Aesthetically, this
is old-fashioned, big-orchestra Bach,
but without the big orchestra. In the
two canonical suites, the slow introductions
are solidly, even stolidly, weighted,
with the dotted rhythms consciously
squared-off. The ensuing fugues chug
along cheerfully and more or less indiscriminately,
with no real sense of purpose or destination,
though terraced dynamics contribute
short-term variety. The Air from
BWV 1068 is not glamorized, but the
harpsichord tinkles only very
occasionally and is kept well in the
background. The dance-based movements
are reasonably paced, but some of them
start off on the wrong foot in the poetic
sense: the strong tutti attack
on the Bourrée of BWV
1069, for example, loses the "upbeat"
feeling, throwing the musical scansion
out of whack.
In hindsight, it's
hard to see how anyone could have mistaken
the G minor suite, currently identified
as Wilhelm Friedemann's, for Dad's work.
(RCA's Stateside LP licensing, back
in the 1970s, proudly identified it
as "Suite No. 5"!) Its Ouverture
is just "introductory" music, not at
all ceremonial in manner; the Aria,
constructed from short, segmented motifs,
resembles neither the famous Air
cited earlier nor any similarly titled
movement of Johann Sebastian's I know;
and only the fugued opening of the concluding
Capriccio evinces any contrapuntal
interest. That noted, this remains a
pleasing, gracious piece of Baroquerie
which oughtn't be neglected just because
of its spurious former attribution,
and might be sufficient reason to investigate
this disc at bargain price.
Moments of congestion
when the trumpets are going, and of
dryness when they're not, betray the
age of the decent stereo recording,
and the digital processing exposes previously
buried bits of sclerotic execution in
the low strings.
Stephen Francis
Vasta
see also
Johann
Sebastian BACH (1685
- 1750) Orchestral
Suite No.1 in C major BWV1066 (1724)
Orchestral Suite No.2 in B minor BWV1067
(1738) 
Orchestre de Chambre Jean-François
Paillard/Jean-François Paillard.recorded
in 1963 – no further details given.
ADD
WARNER APEX 2564 61257-2 [45’33"]
[JPh]
Apex
are to be congratulated on this release
which I can recommend wholeheartedly
