Drew Henderson Plays BWV997 by Bach

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

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  1. Happy New Year. Good health and much joy surrounded by beautiful guitar playing.

    All the best from Beaconsfield (Qc)