When Johann Sebastian Bach wrote his six “Partitas”, he tried, like many of Bach's colleagues, to follow in the footsteps of Johann Kuhnau. This predecessor of Bach as cantor of the Thomaskerk in Leipzig had conquered a considerable part of the sheet music market with his pleasant and not too difficult harpsichord music. It is doubtful whether Bach did the same service to the benevolent middle-class
… music amateur with his "Partitas". For example, the Bach biographer Johann Nicolaus Forkel wrote about the various publications 1726 and 1731 that this music caused great turmoil in the musical world. No one had ever seen or heard such good keyboard music. "Wer einige Stucke daraus Recht gut vortragen lernte, konnte sein Gluck in der Welt damit machen", says Forkel. This variety of virtuoso keyboard styles seems to be more suitable for the professional musician than for the 'Liebhabern'. Bach's "Partitas" form the first movement of his "Clavierübung"; a term that had also been used by Kuhnau. They are played by Robert Woolley on a copy after Mietke. (HJ) _more