Johann Sebastian Bach (31 March [O.S. 21 March] 1685 – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the Baroque period. He is known for instrumental compositions such as the Brandenburg Concertos and the Goldberg Variations as well as for vocal music such as the St Matthew Passion and the Mass in B minor. Since the 19th-century Bach Revival he has been generally regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time.
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Uploaded with special permission by performer Peter Watchorn
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Suite in E minor (for Lautenclavier), BWV 996 (c. 1708-17)
1. Praeludio (0:00)
2. Allemande (2:33)
3. Courante (5:46)
4. Sarabande (8:24)
5. Bourrée (11:47)
6. Gigue (13:05)
PETER WATCHORN, harpsichord
Hubbard & Broekman after Ruckers/Blanchet/Taskin, 1990
It is probable that this suite was intended for Lautenwerck (lute-harpsichord). Because the lautenwerk is an uncommon instrument, it is in modern times often performed on the guitar or the lute.
The lautenwerck (also spelled lautenwerk), alternatively called lute-harpsichord (lute-clavier), is a European keyboard instrument of the Baroque period. It is similar to a harpsichord, but with gut rather than metal strings, producing a mellow tone.
The instrument was favored by J. S. Bach, who owned two of the instruments at the time of his death, but no specimens from the eighteenth century have survived to the present day. It has been revived since the twentieth century by harpsichord makers Willard Martin, Keith Hill, and Steven Sorli. Two of its most prominent performers are the early music specialists Gergely Sárközy and Robert Hill.
Bach wrote his lute pieces in a traditional score rather than in lute tablature, and some believe that Bach played his lute pieces on the keyboard. No original script of the Suite in E minor for Lute by Bach is known to exist. However, in the collection of one of Bach's pupils, Johann Ludwig Krebs, there is one piece ("Praeludio – con la Suite da Gio: Bast. Bach") that has written "aufs Lauten Werck" ("for the lute-harpsichord") in unidentified handwriting.
Some argue that despite the annotation about the lute-harpsichord, the piece was meant to be played on the lute as demonstrated by the texture. Others argue that since the piece was written in E minor, it would be incompatible with the baroque lute which was tuned to D minor unless a capo was on the 2nd fret. Nevertheless, it may be played with other string instruments, such as the guitar, mandola or mandocello, and keyboard instruments (Such as Piano), and the fifth movement (the Bourrée) is especially well-known among guitarists.
