Bach/Mozart Program Notes

Composer: : Johann Sebastian Bach (Born in Eisenach, Germany in 1685; Died in Leipzig, Germany in 1750)

Work composed: Likely before 1723

World premiere: Bach led the premiere of this Cantata in Leipzig on April 8, 1725.

Instrumentation: 2 oboes, 3 trumpets, timpani, strings (and typically a basso continuo, which could be a harpsichord, or organ, or string basses, or a combination of harpsichord and string basses)

Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D Major, BMV 1068

             I. Overture
            II. Air
           III. Gavotte I & II
           IV. Bourrée
            V. Gigue

Of all of Bach’s music, his extant Four Orchestral Suites contain some of his most beloved music. Their origins, however, remain unclear; it is presumed that Bach created these Suites during his days as Kapellmeister for Prince Leopold of Köthen but their only surviving copies date to 1729-1731, while Bach was in Leipzig as Cantor at Thomaskirche, and where he was also the director of the Collegium musicum, a weekly public concert series of mostly secular music founded in 1704 by composer Georg Phillip Telemann (1681–1767). Mystery surrounds the orchestration of Suite No. 3 as well. Its only known original manuscript has just the first violin and continuo (harpsichord) parts in Bach’s own hand; whereas, the wonderfully colorful trumpets, oboe, and timpani parts are written in the hand of Bach’s son, C. P. E. Bach. The additional violin and viola parts are written out by Bach’s student, Johann Ludwig Krebs. Despite their mysterious origins, the music world is lucky to have these much beloved four Suites, filled as they are with such exceptional music.

With regard to the four Orchestral Suites, of which the Third will be performed, Bach emulated the “French Overture” form which originated in the court of Louis XIV. The “French Overture,” as it was known in Bach’s time, was a kind of musical collection of French courtly dances that followed a fairly specific formal structure: It always began with a movement that itself was called an Overture – a slow-fast-slow movement, beginning and ending with regal musical sections that book-ended a spirited fugal middle section. Following this Overture, there were several French courtly dances (called galanteries) which could include some or even all of the following dance forms: minuets, courantes, sarabandes, bourrées, gavottes, gigues, passepieds, and others.

The first movement of the Third Suite, the Overture, follows the traditional slow-fast-slow structure – a rather slow first section, followed by a brisk fugue and counterpoint-filled middle section, and then concluding with a brief return to the music of the first section. The opening section gives a sense of courtly regality and high spirits as the three trumpets, timpani and two oboes are heard. The middle section then sets off at twice the speed in a bracing fugue, beginning with a galloping figure in the oboe and first violins, which is then answered by the additional oboe and violins, and so on, in a traditional fugue. When the trumpets and timpani are added, the vivacity is infectious. The slower regal music of the first section returns to bring the Overture to a very bright close.

The second movement, Air, is one of Bach’s most famous melodies. The origin of this form is not from dance, but rather, from song, and indeed, the Air was a predecessor to what became known as the aria in Italian. Certainly here, its song like essence is this movement’s most exquisite quality. As the cellos, basses, and continuo sweetly saunter quietly forward in a lazy walking bass line, the strings sing above – first by holding a very long note as though a feather is floating on a summer zephyr, while the walking bass progresses through several arpeggiated chords. The Air is ingeniously written only for strings and continuo, without winds trumpets or drums; the contrast with the preceding Overture, therefore, makes this movement all the more breathtaking in its lyrical calmness. So catching is this Air that the German violinist August Wilhelmj (1845–1908) arranged it in 1871 for solo violin and accompaniment (of strings, piano or organ), scored so that the entire melody could be played entirely on the sultry and rich G string on a solo violin, thus becoming known forevermore in both Bach’s and Wilhelmj’s versions, as “Air on the G String.”

The third movement is comprised of two distinct dances classified as Gavottes. These forms originated as folk dances in southern France – including Provence and French Basque country – and they became especially popular dances in Louis XIV’s court. Bach’s Gavotte is perhaps as popular as the preceding Air. It’s a stately dance, but filled with energy, alive with singable charm. The very first notes ring out joyfully from the three trumpets followed by the rest of the orchestra completing their phrase. After about one minute, a second gavotte counters the first, beginning with a descending repeated rhythm in the oboes and strings. Particularly lovely is the way Bach interweaves the instruments – the oboes blending into the strings, blending into the trumpets, and so forth, creating a transient kaleidoscope of sound. The movement ends with a reprise of the first gavotte, filled with trumpet calls and zestful timpani rolls.

The fourth movement is a dance called the Bourrée. Originating in the south-central area of Auvergne in France, bourrées were first known as “clog dances,” but by Bach’s time the dance had migrated to the courtly world, shucking the clogs for fancy shoes, and becoming more lively and elegant. Bach wrote several bourrées as movements for other works, such as the very beloved bourrée movement in his Lute Suite in E Minor (BWV 996) – and he particularly loved imbuing them with sophisticated harmonic invention, as he did in this bourrée. The central theme is led mainly by the oboes, with the trumpets and strings and timpani adding a graceful power to the ends of each phrase. The theme, then, begins to change and skirt around the orchestra, as well as flirt with the minor key, making the melody take on a bit of mystery and contrast. This bourrée is quite brief, however – lasting hardly one minute – and often in performance it blends without pause into the final movement.

The final movement is a Gigue, a dance form that may have not been danced in Louis XIV’s court, but was extremely popular in societal gatherings, especially with the lower nobility; in that form it became one of the delightful galanteries dance options in “French Overture” suites. Nearly always written in a lively and quick rhythm of three notes to a beat (such as 6/8 – here comprised of two triplets for each measure), the gigue reveals its English heritage as a jig, where the dance originated before migrating into the French court in the mid-1600’s. Bach’s finale Gigue is indeed high spirited and lilting. The energy is motorific, with every beat having a triplet played by at least one of the orchestral voices. Especially fun to hear is how Bach creates a magical counterpoint in the orchestral writing. Each set of instruments has their own lines and rhythms, but as fit together by Bach, they collectively create a musical tapestry that sparkles with colorful complexity.