Description
In a suite otherwise in A minor, this Bourrée II is one of the few turns to the major: a short A major dance in 2/2 whose melody sings brightly and simply after the busy figures of Bourrée I. It stands second in the pair of bourrées of English Suite No. 2; written in a contrasting character, it is customarily followed by a return to Bourrée I.
It lasts about 32 seconds with 297 notes, less than half the size of Bourrée I. Its range is compact, D2 to E5, giving a light, clear sound. The bourrée rhythm starting in the second half of the bar remains.
It is rated intermediate, but its small size makes it one of the more approachable pieces in the suite. Its narrow range fits on a 61-key keyboard. With few notes, the shaping of the melody and the lightness of the accompaniment are clearly heard, so the task is to shape each phrase's rise and fall with care. Slow the playback to check each hand's role with the hand colours, and once it is ready, play it with Bourrée I to feel the suite's movement from minor to major and back.
Six suites by Bach known as the "English Suites," combining French elegance with technical brilliance.
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Sheet music provided by Mutopia Project
About the Composer
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Johann Sebastian Bach was the towering figure of German Baroque music, serving for decades as Cantor of St. Thomas Church in Leipzig. Renowned for his mastery of counterpoint, he laid the foundations of keyboard music with works such as The Well-Tempered Clavier and the Inventions. This site includes minuets and polonaises from the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach, the Inventions and Sinfonias, and fugues from The Well-Tempered Clavier. The Notebook pieces are catalogued with BWV Anh. (appendix) numbers, but many are by other composers - Petzold's minuets among them - or by no one known, and most of their song pages give the current view of who wrote them.
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