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This edition of the Bach lute suites was published in 1921, by the German Hans Dagobert Bruger. This man could be said to be responsible for the adaptation of Bach's Lute Suites on guitar.
When asked where he first played Bach, Andres Segovia says: "When I discovered the book written by Hans Dragobert Bruger, in Germany. about the collection of compositions that Bach made for the Lute. I immediately with great joy selected some of them to play them in Paris, at my next concert. My friends disapproved that idea of playing Bach on the guitar, but I disregarded their advice, because I prefer to er alone." --- Andres Segovia (Documentary by Christopher Nupen, 6'05" - 6'45") This book could be one of the major resources that revived Bach's Lute Suites on the guitar in the 20th century. Unfortunately, information about the author Bruger is hard to come by, especially for a non-German speaker like myself. But we can look through this book and explore one of the landmark transcriptions of the 20th century. |
Here is an excerpt from the Preface (translated courtesy of Google translate):
"The present volume, with which the series of monuments publications of old polyphonic art is opened, is under the sign of Joh. Seb. Bach. For the first time since Bach's time, the attempt has been made here to collect the verses of the master, scattered in various ways, and to unite them in an edition which is linear according to our present knowledge. Debt to the mysterious mist that cloaked Bach's polyphonic compositions up to our own day is partly borne by the Bach-Society itself, denying the existence of these pieces for the lute, or placing it under the piano pieces of one of the Bachs.... We are already standing near the middle of the eighteenth century, at a time when the polyphonic art was gradually coming to an end, in which deviations from the norm might also occur in the manner of quotation; Lute and Theorbo, in their capacity as general bass instruments of the orchestra, have long been recorded in scores (for example by Viennese composers such as Johann Jos. Fux, Handel, etc.). Let us emphasize, above all, that Bach's polyphonic works written to us by other hands are preserved; it is quite conceivable that these tablatures represent transcriptions of Bach's polyphonic tablatures, and the latter, like so many others, have been lost in the course of the centuries. The task of this volume must therefore be to make up for the manifest error of Bach's society, and secondly, to give Bach's polyphonic compositions a clearer picture to those who have a legitimate interest in them, namely the polyphonic players of our time..."
"The present volume, with which the series of monuments publications of old polyphonic art is opened, is under the sign of Joh. Seb. Bach. For the first time since Bach's time, the attempt has been made here to collect the verses of the master, scattered in various ways, and to unite them in an edition which is linear according to our present knowledge. Debt to the mysterious mist that cloaked Bach's polyphonic compositions up to our own day is partly borne by the Bach-Society itself, denying the existence of these pieces for the lute, or placing it under the piano pieces of one of the Bachs.... We are already standing near the middle of the eighteenth century, at a time when the polyphonic art was gradually coming to an end, in which deviations from the norm might also occur in the manner of quotation; Lute and Theorbo, in their capacity as general bass instruments of the orchestra, have long been recorded in scores (for example by Viennese composers such as Johann Jos. Fux, Handel, etc.). Let us emphasize, above all, that Bach's polyphonic works written to us by other hands are preserved; it is quite conceivable that these tablatures represent transcriptions of Bach's polyphonic tablatures, and the latter, like so many others, have been lost in the course of the centuries. The task of this volume must therefore be to make up for the manifest error of Bach's society, and secondly, to give Bach's polyphonic compositions a clearer picture to those who have a legitimate interest in them, namely the polyphonic players of our time..."
10-string guitar
While this edition was written for the 10-string guitar, it is still possible to play the majority of the pieces on a 6-string guitar. The tuning is as follows:
While this edition was written for the 10-string guitar, it is still possible to play the majority of the pieces on a 6-string guitar. The tuning is as follows:
Some interesting features of this edition
The Prelude BWV 999 that is normally transcribed in D Minor is in A Minor.
The Sarabande from Suite 997 is in E Minor, while the remaining movements of the suite are in A Minor
The Prelude, Fugue and Allegro (BWV 998) are in different keys to one another. The Prelude is in E Major, the Fugue in D Major, and the Allegro in C Major. This mini-suite is usually transcribed in D Major.
The Fugue BWV 1001 is often transcribed in A Minor (it was originally in G Minor). In this edition it's in E Minor.