Bach: Ouvertures

Featuring

Alfredo Bernardini
Zefiro
Johann Sebastian Bach

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Interpretation

The album includes two reconstructed overtures, BWV 119R and BWV 194R, based on Bach's cantata choruses, reflecting his practice of reusing music.

Composition History

Bach's four orchestral ouvertures-suites were likely conceived during his time in Köthen (1717-1723), where he focused on secular and instrumental music.

Composer Biography

Jean-Baptiste Lully, a Florentine-born composer, became Louis XIV's trusted court composer, rising to 'superintendent of the royal music' in 1661.

Composer Biography

Bach had direct contact with French musicians as a teenager, studying at the Michaelisschule in Lüneburg, a center of French culture where students conversed in French.

Historical Context

Around 1700, the French court of Louis XIV, the 'Sun King,' was considered supreme in Europe, influencing political, military, economic, and cultural life.

Compositional Technique

Lully's dance music, particularly his opera overtures, is characterized by a dotted rhythm in the slow opening section, followed by a lively fugue, and often ending with another slow section.

Historical Context

Many French musicians moved to Germany due to the persecution of Huguenots after the Edict of Nantes was revoked in 1685, or due to disagreements with Lully.