Description
A lengthened second beat gives this E major Sarabande in 3/4 its particular repose. It is the third movement of French Suite No. 6, BWV 817, the central dance after the Allemande and Courante. The sarabande came originally from Spain, but by Bach's time it had become a slow, solemn dance in triple time, and it was the place in a suite where the most expressive movement stood; among the quick dances of No. 6, it is one of the few moments of calm.
It is in binary form, each half repeated, and with 288 notes in about 75 seconds it is a slow movement with relatively few notes for this suite. The range runs from C#2 to B5.
With fewer notes, the sound of each one and the movement of the harmony are clearly exposed. The challenge is less speed than keeping the melody singing without breaks and holding each note for its full length. Slow the playback speed to follow the harmonic changes by ear, and use the hand colours to check the balance between melody and accompaniment; the rise and fall within this quiet movement will become clear.
Six keyboard suites by Bach that elegantly incorporate Baroque dance forms.
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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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