Bach: Works for lute

Featuring

Jadran Duncumb
Johann Sebastian Bach

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Recording & Production

This recording aims to retain the 'harsher quality' and 'grit' of the baroque lute's sound, as solo lutes were typically played in rooms with direct acoustics, not churches.

Performer Biography

Jadran Duncumb, the performer, was a finalist in both BBC Young Musician of the Year and NRK's Norwegian equivalent as a guitar pupil before taking up the lute.

Composer's Artistic Vision

J. S. Bach, though a Baroque composer, approached the lute from a listener's perspective, trying to emulate its musical language without being limited by the instrument's frets.

Interpretation

The historical lute intabulations of Bach's music show that lutenists of his time took liberties, changing and adding embellishments to maximize the lute's expressive potential.

Composition History

Bach's lute works are unique because they were written by a composer with only a passing knowledge of the instrument, a rarity for ambitious solo music until the 20th century.

Composition History

Some of Bach's 'Lute Works' are arrangements of his other compositions, such as BWV 995 being an arrangement of his Cello Suite in C minor BWV 1011.

Historical Context

Three 18th-century lute intabulations of Bach's music exist in the Musikbibliothek der Stadt Leipzig, providing insight into contemporary performance practices.