Johann Sebastian Bach
French Suites

About Johann Sebastian Bach's French Suites

The “French” Suites were not published during Bach’s lifetime, and there exists no definitive original manuscript.
The first drafts of several of them are found in the first Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach; the composer then continued to revise them throughout his life.
There are also two freestanding suites, BWV 818-819 which contended for inclusion in the group during Bach´s lifetime, probably in place of the standard fifth and sixth suites.
Not until Bach’s 19th-century biographer Forkel prepared an edition in the early nineteenth century did BWV 812-817 become widely available and known by the collective title French Suites, which does not appear in any original source.
Although the movements have their names after French dances, these suites are actually more Italian than French in style. They are among the easiest of Bach’s keyboard works.