Ketil Haugsand - J.S. Bach: The English Suites (2013)

Ketil Haugsand's recordings for Simax of music by, amongst others, of works by J. S. Bach (PSC1086) and Forqueray (PSC1317) have consolidated his position as one of the leading harpsichord players of recent years. On this 2CD set he performs Bach’s 6 English Suites on a double manual instrument made by Martin Skowroneck in Bremen in 1985.

The English Suites, BWV 806-811, are a set of six suites written by Johann Sebastian Bach for harpsichord and generally thought to be the earliest of his 19 suites for keyboard, the others being the six French Suites, BWV 812-817, the 6 Partitas, BWV 825-830 and the Overture in the French style, BWV 831. Originally, their date of composition was thought to have been between 1718 and 1720, but more recent research suggests that the composition was likely earlier, around 1715, while the composer was living in Weimar. As introductory préludes, Bach incorporated a set of five concerto movements which he composed in the wake of his revelatory discovery in 1713 of the concertos of Vivaldi, Marcello and other Italian composers. To these he added a sequence of French dances, often combining elements of the two contrasting national styles within a single movement. Ketil Haugsand is a Norwegian harpsichordist and conductor. In 1975 he was awarded the Prix d'Excellence at the Amsterdam conservatory, where he studied under Gustav Leonhardt.