Nobody knows exactly what instrument J. S. Bach had in
mind when composing (and, in some cases, arranging) his
many pieces now considered to be for lute; indeed, some
of these works are all but unplayable on any known
variety of Baroque lute, and it may well be that in
these cases he was writing for a peculiar device known
as the Lautenwerk--a kind of harpsichord mechanism
designed to approximate the timbre of the lute. A
surviving manuscript of the Lute Suite in E minor, BWV
996, Bach's earlies...(+)
Nobody knows exactly what instrument J. S. Bach had in
mind when composing (and, in some cases, arranging) his
many pieces now considered to be for lute; indeed, some
of these works are all but unplayable on any known
variety of Baroque lute, and it may well be that in
these cases he was writing for a peculiar device known
as the Lautenwerk--a kind of harpsichord mechanism
designed to approximate the timbre of the lute. A
surviving manuscript of the Lute Suite in E minor, BWV
996, Bach's earliest work for lute (probably composed
in Weimar sometime between 1707 and 1717, perhaps
earlier), actually bears the inscription "Aufs
Lautenwerk," though the words appear to have been
written by another hand. In the end, the question is
probably moot: both Lautenwerk and Baroque lute are,
sadly, all but extinct, and today one almost always
hears the E minor Suite (BWV 996), like all Bach's
"lute" works, played on harp (remembering that Bach
himself was never possessed of the relatively modern
notion of absolutely specific instrumentation--his own
arrangements of solo violin and cello works for lute
prove this, and he would almost certainly not object to
hearing the works on another instrument). The suite is
laid out in the traditional Froberger keyboard suite
model, to whose four basic dance movements--allemande,
courante, sarabande, and gigue--Bach has added a florid
Passaggio (a particular variety of prelude whose
origins are to be found in the improvised introductions
to Baroque organ toccatas) and a lively Bourrée.
The Passaggio (Prelude) is in fact a dual movement,
beginning with a single-line melodic plunge that soon
gives way to a more recitativo passage in which Bach
sets isolated chords against more animated outbursts in
the treble register. The second half of the prelude
movement is a much more tightly-metered Presto built
along miniature fugal lines. The Allemande is of the
traditional kind, steady in rhythm and serious in tone.
In this movement, BWV 996's possible keyboard genesis
can be seen and heard in the hand-against-hand style of
the two voices. Of special beauty is the mix of minor
and major scales at the final cadence of the dance's
second half. The Courante is a particularly graceful
example of this triple-meter dance, its frequent lapses
into hemiola serving as a vestigial reminder of the
compact two against three rhythmic coloration that,
three-quarters of a century before Bach's time, was so
vital a part of courante style. The Sarabande, as a
dance-genre, first came to Europe during the fifteenth
century via the Spanish New World, and was originally a
far raunchier (and faster) dance than those we know
from the High Baroque literature. In the Sarabande of
the E minor Lute Suite, we are given an example of the
very slow, tender kind of sarabande that first began to
pop up in France at the turn of the eighteenth century.
The energetic Bourrée, with its (almost) unbending
long/short-short rhythms and driving bass line, is of
completely different stock. The concluding Gigue is
very nearly a perpetual motion--the sixteenth notes
only falter at the two cadence areas. During the second
half Bach indulges in some delightful imitation on the
inverted form of the first half's melody.
SHEET MUSIC