Bist du bei mir (Be thou with me) by Bach & Stölzel

Bist du bei mir, BWV 508 (Be thou with me) by Bach & Stölzel. PDF Sheet Music arranged for classical guitar. Originally composed by Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel (1690–1749) and arranged by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750). Sheet music or tab editions available. Intermediate (Grade 5 or 6). 

My PDF Sheet Music Edition – Includes both a notation-only edition and a tab edition.

Originally Bist du bei mir, geh ich mit Freuden (If you are with me, I go with joy) is an aria from Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel’s opera Diomedes from 1718. The aria is best known as Bist du bei mir, BWV 508, a version for voice and continuo, No.25 in the 1725 Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach. Often translated “Be thou with me”.

Due to the limited range between voices this arrangement for guitar contains only the continuo line and the melody of Bach’s arrangement without any filling in of the chords. It has been transposed from Eb Major to G Major. The register of the continuo line is generally up an octave with a few exceptions due to overlapping voices. Otherwise, the contour of the melody and continuo line are pretty accurate to the original. Here’s the YouTube Link if you want to watch it there.

Promo Cover and Samples

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  1. Brad, thank you for this. It’s very nice to listen to and it seems do-able given your performance ideas and notes. When you demonstrate the various aspects of the piece, I almost feel as if I’m in your studio again, you’ve always been and still are a great teacher. Take care and all the best, Bonnie