Prelude in D minor, BWV 999 by Bach for Guitar

Prelude BWV 999 by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) – PDF Sheet music for classical guitar. Comes with both notation-only edition and tab edition. The level is mid to late intermediate (Grade 7). Originally for lute in C minor it adapts nicely when arranged for guitar in D minor. It was most likely written on lute- harpsichord (lautenwerk), an uncommon instrument, and so it became popularly known as a Lute Suite. The first appearance of the work was found in a collection of keyboard works collected by Johann Peter Kellner (1705-1772). That said, the Prelude aspect of the work is certainly in a style common to lutes works of the era. An unfingered edition is also available upon request. Here’s the YouTube Lesson Link if you want to watch it there.

My PDF Sheet Music Edition – Includes fingering, and both notation-only and tab editions.

• Buy Prelude BWV 999 from Werner Guitar Editions

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More info on Prelude BWV 999 by Bach

“Prelude in C minor, BWV 999, is often compared stylistically to preludes of Book I of The Well-Tempered Clavier. Here, and throughout this recording, keyboard changes (that is, the alternate use of two separate eight-foot stops) are used in much the same way that a lute-player makes use of different timbres by playing closer or farther away from the bridge. The transcription of the Fugue in G minor, BWV 1000, originally for solo violin, exists in a copy by the lutenist J. C. Weyrauch. Bach also transcribed this fugue for organ, changing the key to D minor. Although one can easily recognise this piece in each of its three versions – solo violin, lute (lute-harpsichord), and organ – each instrumental sound gives it a unique communication and colours its affekt.” [via Elizabeth Farr on this Naxos].

“The Prelude in C minor, BWV 999, has come down to us in a manuscript of Johann Peter Kellner, a pupil of Bach. On the cover is written Praelude in C mol pour la Lute di Johann Sebastian Bach, and inside Praelude pour la Lute. It is frequently played on the keyboard, appearing among the Twelve Little Preludes. The style is that of broken chords, the bass articulating a repetitive melodic shape which also denotes the harmonic progressions.” [via Graham Wade on this Naxos].

More of my Bach editions

• Suite in E Minor BWV 996 by Bach (Complete), Advanced, Free Unfingered, Sheet Music or Tab
• Bouree from BWV 996 by Bach, Grade 6, Free Sheet Music or Tab
• Air ‘On the G String’ BWV 1068 by Bach, Grade 4, Sheet Music or Tab
• Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring BWV 147 by Bach, Grade 4, Sheet Music or Tab
• Minuet in G, Anh.114 by Bach/Petzold, Grade 4, Notation or Tab
• Prelude in D minor, BWV 999 by Bach, Grade 7, Sheet Music or Tab
• Prelude, Cello Suite BWV 1007 by Bach, Grade 7, Free Unfingered, Sheet Music or Tab
• Cello Suite No. 1 BWV 1007 by Bach, Free non-editorial edition
• Prelude in E Major, Lute Suite BWV1006a – Advanced, Free Unfingered, Sheet Music or Tab
• Sinfonia (Arioso) from Cantata BWV 156 by Bach, Grade 5, Sheet Music or Tab