To close out our exploration of the Clavier-Übung part I, let’s review the last Partita of the set.

Partita 6 opens with a movement titled “Toccata”, adhering to the principle of naming all initial movements in the set with a different term, not only to drive variety and spur interest, but also to better reflect their diverse character. The canonical dances Allemanda, Corrente, Sarabande and Gigue are interspersed with “galanteries”, as promised in the published edition’s title page. This partita features an “Air” inserted after the Corrente and a “Tempo di Gavotta” between the Sarabande and the Gigue.

The Toccata, as the term suggests, consists of free-form, improvisatory segments comprised of fast runs, dotted rhythms and rapid arpeggios, which frame a central 3-part fugue, creating an ABA form.

The dotted rhythms, arpeggios and runs carry into the Allemanda, which is peppered with ornaments and chromaticism. The Corrente is of the Italian variety, with its typical two-voice texture. The constant syncopations and occasional quick runs in 32nd notes propel the music forward, honoring the “fast pace” (“running”) spirit of this dance. Eventually the pace accelerates even more by the introduction of long passages of 32nds and, again, dotted rhythms.

The first “galanterie”, an Air, is a lighthearted Gavotte. Interestingly, it features a curious second ending for the B section, with four additional bars, reminiscent of a French-style “petite reprise”.

The Sarabande is highly stylized, expressive and ornamented, and asymmetrical, with section B twice as long as section A. The same plaintive motif introduced in the Toccata is present throughout, and in spite of its dense texture, it honors the suspended second beat typical of a Sarabande.

A “Tempo di Gavotta” now follows as the second “galanterie” of the piece, again in two-voice writing. The introduction of triplets and wide leaps lend it an animated character.

As a conclusion, providing symmetry to the counterpoint of the Toccata, the robust Gigue is also a three-part fugue, or, more specifically, a double fugue, in which the second theme is an inversion of the first one. Bach uses a 4/2 time signature, notated with the archaic symbol of a circle with a vertical slash.

Andreas Staier recorded Clavier-Übung I & II in 1993, in the Beethovenhaus in Bonn, Germany. He played on a harpsichord built in 1982 by Keith Hill, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA after German examples ca. 1740.