Orchestral Suite in G minor
BWV 1070 performed by the Netherlands Bach Society
conducted by Bojan Čičić
TivoliVredenburg, Utrecht
Behind the music
Story
Story
Credits
Credits
Like father? Like son?
Who wrote this suite? And why do we want to know?
Not by Bach, and yet a BWV number anyway? That happens more often than you might think. And let’s be honest, it’s only a number. The makers of the Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis from 1950 knew only too well there would be gaps in their catalogue of all the works by Johann Sebastian Bach that were known at the time. They also expected to include more than a couple of dubious cases, one of which turned out to be this suite (or overture) in G minor, BWV 1070: ‘Echtheit nicht sicher verbürgt’ [‘Authenticity not guaranteed’].
Earlier generations of musicians, however, had no doubts. They counted this work as Bach’s fifth Orchestral Suite, on the basis of a single source with two words written on it: a set of parts from 1753, stating ‘Sige. Bach’. This manuscript was a copy made by Christian Friedrich Penzel, a pupil at the Thomasschule, in Leipzig, where Bach taught. Shortly after Bach’s death, Penzel became one of Bach’s greatest upholders and collectors. His collection ended up in the hands of Franz Hauser, who besides compiling a major Bach catalogue had various pieces from his collection of Bachiana published at the end of the nineteenth century. Could the suite possibly have been written by Bach’s son Wilhelm Friedemann, whose archive formed the basis for the Penzel-Hauser collection? This thought did not even occur to many people, including the copyist Penzel. After all, why should he not name the most famous of all the Bachs as the author?
Since the first BWV, we have been given some answers to that question, carefully formulated by musicologists and people from the professional field. They concern mainly the style, which is not easily reconciled with that of father Bach. Hartmut Haenchen, for example, sees parallels between the fugal yet rather more galante Capriccio and a symphony by Friedemann Bach, while Peter Wollny places the Torneo – possibly from a horse ballet! – in Southern Germany or Austria. And with purpose and flair, the Menuet and its Trio avoid all regularity, which David Schulenberg thinks fits very well with the young Wilhelm Friedemann, who was known for his inventiveness. So a Bach after all – but then a son? Whatever the case, the number holds firm!
- BWV
- 1070
- Title
- Orchestral Suite in G minor
- Genre
- orchestral works
- Special notes
- This work is probably not by Johann Sebastian Bach
Extra videos
Vocal texts
Original
Translation
Credits
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- Release date
- 9 January 2025
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- Recording date
- 4 October 2023
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- Location
- TivoliVredenburg, Utrecht
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- Violin and leader
- Bojan Čičić
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- Violin 1
- Lidewij van der Voort
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- Violin 2
- Lucia Giraudo, Pieter Affourtit
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- Viola
- Femke Huizinga, Isabel Franenberg
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- Cello
- Lucia Swarts, Barbara Kernig
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- Double bass
- Hen Goldsobel
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- Harpsichord
- Siebe Henstra
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- Director and editor
- Bas Wielenga
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- Music recording
- Guido Tichelman, Pim van der Lee, Lilita Dunska, Chris Everts
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- Music edit and mix
- Guido Tichelman
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- Camera
- Onno van Ameijde, Rieks Soepenberg, Carrien Dijkstra, Martine Rozema
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- Camera assistant
- Merijn Stojansek
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- Lights
- Ernst-Jan Thieme
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- Assistant director
- Ferenc Soeteman
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- Assistant music recording
- Marloes Biermans
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- Producer concert
- Stephan Esmeijer
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- Producer film
- Wietske Hovingh
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