This is the last of the class assignments I did for Dr. Bush at UNT. My final project for the course was a paper titled “Slurring Practices in Baroque Guitar and Lute Music” which was later published in Soundboard magazine in 1987.

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BACH AND THE BAROQUE LUTE

Among the musical instruments listed in the specificatio of Johann Sebastian Bach’s estate, made after his death in 1750, were two Lautenwerk(e) (lute-harpsichord) and a lute. This has given rise to much conjecture as to whether Bach himself played the lute.[i] We may never be able to satisfactorily resolve the question. However, judging from the information in the specificatio, we can infer that he was well acquainted with the lute. We know that at least two of his students, J. L. Krebs and R. Straube, played the lute and composed for it.[ii] We also know that Bach was personally acquainted with Silvius L. Weiss, the foremost lutenist of his time.[iii]

More importantly, however, we know that he composed a small body of works for the instrument. As early as 1727, Bach had already used the lute in two compositions: St. John Passion and the Trauer-Ode.[iv] There is general consensus that the lute parts are authentic. Their relative simplicity and the idiomatic writing speak for themselves.

In examining Bach’s solo lute works, we encounter a more complex problem. Although there is mention of three lute partitas in Breitkopf’s catalog of 1761, they have been presumed lost. Schweitzer however believed that the lute partitas still survive today as keyboard arrangements of the lute originals.[v] They form part of seven compositions now designated by the Neue Bach Ausgabe as lute compositions. None of these compositions were written in tablature but in normal two-stave notation. However, contemporary intabulated versions of some of these works survive today and we shall examine them first. They are as follows:

1. Suite in G minor, BWV 995. (This is an adaptation of the Cello Suite in C minor BWV 1011.)
2. Partita in C minor, BWV 997
3. Prelude in C minor, BWV 999
4. Fugue in G minor, BWV 1000

A detailed examination of these works reveals one common feature; they are all essentially arrangements of the Bach autograph versions. In the case of the Suite in G minor, which, interestingly enough, even bears the direction Pour la Luth in the autograph, octave adjustments have to be repeatedly made to accommodate the low G. The lowest note on the standard baroque lute is A. The texture of all these works is extremely light and well suited to the lute. In particular, the Prelude in C minor and the Prelude of the Partita in C minor contain some excellent lute writing.

The rest of Bach’s lute compositions include:

5. Suite in E minor, BWV 995
6. Prelude, Fugue and Allegro in E flat major, BWV 998
7. Suite in E major, BWV 1006 (an adaptation of the third Partita for solo violin BWV 1006)

All three of these compositions have generated a great deal of controversy over their intended instrumentation. Many lutenists regard them as being unplayable on the lute citing the main reasons as being:

1. The technical difficulties in executing these pieces are practically insurmountable, given their thick texture. As an example, the Gigue from the Suite in E minor is so dense at times with three part counterpoint that it is physically impossible to execute on the lute at tempo.
2. The keys make them doubly suspect. The baroque lute is tuned in D minor in the following manner:[vi]

A, Bb, C, D, E, F, G, A, d, f, a, d’, f’

Would Bach, who was for all intent and purposes a practical man and a highly experienced composer, compose works that are physically impossible to execute on the instrument they are intended?

Whatever the conclusion, it is safe to assume that Bach had more than a cursory interest in the lute. He may indeed have written works specifically for the lute. He may even have been a competent lutenist. However, being a practical man, and realizing the fiendish difficulties in mastering the baroque lute, he may have sought to side-step the problem by designing the Lautenwerk—a pseudo-lute.

In composing for the instrument, he may have deliberately composed works with the lute in mind, but which were intended to be played on the Lautenwerk instead, in other words, pseudo lute music for a pseudo lute.

NOTES

[i] Albert Schweitzer, J. S. Bach, trans. Ernest Newman, (New York, 1958), v. I, 344; Philipp Spitta, Johann Sebastian Bach, trans. Clara Bell and J. A. Fuller Maitland, (New York, 1951), v. III, 166-167.

[ii] Karl Geiringer, Johann Sebastian Bach, (New York, 1966), 310-311.

[iii] Ibid.

[iv] Charles S. Terry, Bach’s Orchestra, Oxford University Press, (London, 1932), 143.

[v] Schweitzer, loc. cit.

[vi] See Foreword, Stefan Lundgren, Johann Sebastian Bach Samtliche Lautenwerke, Lundgren Musik-Ed., (Munchen, 1984).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

(Coming soon.)

March 20, 1987

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