Partitas for keyboard (Bach)

Title page of Clavier-Übung I

The Partitas, BWV 825–830, are a set of six Harpsichord suites written by Johann Sebastian Bach, published from 1726 to 1730 as Clavier-Übung I, and the first of his works to be published under his direction. They were, however, among the last of his keyboard suites to be composed, the others being the 6 English Suites, BWV 806-811 and the 6 French Suites, BWV 812-817.

History

These six suites for Harpsichord are the last set that Bach composed and the most technically demanding of the three. They were composed between 1725 and 1730 or 1731. As with the French and English Suites, the autograph manuscript of the Partitas is no longer extant.

In keeping with a nineteenth century naming tradition that labelled Bach's first set of Suites English and the second French, the Partitas are often referred to as the German Suites.^{[citation needed]} 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, which open with a strict prelude, the Partitas feature a number of different opening styles including an ornamental Overture and a Toccata.

While each of the Partitas was published separately, they were collected into a single volume (1731), known as the Clavier-Übung I (Keyboard Practice), which Bach himself chose to label his Opus 1. Unlike the earlier sets of suites, Bach originally intended to publish seven Partitas, advertising in the Spring of 1730 upon the publication of the fifth Partita that the promised collected volume would contain two more such pieces. This intention is further signalled by the spread of keys, which follows a clear structure, B-Flat - c, a - D, G - e, leaving F as the logical conclusion. The Italian Concerto, which is in the key of F and was published in the Clavier-Übung II, likely originated therefore as one of the Partitas before expanding beyond the dictates of the Suite form.

Contents

Opening Praeludium from Partita No.1, BWV 825, original manuscript, 1731

• Partita No.1 in B flat Major, BWV 825

Prelude, Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, Menuet I, Menuet II, Gigue

• Partita No.2 in C minor, BWV 826

Sinfonia, Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, Rondeau, Capriccio

• Partita No.3 in A minor, BWV 827

Fantasia, Allemande, Corrente, Sarabande, Burlesca, Scherzo, Gigue

• Partita No.4 in D Major, BWV 828

Ouverture, Allemande, Courante, Aria, Sarabande, Menuet, Gigue

• Partita No.5 in G Major, BWV 829

Preambulum, Allemande, Corrente, Sarabande, Tempo di Minuetto, Passepied, Gigue

• Partita No.6 in E minor, BWV 830

Toccata, Allemande, Corrente, Air, Sarabande, Tempo di Gavotta, Gigue

Notable recordings

On harpsichord

Close of final Gigue from Partita No.6, BWV 830, original manuscript, 1731

• Wanda Landowska, (?, 1935 or 1936)
• Blandine Verlet, (Philips, 1978)
• Kenneth Gilbert, (Harmonia Mundi, 1985)
• Trevor Pinnock, (Archiv, 1985)
• Huguette Dreyfus, (Denon, 1986)
• Gustav Leonhardt, (Virgin, 1986)
• Scott Ross, (Erato, 1988)
• Christophe Rousset, (L'Oiseau-Lyre, 1992)
• Andreas Staier, (Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, 1993)
• Pieter-Jan Belder, (Brilliant Classics, 1999)

On piano

• Dinu Lipatti (EMI Classics, 1999)
• Glenn Gould (Sony, 1957, 1980)
• András Schiff (Decca, 1985 and ECM 2009)
• Angela Hewitt (Hyperion, 1997)
• Gianluca Luisi (OnClassical, 2005–07)
• Murray Perahia (Sony, 2008 and 2009)
• Vladimir Ashkenazy (Decca, 2010)
• Martha Argerich (Verbier Festival, 2008)
• Richard Goode (Nonesuch, 2003)

On guitar

• Judicael Perroy Partita no.2 (Naxos Records, 2011)

See also

• Works for keyboard by J.S. Bach
• English Suites, BWV 806-811
• French Suites, BWV 812-817
• List of compositions by J.S. Bach printed during his lifetime

External links

• Partitas for keyboard: Free scores at the International Music Score Library Project.
• Essay by Yo Tomita about Bach's Partitas