Bach: 6 Mvts from Orchestral Suite No.2 in B minor BWV 1067 - wind quintet

Bach: Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B minor, BWV 1067

Mvts. 2 to 7 arranged for standard wind quintet.

(The overture has not been arranged)

The four orchestral suites BWV 1066–1069 (called ouvertures by their composer) are four suites by Johann Sebastian Bach from the years 1724–1731. 

The source is a partially autograph set of parts (Bach wrote out those for flute and viola) from Leipzig in 1738–39.

The movements are:

• Ouverture (In B minor. Metrical sign of the opening section is ; metrical sign of fugal section is ; metrical sign of ending section, marked Lentement, is 3/4)

(The Overture is NOT included in this arrangement)

• Rondeau – written Rondeaux by Bach (In B minor. Metrical sign is )
• Sarabande (In B minor. Metrical sign is 3/4), with a canon at the 12th between the flute (plus first violins) and the bass
• Bourrée I/II (In B minor. Metrical sign is )
• Polonaise Double (In B minor. Metrical sign for both is 3/4); the flute part is marked "Moderato e staccato" and the first violin part "lentement" (slowly)
• Menuet (In B minor. Metrical sign is 3/4)
• Badinerie (In B minor. Metrical sign is 2/4). (The mp3 is of this mvt)

Bach, in the autograph part, spells this "Battinerie".

Instrumentation: Solo "[Flute] traversière" (transverse flute), violin I/II, viola, basso continuo.

The Polonaise is a stylization of the Polish folk song "Wezmę ja kontusz" (I'll take my nobleman's robe).

The Badinerie (literally "jesting" in French – in other works Bach used the Italian word with the same meaning, scherzo) has become a showpiece for solo flautists because of its quick pace and difficulty.

For many years in the 1980s and early 1990s the movement was the incidental music for ITV Schools morning programmes in the UK.