Bach: Six Partitas, BWV 825-830 - Vladimir Feltsman

FELTSMAN PARTITAS by rgbarbero9

In 1726, Bach had announced in a Leipzig newspaper the publication of a large Suite with Prelude. This Suite was followed by others published separately until all six of them appeared in 1731 as a collection in a single volume. Bach himself engraved and printed his Partitas at his own cost, marking them as Opus 1. The title reads, "Clavier-űbung. Consisting of Preludes, Allemandes, Courantes, Sarabandes, Gigues, Menuets and Other Gallantries Composed for the Pleasurable Diversion of Music Lovers." The fact that Bach marked the Partitas as Opus 1 does not mean that it was his first composition, but simply that it was the first work he had published. "Clavier-übung." ("Keyboard Exercises") would be expanded in time to include three more volumes. The second book contains an Italian Concerto and a French Overture, the third book contains works for organ, and the fourth book includes the Goldberg Variations. The "Clavier-übung" collection represents the most popular musical forms, genres and styles of keyboard music of that time. The Partitas represent the Gallant Style, which means, predominantly, French; the Italian Concerto represents the Grand Italian Style, Tutti-Soli-Ritornellos; the French Suite is an expanded model, a blend of Partita and Orchestral Sus and the Goldberg Variations are a highly contrapuntal German experiment.