Robert Crim
2005-12-06 15:47:49 UTC
I came across this set of liner notes for a CD of Kim Heindel's
performances on the lute-harpsichord. The notes are by Nigel North,
one of the best at playing Bach transcriptions on the baroque lute.
Interesting reading.
Robert
==========================================================
"Aufs Lautenwerck"
Kim Heindel, lautenwerk
Dorian Discovery DIS-80126
Notes by lutenist Nigel North
London, June 1994
Bach, the lute and the lautenwerk (lute-harpsichord) have fascinated
me for
years. Upon investigating Bach's connection with the two instruments,
one is
immediately faced with the striking absence of one vital piece of
evidence:
though we know that many lautenwerks existed, none, to our knowledge,
have
survived into our time. The lautenwerk, the name by which its is
usually
known in German and English, was a harpsichord-like keyboard
instrument of
one or two manuals with the same range as the lute, but somewhat lower
than
the harpsichord. It was strung with gut rather than brass. Its history
has
been well documented in the last few years, so I will repeat only as
much as
is needed to introduce the listener to the mystery and uncertainty
surrounding the wonderful Bach works recorded here. I should note
that, as a
lutenist, I lose out in an unbiased investigation of this subject, for
I
believe that much of this music is best not played on the lute. The
listener, however, benefits by making the acquaintance of the
lautenwerk's
unique sound.
Bach wrote works for many different instruments but through his
knowledge
and skill as composer and performer on the harpsichord and organ was
most
successful with the keyboard. What of Bach and the lute? It's quite
clear to
me that he never played the instrument although he did know many
lutenists.
He certainly would have heard what the lute was capable of,
technically and
expressively, from the greatest lutenist of his time, Silvius Leopold
Weiss.
In fact, recent research has shown that the Suite in A Major, BWV
1025, for
violin and obbligato harpsichord (previously thought to be a
'spurious' Bach
composition) is in fact a lute sonata by Weiss, which Bach faithfully
transcribed for harpsichord and then augmented with his own, extra,
violin
part. From this alone we know that Bach knew the lute and must have
derived
a certain understanding for it from his contact with Weiss's music.
In our detective work we must consider these things: What was
idiomatic and
possible on the lute? What was idiomatic and possible on the
harpsichord?
And where between these two worlds does the lute-harpsichord fit?
On the lute a good player has literally at his fingertips a wide range
of
tone, dynamics, and articulation, each note able to be produced just
as the
player wishes. Typically, the audible texture of the lute comprises
not only
two- and three-voice writing, but also numerous arpeggios and melodic
lines
derived from idiomatically formed chord shapes. A crucial limitation
of the
instrument is that the bass is always slower than the treble. While a
good
lutenist can play at any speed, slow or fast, in the upper voices,
comparable agility in the bass is not possible. Low notes are plucked
by the
right thumb alone, whereas in the treble one can play fast passages by
alternating two fingers, using slurs or playing across the strings as
on a
harp. Of course, virtuoso lutenist-composers such as Weiss wrote so
idiomatically for the instrument that listeners are not aware of these
limitations.
In comparison, equal speed and facility can imbue voices in all
registers on
the harpsichord. Up to six voices are possible, while the lute is
essentially limited to three. The harpsichord keyboard extends at
least half
an octave higher than the lute in the treble range and offers greater
chromatic versatility in the bass. A harpsichordist achieves
articulation
and variety of tone differently than a lutenist does, but the lutenist
controls dynamics, texture, and color in ways a harpsichordist cannot.
The lautenwerk falls somewhere between these two far more familiar
instruments. Being gut strung, it can have sound, range, and texture
like a
lute's, but it also permits the realization of compositions endowed
with
greater complexity, a richer texture than a single lute can encompass.
Certainly the bass easily matches all the other voices in speed and
independence.
We have inherited a handful of beautiful pieces by Bach which have
persisted
in the catalogue, BWV number and all, as "lute works." The
compositions in
question are BWV 995, 996, 997, 998, 999, 1000 and 1006a. This
recording
presents all but two of these, omitting BWV 995 and 999.
A close look at them in toto reveals that simply listing them as "lute
pieces" neither reflects all the information internal to the works nor
conveys the complexity of the attribution to a specific instrument.
For many
decades now, classical guitarists have blithely made them their own,
including "Bach lute works" in recitals and countless recordings. More
recently, the lutenists themselves have also "discovered" this
repertoire,
giving us yet more recorded versions. There have always been puzzling
questions in the minds of players of both instruments, myriad passages
in
the music that have had to be changed, adapted ... or faked. An
alternative
solution to some of these practical problems of performance has been
wholesale transcription of some entire works into other keys.
