Dances by JS Bach?

[gracehaven23]

What would be considered as JS Bach's dances for the piano?  This is my first time preparing a student for a college piano performance audition and one of the requirements is a piece by Bach.  The exact wording is, "A major work by J.S. Bach (prelude & fugue, set of dances, toccata, etc.).  Inventions or other similar intermediate level pieces are not acceptable." 

I'm already set to give her a toccata, but I want to know about everything before we make our final decision.  She has over one year to prepare for this audition and her skill level is good, but not brilliant, so I am staying away from anything marked "D" for Difficult.  All works must meet the M-D level in the Hinson's "Guide to the Pianist's Repetoire".

Thank you!

[thalbergmad]

Hisons guide is an excellent resource, but he rates so many scores as M-D, it really does not give the entire picture.

He rated the Henselt Concerto M-D, which is absurd.

Thal

[alessandro]

Probably or maybe not the most helpful answer but "dances", well yes ! Hurrah ! That's definitely something music is about.  The "Partitas" for example are full of dances : Allemande, Corrente, Sarabande, Giga, Rondeaux...  I don't know all the Partita's but I'm personally fond of the Partita n° 2 BWV 826 in which there is a wonderful Allemande with a nice repetition in it, for me not easy but not extremely difficult neither.  Another question remains, what do you (or the 'requirements') mean by "Set" of dances.  Never heard of a "Set of Dances" by Bach.  Maybe it's just meant as 'two or three dances at your choice...'...
Kindly.

[thierry13]

I think set of dances includes all the partitas, english/french suites, and other things like that. By the way, what is M-D ? Moderately difficult?

[Petter]

"Suite: A set of pieces that are linked together into a single work. During the BAROQUE, a suite usually referred to a set of stylized DANCE pieces."

"Partita BAROQUE term for a set of VARIATIONS on a MELODY or BASS line."

Did the term partita eventually become interchangeable with the term suite?

[thierry13]

"Suite: A set of pieces that are linked together into a single work. During the BAROQUE, a suite usually referred to a set of stylized DANCE pieces."

"Partita BAROQUE term for a set of VARIATIONS on a MELODY or BASS line."

Did the term partita eventually become interchangeable with the term suite?

There are generalised definitions and there are facts. If you take Bach's partitas, let's say for example no.1, the structure is : Praeludium, Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, Menuets I and II and Gigue. They are all structured in the same way. As far as I know, allemandes courantes sarabandes menuets and gigues are all dances, so I *think*, as beings who have the gift of judgement, we can call Bach partitas sets of dances. If you go check out the definition of set and the definition of dances, you will find that they both apply to Bach's partitas.

[Petter]

Judgement is the last thing I would associate with you 
I never questioned if Bachs partitas were dances or not...
I was curious how something that originally meant a single instrumental piece of music or variations got to have the same meaning as suite.

[richard black]

"Partita BAROQUE term for a set of VARIATIONS on a MELODY or BASS line."

Since when? Bach and his contemporaries used the term interchangeably with 'Suite'. If it ever meant a set of variations that was very early in the baroque, or before.

[daniloperusina]

With "sets of dances" they are of course referring to
Partitas nr 1-6
English Suites nr 1-6
French Suites nr 1-6

as they can also be referred to as "Bach's dance-suites" or "Bach's suites with dance-movements", meaning they contain movements derived from dances, such as
Allemande
Courante
Sarabande
Gigue
Menuett

They contain non-dance movements as well, such as Prelude, Fugue and Rondeux (which one has that?). If you stick to any of the above mentioned works you'll be perfectly safe!

The question is, does she have to prepare a complete partita or suite? They have like 6-7 movements, so it's quite a lot of work. But their words seem to imply just that, as actually single movements from these could be compared to the Inventions in terms of technical difficulty, although I'm of the opinion that the Inventions are not as 'advanced' musically as the suites/partitas (because they were concieved as being for students, and are thus kept in a slightly 'naive' style compared to the suites/partitas, which can be why the Inventions are excluded from the list).

[gracehaven23]

Thank you all so much for your responses and help.  I'm not sure if she is supposed to prepare an entire partita or suite.  I have contacted the university about this very topic and will post the answer here when I find out exactly what they mean. 

Would everyone agree, then, that a Bach 'dance' is a complete partita or a complete suite?  The entire thing, not just a part?

[daniloperusina]

I'd say that in an audition like this they will be looking at
technical fluency
good musicianship
good grasp of different styles
and the reason they put up Bach is primarily to see her grasp of baroque polyphony. Bach's greatest achievement in polyphony are of course his fugues. The Toccatas contain fugues, but the dance suites generally don't. To play it safe, have her play a fugue.
I can't imagine they want one prelude and fugue, or a complete partita/suite, as that is quite a lot more work.

[thierry13]

Judgement is the last thing I would associate with you 

Free and totally meaningless.

I never questioned if Bachs partitas were dances or not...

Yes, you did.

I was curious how something that originally meant a single instrumental piece of music or variations got to have the same meaning as suite.

Because they have exactly the same content. The thing with partitas is that he often re-uses some elements of the first piece the build the dances, where he took the name of partita. Sonata and concerto mean multi-movement works, and we all know that's not allways the case.

[Petter]

totally meaningless.

Now we´re getting somewhere.

[alessandro]

Would everyone agree, then, that a Bach 'dance' is a complete partita or a complete suite?  The entire thing, not just a part?

Well no, not me, not yet.  It of course depends on what one would call 'dancable'.  Only parts of the Partitas are dances.  If I had to dance to for example the first part of Partita 2, the 'Sinfonia', I think I would look particularly ridiculous. 

I can't imagine they want one prelude and fugue, or a complete partita/suite, as that is quite a lot more work.

So, if they call a Partita a 'set of dances', it's a rather unlucky chosen description of a partita...

They contain non-dance movements as well, such as Prelude, Fugue and Rondeux (which one has that?).

I think Partita number one contains a Rondeaux...

Kindly.

[mikey6]

Did the term partita eventually become interchangeable with the term suite?

I would have thought that partita and sonata sort of interlocked as Haydn's sonata-type early works are called partitas.