard style. 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.Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 5th ed., 1954, Eric Blom, ed. 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

lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck (music), neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lu ...

nists 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 Johann Jakob Froberger ( baptized 19 May 1616 – 7 May 1667) was a German Baroque composer, keyboard virtuoso, and organist. Among the most famous composers of the era, he was influential in developing the musical form of the suite of dance ...

and Georg Boehm are examples), which saw a relatively strict progression of the dance movements (

Allemande An ''allemande'' (''allemanda'', ''almain(e)'', or ''alman(d)'', French: "German (dance)") is a Renaissance and Baroque dance, and one of the most common instrumental dance styles in Baroque music, with examples by Couperin, Purcell, Bach ...

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. In a Baroque dance suite an Italian or French courante is typically pair ...

Sarabande The sarabande (from ) is a dance in triple metre, or the music written for such a dance. History The Sarabande evolved from a Spanish dance with Arab influences, danced by a lively double line of couples with castanets. A dance called ''zara ...

and

Gigue The gigue ( , ) or giga () is a lively baroque dance originating from the English jig. It was imported into France in the mid-17th centuryBellingham, Jane"gigue."''The Oxford Companion to Music''. Ed. Alison Latham. Oxford Music Online. 6 July ...

) 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.

The suites

The six suites are: #Suite No. 1 in A major, BWV 806
#Suite No. 2 in A minor, BWV 807
#Suite No. 3 in G minor, BWV 808
#

Suite No. 4 in F major, BWV 809
#Suite No. 5 in E minor, BWV 810
#Suite No. 6 in D minor, BWV 811
This first suite is unusual in that it has two courantes and two doubles for the second courante. This suite also departs from the scheme of the other five, in that the prelude is short and based on a theme from a suite by Dieupart. The preludes of the other five suites in this series are based on the allegro of a

concerto grosso The concerto grosso (; Italian for ''big concert(o)'', plural ''concerti grossi'' ) is a form of baroque music in which the musical material is passed between a small group of soloists (the '' concertino'') and full orchestra (the '' ripieno'', '' ...

form. The key sequence follows the same series of notes as the chorale " Jesu, meine Freude"; it is unestablished whether or not this is coincidental.

Notable recordings

On harpsichord

* Wanda Landowska (No. 2, 3 & 5, Pearl, 1928–35) * Ralph Kirkpatrick (Archiv Produktion, 1956) * Helmut Walcha (EMI Electrola, 1959) * Martin Galling (Murray Hill, 1970 ecorded in 1964 * Kenneth Gilbert (Harmonia Mundi, 1981) * Zuzana Růžičková (Supraphon/Eterna, 1981) * Christiane Jaccottet (Saphir/Disky, 1982) *

Gustav Leonhardt Gustav Maria Leonhardt (30 May 1928 – 16 January 2012) was a Dutch keyboardist, conductor, musicologist, teacher and editor. He was a leading figure in the historically informed performance movement to perform music on period instruments. Leo ...

(Virgin, 1984) * Huguette Dreyfus (Archiv Produktion, 1974, 1990) *

Colin Tilney Colin Graham Tilney (31 October 1933 – 17 December 2024) was a British-Canadian harpsichordist, fortepianist and teacher. He is well known for his historically-informed approach to performance practice, performing on original or copied ins ...

(Music&Arts, 1993) * Trevor Pinnock (Archiv Production, 1992) * Peter Watchorn (Musica Omnia, 1997) * Pascal Dubreuil (Ramée, 2013) * Ketil Haugsand (Simax Classics, 2014)

On piano

* Walter Gieseking (Nos. 2–4 & 6, Music & Arts, 1950) * Alexander Borovsky (Vox, 1952) * Tatiana Nikolayeva (Nos. 1 & 4, Scribendum, 1965) * Friedrich Gulda (Nos. 2 & 3, Andante, 1969–70) * Wilhelm Kempff (No. 3, Deutsche Grammophon, 1975) * Glenn Gould (Columbia/Sony, 1977) * Mieczysław Horszowski (No. 3, Pearl, 1979; No. 2, Arbiter, 1984; No. 5, RCA Japan, 1987) * Ivo Pogorelić (Nos. 2 & 3, Deutsche Grammophon, 1985) *

András Schiff Sir András Schiff (; born 21 December 1953) is a Hungarian-born British classical pianist and conductor. He has received numerous awards and honours, including the Grammy Award, Gramophone Award, Mozart Medal, and Royal Academy of Music Bac ...

(Decca, 1988, 2003 Live in Hungary) * Wolfgang Rübsam (Naxos, 1995) * João Carlos Martins (Concord Concerto / Labor Records / Tomato Music, 1995–1996) * Rosalyn Tureck (No. 3, Video Artists International, 1993) *

Murray Perahia Murray David Perahia ( ; born April 19, 1947) is an American pianist and conductor. He has been considered one of the greatest living pianists. He was the first North American pianist to win the Leeds International Piano Competition, in 1972. ...

(Sony Classics, 1997) * Robert Levin (Hänssler, 1999) *

Martha Argerich Martha Argerich (; ; born 5 June 1941) is an Argentine classical concert pianist. Born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argerich gave her debut concert at the age of eight before receiving further piano training in Europe. At an early age, she won sev ...

(No. 2, Deutsche Grammophon, 1979) * Ivo Janssen (Void, 2000) * Angela Hewitt (Hyperion, 2003) *

Sviatoslav Richter Sviatoslav Teofilovich Richter ( – August 1, 1997) was a Soviet and Russian classical pianist. He is regarded as one of the greatest pianists of all time,Great Pianists of the 20th Century and has been praised for the "depth of his interpreta ...

, (Delos, 2004) * Vladimir Feltsman (Nimbus, 2005) * Ramin Bahrami (Decca, 2012) * Piotr Anderszewski (No. 6, Accord, 1996)) * Piotr Anderszewski (No. 6, Erato/Warner Classics, 2004) * Piotr Anderszewski (Nos. 1, 3 & 5, Warner Classics, 2014)

On cello

Pablo Casals Pau Casals i Defilló (Catalan: ; 29 December 187622 October 1973), known in English as Pablo Casals,Works for keyboard by Johann Sebastian Bach Keyboard works () by Johann Sebastian Bach traditionally refers to Chapter 8 in the BWV catalogue or the fifth series of the New Bach Edition, both of which list compositions for a solo keyboard instrument like the harpsichord or the clavicho ...

* French Suites, BWV 812-817 *

Partitas, BWV 825-830 The Partitas, BWV 825–830, are a set of six keyboard suites written by Johann Sebastian Bach, published individually beginning in 1726, then together as '' Clavier-Übung I'' in 1731, the first of his works to be published under his own direc ...

* List of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach printed during his lifetime

References

External links

*
English Suite No. 1English Suite No. 2English Suite No. 3
an
English Suite No. 4
performances by the Netherlands Bach Society (video and background information) {{authority control Suites by Johann Sebastian Bach Compositions for harpsichord 1715 compositions he:רשימת יצירות באך#סוויטות אנגליות (לכלי מקלדת) (806-811)