So the fascination with this music continues, as indeed does the
detective
work. As a lutenist, I am happy to say that listening to Kim Heindel's
lautenwerk recording banished many questions and doubts and I hear the
music
in a way I have often imagined. The one large work not recorded here
is the
Suite in G Minor, BWV 995. It was originally the Cello Suite in C
Minor, BWV
1011, but Bach made a very successful version of it for lute and it
remains,
in my opinion, the one real Bach lute work!
We know that Johann Sebastian Bach purchased a lautenwerk from "Herr
Zacharias Hildebrand," a noted organ and harpsichord builder of
east-central
Germany, and that his cousin Johann Nicolaus Bach also made some of
these
instruments. A list prepared at the time of his death shows that Bach
had
two such instruments among his possessions. Writers contemporary with
Bach
have commented on the characteristic and highly atmospheric sound of
the
lautenwerk, opining that "The resonance is admirably beautiful and
sounds as
strong as three lutes together." or "The lute-harpsichord is the most
beautiful among claviers after the organ."
The Suite in E Minor, BWV 996, survives in two sources, neither one
autograph. The manuscript relevant to this recording (in the
Staatsbibliothek, Berlin) is thought to be in the hand of Bach's organ
and
composition student, Johann Ludwig Krebs, who also played the lute. It
bears
the title Praeludio con la Suite da Gio. Bast. Bach written in one
hand,
another hand having added aufs Lautenwerck. It is a splendid example
of the
mixture of styles so often found in Bach and begins with a Prelude.
The
consists of a fantasia-like introduction (Passagio) leading into a
fast
contrapuntal section (Presto) which is not really a fugue. There
follows a
set of dances that includes an Allemande, a very French Courante, an
Italianate, elaborately ornamented Sarabande, a Bourree, and a closing
Gigue. When one weighs the equality of the counterpoint and voices,
particularly in the outer movements,this is clearly keyboard writing
and not
lute music! Yes, it lies within the lute's range and clearly is
written in a
tessitura lower than that of Bach's authentic harpsichord music. But
it is
lucky for us that the title all but spells out that this is keyboard
music
meant to sound like lute music ... no mean help in coming to grips
with the
question of the place of the lautenwerk among its related instruments.
(The
other manuscript source for this piece is, in fact, for harpsichord.
The
music has been transposed up a fourth into A minor and thus lies in a
more
normal tessitura for that instrument.)
The other works recorded here offer a fascinating diversity of
compositions
inspired by the lute but conceived for the keyboard.
The three-movement Italianate partita known as the Prelue, Fugue and
Allegro
in E-flat Major, BWV 998, survives in an autograph manuscript, now in
a
collection in Japan, and has the fascinating title of Prelude pour la
Luth.
o Cembalo par J.S. Bach. Like all the pieces on this recording, it
inhabits
that ambiguous ground between the lute and harpsichord. As a lutenist,
I can
confirm that the Prelude is certainly feasible, even successful, but
the
other two movements, particularly the Allegro, contain too much that
is
impossible on the lute. The lautenwerk seems to me to be the intended
and
ideal instrument. Incidentally, Bach ran out of space toward the end
of the
Allegro, so he notated the last few bars in keyboard tablature, not
lute
tablature ... another clue that this is keyboard music.
The original of the Suite in C Minor, BWV 997, is lost, and some doubt
that
it is even from the hand of J.S. Bach. I believe it to be by Bach,
and, in
any event, it remains a very beautiful and unusual composition. There
are
five manuscript versions for keyboard, each with the same five
movements:
Prelude, Fugue, Sarabande, Gigue, and Double. There is also a lute
version
in tablature made by an amateur lutenist friend of Bach's, Johann
Weyrauch.
He included only three of the movements, however, excluding (very
sensibly!)
the Fugue and Double.
The Fugue in G Minor, BWV 1000, is the odd one out here. In 1720 Bach
wrote
his Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin (without accompaniment),
known as
BWV 1001-1006. BWV 1000 is, as a matter of fact, a lute arrangement of
the
Fugue from the Sonata in G Minor, BWV 1001. The lute version is
thought to
have been done by Weyrauch and survives in tablature only. It is
unlikely if
we will ever know if Bach knew of this arrangement, of if he even
approved!
Weyrauch is certainly free in his adaptation, yet the spirit and basic
text
of the violin original remain. In including this fugue in his
recording, Kim
Heindel has acted in the spirit of Bach's time by successfully
adapting this
wonderful piece from one instrumental idiom to another. Bach also
wrote it
as an early organ Fugue in D Minor with a somewhat different opening
but
still in four voices. Nowadays it is associated with an organ prelude
in the
same key, BWV 539, and is sometimes called "The Fiddle."
