Canadian guitarist Drew Henderson performs Suite for Lute, BWV 995 by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) on a seven-string guitar. This comes via Henderson’s YouTube channel (go subscribe). Henderson’s sheet music edition will be coming soon via his website. Brilliant and refined performance by Henderson with an excellent sense of balance and pacing. Here’s a small except from his YouTube description, read the full write-up at his video.
I’m happy to present my 7-string arrangement of Bach’s magnificent Suite for Lute, BWV 995 (G minor) which is derived from his Cello Suite no. 5, BWV 1011 (orig.C minor). This performance marks the first step before I record it in a beautiful church acoustic for an upcoming album featuring this and two other Bach suites.
This piece is especially significant for guitarists interested in seeing how Bach himself added bass notes to a cello suite. To my knowledge, it’s the only example of that process, and it’s also a prime illustration of how Bach transposed music into different keys to better suit an instrument. Interestingly, the original cello suite calls for a scordatura, where the high A string is tuned a tone lower to G, making the piece much less awkward than in standard tuning.
Movement and Video Times
- 00:00 Prelude
- 02:09 Tres vite
- 06:00 Allemande
- 11:32 Courante
- 13:21 Sarabande
- 16:37 Gavotte 1
- 18:34 Gavotte II
- 20:52 Gigue
