Bach: Transcriptions for Guitar

Cardi, Stefano

96687

In recent times, Johann Sebastian Bach's works have undergone numerous transcriptions and adaptations. Since the 1960s, the guitar repertoire has seen the addition of a number of Bach pieces originally intended for the lute, an instrument that is undoubtedly among the most akin to the modern six-string guitar.

The sound of the guitar, its rich dynamics and full polyphonic capacity, are exploited for creating performances of some of the pieces that were composed mainly for teaching purposes in the Köthen period, between 1717 and 1723, or in the early Leipzig years. Among the keyboard works written in these years, the Clavier-Büchlein vor Wilhelm Friedemann Bach and the Clavier-Büchlein vor Anna Magdalena Bach hold an important place. Indeed, these collections offer a glimpse into Bach’s family and didactic life. They contain many compositions that were later to be found in the Inventionen and Sinfonias, the first volume of the Wohltemperiertes Clavier and the French Suites.

Guitarist Stefano Cardi made his own transcriptions of many of these harpsichord pieces, which include some famous and well known works: Menuets, Polonaises, Fantasias and Preludes, which were for many Bach-playing amateurs the first encounter with the towering genius of the German Baroque master.

CD x 1

Brilliant Classics

2/7/23

5028421966878