French Suites

Bach wrote six “French Suites.” Bach himself titled them “Suites for Clavier,” and the person who coined the name “French Suites” is unknown. It is likely that they came to be called this because they are elegant, approachable, and refined music, incorporating a French sensibility. The exact composition date is also unclear, but it is estimated to be around 1722. This is because five pieces from the French Suites (Nos. 1-5) are included in the collection “Klavierbüchlein” (1722), which Bach first presented to his second wife, Anna Magdalena, whom he married in 1721 after the death of his first wife.

All of them are composed of several dance movements, proceeding with Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, and concluding with a Gigue. These four dance movements form the classical standard form of the keyboard suite established in the late 17th century. Following the custom of the time, Bach used typical melodic patterns and idioms from the beginning of the pieces that immediately identify these dance movements.

Descriptions of Core Dance Movements

• Allemande: A word meaning “German” in French, in 4/4 time, beginning on an upbeat. It is a dance that proceeds calmly and continuously without interruption.
• Courante: A lively dance at a somewhat fast tempo; in the French style, it is in 3/2 or 6/4 time, and in the Italian style, it is in 3/4 or 3/8 time.
• Sarabande: A triple-meter dance of Spanish origin, where two consecutive measures form a unit. It proceeds solemnly and heavily.
• Gigue: A light and fast dance originating from England. Its original time signature is typically 3/8, 6/8, or 12/8, but Bach sometimes notated it in 4/4 time, dividing one beat into triplets.

Optional Dance Movements

While the sequence of dance movements was standardized as A-C-S-G in Bach's time, various “modern dances” were permitted to be inserted between the Sarabande and the Gigue. Representative examples include:

• Air: Which is an aria in Italian, is a song-like piece of music. Therefore, the Air is not inherently a dance movement but an instrumental piece often inserted into suites composed of dances.
• Minuet: An elegant and graceful dance that originated in France and became popular in high society. It is in a calm 3/4 time, and later Haydn adopted it in his symphonies. Furthermore, it is usually divided into two apparent sections, and including repetitions, it takes the form of Minuet-Trio-Minuet da capo. (The middle section is called “Trio” because, in court dances, an obligato instrument was used in the middle section to create a trio texture, adding variety to the sound. In keyboard suites, it is not necessarily written for three voices.)
• Gavotte: Also a bright and cheerful dance that originated in France and became popular in high society. It is usually in 4/4 time and begins on the third beat.
• Bourrée: Appearing in No. 5, is of French origin, a light two-beat dance particularly favored in court.

Tonal Structure and Specific Notes on Suite No. 4

Among the six French Suites, the first three are in minor keys, and the latter three are in major keys, with each suite being tonally unified.

The Courante of No. 4 is in 3/4 time but should essentially be considered in 9/8 time. That is, although the right-hand voice is written in triplets and the left-hand voice in dotted notes, the rhythm should be unified to that of the right-hand voice. The Minuet after the Gavotte is of doubtful authorship by Bach, but since it is transmitted in many manuscript copies, it is included as Version B in the New Bach Edition. Furthermore, in the New Bach Edition BWV 815a, a Prelude is placed before the Allemande, a Gavotte II after the Gavotte, and the suite concludes with an Air, omitting the Gigue.