Interestingly, the Suite in E Major, BWV 1006a, derives from the same
solo
violin collection and was originally the Partita No. 3, last of the
set.
This is clearly not writing for the lute and cannot be played on it in
E
Major, nor does the very low tessitura fit the harpsichord. The
manuscript,
now also in Japan, is thought to be an autograph. There is neither a
title
nor any indication of the intended instrument. The six familiar
movements -
Prelude, Loure (a rare title for Bach), Gavotte, Menuets 1 & 2,
Bourree, and
Gigue - acquire a new character on the lautenwerk. To my ear, this
version
works very well on the instrument and it is an ideal way to begin the
recording. What a wonderful way to introduce us to this special
instrument
and a relatively unknown, rather private part of Bach's musical life!
performances on the lute-harpsichord. The notes are by Nigel North,
one of the best at playing Bach transcriptions on the baroque lute.
Interesting reading.
Robert
==========================================================
"Aufs Lautenwerck"
Kim Heindel, lautenwerk
Dorian Discovery DIS-80126
Notes by lutenist Nigel North
London, June 1994
Bach, the lute and the lautenwerk (lute-harpsichord) have fascinated
me for
years. Upon investigating Bach's connection with the two instruments,
one is
immediately faced with the striking absence of one vital piece of
evidence:
though we know that many lautenwerks existed, none, to our knowledge,
have
survived into our time. The lautenwerk, the name by which its is
usually
known in German and English, was a harpsichord-like keyboard
instrument of
one or two manuals with the same range as the lute, but somewhat lower
than
the harpsichord. It was strung with gut rather than brass. Its history
has
been well documented in the last few years, so I will repeat only as
much as
is needed to introduce the listener to the mystery and uncertainty
surrounding the wonderful Bach works recorded here. I should note
that, as a
lutenist, I lose out in an unbiased investigation of this subject, for
I
believe that much of this music is best not played on the lute. The
listener, however, benefits by making the acquaintance of the
lautenwerk's
unique sound.
Bach wrote works for many different instruments but through his
knowledge
and skill as composer and performer on the harpsichord and organ was
most
successful with the keyboard. What of Bach and the lute? It's quite
clear to
me that he never played the instrument although he did know many
lutenists.
He certainly would have heard what the lute was capable of,
technically and
expressively, from the greatest lutenist of his time, Silvius Leopold
Weiss.
In fact, recent research has shown that the Suite in A Major, BWV
1025, for
violin and obbligato harpsichord (previously thought to be a
'spurious' Bach
composition) is in fact a lute sonata by Weiss, which Bach faithfully
transcribed for harpsichord and then augmented with his own, extra,
violin
part. From this alone we know that Bach knew the lute and must have
derived
a certain understanding for it from his contact with Weiss's music.
In our detective work we must consider these things: What was
idiomatic and
possible on the lute? What was idiomatic and possible on the
harpsichord?
And where between these two worlds does the lute-harpsichord fit?
On the lute a good player has literally at his fingertips a wide range
of
tone, dynamics, and articulation, each note able to be produced just
as the
player wishes. Typically, the audible texture of the lute comprises
not only
two- and three-voice writing, but also numerous arpeggios and melodic
lines
derived from idiomatically formed chord shapes. A crucial limitation
of the
instrument is that the bass is always slower than the treble. While a
good
lutenist can play at any speed, slow or fast, in the upper voices,
comparable agility in the bass is not possible. Low notes are plucked
by the
right thumb alone, whereas in the treble one can play fast passages by
alternating two fingers, using slurs or playing across the strings as
on a
harp. Of course, virtuoso lutenist-composers such as Weiss wrote so
idiomatically for the instrument that listeners are not aware of these
limitations.
In comparison, equal speed and facility can imbue voices in all
registers on
the harpsichord. Up to six voices are possible, while the lute is
essentially limited to three. The harpsichord keyboard extends at
least half
an octave higher than the lute in the treble range and offers greater
chromatic versatility in the bass. A harpsichordist achieves
articulation
and variety of tone differently than a lutenist does, but the lutenist
controls dynamics, texture, and color in ways a harpsichordist cannot.
The lautenwerk falls somewhere between these two far more familiar
instruments. Being gut strung, it can have sound, range, and texture
like a
lute's, but it also permits the realization of compositions endowed
with
greater complexity, a richer texture than a single lute can encompass.
Certainly the bass easily matches all the other voices in speed and
independence.
