Klavieriibung
Partita No. 2, in C minor Partita No. 4, in D played by Gustav Leonhardt (harpsichord)
First of eight programmes
Under the modest title of Klavieriibung (keyboard exercises) Bach gathered together and published some of his finest clavier music. The collection appeared in four separate parts: the six Partitas in 1731; the Italian Concerto and Partita in B minor in 1735; the four Duetti, some chorale preludes, and the Prelude and Fugue in E flat in 1739; and the Goldberg Variations in 1742. The full title of the work is as follows: ' Keyboard Exercises, consisting of Preludes, AJlemandes, Courantes, Sarabandes, Gigues, Minuets, and other galanteries, composed for the recreation of art-lovers.'
Deryck Cooke