Another Allemande, one with intricate part-writing, opens the seventh suite, but this time deepens out in its B section with some descending arpeggiated figures that simulate the echoes of ringing bells as if in answer to a prayer. Changing the mood, the sprightly Courante is rhythmically complex, like all the other Courantes, and ends abruptly with scalic semiquaver passages and syncopated chords. The moving Sarabande carries echoes of Handel’s Lascia ch’io pianga, allying poise to heart-wrenching innocence, before an energetic Gigue brings some sparkling fugal writing displaying the weightier, more brilliant character typically associated with G major.

from notes by Bridget Cunningham © 2023