Partita in B flat

in B♭ major

Johann Sebastian Bach 1685–1750

B♭ major

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Themes & character

Opens the six Partitas·Dedicated to a newborn prince·Adds a Praeludium·Twin minuets

At a glance

Key: B♭ major

Movements

Praeludium

Allemande

Corrente

Sarabande

Minuet I

Minuet II

Gigue

About the piece

Partita No. 1, composed around 1726, was written for the newborn son of Bach's former patron, Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Kothen, and published on its own before Bach eventually issued it alongside five companion partitas as his Clavier-Ubung I in 1731, his first published keyboard collection. Unlike the French and English Suites, the partita opens with a freely composed Praeludium rather than a strict dance movement, and inserts a pair of minuets before the closing gigue. Bach himself regarded the six partitas as the summit of his keyboard suites.

The composer

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.