Canadian guitarist Drew Henderson plays Prelude, Sarabande, Gigue, and Double from the Suite for Lute in C minor, BWV 997 by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750). This comes via Henderson’s excellent YouTube channel. Great playing as usual from Henderson with a balanced sense of rhythm, counterpoint, and motivic attention. This is quite a difficult suite but such a good one. The fugue is monstrous. It was likely arranged on lute- harpsichord (lautenwerk), an uncommon instrument, and so it became popularly known as a Lute Suite. Bach was familiar with lute players of the day such as Sylvius Leopold Weiss (1687–1750) and so it is not inconceivable that Bach could have imagined a lute performing the work. If you read historical letters from the Baroque you can hear about Bach and Weiss having little competitions improvising fugues (that crazy).
Sheet Music & Lessons for Bach on the Site
- 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
Happy New Year. Good health and much joy surrounded by beautiful guitar playing.
All the best from Beaconsfield (Qc)