Johann Sebastian Bach: Sämtliche Klavierwerke III – Partiten II

Album notes by Marco Beccari.

Partita was originally the name for a instrumental piece of music (16th and 17th centuries), but Johann Kuhnau and his successor Johann Sebastian Bach used it for collections of musical pieces, as a synonym for dance suite. In fact, the choice of the word Partita as a title for the suites of the first volume of the Clavierübung echoes J. Kuhnau (his predecessor at St. Thomas in Leipzig), whose Neue Clavierübung had consisted of seven Partiten, a use of the word that was to become current in Germany, although originally in Italian it seems to have been used to describe sets of variations, as in Bach's own organ chorale variations or Partite.

During the course of his life Bach, one of the leading keyboard virtuosos of his time, published four volumes of keyboard pieces under the title of Clavierübung (Keyboard Practice), in apparent acknowledgement of the work of his predecessor as Thomas-Kantor in Leipzig, Johann Kuhnau, whose two sets of Clavierübungen had appeared in 1689 and 1692, each containing seven suites. Bach’s partitas can be seen as his homage to his predecessor, not through nostalgia, but through a new compositional challenge. This is evident in the stylistic contents of Bach’s sets as if his intention was to update Kuhnau’s original contributions. Just as the names of forms were not fixed in the Baroque era, Bach was not bound by fixed structures either. Kuhnau followed a standard plan of Praeludium, Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, and Gigue, whereas none of Bach's partitas are the same; he omits certain dances, substitutes others, and presents them in orders that please him. Kuhnau's suites were grouped into one set in major keys and the second in minor keys, and Bach's set includes three major and three minor, although they are not presented in any particular order of keys. Bach wrote two sets of partitas for different instruments such as the three partitas for solo violin in 1720. Each partita represented a different degree of the diatonic scale. Bach chose to do the same thing, beginning with B-flat. He composed six Partitas, although a seventh was originally envisaged.

The Partitas BWV 825–830, are a set of six keyboard (harpsichord) suites composed during Bach’s Leipzig years, published separately from 1726 to 1730 and collected in 1731 as Clavier-Übung I and followed in 1735 by a second volume containing two contrasted works, the Italian Concerto and Overture in the French Style. The third volume, published in 1739, contained a collection of organ music, and the fourth, published in 1741-1742, the Goldberg Variations.

The Partitas are the first of his works to be published under his direction and at his own expense. They are also known with the title “German suites” to differentiate them from the six English Suites, BWV 806-811 and the six French Suites, BWV 812-817. This title, however, is a publishing convenience; there is nothing particularly German about the Partitas. In comparison with the two earlier sets of suites, the Partitas are by far the most free-ranging in terms of structure. Unlike the English Suites, for example, wherein each opens with a strict prelude, the Partitas feature a number of different opening styles including an ornamental Overture and a Toccata.

These works represent the highest point of his keyboard suites. In the search for the greatest variety of stylistic and compositional techniques, the collection shows itself to have the status of a ‘musical art book’. As with the French and English Suites, we do not have the autograph manuscript.

J.N. Forkel describes the impact which the partitas had in the world in his pioneering biography of Bach (1802): “This work caused quite a sensation among his contemporaries in the world of music; such splendid keyboard compositions had never previously been seen or heard. Whoever learnt to perform any of these pieces to a high standard could make his fortune in the world”.

Bach’s contemporaries such as J. Mattheson, J.C. Gottsched and L.C. Mitzler seem to agree with Forkel, particularly on the second point: the extreme technical demands.

Bach's Partitas open with a number of different forms of movement, giving each its own character. The first has a Praeludium, the second a Sinfonia, the third a Fantasia, the fourth an Ouverture, the fifth a Praeambulum and the sixth a Toccata. They are built round the traditional dances of the French suite: the Allemande, Courante, Sarabande. All of them end with a Gigue, except the second, which has six movements rather than seven, and ends with a Capriccio. Between the Sarabande and Gigue he introduces short movements, the so-called galanterie, that is, galante dances, such as musette, bourrée and minuet.

Therefore, Bach's Partitas are generally structured as follows: an introductory piece, different for each Partita (Praeludium, Fantasia, Sinfonia, Ouverture, etc.); Allemande; Courante or Corrente; Sarabande; optional galanteries; and Gigue, with exceptions as noted above.

Partita No. 3 in A minor, BWV 827

Johann Sebastian Bach probably completed his Partita for keyboard in 1725. It is the third of six works that the composer published separately between 1726 and 1730, before issuing the complete collection in 1731. These partitas can also be regarded as suites, with an opening piece that is followed by a collection of dances.

