Wolfgang - Bach: English Suites Nos. 1-3 [CD]

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Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750)English Suites Vol. 1 BWV 806-808 Suite No.1 in A Major, BWV 806 Suite No.2 in A Minor, BWV 807 Suite No.3 in G Minor, BWV 808 Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach in 1685, one of alarge family of musicians. After the death of his parents he moved, at the age of ten, toOhrdruf, with his thirteen-year-old brother Johann Jacob, to live with the eldest of theirbrothers, Johann Christoph, an organist. Bach's own initial career was as an organist,after earlier appointments in Arnstadt and M??hlhausen, from 1708 until 1717 in theservice of Duke Wilhelm Ernst, elder of the two brothers ruling the duchy of Weimar. From1717 until 1723 he was Court Kapellmeister to Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cothen, withdifferent musical responsibilities, largely secular. Thereafter he served as Thomas-Kantorin Leipzig, with responsibility for music in the principal city churches, continuing thereuntil his death in 1750. This final period of his life involved him in activity with theCollegium musicum of the University, for which he arranged earlier instrumental concertosfor solo harpsichord or harpsichords, and in the assembly and publication of a number ofhis compositions, in particular a series of four volumes of keyboard music, theClavier??bung.Bach's French Suites were written in 1722 for his second wife,Anna Magdalena. The more complicated and impressive English Suites, which have nothingparticularly English about them, may have been written during the composer's time atWeimar, perhaps in 1715, although general considerations of the type of composition makeCothen a more probable place and period of composition. Bach's sons later claimed thatthe suites were written for an Englishman of some standing, but there is no other evidenceof the existence of this mysterious patron, except the note by Johann Christian Bach onhis copy of the suites, fait pour les Anglois.Suite No.1 in A major, BWV 806,starts with an introductory Prelude. This is followed by an Allemande, the traditionalopening of the French dance suite, followed, in due form, by a Courante, to which a secondCourante and two variations of it or Doubles are added. An imposing Sarabande is followedby a pair of Bourrees, the second, framed by a repetition of the first, in thecontrasting mode of A minor. The suite ends with a Gigue in which the lower part enters inimmediate imitation of the first, the procedure reversed and inverted in the secondsection of the dance. Suite No.2 in A minoropens with a long and impressive Prelude, followed by a coupled Allemande and FrenchCourante. The slow Sarabande has its own variation and the second Bourree is framed by arepetition of the first. The final Gigue, not here with imitative entries, makes the usualspirited conclusion. The G minor Suite againopens with a large scale Prelude, followed by an Allemande and Courante. The statelySarabande has a variation, while the first Gavotte in repetition frames a second Gavotteor Musette, the second

Suite No. 1 In A Major, BWV 806: Prelude

Suite No. 1 In A Major, BWV 806: Allemande

Suite No. 1 In A Major, BWV 806: Courante I

Suite No. 1 In A Major, BWV 806: Courante II

Suite No. 1 In A Major, BWV 806: Suite No. 1 In A Major, BWV 806: 5: Double I

Suite No. 1 In A Major, BWV 806: Double II

Suite No. 1 In A Major, BWV 806: Sarabande

Suite No. 1 In A Major, BWV 806: Bourr\xef\xbf\xbde I & II

Suite No. 1 In A Major, BWV 806: Gigue

Suite No. 2 In A Minor, BWV 807: Prelude

Suite No. 2 In A Minor, BWV 807: Allemande

Suite No. 2 In A Minor, BWV 807: Courante

Suite No. 2 In A Minor, BWV 807: Sarabande

Suite No. 2 In A Minor, BWV 807: Bourr\xef\xbf\xbde I & II

Suite No. 2 In A Minor, BWV 807: Gigue

Suite No. 3 In G Minor, BWV 808: Prelude

Suite No. 3 In G Minor, BWV 808: Allemande

Suite No. 3 In G Minor, BWV 808: Courante

Suite No. 3 In G Minor, BWV 808: Sarabande

Suite No. 3 In G Minor, BWV 808: Gavotte I & II

Suite No. 3 In G Minor, BWV 808: Gigue