English suites, for the piano

Suite

Johann Sebastian Bach 1685–1750
Suite
Form
Score
First page of English suites, for the piano

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Difficulty
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Themes & character
Six dance suites·Grander in scale·Preludes open each suite·Baroque dance forms

At a glance

Form
Suite

About the piece

A set of six suites, likely composed before 1720, more expansive and technically demanding than the later French Suites. Each suite opens with a substantial prelude, absent from the French Suites, before moving through a sequence of stylized Baroque dances. The nickname "English" is not Bach's own and its origin is uncertain, though it has stuck since the eighteenth century. Together the six suites form one of the great cornerstones of Baroque keyboard writing.

The composer

Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
1685–1750

Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the orchestral Brandenburg Concertos; solo instrumental works such as the Cello Suites and Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin; keyboard works such as the Goldberg Variations and The Well-Tempered Clavier; organ works such as the Schübler Chorales and the Toccata and Fugue in D minor; and choral works such as the St. Matthew Passion and the Mass in B minor. He is known for his mastery of counterpoint, as heard in The Musical Offering and The Art of Fugue. Felix Mendelssohn precipitated the Bach Revival with a performance of the St. Matthew Passion in 1829. Ever since, Bach has been acclaimed as one of the greatest composers in the history of Western music.

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