Bach: "Fait pour les Anglois" (The English Suites)

Featuring

Pascal Dubreuil
Johann Sebastian Bach

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Compositional Technique

The Preludes in Bach's English Suites demonstrate rhetorical amplification, with their length increasing from 37 bars in the first Suite to 195 bars in the sixth.

Compositional Technique

The English Suites incorporate elements of both French and Italian styles, combining rigorous counterpoint with French dance structures and Italianate ornamentation.

Composition History

The English Suites are known by that name because Bach's biographer, Johann Nikolaus Forkel, stated that the composer wrote them for an "Englishman of quality."

Interpretation

The harpsichordist, Pascal Dubreuil, has published the first complete French translation of Joachim Burmeister's 1606 treatise Musica Poetica, reflecting his research into musical rhetoric.

Composition History

Bach likely began composing the English Suites during his time in Weimar and completed them while serving as Kapellmeister at the court of Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Köthen.

Performer Biography

Pascal Dubreuil, the harpsichordist on this album, studied with notable figures like Kenneth Gilbert and Gustav Leonhardt, and won an award at Bruges in 1997.

Historical Context

The English Suites reflect the 18th-century German debate on oratorical style, particularly the tension between "brevity" (concise expression) and "abundance" (elaborate discourse).