Beskrivning
The six English Suites
Bach, Johann Sebastian
The history of the composition of the English Suites remains largely unknown. There is no unanimity of opinion even about the meaning of the name.
Johann Nikolaus Forkel writes in his biography of Bach (1802) that the Suites were ”composed for an English nobleman” and the title page of a manuscript which was owned by Johann Christian Bach does actually carry the information: Fait [!] pour les Anglois.
Other commentators put little trust in this tradition and believe that the Suites were more probably composed à les Anglais, that is in the English manner.
But this interpretation is also unconvincing because the ”reminiscences” in the examples given as proof are on the one hand too vague and on the other the passages do not come only from English compositions.