This particular bourrée shouldn’t be played too quickly and in this arrangement for viola and cello a tempo of around 60 half note (minim) beats to the minute is suggested. This, like much of Bach’s music, is a very adaptable movement suited to being played by several different combinations of instruments. The music sounding in E minor originates from Bach’s Lute Suite BWV 996. The ornaments are played but the repeats are not in either the realisation or the accompaniments. A bourrée is a dance often found in the baroque suite having two half note (minim) beats to the bar – it has a moderate to fast tempo and begins on the last quarter note of the bar. As in most of the movements that are found in a baroque suite it is composed in binary AB form. This movement is most familiar as a solo guitar movement although like much of Bach’s music it is readily adaptable to be played by other instrument combinations. Accompaniments are in place enabling both viola and cello players to practice as part of a duo in practice routines. There is a 2 bar count in sounded on a wood block.
