Title page of the first partita, printed in 1726 by Balthasar Schmid of NurembergAutograph manuscript (1725) of Allegro for solo harpsichord from first version of Bach's sixth sonata for obbligato harpsichord and violin, BWV 1019a, later incorporated as Corrente in sixth partita, BWV 830.
The six partitas for keyboard form the last set of suites that Bach composed, and are 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.[1]
In keeping with a nineteenth-century naming tradition that labelled Bach's first set of Suites English and the second French, the Partitas are sometimes referred to as the German Suites.[2] 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.[3]
Although each of the Partitas was published separately under the name Clavier-Übung (Keyboard Practice), they were subsequently collected into a single volume in 1731 with the same name, which Bach himself chose to label his Opus 1.[4] 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. The plan was then revised to include a total of eight works: six Partitas in Part I (1731) and two larger works in Part II (1735), the Italian Concerto, BWV 971, and the Overture in the French style, BWV 831. The second of these is an eleven-movement partita, the largest such keyboard work Bach ever composed, and may in fact be the elusive "seventh partita" mentioned in 1730. The Overture in the French style was originally written in C minor, but was transposed a half step down for publication to complete the tonal scheme of Parts I and II as described below.[3]
Tonalitiesedit
The tonalities of the six Partitas (B♭ major, C minor, A minor, D major, G major, E minor) may seem to be random, but in fact they form a sequence of intervals going up and then down by increasing amounts: a second up (B♭ to C), a third down (C to A), a fourth up (A to D), a fifth down (D to G), and finally a sixth up (G to E).[5] This key sequence continues into Clavier-Übung II (1735) with the two larger works: the Italian Concerto, a seventh down (E to F), and the Overture in the French style, an augmented fourth up (F to B♮). Thus this sequence of tonalities customary for 18th-century keyboard compositions is complete, beginning with the first letter of his name (B in German is Bach's "home" key of B♭) and ending with the last letter (H in German is B♮) while including both A and C along the way.
^Philipp Spitta, Johann Sebastian Bach: his work and influence on the music of Germany, 1685-1750, Volume 3 (Novello and company, limited, 1899) p. 156.
partitas, keyboard, bach, partitas, keyboard, suites, written, johann, sebastian, bach, published, individually, beginning, 1726, then, together, clavier, übung, 1731, first, works, published, under, direction, they, were, however, among, last, keyboard, suite. The Partitas BWV 825 830 are a set of six keyboard suites written by Johann Sebastian Bach published individually beginning in 1726 then together as Clavier Ubung I in 1731 the first of his works to be published under his own direction They were however among the last of his keyboard suites to be composed the others being the six English Suites BWV 806 811 and the six French Suites BWV 812 817 as well as the Overture in the French style BWV 831 Title page of Clavier Ubung I Contents 1 History 2 Tonalities 3 Six partitas 4 Notable recordings 4 1 On clavichord 4 2 On harpsichord 4 3 On piano 4 4 On guitar 5 See also 6 Notes 7 References 8 External linksHistory edit nbsp Title page of the first partita printed in 1726 by Balthasar Schmid of Nuremberg nbsp Autograph manuscript 1725 of Allegro for solo harpsichord from first version of Bach s sixth sonata for obbligato harpsichord and violin BWV 1019a later incorporated as Corrente in sixth partita BWV 830 The six partitas for keyboard form the last set of suites that Bach composed and are 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 1 In keeping with a nineteenth century naming tradition that labelled Bach s first set of Suites English and the second French the Partitas are sometimes referred to as the German Suites 2 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 3 Although each of the Partitas was published separately under the name Clavier Ubung Keyboard Practice they were subsequently collected into a single volume in 1731 with the same name which Bach himself chose to label his Opus 1 4 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 The plan was then revised to include a total of eight works six Partitas in Part I 1731 and two larger works in Part II 1735 the Italian Concerto BWV 971 and the Overture in the French style BWV 831 The second of these is an eleven movement partita the largest such keyboard work Bach ever composed and may in