This first partita in Bach’s series of six keyboard partitas appeared in print in 1726. The rest followed in subsequent years and the complete set of six was reprinted in 1731. As early as 1739, music connoisseur Lorenz Christoph Mizler wrote in a review of the repeatedly reprinted organ method or Wegweiser for “the art of playing the organ correctly” that “he who cannot move his fingers better than this will scarcely be able to learn to play the Partitas for the clavier by our famous Herr Bach of Leipzig”. This remark says something about the basic standard aimed at in this method in Mizler’s review, but also about Bach’s partitas.
The Partita in B-flat major immediately lives up to that reputation of above average ‘finger movements’. It becomes apparent in the Praeludium, when the theme we hear at the beginning in the upper part then appears in the left hand with trills and all. And there is something in every movement where a mediocre or careless keyboard player might mess up the fingering. Sometimes it simply concerns a stream of fast arpeggios and leaps in both hands, as in the Corrente. In the slow Sarabande, the challenge lies more in the elegant phrasing of the ornaments and flourishes that are in full view, due to the sparing accompaniment. One small mistake is immediately noticeable.
When the keyboard player then arrives at the two minuets, it appears that the worst of the danger is over, as here Bach does not demand particularly difficult struggles for the fingers. But it was not without reason that Mizler took the partitas as an example. The Gigue that closes the first partita is a tour de force of keyboard technique, which was unparalleled in Bach’s day. With the right hand continually jumping over the left hand, here it is not just the fingers in motion, but the whole hand!
Recorded for the project All of Bach on June 3rd 2021 at the Philharmonie, Haarlem. If you want to help us complete All of Bach, please subscribe to our channel bit.ly/2vhCeFB and consider donating bit.ly/2uZuMj5.
This recording was made with support of Andrew S. Lim, the United States.
For more information on BWV 825 and this production go to allofbach.com/en/bwv/bwv-825/
All of Bach is a project of the Netherlands Bach Society / Nederlandse Bachvereniging, offering high-quality film recordings of the works by Johann Sebastian Bach, performed by the Netherlands Bach Society and its guest musicians. Visit our free online treasury for more videos and background material www.bachvereniging.nl/en/allo.... For concert dates and further information go to www.bachvereniging.nl/nederla....
Mark Edwards, harpsichordist
Harpsichord: Bruce Kennedy, 1989 after Michael Mietke
0:00 Praeludium
2:40 Allemande
7:53 Corrente
11:19 Sarabande
17:34 Menuet I
19:03 Menuet II
20:31 Giga