Bach's collection of English Suites are French-inspired keyboard suites. In the sixth suite, he starts with an elaborate prelude that starts slow then takes on motion through counterpoint. The dual sarabandes and dual gavottes are the two dance sets of special interest, as is the concluding gigue, borrowing the affect of the trills from the opening prelude.

Performances by:

I like the intimate nature of this cantata, where the "chorus" of soloists also take on their own roles beyond singing together. Many commentators believe this to have been intended for a wedding celebration.

My first discovery of the world of baroque music is tied to this very concerto. I survey a number of excellent recordings.

The harpsichord concertos by Bach are believed by some to all be arrangements of concertos Bach originally wrote for different instruments. In the case of BWV 1054, we have the surviving version for violin, the Concerto in E, BWV 1042. The harpsichord version differs, with Bach adding more idiomatic material for the harpsichord in several sections. Formally, the first and second movement contain more musical material and a short finale closes the concerto in the similar affable, cheery style that opened the concerto with a major triad.

I first discovered the cello suites by accident, exploring new works by Bach in middle school after falling in love with his harpsichord concertos. Within my freshman English class, my teacher eventually struck up a conversation with me about Yo-Yo Ma's rendition and how he liked listening to the album on cassette tape while on an exercise bike. I'd just been exploring the suites and I remember finding someone else who so enjoyed them was a real treat.

Since high school I have colllected a number of favorite recordings, and among dances of the first suite, the opening Prelude and concluding Gigue are my favorites.

Performers in this episode include:

The 'Dorian' Toccata and Fugue for organ gets its name from the absence of a key signature in the score. In the first movement, Bach sets off with a strong theme that gets treated similarly to the theme from a concerto, bouncing between "ripieno" and "concerto" textures. Likewise, he employs harmonic progressions in similarity to Venetian composers' practice in concertos from strings. It's a powerful opening that is counterbalanced with a slower-moving fugue theme. The fugue and countersubjects introduce the opportunity for some real dissonance which Bach eventually breaks out of pure harmony with and rhythmically drives the whole idea home at the end.

The two featured performances on this episode come from:

I also share an earlier clip of Koopman from his recording on the Archiv Produktion label, (p) 1984.

Bach's third partita is most famous for its gavottes en rondeau and it's opening preludio. Not only is the preludio easily recognizable today due to its popularity, but it was no doubt was popular in Bach's own time, as he re-used the material in arrangements for strings for two cantatas. In addition, he made an arrangement for another instrument, most likely the lute.

Performers today, both in response to the competition for recordings and to the rise of the historically-informed performance practice, have a lot in this partita (read: suite of dances) from which to make personal decisions. The normal ones are there, such as tempo, or a legato vs. detached articulation. But how we feel the rhythm and where we place emphasis with articulation is another decision, typically articulated as a lens on big phrases versus note groupings (microphrases). Typically the slower-played renditions will focus on the smaller groups of notes, which we might traditionally call "articulation" decisions. In the recordings chosen for this episode, a third element also creeps in: the tradition of this piece, most notably the preludio, for being a "show piece" for the violin. The variety presented here will certain elicit some different responses. Both do well to highlight the richness of the music.

The technical ability of both Isabelle Faust and of Rachel Podger, I believe, make their recordings both strong and they tend to shy from any major controversy in their interpretive decisions.

Other renditions push or pull our assumptions in both fast/furious and slow/deliberate directions. Enjoy!

This is in fact the 54th episode, but I got ahead of myself in the recording. Our next podcast will be #54, so enjoy here #55.

This fugue is a great example of great things in small packages. Bach's use of counterpoint is heightened when two voices highlight his countersubject and subject when the rhythmic motifs align to allow harmonization of the themes.

Performances include:

Bach's first partita from his Sei Solo a Violino senza Basso accompagnato is a set of four baroque dances coupled with doubles, or variations of the dances that preceed the first. There's a tight connection between the themes across the dances which is only intensified by the inclusion of variations for each one.

The performances here show very viable interpretations but the ripe opportunity for different interpretations. These performers take Bach's working material and vary it to their own devices, from Bach's use of double stopped chords at rhythmically-important places, of both small and big phrases, of the tempos of dances, and improvisation, as much as these performers feel allowed, through ornaments and through the decoration of phrases.

Performances sampled:

We also open with a quotation from a solo sonata by Johann Pisendel from Johannes Pramsohler (Bach & Entourage, Audax, 2015).

Bach penned two versions of a concerto for two soloists: 1043 for two violins in D minor and 1062 for 2 harpsichords in C minor. The transition likely is to accommodate the compass of the keyboard instruments.

It's believed the violin version preceded the one for two harpsichords. We listen to a variety of performances and settle on liking ones where the character between soloists is clear enough to differentiate the musical dialog taking place between the two solo parts.

Featured performances from: