J. S. Bach’s Еnglish Suites — enigma of the title

Abstract

The paper focuses on the origin of the name “English Suites” in relation to the cycle of six keyboard suites by J. S. Bach (BWV 806–811) compiled in the first half of the 1720s. Various versions of origin of this name are considered including the record Fait pour les Anglois on the title page of manuscript copy dated from the late 1730s. According to the author of the article, this record, in light of other circumstances, suggests that Bach intended to publish six keyboard suites in London. The publication did not take place but Bach could informally call these unpublished works his “English suites”. And this informal name through his pupils gradually extended among the German musicians and subsequently was recorded in manuscript copies in the second half of the 18th century.