French Suites

For any keyboardist serious about Bach you will find an orderly progression of study that begins with the Anna Magdalena Notebook, followed by the Inventions and Sinfonias, followed by the Well Tempered Clavier, then the Musical Offering, all the way through the Art of the Fugue. Consider it, as untold...

revelations await! The French Suites by comparison are like a beautiful side street off that main central avenue. The first 3 (in minor) are quieter, more gentle, sometimes crystalline like fine stemware, where the final 3 (in major) are bright, energetic and joyous. They all tend to be less academic; sometimes unpredictable and surprising yet still respectfully connected to the underlying dance forms. I sincerely hope you enjoy these as much as I do! Two tips: urtext, meaning a copy of the first or original text, is the best way to go. For the ornamentation marks first consult Bach's original table in the 1720 Clavier-Büchlein, then refer to other sources.

I was very interested in this music after listening to a fellow student play it at a lesson.

The binding makes this an annoying edition. The pages keep flipping on their own. I wish I had gotten an edition in a ring binder.

I've always favored Peters editions because of the superior fingering. However, I was disappointed with this edition of the French suites because the paper is too thick, and it doesn't stay open well. Since this is no small matter I may be buying other editions in the future...

, particularly for pieces that don't involve particularly difficult fingerings.

The notes in this book are so clear and it is the only urtext you can find that is more affordable than the other brand names and is not even over edited with blatant articulation and other fandangles that Bach himself never wrote (forget correcting the total dryness for heaven...

sakes!!! that's why he wrote it as such it is his composition)....any thing that Peters have in Urtext buy it you will not regret it you will save a lot of money i guarantee that.