Johann Sebastian Bach - The Complete Works for Keyboard, Vol. 11 (Benjamin Alard)

Information

Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

• Italian Concerto in F Major, BWV 971
• Overture in the French Style in B Minor, BWV 831
• Partita No. 1 in B-Flat Major, BWV 825
• Partita No. 4 in D Major, BWV 828
• Partita No. 5 in G Major, BWV 829
• Partita No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 826

Benjamin Alard, hapsichord

Date: 2025

Label: harmonia mundi

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This eleventh volume of Benjamin Alard’s complete Bach edition brings together all the keyboard works published as Clavier-Übungen I and II: the six Partitas, the Italian Concerto, and the Overture in the French Style, with the four Duetti from Clavier-Übung III added as a complement. Alard performs on two exceptional harpsichords—a richly voiced 1740 Hass and, newly introduced in the series, a 1757 English Kirkman—each chosen for its distinctive colour and historical relevance. The result is a collection that showcases Bach’s most refined keyboard writing through performances shaped by stylistic insight and carefully selected instruments.

Benjamin Alard (born 1985) has, since 2018, undertaken the major project of recording all of J.S. Bach’s solo keyboard works, presenting them in a comprehensive, chronologically informed edition. Each volume focuses on a period of Bach’s life and incorporates organ, harpsichord, and clavichord repertoire, alongside works by contemporaries such as Couperin, Pachelbel, and Buxtehude to illuminate Bach’s musical milieu. Alard performs on carefully selected period instruments to recreate historically authentic sonorities. Winner of the 2004 Bruges International Harpsichord Competition, he studied in Rouen, Paris, and Basel, and now maintains an active international career while serving as organist at Saint-Louis-en-l’Île in Paris.