Bach: The Orchestral Suites

Featuring

Sylvie Kraus
Cordula Breuer
Werner Matske
Concerto Köln
Johann Sebastian Bach

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Historical Context

During the reign of Louis XIV in France, dance played a paramount role, with the King himself being a passionate dancer.

Composition History

Jean-Baptiste Lully, court composer to Louis XIV, was the first to combine ballet divertissements into a suite, performing them separately from opera, thus creating the orchestral suite genre.

Composer Biography

Bach was exposed to French dance and style early in life through Thomas de la Selle, a student of Lully, who taught at Bach's school in Lüneburg.

Interpretation

Concerto Köln chose the French tuning pitch of a' = 392-394 Hz for this recording to achieve a relaxed, dark, and muted timbre, supporting the light bounce of French dance music.

Performer Biography

Concerto Köln has a discography of over 50 CDs, many of which have received prestigious awards like the Echo, Grammy, and Diapason d'Or.

Performer Biography

Concerto Köln, founded in 1985, is a leading orchestra in historical performance practice, known for its energetic style and thoroughly-researched interpretations.

Composition History

The history of Bach's four orchestral suites is mysterious; they survive only in copies from his Leipzig period, likely edited by Bach around the 1730s, with initial versions possibly from his time as court composer in Köthen or Weimar.