John Williams plays Bach - Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Kenneth Sillito

Posted in Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Bach, Chamber Music, Concerto, Guitar, John Williams, Kenneth Sillito, Sony

When making these transcriptions for guitar, one is therefore presented with an abundance of authentic examples and alternatives, for the guitar itself has both a melodic and harmonic nature and therefore the ability to move freely between all the existing original versions.

Not surprisingly the most difficult choices were in Bach's E major Violin Concerto, and in the Solo Andante. Whenever Bach arranged his solo violin music for keyboard he changed it very deliberately to a "keyboard" conception with far more ornamentation, changed arpeggio figures and generally more complex writing. Inevitably in doing so, some of the melodic simplicity and charm of the original gets lost - I have in mind particularly the Fugue from G minor solo Violin Sonata and Bach's own arrangements for lute and organ. For these reasons I prefer the original E major Violin Concerto to its keyboard companion and have used this original as the model, with borrowings from the harpsichord version where arpeggio patterns are more idiomatic on the guitar, mainly in the first movement. In the wonderful second movement the only problem was the opening sustained G# in the solo instrument - nothing can equal the beauty of that note on the violin, and as the guitar cannot sustain for that long and I don't like the trill Bach gives the harpsichord, it seemed obvious to give it to the organ continuo. The third movement was happily straightforward, having a dance-like character very suited to the guitar.

The solo Violin Sonata in A minor was transcribed by Bach for harpsichord in D minor. I have selected the Andante from this Sonata and adapted it rather freely in the style of an ornamented aria.

The Chaconne was originally a slow Spanish dance in triple time which emphasised and usually began on the second beat of the bar: its eight bars, usually four bars repeated, were the perfect basis for instrumental variation and from the sixteenth century onward composers have been attracted by it simple form and endless possibilities. Bach's great Chaconne in D minor has thirty-one variations which are developed in several continuous sections to create a work of expressive "grandeur", with its central climax in the major key. 2 developments in the variations are particularly interesting; excepting the arpeggio section, most minor key variations from No. 5 onwards are based on the descending "Spanish" harmony D (mi) C, B-flat, A and they begin on the first beat of the bar instead of the second. These changes enhance forward movement and continuity - but did Bach also have in mind the Spanish origin of the Chaconne?

John Williams

Bach

Violin Concerto nr. 2, BWV 1042 *
Aria (Andante from Solo Violin Sonata, BWV 1003) *
Chaconne (from Violin Partita nr. 2, BWV 1004) *
Lute Suite in A minor (orig: G minor), BWV 995
Lute Suite in E minor, BWV 996

* Arrangement for guitar by John Williams

John Williams, guitar

Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields
Kenneth Sillito, conductor

Quality: mp3, varied kbps
Size: 131 MB

John Williams

This entry was posted on 29.10.08 at 15:37 and is filed under Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Bach, Chamber Music, Concerto, Guitar, John Williams, Kenneth Sillito, Sony . You can follow any responses to this entry through the comments feed .