Bach composed his ‘French’ suites as a young man of thirty, when he was working at the court of Köthen. However, the suites have nothing to do with the court. Bach wrote them for teaching purposes in his own private circle.
The first five suites appear in their original form in the little music book he compiled in 1722 for his second wife Anna Magdalena, possibly as a wedding present. But Bach continued to rework the pieces.
Here we are 298 years later in 2020; and it amazes me always how many of us continue to derive so much pleasure from Bach’s music.
Here is pianist Mitsuko Uchida, as she performs for you the “Sarabande” from the Suite #5:
