Bach - French Suite No. 2, BWV 813

Allemande -- Courante -- Sarabande -- Air -- 2 Menuets -- Gigue Recorded at Nadder Hall Tisbury on 20 April 2013 The harpsichord is Delin copy by Michael Ellis-Jones Composed in 1722, this set of keyboard suites were named french by Johann Mattheson, no doubt because Bach headed the first one Suite 1re pour le Clavessin. It has stuck, conveniently differentiating these from the later, so-called 'English' Suites, with their substantial preludes. Much has been made of Bach's supposed study of Couperin, but it's unlikely that the primary models for these pieces were French. By 1700 the most commonly used dances had coalesced into a standard sequence of Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, Gigue (ACSG) -- with which Bach would have been familiar from the suites of Kuhnau, Böhm and Fischer. His 'french' suites were the first of Bach's sets of keyboard suites. Begun in 1722, the same year that he composed Das Wohltemperiertes Clavier -book 1 of 'the 48' preludes and fugues- the first suite is written in the Clavierbüchlein für Anna Magdalena Bach, the notebook of educational compositions for his second wife. These suites were never published, and have survived in a number of slightly differing manuscripts, probably made by pupils, suggesting that the indefatigable Bach lost no opportunity to introduce harmonic and melodic refinements. Allemande. A stately dance 'recognisant of the lethargic character of the race after which it is named' wrote Burney in his History. Opinion now favours the idea that the dance-form originated in Burgundy. Courante. The coupling of Allemande and Courante represents the foundation stone of the ACSG form, the slow-fast combo being essentially an updated version of Pavane and Galliard. Popular all over Europe the Coranto or Corrente was an italian 'running' dance that demanded considerable foot crossing. Notated in 3/4, the italian Coranto survived alongside its french adaptation, the Courante, notated in 3/2. French Courantes may owe their statelier character to the long reign of the lute in France. Bach used the italian form in four of the suites, including #2, and the french form in only two -- which is an indication that he never conceived these keyboard suites as specifically 'french'. Sarabande. The dance's triple rhythm derives from Spain. Originally a voluptuous dance with an emphasis on the second beat, it was denounced in the late 16thC as 'a dance and song so loose in its words and so ugly in its motions that it is enough to excite bad emotions in even very decent people.' The pious Felipe II, he of the Armada, actually banned it -- thus ensuring it soon spread all over Europe. Galantieren. The term covers the more modern, 'elegant' movements which were becoming fashionable at this time, and led to the evolution of the galante style employed by Bach's son Carl. The number and variety of Bach's galantieren becomes greater in each successive keyboard suite, as if Bach was experimenting ever more confidently as he went along. In this early suite there is only an Air and a pair of Menuets. Gigue. Bach uses these suites as a scratch-pad to experiment with different forms. All six gigues are in different time signatures. #2 is in 3/8 and is the most 'french' in character.

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