Bach: The French Suites Richard Egarr

• Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750): Suite no. 1 in d minor, BWV 812:
• 1Bach: French Suite No. 1 in D Minor, BWV 812: I. Allemande04:14
• 2Bach: French Suite No. 1 in D Minor, BWV 812: II. Courante02:00
• 3Bach: French Suite No. 1 in D Minor, BWV 812: III. Sarabande02:42
• 4Bach: French Suite No. 1 in D Minor, BWV 812: IV. Menuet I & II03:18
• 5Bach: French Suite No. 1 in D Minor, BWV 812: V. Gigue03:03
• Suite no. 2 in C minor, BWV 813
• 6Bach: French Suite No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 813: I. Allemande03:20
• 7Bach: French Suite No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 813: II. Courante02:11
• 8Bach: French Suite No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 813: III. Sarabande03:29
• 9Bach: French Suite No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 813: IV. Air01:26
• 10Bach: French Suite No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 813: V. Menuet I01:29
• 11Bach: French Suite No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 813: VI. Gigue02:25
• Suite no. 3 in B minor, BWV 814:
• 12Bach: French Suite No. 3 in B Minor, BWV 814: I. Allemande03:49
• 13Bach: French Suite No. 3 in B Minor, BWV 814: II. Courante02:17
• 14Bach: French Suite No. 3 in B Minor, BWV 814: III. Sarabande03:18
• 15Bach: French Suite No. 3 in B Minor, BWV 814: IV. Menuet I & II (Trio)03:44
• 16Bach: French Suite No. 3 in B Minor, BWV 814: V. Angloise (Gavotte)01:42
• 17Bach: French Suite No. 3 in B Minor, BWV 814: VI. Gigue02:28
• Suite no. 4 in E-flat major, BWV 815:
• 18Bach: French Suite No. 4 in E-Flat Major, BWV 815: I. Allemande03:29
• 19Bach: French Suite No. 4 in E-Flat Major, BWV 815: II. Courante02:03
• 20Bach: French Suite No. 4 in E-Flat Major, BWV 815: III. Sarabande03:16
• 21Bach: French Suite No. 4 in E-Flat Major, BWV 815: IV. Gavotte01:23
• 22Bach: French Suite No. 4 in E-Flat Major, BWV 815: V. Air01:52
• 23Bach: French Suite No. 4 in E-Flat Major, BWV 815: VI. Menuet00:55
• 24Bach: French Suite No. 4 in E-Flat Major, BWV 815: VII. Gigue02:39
• Suite no. 5 in g major, BWV 816:
• 25Bach: French Suite No. 5 In G Major, BWV 816: I. Allemande03:34
• 26Bach: French Suite No. 5 In G Major, BWV 816: II. Courante01:53
• 27Bach: French Suite No. 5 In G Major, BWV 816: III. Sarabande04:16
• 28Bach: French Suite No. 5 In G Major, BWV 816: IV. Gavotte01:06
• 29Bach: French Suite No. 5 In G Major, BWV 816: V. Bourrée01:28
• 30Bach: French Suite No. 5 In G Major, BWV 816: VI. Loure02:13
• 31Bach: French Suite No. 5 In G Major, BWV 816: VII. Gigue03:56
• Suite no. 6 in E major, BWV 817:
• 32Bach: French Suite No. 6 in E Major, BWV 817: I. Allemande03:45
• 33Bach: French Suite No. 6 in E Major, BWV 817: II. Courante01:42
• 34Bach: French Suite No. 6 in E Major, BWV 817: III. Sarabande02:54
• 35Bach: French Suite No. 6 in E Major, BWV 817: IV. Gavotte01:06
• 36Bach: French Suite No. 6 in E Major, BWV 817: V. Polonaise01:39
• 37Bach: French Suite No. 6 in E Major, BWV 817: VI. Menuet01:17
• 38Bach: French Suite No. 6 in E Major, BWV 817: VII. Bourrée01:49
• 39Bach: French Suite No. 6 in E Major, BWV 817: VIII. Gigue02:51
• French Suite No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 813:
• 40Bach: French Suite No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 813: V. Menuet II01:16
• French Suite No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 813/II:
• 41Bach: French Suite No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 813/II: II. Courante (after the autograph, Klavierbüchlein 1722)01:50
• 42Bach: French Suite No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 813/II: II. Courante (after the copy by H. N. Gerber)01:57
• 43Bach: French Suite No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 813/II: II. Courante (after the copy by Anna Magdalena Bach, Klavierbüchlein 1725)02:04
• Total Runtime01:45:08

