See all Bach Keyboard Cycle concerts

The six partitas that Bach published separately and then gathered together into the first volume of his Clavier-Übung (Keyboard Practice, 1731) were his last and technically most demanding set of keyboard dance suites. They are also the most formally diverse. Unlike the English Suites, which all begin with a prelude, Bach opens each of these partitas with a different type of movement, including a sinfonia, a fantasia, and a toccata. In the C-minor Partita he even abandons one of the four core dances of Baroque suites, ending with a capriccio rather than a gigue.

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One of the foremost Bach players today, Hungarian pianist András Schiff continues his survey of Bach’s keyboard music.