Masaaki Suzuki – Bach: English Suites (2019) [FLAC 24bit/96kHz]

A busy schedule as music director of the Bach Collegium Japan and sought-after guest conductor doesn’t stop Masaaki Suzuki from returning to his first loves, the organ and the harpsichord. With the present release he adds yet another chapter to his series of Bach’s works for solo harpsichord. After acclaimed recordings of the Well-tempered Clavier, the Goldberg variations, the French Suites and other works the turn has come to the English Suites. Composed while Bach were in his thirties it precedes other sets such as the French Suites and the Toccatas, and in his liner notes, Bach scholar Yo Tomita draws attention to ‘the stylistic traits of a youthful and ambitious composer wanting to make his mark through the use of counterpoint and virtuosity’.

Despite its title, the collection has very little to do with England, at least musically: the six suites are instead rooted in the French tradition, and show certain striking similarities to the composer Charles Dieupart’s Six Suittes pour le Clavessin from 1701. (Bach made a copy of Dieupart’s set sometime between 1709 and 1716.) It was only in the 19th century that the suites became known as the ‘English’, based on a never substantiated claim that the set was commissioned by an English nobleman

Tracklist:
01. English Suite No. 1 in A Major, BWV 806: I. Prélude
02. English Suite No. 1 in A Major, BWV 806: II. Allemande
03. English Suite No. 1 in A Major, BWV 806: III. Courante I
04. English Suite No. 1 in A Major, BWV 806: IV. Courante II – V. Double I – VI. Double II
05. English Suite No. 1 in A Major, BWV 806: VII. Sarabande
06. English Suite No. 1 in A Major, BWV 806: VIII. Bourrée I & II
07. English Suite No. 1 in A Major, BWV 806: IX. Gigue
08. English Suite No. 2 in A Minor, BWV 807: I. Prélude
09. English Suite No. 2 in A Minor, BWV 807: II. Allemande
10. English Suite No. 2 in A Minor, BWV 807: III. Courante
11. English Suite No. 2 in A Minor, BWV 807: IV. Sarabande
12. English Suite No. 2 in A Minor, BWV 807: V. Bourrée I – VI. Bourrée II
13. English Suite No. 2 in A Minor, BWV 807: VII. Gigue
14. English Suite No. 3 in G Minor, BWV 808: I. Prélude
15. English Suite No. 3 in G Minor, BWV 808: II. Allemande
16. English Suite No. 3 in G Minor, BWV 808: III. Courante
17. English Suite No. 3 in G Minor, BWV 808: IV. Sarabande
18. English Suite No. 3 in G Minor, BWV 808: V. Gavotte I – VI. Gavotte II
19. English Suite No. 3 in G Minor, BWV 808: VII. Gigue
20. English Suite No. 4 in F Major, BWV 809: I. Prélude
21. English Suite No. 4 in F Major, BWV 809: II. Allemande
22. English Suite No. 4 in F Major, BWV 809: III. Courante
23. English Suite No. 4 in F Major, BWV 809: IV. Sarabande
24. English Suite No. 4 in F Major, BWV 809: V. Menuet I – VI. Menuet II
25. English Suite No. 4 in F Major, BWV 809: VII. Gigue
26. English Suite No. 5 in E Minor, BWV 810: I. Prélude
27. English Suite No. 5 in E Minor, BWV 810: II. Allemande
28. English Suite No. 5 in E Minor, BWV 810: III. Courante
29. English Suite No. 5 in E Minor, BWV 810: IV. Sarabande
30. English Suite No. 5 in E Minor, BWV 810: V. Passepied I – VI. Passepied II
31. English Suite No. 5 in E Minor, BWV 810: VII. Gigue
32. English Suite No. 6 in D Minor, BWV 811: I. Prélude
33. English Suite No. 6 in D Minor, BWV 811: II. Allemande
34. English Suite No. 6 in D Minor, BWV 811: III. Courante
35. English Suite No. 6 in D Minor, BWV 811: IV. Sarabande – V. Double
36. English Suite No. 6 in D Minor, BWV 811: VI. Gavotte I – VII. Gavotte II
37. English Suite No. 6 in D Minor, BWV 811: VIII. Gigue