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Play — English Suite No. 2 in A Minor, BWV 807: IV. Sarabande · Johann Sebastian Bach, Grigory Sokolov (the player loads on click)
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MusicCoach difficulty
74/100
Advanced
Level of the complete work
We have no level specific to this movement. The figure above is that of the complete work: within a cycle, movements often differ widely in demand.
Estimated skills
Technique
Fast passages
1
Theory
Knowledge of forms
1
Ornaments
Baroque ornaments
1
Style
Baroque style
1
Reading
Bass clef reading
1
Technique
Hand independence
1
Interpretation
Phrasing
1
Technique
Three-or-more-voice polyphony
1
What to play next?
Each suggestion combines difficulty gap, risk, confidence and skill overlap. The first two cards in each column are the most useful pedagogically.
Gentle step
The safest next step.
Gentle
Partita no. 1 in B flat major, BWV.825
Johann Sebastian Bach
close skills
low risk
fair confidence
A short step up — but it is the one that moves you into Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Staccato and Style baroque — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Gentle
Suite, for harpsichord in A, TWV. 32:14
Georg Philipp Telemann
close skills
low risk
to confirm
A short step up — but it is the one that moves you into Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Polyphonie à deux voix and Style baroque — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Balanced step
A genuine step up, without a jolt.
Balanced
Ordre 10 in D or D-
François Couperin
close skills
moderate risk
to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Style baroque and Ornements baroque — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Balanced
Ordre 8 in B minor
François Couperin
close skills
moderate risk
to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Demi-pédale and Style baroque — the pedal is set by ear, note by note: misjudged, it blurs the harmony instead of joining it.
Ambitious challenge
A useful leap with guided practice.
Challenge
Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue in D minor, BWV.903
Johann Sebastian Bach
partial transfer
high risk
to confirm
An ambitious leap into Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Croisements de mains and Analyse harmonique — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Challenge
Partita no. 6 in E minor, BWV.830
Johann Sebastian Bach
close skills
high risk
to confirm
An ambitious leap into Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Balance mains and Style baroque — what matters is quality of attack and evenness of tone, not speed.
Same level
Same level
Fugue no. 3 en Do Dièse Majeur, BWV.872
Johann Sebastian Bach
close skills
low risk
to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Intermediate (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Analyse harmonique and Polyphonie à trois voix ou plus — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Same level
Toccata and fugue in D minor, BWV.565
Johann Sebastian Bach
partial transfer
low risk
to confirm
Equivalent demands, right at the edge of Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM): different ground, same level. What changes is the skill in play: Staccato and Analyse harmonique — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Same level
Fugues on the Magnificat octavi toni
Johann Pachelbel
close skills
low risk
to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Intermediate (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Lecture avec altérations accidentelles and Style baroque — reading the score is itself an obstacle before technique: budget time for plain reading.
This Sarabande is meditative and solemn, built from slow, singing lines and harmonic suspensions that produce sustained tension rather than sudden outbursts. You will need to focus on Passages rapides (4.4/5) — here they require precise fingering and coordinated hands to keep the rapid figures agile without blurring the contrapuntal texture — and Ornements baroque (4.1/5), which call for short, clean executions (mordents, appoggiaturas, small ornaments) integrated into the line without interrupting the phrase. The piece belongs to the Baroque period and is part of Bach's keyboard suites, where traditional dance forms are treated with advanced contrapuntal writing. I do not provide a reference recording because I am not fully confident of naming a single widely agreed-upon interpretation for this specific movement.