Info for Bach: The French Suites

The nineteenth century was one in which musicians were very busy applying names and titles to older musical conventions of form, gure and function. Virtually all of the ‘titles’ applied to ‘Classical’ sonatas, symphonies and chamber music by Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven come from a much later time. The music of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries also did not escape this desire to name and codify. Bach’s three sets of keyboard suites were herded together, and the two un-named sets given their different national identities. The six suites that make up BWV 812-817 were labeled as “French”, and the six suites BWV 806-811 as “English”. There are, musically speaking, no good reasons for these brandings. The six “French” are no more French than the so-called “English” suites, or the six Partitas that form Clavierübung 1 for that matter.

The six beautiful suites that were combined to form the set on this recording have not gained particular favour in recording or performance, perhaps because of their miniature and intimate nature. Apart from the G major suite (one even I played on the piano as a young boy) which has a certain outgoing and ashy demeanor, these suites make few appearances in concerts or recordings. Recorded performances often omit many repeats in order to squeeze them onto a single disc, reducing their impact even further. …

Richard Egarr, harpsichord

Richard Egarr
brings a joyful sense of adventure and a keen, enquiring mind to all his music-making. He is equally happy conducting, directing from the keyboard or playing concerti (on organ, harpsichord, fortepiano or modern piano), giving solo recitals, playing chamber-music, and indeed talking about music at every opportunity.

Music Director of the Academy of Ancient Music since 2006, Egarr has further renewed his contract to 2017. AAM began a new relationship in September 2012 as Associate Ensemble at the Barbican Centre, where plans include a cycle of Monteverdi operas. Early in his tenure Egarr established the Choir of the AAM, and operas/oratorios lie at the heart of his repertoire; in 2010 he conducted Mozart’s opera La Finta Giardiniera in concert at the Barbican Centre and the Theatre des Champs-Elysees. He made his Glyndebourne debut in 2007 conducting a staged version of The Matthew Passion. Egarr is a lasting inspiration to young musicians, maintaining regular relationships at the Amsterdam Conservatoire, Britten Pears Foundation, and the Netherlands Opera Academy (La Clemenza di Tito, Le Nozze di Figaro and Rossini’s Il Signor Bruschino) and is a Visiting Artist at the Juilliard School in New York.

Egarr was recently announced Principal Guest Conductor of the Residentie Orchestra in The Hague, having regularly guest-conducted the orchestra in recent years. Starting in September 2013 he will conduct three projects each season, with a brief to further explore eighteenth- and nineteenth-century performance practices, launching with a performance of Haydn’s Creation in December 2013.

Egarr has a flourishing career as a guest conductor with orchestras ranging from Boston’s Handel and Haydn Society where he is an annual guest, to the London Symphony, Royal Concertgebouw and Philadelphia orchestras. In 2011 he was appointed Associate Artist of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra in recognition of his growing relationship with the ensemble.

He continues to play recitals across the world, returning to the Wigmore Hall in January 2014 for a solo harpsichord recital, and in January 2013 played the Bach English Suites in London and Cambridge to coincide with his latest Harmonia Mundi release. Notable amongst an impressive discography are the Goldberg Variations and Well-Tempered Clavier, Mozart fantasias and rondos, and the complete harpsichord works of Louis Couperin, also many award-winning duo recordings with Andrew Manze. His growing list of recordings directing the Academy of Ancient Music includes seven Handel discs (2007 Gramophone Award, 2009 MIDEM and Edison awards), the complete Brandenburg Concerti, and Birth of the Symphony - Handel to Haydn, the first recording released on the AAM’s own label in September 2013.

Egarr trained as a choirboy at York Minster, at Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester, and as organ scholar at Clare College Cambridge. His studies with Gustav and Marie Leonhardt further inspired his work in the field of historical performance.

Booklet for Bach: The French Suites