The Baroque orchestral suite developed along parallel lines in several countries. Its principal origins lay in France. The first great figure in its history was Jean-Baptiste Lully, who developed the one movement overture (a name derived from the French verb ouvrir, "to open") to introduce performances of other, longer works such as operas and ballets. The combination of the overture and brief instrumental pieces extracted from the larger work, mainly dances, made up another form, the suite (from the verb suivre, "to follow"). 

By Bach’s time, virtually every significant German composer had written independent overture-suites for large instrumental ensembles. Some of his four surviving orchestral suites (it’s likely he composed more) probably date from his years in service to Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cöthen (1717-1723), others from the later period in Leipzig. Suite No. 3 is a festive piece, a quality accentuated by Bach’s inclusion of trumpets and timpani in the scoring. For all its brilliance, the most memorable and familiar segment is the second movement, the celestial Air for strings alone (nicknamed “Air on the G String”).

Program note by Don Anderson.