August 7: The English Suites (BWV 806-811); Suzuki, Argerich, Richter, Schiff, Parmentier, Backhaus

Six extraordinary keyboardists for your pleasure

I’ve spent the past few weeks listening deeply to many recordings of Bach’s six English Suites for keyboard. I can’t choose a favorite — there are virtues to hearing these pieces on piano and on harpsichord, in light performances and regal ones. So in a Year of Bach first, I’m going to smorgasbord the collection for you.

There’s a lifetime of material to study and savor in these works. (You’ve heard this refrain from me before.) Below, I’ve ranked the suites from my most favorite to least, with links to my favorite performance of each — at least as of today.

English Suite #2 in A Minor - Martha Argerich

We may as well start with the greatest performance of anything of all time. As I’ve shared before, we are not worthy of Martha Argerich. She recorded one album of Bach, then dropped the mic — there was too much other music for her to crush. What a life of artistry. Here’s the prelude of the second suite.

English Suite #3 in G Minor - Sviatoslav Richter

The legendary and eccentric Russian spits fire in the third suite, the playing is so brawny and vulnerable. Richter integrates Bach’s mathiness and the proto-locomotive drive with his melancholic Russian heart. The intro to the prelude is a disquisition on the relations of the numbers 2, 3, and 6. I’ve annotated hamfistedly:

Here’s the Prelude:

And the Sarabande, weep for it:

English Suite #6 in D Minor - Wilhelm Backhaus

I struggle whether to feature actual Nazi’s on this blog. (Backhaus socialized with the Führer.) There are plenty of superlative living and dead players to promote, why bother with this subset? Or perhaps we can curse his memory while enjoying his records. Maybe the cosmic punchline is that when people listen to his music in the long aftermath of his demise, it’s always asterisked with something like, ‘this Nazi can play.’ It’s a mixed legacy at best.

Like Argerich, Backhaus released only one album of Bach works; this is a live concert recording from 1957 that opens with the sixth English suite. Backhaus’ dynamic control is just incredible. Listen to his touch in the Gavotte:

English Suite #1 in A Major -Masaaki Suzuki

Suzuki, a devotee of JSB, has conducted the full cantata cycle and is in the midst of recording the complete keyboard works. (He speaks about his background as a Japanese Christian and how it informs his interpretations of sacred music in this conversation with Tyler Cowen.)

I’ve found his choral recordings to be a bit stiff, but his English Suites on harpsichord are clear and relaxed.

Here’s some majestic music in the Sarabande. It feels like a small instrument in a drawing room, intimate:

English Suite #4 in F Major - Edward Parmentier

Ed is a longtime professor of music at the University of Michigan, and his playing is straight down the middle. Superb time and articulation, and his touch on this harpsichord makes a pleasurable long-haul listen to the complete suites.

Here’s a bit of the Gigue:

English Suite #5 in E Minor - András Schiff

Schiff’s Bach playing on this Grammy winning record is sprightly — he never takes his Bach too seriously. I like the Hungarian best in the fifth Suite, which is for me the least compelling piece of this collection. (No standout melodies, for one thing.) Some works benefit from a light touch, and Schiff’s gifts are best applied in spots like this oddball Gigue.

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I’ve left out your favorite players, I imagine, sorry. More cantatas coming up in the next post.