Bach: The Sonatas & Partitas for Unaccompanied Violin
Arranged for 8-string guitar and played by Paul Galbraith
Delos DE 3232 (2-disk set)
Executive summary: Back to Bach, with a difference or two
Happy JSB's birthday, everyone!
This set is one of the best Bach guitar transcriptions I have heard, but
it is probably not for every lover of the violin sonatas and partitas.
Galbraith performs them in regular order: Sonata #1, Partita #1, Sonata
#2, etc. And he does so for a particular reason: he believes that, in
this order, they form a "suite of suites," a single musical work which
portrays the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. Part of his reasons
for arriving at this interpretation is that, up through Partita #2, they
are predominantly minor, reaching a climax with the giant of the set, the
Chaconne.
No part of these disks illustrates the idiosyncratic quality of this
interpretation so clearly as this movement, though there are aspects of
many of the others which are quite quirky. Whereas most violinists and
guitarists alike perform the Chaconne as a virtuoso piece, Galbraith gives
us a very contemplative reading, so slow, quiet, and meditative that,
if it were played in isolation from the rest, it would seem grotesque.
Yet, whatever the merits of his theory about Bach's religious intentions,
Galbraith's Chaconne does fit in well with his overall interpretation,
and illuminates aspects of the piece that can be overlooked in the more
conventional head-long approach. (His is 19 minutes 56 seconds long, as
compared with Szeryng's 14 minutes 22 seconds on Deutsche Grammophon 453
004-2 and Segovia's 12 minutes 3 seconds on Excelsior EXL-2-4321.)
The Chaconne feeds right into the Adagio of the 3rd Sonata, the dotted
rhythms of which Galbraith thinks portray Christ's carrying the cross; when
it reaches the final major cadence, he believes that the mood of triumph
has begun. The theme of the fugue he calls the "Resurrection theme." And
certainly he puts plenty of spirit into the 3rd Partita: the Prelude rings
out splendedly, the Gavotte and Minuets are danced elegantly, and the Gigue
winds up the whole set in great exhilaration.
All in all, a version which gives one much to think about, whatever one
might conclude about the Christ connection.
Galbraith playes the pieces on an 8-string guitar of his own design,
which he hold like a cello (there's a picture on the album). It has
extra strings above and below the standard guitar strings, which extend
the range of the instrument in such a way that it almost gives the
illusion of a keyboard instrument. Furthering this illusion is Galbraith's
skillful handling of the counterpoint. His technique is prodigious, his
musicianship is at a very high level, and the sound of the recording is
crystal-clear. So clear, in fact, that here and there it picks up some
extraneous noise, which sounds like the player's fingers scraping the
strings and which may annoy some listeners.
Others may be disturbed by the very idea of any tampering with the original
notes from the divine hand of Johann Sebastian, but the whole question of
transcribing Bach has been thoroughly discussed on this list before, and I
won't revisit it here. In sum: if you aren't turned off by the very idea
of transcribing Bach, these disks are well worth a listen.
Jon Johanning // [log in to unmask]
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