The opening of the third partita in A minor is not a prelude, or overture, but rather a Fantasia in two parts, similar in form to a Two-Part Invention. It is a marvelous and extremely difficult movement. Bach did not let the traditions of instrumental music restrict his imagination. The Fantasia and the inclusion of a movement entitled Burlesca show how freely Bach treated the suite. The latter is striking insofar as it is not the name of a traditional dance. The ribald title of the movement is also an aside for the man himself, a staunch Lutheran. The Allemande is followed by an Italian Corrente, the dance that occurs in four of the Partitas, while two have French Courantes, the former a more spirited dance than the more solemn French dance, with its rhythmical ambiguities. The

Burlesca and Scherzo are not derived from dances, although they are in characteristic dance form. The first of these seems to have no striking peculiarities or quirks of humour, and appears, in any case, as a Minuet in the collection of pieces assembled for the use of Bach's second wife, Anna Magdalena. The Scherzo is light-hearted enough and represents the only use of the term by Bach. The Partita ends in a Gigue. The early version preserved in Anna Magdalena’s notebook substitutes “Menuet” for “Burlesca”.

One common quality to these partitas is the extent to which the composer sounds as though he is having a wonderful time composing these pieces. There is a lightness of spirit to them that is not heard frequently in his other works, which overwhelm and stupefy much of the time. His Orchestral Suites are similar in spirit, but they lack the rigorous counterpoint of the partitas. The partitas were well received and did bring in additional income and recognition, but they were later seen as too difficult for amateur pianists.

Partita No. 5 in G major, BWV 829

This partita is probably the briefest of the six in the set. Comprising the usual seven movements and featuring the more or less requisite Allemande, Courante (the Italian Corrente here), Sarabande, and Gigue, it is a light, buoyant work of such brilliance and subtlety as to stand alongside its more grandiose siblings.

The opening Praeambulum, a form that retains elements of its earlier improvisatory nature, ripples with buoyancy and joy as notes cascade seemingly in all directions with breathless energy; it is still pure Bach in all his inventive genius and provides an introduction in concerto style.

The ensuing Allemande, by contrast, is subdued and playful, delightfully graceful, too, in its moderate pacing. The brief Courante bustles with the same kind of energy heard in the Praeambulum, but ultimately divulges a somewhat more subdued character. The Sarabande follows, a serene yet at times playful piece whose relatively lengthy duration and gentleness are a sort of island of restraint amid all the bustle and brightness surrounding it. The music is quite transparent here in its slow pacing, thus allowing Bach's deft contrapuntal writing to emerge in all its subtlety. The ensuing Tempo di Minuetto is light and graceful, full of energy right up to its suddenly subdued close. A hearty Passepied, a triple-time dance of French derivation, follows, introducing a sort of muscular manner, with much writing in the middle and lower registers. As usual a Gigue closes this work, bringing energy and a sense of joy. Here, the contrapuntal writing is full of subtle details, the ear noticing something delightfully different on each subsequent hearing. Moreover, this colorful music is quite a virtuosic challenge to the performer, especially the fugue-like section midway.

Partita No. 6 in E minor, BWV 830

This is the last of the partitas in this set, which as a group were published in 1731, after appearing separately between 1726 and 1730, beginning with the B-flat major Partita in 1726. Preceded by the diminutive fifth partita in G major, about half its size, the sixth is probably the longest of the partitas, though different combinations of observing or ignoring repeats could make the fourth in D major longer. The sixth is not only grand in length, however, but in depth of expression as well, its opening toccata one of the more profound movements in any of the partitas.

The Partita starts with a Toccata, its texture again suggesting improvisation at the keyboard, leading to a fugal section and ending as it began. Speaking of size, this toccata is also the longest movement found in any of the six. It opens with a somber introduction of dramatic character and moves onto a livelier section of serious demeanor, whose music both alternates, and is heard simultaneously, with the powerful theme from the opening. Bach's contrapuntal writing here imparts a sense of the profound, suggesting both serenity and a conflicting undercurrent. This movement bears more than a vague resemblance to Bach's famous Toccata and Fugue for organ, though the more contemplative ending here sets it apart from that great work. The ensuing Allemande is elegant and lighter in its moderate pacing, relatively elaborate in figuration, but not without its subtleties and profundities. The music turns more animated and even somewhat dark in a variant that appears midway through. The Corrente (or Courante, in French) follows, a livelier piece, generally light and energetic and marked with syncopation. A brief Air comes next, bringing a celebratory bustle and colorful virtuosity.

The gentle Sarabande of increasing decorative complexity has a disrupted flow and sense of yearning throughout, but never allows these darker undercurrents to overtake the mostly serene manner. The Tempo di gavotta that follows is lively but subdued in its jaunty character. The concluding Gigue, with its unusual and puzzlingly complex rhythms, is written in 8/4, an unconventional metre for a gigue. It is muscular and lively in its outer sections, but dark and ominous at the beginning of the brilliant fugal buildup that starts midway through. The music swells to triumphant heights at the end. This may be the finest of the Six Partitas in the set.

Recording & publication

Pietro Soraci — piano.
Recorded at Griffa & Figli Studio, July 2017, on a Steinway & Sons Model D.
Digital recording and editing: Emanuele Rossi.
Album notes: Marco Beccari.
Cover photograph: Kasuga Taisha, Nara, Japan.

The project was created and coordinated by Pietro Soraci and Edmondo Filippini, using critical editions and under the patronage of Bärenreiter.
Production, design and art direction: OMK–Da Vinci.
Printed with the support of S.P.L.M.
℗ & © OMK–Da Vinci Classics. DDD. Manufactured in Japan.