fact be the elusive seventh partita mentioned in 1730 The Overture in the French style was originally written in C minor but was transposed a half step down for publication to complete the tonal scheme of Parts I and II as described below 3 Tonalities editThe tonalities of the six Partitas B major C minor A minor D major G major E minor may seem to be random but in fact they form a sequence of intervals going up and then down by increasing amounts a second up B to C a third down C to A a fourth up A to D a fifth down D to G and finally a sixth up G to E 5 This key sequence continues into Clavier Ubung II 1735 with the two larger works the Italian Concerto a seventh down E to F and the Overture in the French style an augmented fourth up F to B Thus this sequence of tonalities customary for 18th century keyboard compositions is complete beginning with the first letter of his name B in German is Bach s home key of B and ending with the last letter H in German is B while including both A and C along the way Six partitas editPartita No 1 in B major BWV 825 6 Praeludium Allemande Corrente Sarabande Menuet I Menuet II Gigue Partita No 2 in C minor BWV 826 7 Sinfonia Allemande Courante Sarabande Rondeau Capriccio Partita No 3 in A minor BWV 827 8 Fantasia Allemande Corrente Sarabande Burlesca Scherzo Gigue Partita No 4 in D major BWV 828 9 Ouverture Allemande Courante Aria Sarabande Menuet Gigue Partita No 5 in G major BWV 829 10 Praeambulum Allemande Corrente Sarabande Tempo di Minuetto Passepied Gigue Partita No 6 in E minor BWV 830 11 Toccata Allemande Corrente Air Sarabande Tempo di Gavotta GigueNotable recordings editOn clavichord edit Richard Troeger Lyrichord Discs 2000 first recorded the partitas on clavichord Menno van Delft Resonus Classics 2018 On harpsichord edit nbsp Close of final Gigue from Partita No 6 BWV 830 first edition 1731 Wanda Landowska 1935 or 1936 Ralph Kirkpatrick 1958 Helmut Walcha EMI 1962 Gustav Leonhardt Deutsche Harmonia Mundi 1964 70 and Virgin 1986 Martin Galling 1964 Karl Richter TELDEC Telefunken Decca 1960 SAWT9913 B SAWT9914 B Blandine Verlet Philips 1978 and Naive 2001 Kenneth Gilbert Harmonia Mundi 1985 Trevor Pinnock Archiv 1985 and Hanssler 1998 99 Huguette Dreyfus Denon 1986 Scott Ross Erato 1988 Christophe Rousset L Oiseau Lyre 1992 Andreas Staier Deutsche Harmonia Mundi 1993 Siegbert Rampe EMI Music Germany 2000 Masaaki Suzuki BIS 2001 Zuzana Ruzickova Supraphon 1984 Pascal Dubreuil Ramee 2008 Benjamin Alard Alpha 2010 Peter Watchorn Musica Omnia 2013 Martin Gester Ligia 2015 Jory Vinikour Sono Luminus 2016 Colin Tilney Music and Arts 2020 Giulia Nuti Arcana 2024 On piano edit Rosalyn Tureck 1949 50 Dinu Lipatti BWV 825 EMI Classics 1950 Glenn Gould Sony 1957 1980 Friedrich Gulda Philips 1972 Tatiana Nikolayeva Melodija 1981 Jean Louis Steuerman Philips 1984 Andras Schiff Decca Classics 1985 Maria Tipo EMI 1991 Wolfgang Rubsam Naxos 1992 Risto Lauriala Alba 1992 Maria Joao Pires DGG 447 894 2 1995 Sergey Schepkin Ongaku 1996 97 Angela Hewitt Hyperion 1997 Richard Goode Nonesuch 2003 Gianluca Luisi OnClassical 2005 07 Martha Argerich Verbier Festival 2008 Murray Perahia Sony 2008 and 2009 Vladimir Ashkenazy Decca 2010 Andres Carciente Noromusic 2012 Igor Levit Sony 2014 Yuan Sheng Piano Classics 2017 Christian Zacharias MDG 2021 On guitar edit Judicael Perroy Partita no 2 Naxos Records 2011 See also editWorks for keyboard by Johann Sebastian Bach English Suites BWV 806 811 French Suites BWV 812 817 List of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach printed during his lifetimeNotes edit Bach 2004 p v Philipp Spitta Johann Sebastian Bach his work and influence on the music of Germany 1685 1750 Volume 3 Novello and company limited 1899 p 156 a b Schulenberg 2006 Bach 2004 Tomita Yo 2002 J S Bach The Six Partitas Yo Tomita s personal web space Retrieved 31 October 2015 Schulenberg 2006 pp 324 326 Schulenberg 2006 pp 326 330 Schulenberg 2006 pp 330 333 Schulenberg 2006 pp 333 337 Schulenberg 2006 pp 337 340 Schulenberg 2006 pp 340 345References editBach J S 2004 Klaus Engler ed 6 Partiten BWV 825 830 Wiener Urtext Edition Schott Universal Edition contains detailed preface by Engler Schulenberg David 2006 The Keyboard Music of J S Bach second ed New York and London Routledge pp 321 345 ISBN 0415974003External links editPartitas for keyboard Scores at the International Music Score Library Project Essay by Yo Tomita on Bach s Partitas Moroney Davitt Program notes on Bach s partitas PDF University of California Berkeley Retrieved 26 November 2020 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Partitas for keyboard Bach amp oldid 1215246348, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
