Nobody knows exactly what instrument J. S. Bach had in
mind when composing (and, in some cases, arranging) his
many pieces now considered to be for lute; indeed, some
of these works are all but unplayable on any known
variety of Baroque lute, and it may well be that in
these cases he was writing for a peculiar device known
as the Lautenwerk--a kind of harpsichord mechanism
designed to approximate the timbre of the lute. A
surviving manuscript of the Lute Suite in E minor, BWV
996, Bach's earlies...(+)
Nobody knows exactly what instrument J. S. Bach had in
mind when composing (and, in some cases, arranging) his
many pieces now considered to be for lute; indeed, some
of these works are all but unplayable on any known
variety of Baroque lute, and it may well be that in
these cases he was writing for a peculiar device known
as the Lautenwerk--a kind of harpsichord mechanism
designed to approximate the timbre of the lute. A
surviving manuscript of the Lute Suite in E minor, BWV
996, Bach's earliest work for lute (probably composed
in Weimar sometime between 1707 and 1717, perhaps
earlier), actually bears the inscription "Aufs
Lautenwerk," though the words appear to have been
written by another hand. In the end, the question is
probably moot: both Lautenwerk and Baroque lute are,
sadly, all but extinct, and today one almost always
hears the E minor Suite, like all Bach's "lute" works,
played on guitar (we must remember that Bach himself
was never possessed of the relatively modern notion of
absolutely specific instrumentation--his own
arrangements of solo violin and cello works for lute
prove this, and he would almost certainly not object to
hearing the works on another instrument).
The E minor Lute Suite is laid out in the traditional
Froberger keyboard suite model, to whose four basic
dance movements--allemande, courante, sarabande, and
gigue--Bach has added a florid Passaggio (a particular
variety of prelude whose origins are to be found in the
improvised introductions to Baroque organ toccatas) and
a lively Bourrée.
The Allemande is of the traditional kind, steady in
rhythm and serious in tone. In this movement, BWV 996's
possible keyboard genesis can be seen and heard in the
hand-against-hand style of the two voices. Of special
beauty is the mix of minor and major scales at the
final cadence of the dance's second half.
Although this piece was originally written for period
instruments (possibly the Lute), I arranged it for
Concert (Pedal) Harp.
SHEET MUSIC