Playwright Luise Gottsched, nÃ©e Kulmus, in 1732 wrote a letter to her future husband, the writer Johann Christoph Gottsched: 'The keyboard pieces sent over by Bach... are as difficult as they are beautiful. Even after playing them ten times, they still seem new to me.' A few years later polymath and Bach's former pupil Lorenz Christoph Mizler offered the following advice regarding these Clavier-Ãœbung I partitas: 'Anyone who has difficulties with keyboard fingering will find it difficult to learn the keyboard pieces written by the famous Mr. Bach in Leipzig'. The name Sinfonia for the first movement in the Partita in C minor is redolent of opening cantata movements and the dotted rhythm of a French overture. The Grave adagio however, is not followed by the fugal fast section you would expect here. This approach was carried out more consistently and stylistically in the Partita in D major, although there the fast section approaches the form of a concerto. Instead, the Grave adagio of the Partita in C minor is followed by a sonata-like movement with an arabesque effect in the upper voice, followed by a lively fugato. As a result, the piece appears in three parts. In contrast, the opening Fantasia in the Partita in A minor is more akin to an invention, showing similarities with the opening section of the second English Suite of the same key. Moreover, since the 17th century, the distinction between the terms 'Praeludium' and 'Praeambulum' was insignificant. Yet Bach's delicately sculpted Praeludium in the B flat major Partita, is stylistically very different from the concerto-like Praeambulum of the Partita in G major. Lastly, the Toccata in the Partita in E minor offers rhapsodic-improvisatory sections framing a fugue after the style of Froberg, whose works for keyboard instruments must have been known to Bach.

Tracklist:

Partita No. 1 In B-Flat Major, Bwv 825: I. Praeludium
Partita No. 1 In B-Flat Major, Bwv 825: II. Allemande
Partita No. 1 In B-Flat Major, Bwv 825: III. Corrente
Partita No. 1 In B-Flat Major, Bwv 825: IV. Sarabande
Partita No. 1 In B-Flat Major, Bwv 825: V. Menuet I + II
Partita No. 1 In B-Flat Major, Bwv 825: VI. Gigue
Partita No. 2 In C Minor, Bwv 826: I. Sinfonia
Partita No. 2 In C Minor, Bwv 826: II. Allemande
Partita No. 2 In C Minor, Bwv 826: III. Corrente
Partita No. 2 In C Minor, Bwv 826: IV. Sarabande
Partita No. 2 In C Minor, Bwv 826: V. Rondeaux
Partita No. 2 In C Minor, Bwv 826: VI. Capriccio
Partita No. 3 In A Minor, Bwv 827: I. Fantasia
Partita No. 3 In A Minor, Bwv 827: II. Allemande
Partita No. 3 In A Minor, Bwv 827: III. Corrente
Partita No. 3 In A Minor, Bwv 827: IV. Sarabande
Partita No. 3 In A Minor, Bwv 827: V. Burlesca
Partita No. 3 In A Minor, Bwv 827: VI. Scherzo
Partita No. 3 In A Minor, Bwv 827: VII. Gigue
Partita No. 4 In D Major, Bwv 828: I. Ouverture
Partita No. 4 In D Major, Bwv 828: II. Allemande
Partita No. 4 In D Major, Bwv 828: III. Corrente
Partita No. 4 In D Major, Bwv 828: IV. Aria
Partita No. 4 In D Major, Bwv 828: V. Sarabande
Partita No. 4 In D Major, Bwv 828: VI. Menuet
Partita No. 4 In D Major, Bwv 828: VII. Gigue
Partita No. 5 In G Major, Bwv 829: I. Praeambulum
Partita No. 5 In G Major, Bwv 829: II. Allemande
Partita No. 5 In G Major, Bwv 829: III. Corrente
Partita No. 5 In G Major, Bwv 829: IV. Sarabande
Partita No. 5 In G Major, Bwv 829: V. Tempo Di Minuetta
Partita No. 5 In G Major, Bwv 829: VI. Passepied
Partita No. 5 In G Major, Bwv 829: VII. Gigue
Partita No. 6 In E Minor, Bwv 830: I. Toccata
Partita No. 6 In E Minor, Bwv 830: II. Allemande
Partita No. 6 In E Minor, Bwv 830: III. Corrente
Partita No. 6 In E Minor, Bwv 830: IV. Air
Partita No. 6 In E Minor, Bwv 830: V. Sarabande
Partita No. 6 In E Minor, Bwv 830: VI. Tempo Di Gavotte
Partita No. 6 In E Minor, Bwv 830: VII. Gigue

UPC: 5028421964645
Label: Brilliant Classics
Release Date: 11.18.22
Format: CD

J Bach .S. / Rubsam - Partitas Bwv 825-830 (CD)