Bach French Suite No.2 in C minor, BWV813 II Rachel Naomi Kudo, Piano

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Recorded February 17, 2023
00:14 Allemande
03:31 Courante
05:20 Sarabande
08:54 Air
10:28 Menuet I
12:00 Menuet II
13:10 Menuet I
14:04 Gigue
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As demand increased for his keyboard teaching, Bach realized that he needed instructive materials other than the virtuoso works of his early years-not only for students who sought him out, but for his own children who were beginning to show considerable musical talents. Thus between 1717 and 1725 he composed a large number of works of varying degrees of difficulty as teaching tools. Heinrich Nikolaus Gerber, who studied with Bach from 1724 to 1727, left an account of his teaching methods, which included starting a student on the two-part Inventions, followed by the three-part Sinfonias, moving on to the so-called French Suites, then the English Suites, and finally to the great “48,” the preludes and fugues of the Well-tempered Clavier. Bach’s own son, Carl Philipp Emanuel, reported the same course of study.
The title “French” that became attached to these Suites in the years following Bach’s death is somewhat mystifying. Though he gave the title in French-Suites de clavecin-the Suites contain as many German and Italian characteristics as they do French. Similarly, the “English” Suites, whose original title was also given in French, do not seem particularly English. In Bach’s lifetime the French Suites were called the “Little” Suites to distinguish them from the more extensive English Suites.
Bach first began collecting the so-called French Suites, composed c. 1722-25, in a notebook he was compiling for his second wife, Anna Magdalena. It is clear that these pieces were, to a certain extent, works in progress, because Bach returned to them several times to make revisions, perhaps with different students in mind. He also left his own copy relatively free of ornamentation, possibly to encourage his students to develop improvisational skills in that regard.
Bach based his suites on a standard series of Baroque dance movements, which by this time were no longer meant for actual dancing-Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, and Gigue. All the movements employ binary form (two sections, each repeated). A variety of additional dance movements could be inserted between the Sarabande and Gigue, the typical place for any slightly more “modern” dance forms. Because the French Suites contain no preludes, the opening Allemandes take on that function and even contain gestures and figuration similar to that of Bach’s preludes.
Suite No. 2 in C minor is one for which several variants exist in the sources, particularly in the Allemande and Courante. The Courante exhibits the “running” style of the Italian corrente in a two-voice texture. For his inserted dances Bach chose an Air, also in two voices, and one or two minuets, depending on the version one follows. The delightful Gigue employs the upbeats, dotted rhythms, and strong-beat accents of the French dance known as the canarie. Bach’s imitative entries add another level of allure.
© Jane Vial Jaffe
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Engineer: Federico Furlanetto
Piano Technician: Massimiliano Pinazzo
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[@annamilluzzo8077]

🤩💋🌺from Italia .

[@ivannvillanueva4778]

Beautiful music; thank you Miss Kudo

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Naomi
Very good 👍👍

[@luky46]

Great performance, thank you for posting. You gave meaning to this Sunday afternoon.

[@manmars1581]

Very well played! 👍

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❤🎉🎉❤

[@huenang05]

Hi! What wonderful playing, do you have any concerts in California?