French Suite No. 1 in D minor, I
French Suite No. 2 in C minor
French Suite No. 3 in B minor, II
Suite in E major for Lute, BWV 1006a, I
Orchestral Suite No. 4 in D major, II
Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B minor
Cello Suite No. 2 in D minor, II
French Suite No. 1 in D minor, I. This example is striking in that both soprano and alto lines independently present complete antecedent + continuation forms. The alto, in fact, is a typical, simple menuet melody from beginning to end; it might easily have appeared in the collections of Pointel or Chédeville. Its continuation phrase is contrasting. The soprano sounds like an elaborating descant voice; its continuation phrase is developmental (note the fragmentation in bars 5-6).
French Suite No. 3 in B minor, II. An excellent example of the most radical of the antecedent + continuation varieties: here every two bar idea is different, not only in melodic shape but in rhythms.
Suite in E major for Lute, BWV 1006a, I. Similar to, but not quite so extreme, as the preceding,
Orchestral Suite No. 4 in D major, II. This is a good moment to apologize for the heterogeneous sources for the various Bach examples. I used whatever I could find quickly, favoring the old Bach Gesellschaft edition but taking whatever came to hand as necessary. In the case of this orchestral suite, there was no piano solo reduction but I was able to collate the parts of a 4-hands version. In the first phrase, the contrasting idea is very clear even though the bass tries to contradict by repeating its bar 1 scale figure.
Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B minor. This has a "classic" developmental continuation phrase.
Cello Suite No. 2 in D minor, II. Similar to the preceding in the strong rhythmic contrast between the ideas in the antecedent phrase and the fragmentation in the continuation.
