20 BACH | THE FRENCH SUITES (BWV 812-817) When playing these pieces, written for his pupils or even for his sons and intended for private use, does it feel as if one is entering Bach's home ? Absolutely, all the more so as they were probably intended to be played on the harpsichord or the clavichord, that is to say, in a relatively confined space. In contrast to more abstract works such as Die Kunst der Fuge (The Art of Fugue), they display a rather immediate expressiveness and in some cases rely on very limited material. The Allemande of the Suite in B minor, for instance, is based on a single four-note motif, and it is as if Bach wanted to get straight to the point, straight to the heart, without artifice. Here we sense the humility of a composer more concerned with moving his loved ones than with displaying his contrapuntal genius. I chose to record these pieces on my own piano, a 1901 concert Steinway, and to do so in my own studio. I needed to create a cocoon to capture the intimate world of this music.
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