Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Suite in B Minor, no. 2, BWV 1067

Bach’s B-minor Suite dates from the late 1730s and was probably the last of the four to be written; there’s some consensus that it was his last orchestral work, altogether (the term being rather loosely applied: the scoring is just for solo flute, strings, and continuo).

Cast in seven movements, it opens with a grand, French-style overture whose stately, dotted-rhythmic-patterned outer thirds frame a brisk, syncopated middle section. Of the six dances that follow, the most striking are probably nos. 4 and 6, the Polonaise and Badinerie. Both are forms that Bach used very sparingly and, in each, the flute is given exposed and (in the latter) debonair solos.

© Jonathan Blumhofer

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