Duration: 20 minutes

Much of Bach’s instrumental ensemble music is thought to have been lost, and the dating of the extant compositions is in many cases impossible. Many of the works first thought to have been written in Cöthen are now thought to have been composed for the Leipzig Collegium. A great number of works, including the orchestral suites, have survived only in the form of copies by friends or colleagues of Bach.

Only four suites have come down to us, the first for two oboes, bassoon, and strings, the second for flute and strings, and the third and fourth for larger ensembles with oboes, bassoon, trumpets, timpani, and strings. All four suites are in the style favoured by the Germans and made famous at the time by such composers as Telemann and Fasch: each has an extensive overture, with a complex and lengthy fugal section incorporating elements of the Italian concerto grosso, followed by a series of dances and character movements.

The Third Suite is arguably the most popular of Bach’s suites, perhaps because of the inclusion of the exquisite Air (often called “Air on the G String”). The latter is an oasis of beauty and calm between the energetic overture and the boisterous final dances. Mendelssohn championed this suite, and reports in one of his letters that he played the work for Goethe in 1830.

Program note by the late Dr. C.W. Helleiner