Menuet series 2-8: Johann Sebastian Bach

"J.S. Bach’s 28 titled minuets occur in his keyboard partitas and suites, in chamber music for solo and accompanied violin, cello or flute, in three of the four orchestral suites, and in the Brandenburg Concerto no.1" (Little and Jenne, 1991; cited in Meredith Ellis Little, "Minuet," Oxford Music Online).

Here is my version of the list of 28:

1.-2. English Suite No. 4 in F major
3.-4. French Suite No. 1 in D minor
5. French Suite No. 2 in C minor
6.-7. French Suite No. 3 in B minor
8. French Suite No. 6 in E major
9.-10. Partita No. 1 in Bb major
11. Partita No. 4 in D major
12. Partita No. 5 in G major
13.-14. Brandenburg Concerto No. 1
15. Suite in A major for Violin, BWV 1025
16.-17. Suite in Eb major for keyboard, BWV 819
18.-19. Suite in E major for Lute, BWV 1006a
20.-21. Orchestral Suite No. 1 in C major
22.-23. Orchestral Suite No. 4 in D major
24. Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B minor
25.-26. Cello Suite No. 1 in G major
27.-28. Cello Suite No. 2 in D minor

Here are the formal functions in the first strains:

Antecedent + continuation: 7 + 1*
Period: 10
Sentence: 2
Presentation + consequent: 1
12-bar sentence: 2
16-bar period: 4
16-bar sentence: 1

And here is the list again by form function category:

Antecedent + continuation; n = 7
   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
Antecedent + continuation (but A = 36 bars!); n = 1
   Suite in A major for Violin, BWV 1025
Period; n = 10
   English Suite No. 4 in F major, II
   Partita No. 1 in Bb major, II
   Partita No. 4 in D major
   Brandenburg Concerto No. 1, II
   Suite in Eb major for keyboard, BWV 819, I
   Orchestral Suite No. 1 in C major, I
   Orchestral Suite No. 1 in C major, II
   Orchestral Suite No. 4 in D major, I
   Cello Suite No. 1 in G major, I
   Cello Suite No. 2 in D minor, I
Sentence; n = 2
   French Suite No. 6 in E major  
   Suite in Eb major for keyboard, BWV 819, II
Presentation + consequent; n = 1
   Cello Suite No. 1 in G major, II
12-bar sentence; n = 2
   Partita No. 5 in G major  
   Brandenburg Concerto No. 1, I
16-bar period; n = 4
   French Suite No. 1 in D minor, II
   French Suite No. 3 in B minor, I
   Partita No. 1 in Bb major, I
   Suite in E major for Lute, BWV 1006a, II
16-bar sentence; n = 1
   English Suite No. 4 in F major, I

 To establish some context for Bach's menuets, here is a table with data on music discussed in this series so far:

I cannot emphasize too strongly that this is not a comprehensive picture of menuet history from 1660 to 1730. It is more of a snapshot, but in it we can nevertheless see some things of interest. (1) The antecedent + continuation theme is the only type other than the period to be found in every sample set, from Lully to Bach. (2) Conversely, the sentence is entirely missing from the early sample sets and is weakly represented still in the later ones (with the exception of Fux). (3) Similarly, what Caplin calls "compound themes" are missing in the earlier sample sets but show up clearly in later ones (note 16-bar periods in Rameau, Chédeville, and Bach).

In subsequent posts, I will discuss individual menuets by Bach, organizing the posts in terms of formal functions, as above, rather than by source.