The gigue in the English suite is a lot of fun to play… and a great piece! I see you are considering it.. Are you concerned about it being too challenging?… Playing the Sinfonias is a good warm up to the difficulties in the gigue.. though it does only have 2 voices… (fingering is very important .. as with all of Bach's pieces)
Playing the Sinfonias is a good warm up to the difficulties in the gigue.. though it does only have 2 voices…
My point being that the 3 voice sinfonias are As involved as the 2 voice gigues in the English suites… #9th sinfonia one could characterize as much slower…(Being reminiscent of the F minor fugue WTC 1 )But I didn't realize that you had played the whole suite.. (which the gigue in that case Does have 3 voices in a few places….For some reason - i was thinking the English suite in A minor - which does have a 2 voice gigue… and that is the one i was referring to as a wonderful choice. Sorry for my confusion).
I like Schiff's version of the A minor gigue… I had the chance hear him perform it live - which definitely had more fire (in terms of speed and volume - which i think works Even better) than his recorded version…
Looking at your level and looking at the pieces you recently played are more of the suite-work of Bach. Though, he was also very much known as a fugue-writer. I'd suggest you take a look at the B-flat minor from WTC Book II. It is a marvelous 'modern' fugue (for Bach's time) which indulges in a lot of inversion and canonic work. Before you start, you should probably first do a lot of analysis, but this is good for your improvement in counterpoint playing after having played the sinfonias.Good luck and BW,Marijn
Topic: Which Bach piece to learn 