HARMONIA MUNDI
1 LP - HM 30 868 - (p) 1968
2 CDs - GD 77013 - (c) 1990

CLAVIERÜBUNG II (1735)





Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750) Partita h-moll, BWV 831 (Ouvertüre nach französischer Art)
27' 32" A

- Ouvertüre 8' 19"  


- Courante 2' 33"


- Gavotte I/II 2' 40"


- Passepied I/II
 3' 04"


- Sarabande 2' 39"


- Bourrée I/II 2' 58"


- Gigue 2' 03"


- Echo 3' 16"


Italienisches Konzert F-dur, BWV 971
13' 14" B1

- Allegro 4' 20"


- Andante 4' 30"


- Presto 4' 24"


Praeludium, Fuge und Allegro Es-dur, BWV 998 *
10' 36" B2





 
Gustav Leonhardt, Cembalo
- Martin Skowroneck nach einem Original von J. D. Dulcken, Antwerpen 1745
- Carl August Gräbner, Dresden 1782 (2 manualiges) *
 





Luogo e data di registrazione
Cedernsaal, Schloß Kirchheim (Germany)
- 3 novembre 1967 (BWV 831)
- settembre 1965 (BWV 971 & 998)

Registrazione: live / studio
studio

Recording Supervision
Dr. Alfred Krings

Engineer
Hubert Kübler

Prima Edizione LP
Harmonia Mundi | HM 30 868 | 1 LP - durata 51' 20" | (p) 1968

Edizione CD
Deutsche Harmonia Mundi | LC 0761 | GD 77013 | 2 CDs - durata 65' 16" - 66' 35" | (c) 1990 | ADD

Cover Art
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Note
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The first part of the Clavierübung with six partitas was published by Johann Sebastian Bach himself in 1731. This first collection already began to unfold an entire panorama of the art of the suite and of pianistic problems. But the series was magnificently expanded in 1735 with a second part containing the Italian concerto and a partita in B minor, a third part containing the so-called "organ mass" and four duets, and finally the impressive late work, the Goldberg Variations, which comprise the fourth part.
Bach's intention, as stated in the title of the second part, is explicit:
"Part Two at the Clavier Exercises Consisting of a Concerto according to the Italian Taste and an Overture in the French Manner, for a Harpsichord with two Manuals.
Dedicated to the Appreciative, tor the Pleasure of Spirit. Composed by J. S. Bach".
In both works Bach makes the Italian and French orchestral styles serviceable tor the harpsichord. A piece showing Italian origins, which through its three-movement structure is distinctly separate irom the older type of church sonata, it makes a virtuoso instrument out of the harpsichord. The style of Vivaldi‘s violin art and the contrast between solo and orchestra are just as equally combined with Bach's personal harpsichord technique, as the widely extended melody of the Andante with its wandering coloratura is modelled after the free style of southern singing.
The mastery of an orchestral style becomes even more evident in the Partita in B minor. The model of Lully, who included five-part dance movements in his ballets and operas and who with the introductory music ot these works created the conception of the French overture, continued to be felt in France even up to Bach's day. The name of the introductory overture, with its weighty, sharply dotted rhythms of the beginning Grave and with its fugally treated, lively second section, had frequently given the name "overture" to entire suites since the seventeenth century already. The lack of the Allemande, a pure keyboard form, indicates clearly that Bach worked from the notion of an orchestral work for harpsichord. The traditional movements Courantc, Sarabande and Gigue are complemented by two Gavottes, two Passepieds which precede the Sarabande, and two Bourrées which follow it as cheerful interlude.
Whereas Bach still made reference to the Italian correnta on several occasions in the partitas of the first part of the Clavierübung, the Courante from the B-minor Partita demonstrates how the change of metre sways between 3/2 and 6/4. Marpurg described this rhythm in his critical correspondence concerning music with these words: "The actual metre of the courantes in the French style, although belonging to the weighty 3/2 time, borrows, according to the external form at different places, much from the 6/4 time. The only difference is that these 6/4 passages must be played in the regular 3/2 time. The decesed choir-master Bach has left behind enough genuine examples of this some courante metre".
A musical finale follows the obbllgato gigue of the partita, similar to Bach's use of it in connexion with the badinerie in his suite for orchestra in B minor. The virtuoso piece with its dance-like vitality has the title "Echo". The imitations are, however, in no way obtrusive, but rather always incorporated succinctly into this skilfully treated section.
Numerous distinctions can be noted in the two works of Part II of the Clavierübung. The general sound of the Italian concerto, and especially that of the outer movements, appears sharper and brighter through the higher register and the particular stamp of the musical figures. Such contrasts also demand, of course, a diversified manner of playing. In the Italian concerto, this develops out of the driving but nonetheless even flow of music. In the Partita, to the contrary, all those nuances of rhythm and motion are noticeable which belong to an art inspired from France. The music of two countries is mirrored in the production of a German composer, who demonstrates amazingly how great art extends beyond lands and times.
A work appears on our recording which may serve as a small supplement to the second part of the Clavierübung and whirh has come down to us in a manuscript froin Johann Sebastian’s hand from the remaining papers at Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. The instrumental designation "pour la Luthe ò Cembal" precedes the three movements Prelude, Fugue and Allegro. Bach's knowledge of the lute was deepened through the distinguished lutenist Sülvius Weiß, who was active at the Dresden court and who could provide new impulses with his own significant compositions at a time when this beloved instrument of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries was practically no longer played. Our recording with harpsichord achieves special charm through an original instrument by Carl August Gräbner (Dresden, 1782 from the collection of instruments at the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg.