Friday, November 04, 2005
(10:50 AM) | Dave Belcher:
Bach Prelude from Lute Suite no. 3
Here is an excerpt from the (original manuscript of the) Bach piece I'm working on.
A piece like this is extremely difficult on a number of levels:
1) It is a transcription of a cello suite for lute, and thus is attempting to allow a completely new voice with completely new colors, tones--not to mention the difference in the type of strings, tuning and number of strings.
2) I am learning this as a transcription from the lute (the lute manuscript is the only one surviving...so we have no idea (or at least only a vague one) of how Bach intended the original cello suite to go) for guitar. Again, there are the issues of tone, strings, tuning, etc. (for instance, the lute is a very airy instrument, whereas the guitar can be very percussive).
3) Every recording of this piece is different (for cello, lute or guitar)...the entire passagio section that begins the prelude is sometimes heavily ornamented, sometimes sparsely ornamented, sometimes at a stately tempo, sometimes moderate (the passagio ends with the presto section, marked "tres viste" two staves up from the bottom of the excerpt above).
Undoubtedly, these issues all hinge around the fact that Bach was constantly recreating his music--and at times he would transcribe a piece he had previously written for one instrument for another, without actually having that new instrument at his disposal. Therefore, Bach has to be both frustrating and mesmerizing for any performer: frustrating because the music often requires things the performer simply cannot give; and mesmerizing because these same requirements open up the performer to an invention that would have otherwise been impossible. In other words, I love and hate Bach at the same time.
