Publication's Style: Soft Cover Level of Difficulty: Advanced General Description: from the Baroque
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) transcribed several of his own harpsichord and violin pieces into arrangements for the baroque lute or Lautenwerk, a keyboard instrument with gut and metal strings designed to sound like a baroque lute. In this tradition I have transcribed the first Prelude and Fugue from the WTC for solo classical guitar.
The twenty-four preludes and fugues from the Well Tempered Clavier represent Bach’s dedication to the establishment of tempered intonation. Adapting his instruments to this more refined tuning allowed Bach to play in any and all keys and to expand his compositions freely into larger and more complicated works.
The first Prelude and Fugue from this collection, BWV 846, is presented here as an arrangement for solo guitar, transposed from the original key of C major to A. In this key, the lyrical descending bass line of the prelude and the expansive range of the fugue can be played with fewer changes from the original scoring.
