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Miguel Rincón - baroque lute Lute made by Francisco Hervás, pitch A4: 392 Hz, tuning: Vallotti J.S. BACH bwv 1001 & bwv 1004 Sonata bwv 1001 1 Adagio 4:11 2 Fuga 5:55 3 Siciliana 4:00 4 Presto 5:10 Partita bwv 1004 5 Allemande 5:53 6 Courante 2:58 7 Sarabanda 4:11 8 Giga 5:09 9 Ciaccona 14:40 total time: 52:19 4 J.S. Bach and the lute The six partitas and sonatas by Johann Sebastian Bach were composed during his time as Kapellmeister in Köthen (1717-1723), under the patronage of Prince Leopold von Anhalt. Prince Leopold was a musician, but as a Calvinist, didn’t allow elaborate music to be performed during church services. This explains the secular character of Bach’s compositions from this time period: orchestral suites, suites for violoncello solo, sonatas and partitas for solo violin, etc. The manuscripts which contain the suites and sonatas for solo violin are dated 1720. These manuscripts provide examples of the two most important sonata forms of the time: the sonatas (BWV 1001-1003) conform structurally to the so-called sonata da chiesa (each with four movements, slow-fast-slow-fast, in which the first movement is usually a prelude, the second a fugue, and the third and fourth a sarabande and gigue, respectively), while the partitas (BWV 1004- 1006) are sonatas da camera, with varying numbers of movements based (as in a suite) on dance forms. In order to introduce both of the forms which exist in the aforementioned works for solo violin, I have decided to feature transcriptions of one sonata and one partita on this recording. I have chosen probably the most well-known of these works: Sonata BWV 1001 and Partita BWV 1004. Hence arise two essential questions: firstly, why would anyone transcribe solo violin works at all, and secondly, why make a transcription specifically for a polyphonic instrument like the baroque lute? 5 Bach himself used earlier compositions in his works again and again, and ar- ranged them for different instruments or different groups of instruments. For example, many of his works for organ appear again in later compositions. The second movement of the Triple Concerto BWV 1044 is based on the Adagio of the organ Trio Sonata BWV 527. The Sonata for viola da gamba and obbligato harpsichord BWV 1027 is a transcription of the Trio Sonata for two flutes and basso continuo in G major, BWV 1039. The Fugue in G minor from the Sonata BWV 1001 can also be found in a version for organ (BWV 539). The baroque lute was the most important plucked instrument in Germany in Bach’s time, and was made famous especially by the well-known master Silvius Leopold Weiss, who wrote over one hundred suites for lute and who was a friend of Bach’s. Perhaps Bach wrote his suite for solo lute for him. Certainly this is what happened in the case of the Suite BWV 995 (a manuscript transcription of the suite for solo cello BWV 1011 in D minor) whose title is “Pièces pour la luth á Monsieur Schouster par J.S. Bach.” This also provides an answer to my second question—why anyone would choose a polyphonic instrument to reproduce repertoire written for a solo instrument like the violin? These solo works are truly strokes of musical genius, in which the apparently single–voice melody line produced by the instrument actually creates up to three voices at the same time, letting harmonies emerge from the melodic network. Therefore, it is perhaps not so surprising how beautiful the results are when a work for a solo instrument is given a bass line, voicing, and chordal harmo- ny—a task which a polyphonic instrument like the lute particularly lends itself to. Bach was much more acquainted with the lute than one may think. Not only did he own two instruments himself, but he also taught composition to lutenists such as Ludwig Krebs and Rudolf Straube, and in addition, was acquainted with the most important lutenists of his day, for example S. L. Weiss (mentioned above), 6 Ernst Gottlieb Baron (who made Bach’s acquaintance during a visit to Köthen in 1720), or J. C. Weyrauch. The latter furnishes us with evidence of how widespread the practice of transcription was, even in the language of plucked instruments, namely tablature. He transcribed the Fugue in G minor, BWV 1001 (catalogued as BWV 1000), the Suite BWV 995, and the Partita BWV 997. The last of these was originally written by Bach for lute or harpsichord, which brings home to us yet again, the variety and impartiality with which musical material was reused or rewritten in this time period. Referring to the question of why Bach transcribed his works for lute in a two-staff system, rather than in tablature, I will end with the words of the Argentinian musician Eduardo Egüez: ”…Transcriptions appeared often in Bach’s time. The professional lutenist of the 18th century had to be equally capable of playing both his own music and that of others. He could adapt the works of other composers and provide alternative solutions to problems