IN THIS CHAPTER we will consider two types of harmonic repetition exhibited in the suites: 1) a succession of chords over several measures common to a pair of movements; and 2) a large-scale harmonic scheme shared by several movements. We have already encountered a prime example of the first type in our brief consideration of the Allemande– Courante pair from the Praeludium et Partita del tuono terzo (BWV 833) at the close of the preceding chapter. This appears to be the sole instance throughout the forty-four suites where this type of relationship exists throughout the two movements. However, there are at least two instances where this relationship holds for a significant portion of a movement pair. One of these occurs in the first parts of the Allemande and the Courante from Partita II (BWV 826). Though very different in character and surface design, the two movements share a common plan leading from the tonic to the cadence on the dominant at the close of part 1. (The scores of the Allemande, bars 7–16, and of the Courante, bars 6–12, are provided in figure 2.1, and reductions of these passages are provided in figure 2.2). What is striking to the ear is the exact repetition of harmonies connecting the tonic harmony with the same chord in six-three position (Allemande, bar 9; Courante, bar 8), now functioning as iv6 in the key of the dominant. (An interpretation of the harmonic succession using roman numerals is provided below the passage from the Courante). From this point the two movements progress differently, though arriving at the same goal. However, both movements contain parenthetical registral digressions, and further scrutiny reveals that both melodic passages are elaborations of the same underlying descent by step from e_2 to g1.

A similar relationship exists between the opening measures of the Allemande and the Sarabande from Partita I (BWV 825), the scores of which are provided in figure 2.3. As shown in figure 2.4, a comparison of the essential voice-leading of the first parts of these two movements, the relationship is clear through bar 9 of each, the point of initial arrival at the dominant. (It is only in the subsequent measures, namely in the confirmation of the dominant, that the two differ significantly).