Bach Partitas for Piano – Introduction (German)
Sir András Schiff
Words and Music Lecture Concert / Solo 0Sir András Schiff has studied the inexhaustible cosmos of Johann Sebastian Bach’s works for many years, including the first part of the Clavier-Übung, published in 1731: “I made my first recording of Bach’s Six Partitas in London’s Kingsway Hall in 1983. Since then, I’ve continued to study his great keyboard works and often performed them in cycles”—including at the Pierre Boulez Saal, in a concert series spanning several seasons. Schiff passed on some of his experience and knowledge in an engaging pre-concert talk in German/English, playing examples at the piano.
I made my first recording of Bach’s six partitas a quarter of a century ago, in London’s Kingsway Hall in 1983. Since then I’ve continued to study his great keyboard works and often performed them in cycles. Conducting the St. Matthew Passion and the B-minor Mass several times were experiences that have left an indelible mark on my piano performances: we frequently find dance movements in Bach’s church music, and his instrumental works were often inspired by his sacred compositions.
Great music is far greater than its performers. We try our entire lives to unveil its secrets and to convey its unique message. Even if we never quite reach that imaginary goal, our many performances give us experience and knowledge that was hidden from us years ago. We form better understanding of its structure and inner workings; horizons broaden before our eyes. This was just as true of my second recording of the “Goldberg” Variations as it was for the new version of the partitas I recorded in 2007.
To be sure, Bach never imagined performing all the partitas in a single concert. The object of his “Clavierübung” was, of course, to systematically summarize the forms and genres of his day. The work is designed to be at once encyclopedic, scholarly, and instructive. Nonetheless, the six partitas form an ideal, if long, concert program: Bach’s music succeeds over and over again in forging an intimate bond between performer and audience.
It would be simple and logical to play these exemplary suites in their conventional order, as I used to do in the past. Yet I always had the feeling that something was not quite right. The B-flat major Partita calls for great inner tranquility of the sort that never exists at the beginning of a public recital. Is it really mandatory to place it at the beginning? I think not. If we start with the G-major Partita, the keys of the six works for a hexachord: G – a – B flat – c – D – e, with the major and minor modes evenly distributed among the ascending pitches and the sunlit, graceful G-major work forming an ingratiating and appropriate opening.
This sequence is my personal choice; needless to say, it raises no claims to universal truth.
—Sir András Schiff
Piano
Sir András Schiff
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