Bach - Lute Works Volume 1 - Harmonia Mundi: HMU907438 - download

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The pieces here are expanded arrangements, largely by Bach himself, of music for solo cello and violin… O'Dette responds magnificently, playing with a sense of total ease - fluent, expressive,... — BBC Music Magazine, September 2007, 5 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 3rd Sep 2007
Catalogue No: HMU907438
Label: Harmonia Mundi
Length: 67 minutes

BBC Music Magazine

September 2007

Instrumental Choice

Bach, J S: Suite in A Minor, BWV 995

Work length25:59

$6.00

$7.50

I. Prelude - Très Vite

Track length6:04

$1.00

$1.25

II. Allemande

Track length5:39

$1.00

$1.25

III. Courante

Track length2:23

$1.00

$1.25

IV. Sarabande

Track length3:10

$1.00

$1.25

V. Gavotte I & II en Rondeaux

Track length6:23

$1.00

$1.25

VI. Gigue

Track length2:20

$1.00

$1.25

Bach, J S: Partita in E Major, BWV 1006a

Work length23:00

$6.00

$7.50

I. Prelude

Track length5:08

$1.00

$1.25

II. Loure

Track length4:16

$1.00

$1.25

III. Gavotte en Rondeaux

Track length3:49

$1.00

$1.25

IV. Minuet I & II

Track length5:29

$1.00

$1.25

V. Bourée

Track length1:50

$1.00

$1.25

VI. Gigue

Track length2:28

$1.00

$1.25

Bach, J S: Sonata for solo violin No. 1 in G minor, BWV1001

Work length18:36

$4.00

$5.00

I. Adagio

Track length4:12

$1.00

$1.25

II. Fuga - Allegro

Track length5:53

$1.00

$1.25

III. Siciliana

Track length3:25

$1.00

$1.25

IV. Presto

Track length5:06

$1.00

$1.25

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Johann Sebastian Bach so admired the sound of the lute that he designed a gut-strung harpsichord to imitate it (Lautenwerk) which ‘deceived the ears of the best lutenists’. This invention permitted him, as a keyboard virtuoso, to compose astonishing pieces for ‘lute’ that are unplayable on the 13-course instruments of his day! Paul O’Dette has taken up this challenge, introducing into these arrangements of suites and partitas just what was needed to make them sound natural on his instrument.

All works arranged by Paul O'Dette

Reviews

September 2007

The pieces here are expanded arrangements, largely by Bach himself, of music for solo cello and violin… O'Dette responds magnificently, playing with a sense of total ease - fluent, expressive, sensitively balancing contrapuntal lines.

2010

Bach never wrote directly for lute; his works for the instrument are transcriptions from his preexisting music or were written for the lute-harpsichord (Lautenwerk), an instrument designed to imitate the lute. The A minor Suite, BWV995, Pièces pour la Luth à Monsieur Schouster, is an arrangement of the Cello Suite BWV1011; the Partita in E major is an arrangement of the Partita BWV1006 for solo violin, transposed to F major. The Sonata in G minor is an arrangement by O'Dette of the Sonata in G minor for solo violin BWV1001, modelled after the arrangement of its fugue for lute by Johann Christian Weyrauch, a friend of Bach's.
A direct comparison with Hopkinson Smith's magisterial readings (Astrée) is revealing. He treats the dance in the abstract. His pulse is flexible, his expressive shading copious. O'Dette is determined to restore the dance proper. The rhythmic outlines are sharply defined by a judicious use of staccato bass notes and extensive employment of notes inégales and other Frenchstyle embellishments. That's not to say that O'Dette isn't alive to a more improvisatory quality, especially in the preludes and the Sonata in G minor. But in short, with his readings, the body dances; with Smith's, the soul. Neither approach is superior to the other – it's merely a matter of emphasis.

Bach - Lute Works Volume 1

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