Little Freiburg music festival: »sei solo«

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I also love Bach for all the above reasons, and many more. For me there is no question that he is the greatest composer of all time. It is all the more surprising and heart-warming to note the modesty he displayed in rare testimonials referring to his own work and vocation as a composer. When I learn that a composer of Bach’s stature published his impressive collection of partitas under the modest title Clavierübung (“Exercise for Keyboard”), and when I read his statement that music’s only purpose should be “the glory of God and the recreation of the human spirit”, I see that he was manifestly excluding his own person – a gesture that stands in stark contrast with my own generation’s chronic hubris and boundless egocentricity.

Published in 1731 under the title Clavierübung Opus 1, the Partitas consist in a collection of 6 works, each containing a succession of dance movements in varied styles (exactly like the French Suites and English Suites, composed one year earlier). Apart from the basic movements Allemande, Courante/Corrente, Sarabande, and Gigue, which form the backbone of almost every suite, a certain number of further movements are either placed at the beginning or interspersed throughout: Preludes, Minuets, Passepieds, and many other types, all generally subsumed under the term Galanterien.

Partita No. 2 in C Minor exceptionally deviates from the traditional model by not closing with a gigue, but with a dance the composer labels Capriccio, the only movement of its kind in his entire suite output. The Partita in C Minor is also relatively short compared to the rest: it is in six movements, as opposed to seven in all the other cases. The dances in these suites have their origins in several Euro- pean countries: France (courante, ouverture, passepied and others), Italy (toccata, corrente, etc.), Germany (allemande), Spain (sarabande) and the British Isles (gigue).

Musicologists thus have good reason to point out that each suite is akin to the musical realization of an ideal understanding among European nations. Although Bach surprisingly never traveled to any of those countries, he knew their music better than anyone else. This could be partly due to his artistic genius and fine sense for stylistic nuance; on the other hand, throughout his life, Bach devoted meticulous study to the works of foreign masters, which led, early on, to a remarkable maturity and self-assurance in his mastery of the styles of his predecessors and contemporaries.

If we make a comparison among the partitas, we notice that each one features a thoroughly unique, individual introductory movement (Praeludium, Sinfonia, Fantasia, Ouverture, Praeambulum, Toccata), whereas the French Suites all began with an allemande, and the English Suites were all introduced by a prélude. Each partita thus acquires its own flavor, establishing its specific character from the onset. The French and Italian styles are the most significant and frequent ones we encounter. In several cases, the proportion of movements of French and Italian provenance is held in equitable balance.

The B Flat Major Partita has an Italian corrente, but also a pair of minuets in the French style; the G Major Partita likewise features an Italian corrente, but also a passepied, thus a dance of French origin as well. Only the two most extended works in the collection, the D Major and E Minor Partitas, tend to focus more on one style than on the other. The D Major Partita thus sets in with an overture in French style, and is rounded off with a courante and further Galanterien in the French style; the E Minor Partita, on the other hand, is not only marked by its introductory movement in toccata-like, virtuoso Italian style, but also by its version of the corrente as well as the two last movements. Thus, in the collection as a whole, these two works are prominent opposite poles, like day and night, and this is likewise reflected in their keys.

Bach’s choice of key is anything but arbitrary. Baroque “key character” plays a central role in his output: no wonder, then, that he often chose the same key for works of similar mood and emotional expression. If we want to better determine a certain piece’s character, it is thus not only helpful but even essential to be familiar with as many works by Bach as possible.

Thus, the 4th Partita, in Bach’s chosen key of D Major, is particularly sumptuous and radiant, similarly to the 5th Brandenburg Concerto or the orchestra suites BWV 1068 and 1069. The 6th Partita is entirely different: in Bach’s music, E Minor is often associated with sadness and suffering, as in the particularly chromatic E Minor Fugue of the Well-Tempered Clavier Vol. I, or also in the St Matthew Passion.

The order of the partitas on this recording does not follow the printed version – for several reasons. For one, from a purely technical point of view, a chronological order would be difficult to put into practice. Partitas Nos. 4 and 6 last half an hour each and would fit on one CD, but combined with No. 5 they would surpass the total length of 80 minutes per CD.

Apart from this, however, I do not find it obligatory to listen to the partitas in the order in which they were printed, since the composer himself certainly did not have a live performance of the entire collection in mind, but viewed each one as a self-contained work. I have thus chosen to introduce each CD with an overture-like movement (CD 1 sets in with the Ouverture of the 4th Partita, and CD 2 begins with the Sinfonia of the 2nd), while, at the same time, proposing a succession of suites in major and minor modes.

I also found it appropriate to place the two longest and most diametrically opposed works, Partitas 4 and 6, at the beginning and at the end of the recorded collection, thereby achieving a certain degree of symmetry. The chosen order and the regular alternation between major and minor (as opposed to the chronological order, which would have C Minor followed by A Minor, and D Major followed by G Major) serve to highlight the variety among these works.

CD 1: The sumptuous, “orchestral” D Major Partita is followed by the A Minor Partita, which can be

described as passionate and full of impetus. This is contrasted by the B Flat Major Partita with its cheerful, gentle, pastoral character.

CD 2: The dramatic, quasi-tragic Partita in C Minor is followed by the G Major Partita with its virtuoso lightness of touch and subtle humor, as opposed to the passionate weight of the E Minor Partita.

Major contrasts not only reign among the partitas as a whole, but they can likewise be found if we view the individual movements in detail. Bach’s music is often based on a juxtaposition of apparently contradictory elements: dance vs. passion, drama vs. humor, piety vs. sensuality. In real life, however, pleasure and pain are inseparably interwoven: we can feel no joy without sadness; we cannot bear suffering without hope.

To return to my reflections from the beginning: Bach’s music probably moves us so much because of the inclusive, “this and also that” world view it represents. It avoids straightjacketed views and one-way streets, refusing to oversimplify the world’s complexity. Bach’s music thus embodies a differentiated view of human experience as a permanent, indissoluble coexistence of good and evil, harmony and chaos, life and death.«

© 2021 Schaghajegh Nosrati

Tickets for this wonderful recital taking place on Sunday, 17.07.2022 at 11 a.m. (admission from 10:20 a.m.) can be purchased in advance via the ticket shop seen below and at the box office on the day of the recital. The number of seats is limited to 80. Therefore an online-purchase is highly recommended in order to ensure a seat.