Harpsichord Suite No. 7 in F

Born the year Couperin died, Georg Böhm (1661-1733) was a major figure in North German music when young J. S. Bach was coming of age. He is largely known today for his influence on Bach’s organ writing—Bach was a student in the city where Böhm worked—and he essentially invented several forms that Bach would further refine. Böhm’s F-major keyboard suite opens with an expansive Allemande that devotes special attention to a rising sol-la-ti-do motive. The following Courante shares both the harmonic structure and dotted-note pickup from the Allemande, but it is far more brusque and animated. A lovely, stately Sarabande takes third position and is notable for the coloristic touch of F minor in its opening phrase. The closing Gigue is written in the unusual 4/4 meter, though the distinctive snap of the basic rhythm provides all the vigor Böhm needs to round off the suite.

(c) Jason Stell