posed by transcription.” Miguel Rincón, 2012 7 Miguel Rincón Miguel Rincón was born in 1979 and today is one of the most active lute players in Spain. He plays early plucked instruments such as the renaissance lute, baroque lute, baroque guitar, vihuela, chitarrone and archlute, is a member of eminent ensembles, and is active in early music both through historical performance practice and improvisation. He studied plucked instruments at the Manuel Castillo Music Conservatory with Juan Carlos Rivera, where he received top marks and graduated with honors. He later received a master’s degree, studying with Xavier Díaz Latorre at Esmuc (The Music Conservatory of Cataluña). He currently attends Zürich Conserva- tory (Zürcher Hochschule der Künste) to receive lessons with Eduardo Eguëz. He has attended numerous master classes with prominent lute players such as Rolf Lislevand, Robert Barto, Paul O’Dette, and Hopkinson Smith, and has received chamber music coaching from Vittorio Ghielmi, Paolo Pandolfo, and Gabriel Garrido, among others. He has performed at numerous festivals and theaters all around the world, including the Mozart Festival in Galicia, Festival Cervantino (Mexico), Estella Early Music Week (País vasco), Early Music Week in Barcelona, Aranjuez, Utrecht, Festival de Chiquitos (Bolivia), Froville le Romain (France), Luxemburg Theater, National Auditorium (Madrid), Chopin Music Conservatory (Warsaw), Milán, París, Tou- louse, Lyon, Venice, and Buenos Aires (Manzana de las Luces). He appears on numerous recordings such as Les violes du ciel et de l’enfer, with the Academia del Piacere (Fahmi Alqhai), Arde el furor intrépido with the Seville Baroque Orchestra (Diego Fasolis, conductor), and a recording of Albinoni’s Sonata da chiesa Op. 5 with the ensemble Ad corda (Alessandro Ciccolini, Francesco Varone). 8 9 J.S. Bach und die Laute Die sechs Partiten und Sonaten von Johann Sebastian Bach entstanden während seiner Zeit als Kapellmeister in Köthen (1717-1723) unter dem Mäzenat des Fürsten Leopold von Anhalt. Fürst Leopold war Musiker, verbat es sich als Calvinist jedoch, kunstvolle Musik in seinen Gottesdiensten aufzuführen. Daher erklärt sich der säkulare Charakter der Kompositionen Bachs aus dieser Zeit: Orchestersuiten, Suiten für Violoncello solo, Sonaten und Partiten für Violine solo, etc. Die Handschriften der Suiten und Sonaten für Violine solo sind auf das Jahr 1720 datiert. In ihnen zeigen sich die zwei wichtigsten Sonatenformen ihrer Zeit: Die Partiten (BWV 1001-1003) entsprechen in ihrer Struktur der Sonata da chiesa (Mit den vier Sätzen langsam-schnell-langsam-schnell, wobei der erste Satz üblicherweise ein Präludium ist, der zweite eine Fuge, und der dritte und vierte eine Sarabande und Gigue darstellen). Die Sonaten (BWV 1004-1006) entsprechen den Sonatas de camera mit unterschiedlich vielen Sätzen, die wie in einer Suite auf Tänzen basieren. Für diese Aufnahme habe ich mich entschieden, Transkriptionen einer Sonata und einer Partita anzufertigen und so beide Formen, die in besagtem Werk für Violine vorhanden sind, vorzustellen. Dabei habe ich die beiden wohl bekanntesten Werke gewählt: Sonata BWV 1001 und Partita BWV 1004. Hieraus ergeben sich nun zwei grundlegende Fragen: Warum sollte man erstens überhaupt Transkriptionen von Violinwerken machen, und warum zweitens grade für ein polyphones Instrument wie die Barocklaute? Bach selbst verwendete sein ganzes Leben lang immer wieder frühere Kom- positionen in seinen Werken und arrangierte sie für andere Instrumente oder Instrumentalgruppen um. So tauchen etwa viele seiner Orgelwerke in anderen 10 Kompositionen wieder auf: Der zweite Satz des Tripelkonzerts BWV 1044 basiert auf dem Adagio der Orgeltriosonate BWV 527. Die Sonate für Viola da Gamba und obligates Cembalo BWV 1027 ist eine Umschrift der Triosonate für zwei Flöten und Basso Continuo in G-Dur BWV 1039. Auch findet sich die Fuge in G-moll der Sonate BWV 1001 in einer Version für Orgel (BWV 539) wieder. Die Barocklaute war das wichtigste Zupfinstrument in Deutschland zur Zeit Bachs und wurde vor allem durch den berühmten Musiker Silvius Leopold Weiss bekannt gemacht, der über einhundert Suiten für die Laute komponierte und mit Bach befreundet war. Vielleicht schrieb Bach für ihn auch seine Suiten für Laute solo. Solches geschah jedenfalls im Fall der Suite BWV 995, eine autographe Tran- skription der Cellosuite BWV 1011 in D-moll, deren Titel lautet “Piéces pour la luth á Monsieur Schouster par J.S. Bach”. Dies beantwortet auch meine zweite Frage, warum man ein polyphones Instrument wählen sollte, um Repertoire für ein Soloinstrument wie die Violine oder das Violoncello wiederzugeben. Diese Solowerke sind wahre musikalische Geniestreiche, in denen die offensichtlich einstimmige Melodielinie, die das Instrument eigentlich hergibt, bis zu drei Stim- men gleichzeitig entwickelt und sogar Akkorde aus dem melodischen Geflecht entstehen lässt.

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