French Suite No.5: Bourrée

Description

Between the gavotte and the loure comes the bourrée, the fifth movement of French Suite No. 5 in G major. Baroque suites customarily set lighter dances such as gavottes and bourrées between the core movements, allemande, courante, sarabande and gigue, and this is one of those inserted dances.

It is in G major and 2/2, with 375 notes, few for this suite, and about two minutes of playing time. The bourrée is a quick two-beat dance of French origin, marked by a springing rhythm that begins in the second half of the bar. Two voices move nimbly, pressing forward by repeating short motifs. Compared with the gavotte and loure around it, this is the movement where the spring of the beat comes most to the fore.

It is rated intermediate; the notes are not dense, but the rhythm needs to be crisp. The task is to keep the two broad beats of 2/2 and articulate the leaping figures clearly. Like the other movements of No. 5, it spans D2 to C6, which a 61-key keyboard covers. Slow the playback to check each hand's motion with the hand colours, and practise with the A-B loop while confirming where each downbeat falls, to finish it with its dance spring intact.

Six keyboard suites by Bach that elegantly incorporate Baroque dance forms.