NOTES from "J. S. plays Bach" [2001 version]:

Here I have grouped my three favorite Bach pieces in the keys of D major and D minor -- calling for the sixth string to be tuned down a whole step. The Prelude, which was originally in G, lulls us with its repeating phrases onto the back of a great bird who takes us soaring into the final cadence. The Sarabande has a significantly lighter quality on the guitar than it does on the cello. Bach makes graceful and insistent use of a simple two-note motif ("and one"). The Chaconne is plainly among the most profound works of Western music, transcending Baroque conventions to the expressive level of any style period. It comprises 67 variations on a four-bar phrase, the opening and concluding sections in the minor with 20 major-key variations in between.

II

This group centers on the key of A minor and its relative major, C. The Prelude and Gavottes were originally written into the Fifth Cello Suite, but later arranged (apparently by Bach himself) for the lute. The Prelude begins with the improvisatory style adopted, in part, to give players a chance to adjust the tuning of their instrument. It proceeds into the only fugue on today's program -- kept relatively simple by having been a cello piece in its first incarnation. The Andante is in an aria style, such as one would find in the cantatas. The pair of Gavottes are performed straight through with repeats, returning to the first one played without repeats (the same goes for the Bourrees later on).

III

Seeking to make a guitar arrangement of this chorale, I paged through the Bach Chorales edition purchased for my college music theory class -- only to find that he set this Hans Leo Hassler tune in at least eight different ways. To give listeners a sense of this diversity of options Bach faced every time he composed, I have patched together phrases from at least seven of them. Paul Simon helped popularize this melody for contemporary audiences with his song "American Tune"; and many others know it as the hymn "O Sacred Head, Now Wounded".

THIRD CELLO SUITE

While it is not new for guitarists to play this suite, to my knowledge they have always rendered it in the key of A Ð owing to the root notes of the three most common chords being available on open strings. To me, however, the work sounds and feels more idiomatic when arranged in the key of G. I emulate Baroque lutenists' practice of playing scale passages across strings Ð producing a harp-like effect (which came more easily to them as their instruments were tuned in thirds rather than fourths). We guitarists like to add our own continuo (harmonic accompaniment) to this primarily monodic (single melody-line) piece Ð giving us an opportunity to collaborate with one of music's greatest masters, spending a moment in his shoes.

jeffrysteele@comcast.net
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