Richter plays Bach French Suite No.4 (II)

Richter 76 years old, live recording in 1991 of French Suite No. 4 in E-flat major BWV 815a PART I :    • Richter plays Bach French Suite No.4 (I)   Praeludium Allemande Courante Sarabande PART II Gavotte I, Gavotte II Menuet Air Gigue ~ The French Suites, BWV 812-817, were composed between 1722 and 1725. The suites were later given the name 'French' as a means of contrast with the English Suites. The name was popularized by Bach's biographer Johann Nikolaus Forkel, who wrote in his 1802 biography of Bach, "One usually calls them French Suites because they are written in the French manner." This claim however, is inaccurate; like Bach's other suites, they follow a largely Italian convention. They consist of the traditional dances like Allemande, Courante, Menuet, Gavotte, Gigue, Sarabande as well as some less-frequently encountered dances like the Anglaise, Polonaise, Air, Bourree and Loure. These suites lack preludes (except Suite No.4 under BWV 815a) and are shorter and less elaborate than the Partitas and English Suites. As usual with Bach, parts of the suites were recycled from earlier works or sketchbooks, and they underwent several revisions after publication. There is no surviving definitive manuscript of these suites, and ornamentation varies both in type and in degree across manuscripts. ~~~