The four orchestral suites (called ouvertures by their
author), BWV 1066–1069 are four suites by Johann
Sebastian Bach. The name ouverture refers only in part
to the opening movement in the style of the French
overture, in which a majestic opening section in
relatively slow dotted-note rhythm in duple meter is
followed by a fast fugal section, then rounded off with
a short recapitulation in triple meter of the opening
music. More broadly, the term was used in Baroque
Germany for a suite of dan...(+)
The four orchestral suites (called ouvertures by their
author), BWV 1066–1069 are four suites by Johann
Sebastian Bach. The name ouverture refers only in part
to the opening movement in the style of the French
overture, in which a majestic opening section in
relatively slow dotted-note rhythm in duple meter is
followed by a fast fugal section, then rounded off with
a short recapitulation in triple meter of the opening
music. More broadly, the term was used in Baroque
Germany for a suite of dance-pieces in French Baroque
style preceded by such an ouverture. This genre was
extremely popular in Germany during Bach's day, and he
showed far less interest in it than was usual: Robin
Stowell writes that "Telemann's 135 surviving examples
represent only a fraction of those he is known to have
written"; Christoph Graupner left 85; and Johann
Friedrich Fasch left almost 100. Bach did write several
other ouverture (suites) for solo instruments, notably
the Cello Suite no. 5, BWV 1011, which also exists in
the autograph Lute Suite in G minor, BWV 995, the
Keyboard Partita no. 4 in D, BWV 828, and the Overture
in the French style, BWV 831 for keyboard. The two
keyboard works are among the few Bach published, and he
prepared the lute suite for a "Monsieur Schouster,"
presumably for a fee, so all three may attest to the
form's popularity.
Scholars believe that Bach did not conceive of the four
orchestral suites as a set (in the way he conceived of
the Brandenburg Concertos), since the sources are
various. The Badinerie (literally "jesting" in French;
in other works Bach used the Italian word with the same
meaning, "Scherzo") has become a show-piece for solo
flautists because of its quick pace and difficulty.
Joshua Rifkin has argued, based on in-depth analysis of
the partially autograph primary sources, that this work
is based on an earlier version in A minor in which the
solo flute part was scored instead for solo violin.
Rifkin demonstrates that notational errors in the
surviving parts can best be explained by their having
been copied from a model a whole tone lower, and that
this solo part would venture below the lowest pitches
on the flutes Bach wrote for (the transverse flute,
which Bach called flauto traverso or flute
traversiere). Rifkin argues that the violin was the
most likely option, noting that in writing the word
"Traversiere" in the solo part, Bach seems to have
fashioned the letter T out of an earlier "V",
suggesting that he originally intended to write the
word "violin" (the page in question can be viewed here,
p. 6) Further, Rifkin notes passages that would have
used the violinistic technique of bariolage. Rifkin
also suggests that Bach was inspired to write the suite
by a similar work by his second cousin Johann Bernhard
Bach.
Flautist Steven Zohn accepts the argument of an earlier
version in A minor, but suggests that the original part
may have been playable on flute as well as violin.
Oboist Gonzalo X. Ruiz has argued in detail that the
solo instrument in the lost original A minor version
was the oboe, and he has recorded it in his own
reconstruction of that putative original on a baroque
oboe. His case against the violin is that: the range is
"curiously limited" for that instrument, "avoiding the
G string almost entirely," and that the supposed violin
solo would at times be lower in pitch than the first
violin part, something that is almost unheard of in
dedicated violin concertos. By contrast, "the range is
exactly the range of Bach's oboes"; scoring the solo
oboe occasionally lower than the first violin was
typical Baroque practice, as the oboe still comes
through to the ear; and the "figurations are very
similar to those found in many oboe works of the
period."
Although originally scored for Chamber Orchestra, I
created this arrangement for Woodwind Quartet (Flute,
Oboe, Bb Clarinet & Bassoon).
