Sophie Yates – Bach: Complete English Suites (2021) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Sophie Yates – Bach: Complete English Suites (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 02:28:59 minutes | 3,19 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Chandos

There is no surviving autograph manuscript of Bach’s English Suites, and for such a set of magnificent pieces, an important and well-loved part of the baroque keyboard “canon”, surprisingly little is known about its history. What we do know is that the suites are amongst Bach’s earlier works – probably written in the second decade of the eighteenth century – and that the appellation “English” was not given to them until the 1750s. In order to understand these fascinating works on a deeper level, we have to appreciate the importance of dance in the cultural context of eighteenth-century Europe. As a social skill, the ability to dance correctly was considered so vital that every court had a dancing master, often French, who taught the different types of dances to aspiring courtiers.

Because of this, dancing, and by extension the instrumental dance suite, was one of the factors contributing to French taste’s becoming a defining characteristic of the baroque style. As we know that the Dancing Master traditionally taught by playing tunes on the violin, it is quite possible that Bach’s own renditions of the dance forms were influenced by the playing of Jean-François Monjou – Dancing Master at the Cöthen court, where the young Johann Sebastian worked from 1717 until 1723.

On that basis, acclaimed early keyboard specialist Sophie Yates has recorded these works on a double-manual Flemish harpsichord by Andrew Garlick, a copy of the petit ravalement instrument by Ioannes Ruckers, 1624, now at the Musée Unterlinden, Colmar, France.

Tracklist:
01. Sophie Yates – Bach: Suite I, BWV 806: I. Prelude (02:51)
02. Sophie Yates – Bach: Suite I, BWV 806: II. Allemande (06:28)
03. Sophie Yates – Bach: Suite I, BWV 806: III. Courante I (01:58)
04. Sophie Yates – Bach: Suite I, BWV 806: IV. Courante II avec deux Doubles (03:42)
05. Sophie Yates – Bach: Suite I, BWV 806: V. Sarabande (04:27)
06. Sophie Yates – Bach: Suite I, BWV 806: VI. Bourrée I – Bourrée II – (Bourrée I repetatur et claudatur) (05:08)
07. Sophie Yates – Bach: Suite I, BWV 806: VII. Gigue (03:12)
08. Sophie Yates – Bach: Suite II, BWV 807: I. Prelude (05:07)
09. Sophie Yates – Bach: Suite II, BWV 807: II. Allemande (04:51)
10. Sophie Yates – Bach: Suite II, BWV 807: III. Courante (02:04)
11. Sophie Yates – Bach: Suite II, BWV 807: IV. Sarabande – Les agréments de la même Sarabande (04:01)
12. Sophie Yates – Bach: Suite II, BWV 807: V. Bourrée I alternativement – Bourrée II – (05:19)
13. Sophie Yates – Bach: Suite II, BWV 807: VI. Gigue – Da Capo (senza ripetizione) al Fine (03:48)
14. Sophie Yates – Bach: Suite III, BWV 808: I. Prelude (03:24)
15. Sophie Yates – Bach: Suite III, BWV 808: II. Allemande (04:37)
16. Sophie Yates – Bach: Suite III, BWV 808: III. Courante (02:40)
17. Sophie Yates – Bach: Suite III, BWV 808: IV. Sarabande – Les agréments de la même Sarabande (03:45)
18. Sophie Yates – Bach: Suite III, BWV 808: V. Gavotte alternativement – Gavotte II ou la Musette (03:38)
19. Sophie Yates – Bach: Suite III, BWV 808: VI. Gigue (03:05)
20. Sophie Yates – Bach: Suite IV, BWV 809: I. Prelude. Vitement (05:05)
21. Sophie Yates – Bach: Suite IV, BWV 809: II. Allemande (04:19)
22. Sophie Yates – Bach: Suite IV, BWV 809: III. Courante (01:51)
23. Sophie Yates – Bach: Suite IV, BWV 809: IV. Sarabande (04:03)
24. Sophie Yates – Bach: Suite IV, BWV 809: V. Menuet I – Menuet II – Repetatur Menuet I (03:51)
25. Sophie Yates – Bach: Suite IV, BWV 809: VI. Gigue (03:46)
26. Sophie Yates – Bach: Suite V, BWV 810: I. Prelude (05:05)
27. Sophie Yates – Bach: Suite V, BWV 810: II. Allemande (04:47)
28. Sophie Yates – Bach: Suite V, BWV 810: III. Courante (02:24)
29. Sophie Yates – Bach: Suite V, BWV 810: IV. Sarabande (03:56)
30. Sophie Yates – Bach: Suite V, BWV 810: V. Passepied I en Rondeau – Passepied II (03:54)
31. Sophie Yates – Bach: Suite V, BWV 810: VI. Gigue (03:16)
32. Sophie Yates – Bach: Suite VI, BWV 811: I. Prelude (09:04)
33. Sophie Yates – Bach: Suite VI, BWV 811: II. Allemande (04:48)
34. Sophie Yates – Bach: Suite VI, BWV 811: III. Courante (02:59)
35. Sophie Yates – Bach: Suite VI, BWV 811: IV. Sarabande – Double (03:45)
36. Sophie Yates – Bach: Suite VI, BWV 811: V. Gavotte I – Gavotte II – Repetatur Gavotte I (04:10)
37. Sophie Yates – Bach: Suite VI, BWV 811: VI. Gigue (03:36)

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