Bach Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D Major, BWV 1068

Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D Major, BWV 1068

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Though a dedicated church musician from the age of eighteen, Johann Sebastian Bach must have wearied of the grind of composing, rehearsing and performing an unending flood of religious compositions. He enjoyed one period unburdened by such duties, six years (1717-1723) spent as Kapellmeister at the small court of Cöthen. This seems to have been a time of boundless pleasure and artistic rewards, when Bach poured out an amazing array of instrumental compositions, including the famous Brandenburg Concertos, and the four great suites for orchestra. While Vivaldi and Telemann composed greater quantities of orchestral music (600 concertos and hundreds of suites, respectively). Bach’s more select catalogue of works in these forms stands as the supreme orchestral achievement of the Baroque age.

Bach’s best-known orchestral suites are the second and third. Suite No. 2 (was performed recently by the Newtown Chamber Orchestra) calls for a modest scoring of solo flute, strings and harpsichord continuo, while No. 3 calls for a larger grouping: 2 oboes, 3 trumpets, timpani, strings and continuo.

As was customary in Baroque suites, the opening movement (the longest) is an ambitious Overture in the French style, derived from the Ouverture, which was originally the introductory music played before an opera, consisting of a ceremonial slow first section, followed by a lengthy, tightly constructed fugue in quick tempo. Here, as in the Handel Overture heard earlier, the dotted “French” rhythms are everywhere to be heard, but with broad, sustained melodic figures in the strings giving weight and urgency to the proceedings. Marked “Vite” (“lively”) the fugal main section is one of Bach’s most elaborate, with extended passages for solo violin. Increasingly the trumpets contribute to the brilliant melodic element, as the music presses forward, suddenly returning to the slower tempo, the movement concluding with the broad gestures of the introductory section.

The dances are all “binary” in structure (two segments, each repeated), and with one exception are sprightly and vivacious in tone. The exception is the second movement, the Air, which is understandably esteemed as one of Bach’s loveliest creations. The word “Air, ” incidentally, refers not to an “aria, ” rather a gentle, slowish dance of great expressiveness. The only movement written for strings alone, it is memorable for its long, lyrical spans of melody over a steady “walking bass, ” moving ahead like the ticking of a clock. This movement is unique in its sheer stillness and melodic suppleness.

The third movement, Gavotte, actually consists of a pair of gavottes, the first quite forthright in its solid tread, the second more flowing in detail. The movement concludes with a recapitulation of the first gavotte. The Bourree is rather scherzando, light-footed in character, graceful and finely-wrought. The concluding Gigue (originaly a dance of British original, indeed derived from the “Jig”) retains the traditional 6/8 metre, with its triple rhythm, and billowing melodic figuration. The brilliant orchestral coloration, with trumpets in their highest register, the oboes skirling along with the strings, brings the suite to a celebratory close.

NCO Concert