Bach Orchestral Suites Nos. 1, 3 4.nfo
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Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Jeanne Lamon - Bach Orchestral Suites
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Artist...............: Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Jeanne Lamon
Album................: Bach Orchestral Suites
Genre................: Classical
Source...............: CD
Year.................: 2002
Ripper...............: Exact Audio Copy &
Codec................: Free Lossless Audio Codec (FLAC)
Version..............: reference libFLAC 1.2.1 20070917
Quality..............: Lossless, (avg. compression: 52 %)
Channels.............: Stereo / 44100 HZ / 16 Bit
Tags.................: ID3 v1.1, ID3 v2.4VorbisComment
Ripped by............: Sawbuck
Included.............: NFO, LOG, PAR v2, CUE
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http://www.analekta.com/en/album/?tafelmusik-baroque-orchestra-bach-orchestral-suites.1296.html
Composers:
Bach, Johann Sebastian
Performers:
Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, | Lamon, Jeanne
Orchestral Suites Nos. 1, 3 4
When one glances at the list of compositions by Johann
Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), one realizes that his
instrumental output, particularly that for orchestra or
chamber ensemble, is very small. The thematic catalogue
of his works lists some 1,080 entries. Of these, one-
half comprises sacred vocal and/or choral music, and
one-quarter comprises solo organ music.
Of the remaining 300 instrumental works, some 225 are
for solo harpsichord, leaving a mere handful of works
for solo violin, solo violoncello, small chamber
ensemble and orchestra. Ironically, it is upon this
small portion of his output that much of Bach's present
renown rests. Ask an average music-lover to hum an aria
from a Bach cantata and they may well have difficulty,
but few would have to think twice before whistling the
theme of the Fifth Brandenburg Concerto or the Air "on
the G String" from the Third Orchestral Suite. The
reason for this apparent imbalance is simple enough: the
shift of public music making in Germany from a sacred to
a secular stage post-dated Bach. His largest audiences
were to be found in the congregations of the many
churches in which Bach found employment, and a large
portion of his time as both performer and composer was
spent providing music for this public.
Only two of Bach's official posts required him to
compose and perform a quantity of instrumental music:
1723), and that of Director of the Collegium Musicum in
direction an ensemble of very talented instrumentalists
and a discerning employer, who together inspired many
great works from the pen of their Kapellmeister. In
Leipzig he was responsible for the weekly Friday
concerts of the Collegium Musicum at Zimmermann's Coffee
House. The Collegium was made up of university student
musicians, supplemented by amateur and professional
musicians, and frequented by travelling guest soloists,
often of considerable renown.
The dating of Bach's extant instrumental music is in
many cases impossible. Many of the works first thought
been composed for the Leipzig Collegium. Many works,
including the orchestral suites, have survived only in
the form of copies by friends or colleagues of Bach.
Only four orchestral suites have come down to us, the
first orchestral suite scored for two oboes, bassoon and
strings; the second orchestral suite for flute and
strings; and the third and fourth orchestral suites for
a larger ensemble with oboes, bassoon, trumpets, timpani
and strings.
All four suites are in the style favoured by the Germans
and made famous at the time by such composers as
Telemann and Fasch: each has an extensive overture, with
a complex and lengthy fugal section incorporating
elements of the Italian concerto grosso, followed by a
series of dances and character movements.
Suite No. 1 in C major (BWV 1066)
Throughout the First Suite the three wind players - two
oboes and a bassoon - take centre stage. The dance
movements show how completely Bach mastered the styles
of the French courtly dances, evidenced also in his
keyboard suites. Among the dances is the only extant
example in Bach's output of a forlane, a Venetian street
dance accompanied by mandolin, castanets, and drums.
Forlanes became popular dances in the 18th-century
French ballet, and Telemann in turn imported them into
the German orchestral suite.
Suite No. 3 in D major (BWV 1068)
The more extrovert Third Suite, scored for three
trumpets, timpani, oboes, bassoon, and strings, is
arguably the most popular of Bach's suites, perhaps
because of the inclusion of the exquisite Air. The
latter is an oasis of beauty and calm between the
energetic overture and the boisterous final dances.
Mendelssohn Mendelssohn championed this suite, and
reports in one of his letters that he played the work
for Goethe in 1830.
Suite No. 4 in D major (BWV 1069)
The Fourth Suite is scored similarly to the Third Suite,
with the addition of a third oboe. It has a more
extensive history: in its original version, probably
employ trumpets and timpani. The overture, with the
addition of flutes, trumpets and timpani, was later used
as the opening movement in Cantata 110, "Unser Mund sei
voll Lachens."
The majestic outer sections were purely orchestral, but
in the lively fugal allegro Bach added a four-part
chorus in a masterful parody. At some yet later point in
Leipzig, he turned to the work again, creating the
orchestral suite as we now know it. For this version
Bach retained the trumpet and timpani parts of the
cantata, with slight alterations, and re-worked the
dance movements to include the brass.
Release date: January 28, 2003
Album code: FL 2 3134
Periods: Baroque
Genres: Orchestral Music
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http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=63091&source=ANALEKTA
Period-instrument performers have become so adept (and
let's face it, from a purely technical point of view, much
of the music isn't so difficult to play) that releases such
as this are almost impossible to criticize. True, you don't
get the B minor Suite for flute and strings and thus miss
hearing the original version of Badinerie, one of the more
popular call signals on today's cellular telephones (I
wonder what old Bach would have thought of that?). But at
more than 67 minutes, no one could call this program
ungenerous. In fact, the arrangement of the three suites
(the two in D flanking the one in C) makes a very
satisfying program to enjoy at a sitting, and the
performances themselves are for all intents and purposes
perfect.
Jeanne Lamon and her redoubtable ensemble know this music
like the back of their hands, and they obviously love it
too. It would be difficult to describe a more invigorating
and freshly imagined approach to these works. The Overtures
step lively, projecting grandeur without pomposity, and
happily do not make a fetish over those dotted rhythms. The
quick movements, particularly the Gavottes and Gigue in
Suite No. 3, the Forlane and Passepieds in Suite No. 1, and
ends, certainly will set your toe tapping. They are
irresistible. The famous Air (not on a G string) flows
serenely, but the string-playing never sounds pinched or
cold as so often happens on period instruments. These
performers stroke their instruments gracefully: they don't
squeeze them like a near-empty tube of toothpaste.
It's true, there's a lot of competition in this music, and
there are performances with more emphasis, say, on trumpets
and drums (Kuijken, for example) in the suites that call
for them, though none are better balanced, or more warmly
recorded than these. In short, this disc is a joy from
start to finish, and if you're looking for a fine single
disc of Bach's suites and don't miss No. 2 in B minor
terribly, you simply can't go wrong in choosing this
refreshing and supremely polished production from Analekta.
--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com
Works on This Recording
1.
Suite for Orchestra no 4 in D major, BWV 1069 by Johann Sebastian Bach
Conductor: Jeanne Lamon
Orchestra/Ensemble: Tafelmusik
Period: Baroque
Written: circa 1729-1731; Leipzig, Germany
2.
Suite for Orchestra no 1 in C major, BWV 1066 by Johann Sebastian Bach
Conductor: Jeanne Lamon
Orchestra/Ensemble: Tafelmusik
Period: Baroque
3.
Suite for Orchestra no 3 in D major, BWV 1068 by Johann Sebastian Bach
Conductor: Jeanne Lamon
Orchestra/Ensemble: Tafelmusik
Period: Baroque
Written: circa 1729-1731; Leipzig, Germany
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Playing Time.........: 01:11:54
Total Size...........: 342.73 MB
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