We have inherited a handful of beautiful pieces by Bach which have
persisted
in the catalogue, BWV number and all, as "lute works." The
compositions in
question are BWV 995, 996, 997, 998, 999, 1000 and 1006a. This
recording
presents all but two of these, omitting BWV 995 and 999.
A close look at them in toto reveals that simply listing them as "lute
pieces" neither reflects all the information internal to the works nor
conveys the complexity of the attribution to a specific instrument.
For many
decades now, classical guitarists have blithely made them their own,
including "Bach lute works" in recitals and countless recordings. More
recently, the lutenists themselves have also "discovered" this
repertoire,
giving us yet more recorded versions. There have always been puzzling
questions in the minds of players of both instruments, myriad passages
in
the music that have had to be changed, adapted ... or faked. An
alternative
solution to some of these practical problems of performance has been
wholesale transcription of some entire works into other keys.
So the fascination with this music continues, as indeed does the
detective
work. As a lutenist, I am happy to say that listening to Kim Heindel's
lautenwerk recording banished many questions and doubts and I hear the
music
in a way I have often imagined. The one large work not recorded here
is the
Suite in G Minor, BWV 995. It was originally the Cello Suite in C
Minor, BWV
1011, but Bach made a very successful version of it for lute and it
remains,
in my opinion, the one real Bach lute work!
We know that Johann Sebastian Bach purchased a lautenwerk from "Herr
Zacharias Hildebrand," a noted organ and harpsichord builder of
east-central
Germany, and that his cousin Johann Nicolaus Bach also made some of
these
instruments. A list prepared at the time of his death shows that Bach
had
two such instruments among his possessions. Writers contemporary with
Bach
have commented on the characteristic and highly atmospheric sound of
the
lautenwerk, opining that "The resonance is admirably beautiful and
sounds as
strong as three lutes together." or "The lute-harpsichord is the most
beautiful among claviers after the organ."
The Suite in E Minor, BWV 996, survives in two sources, neither one
autograph. The manuscript relevant to this recording (in the
Staatsbibliothek, Berlin) is thought to be in the hand of Bach's organ
and
composition student, Johann Ludwig Krebs, who also played the lute. It
bears
the title Praeludio con la Suite da Gio. Bast. Bach written in one
hand,
another hand having added aufs Lautenwerck. It is a splendid example
of the
mixture of styles so often found in Bach and begins with a Prelude.
The
consists of a fantasia-like introduction (Passagio) leading into a
fast
contrapuntal section (Presto) which is not really a fugue. There
follows a
set of dances that includes an Allemande, a very French Courante, an
Italianate, elaborately ornamented Sarabande, a Bourree, and a closing
Gigue. When one weighs the equality of the counterpoint and voices,
particularly in the outer movements,this is clearly keyboard writing
and not
lute music! Yes, it lies within the lute's range and clearly is
written in a
tessitura lower than that of Bach's authentic harpsichord music. But
it is
lucky for us that the title all but spells out that this is keyboard
music
meant to sound like lute music ... no mean help in coming to grips
with the
question of the place of the lautenwerk among its related instruments.
(The
other manuscript source for this piece is, in fact, for harpsichord.
The
music has been transposed up a fourth into A minor and thus lies in a
more
normal tessitura for that instrument.)
The other works recorded here offer a fascinating diversity of
compositions
inspired by the lute but conceived for the keyboard.
The three-movement Italianate partita known as the Prelue, Fugue and
Allegro
in E-flat Major, BWV 998, survives in an autograph manuscript, now in
a
collection in Japan, and has the fascinating title of Prelude pour la
Luth.
o Cembalo par J.S. Bach. Like all the pieces on this recording, it
inhabits
that ambiguous ground between the lute and harpsichord. As a lutenist,
I can
confirm that the Prelude is certainly feasible, even successful, but
the
other two movements, particularly the Allegro, contain too much that
is
impossible on the lute. The lautenwerk seems to me to be the intended
and
ideal instrument. Incidentally, Bach ran out of space toward the end
of the
Allegro, so he notated the last few bars in keyboard tablature, not
lute
tablature ... another clue that this is keyboard music.
The original of the Suite in C Minor, BWV 997, is lost, and some doubt
that
it is even from the hand of J.S. Bach. I believe it to be by Bach,
and, in
any event, it remains a very beautiful and unusual composition. There
are
five manuscript versions for keyboard, each with the same five
movements:
Prelude, Fugue, Sarabande, Gigue, and Double. There is also a lute
version
in tablature made by an amateur lutenist friend of Bach's, Johann
Weyrauch.
He included only three of the movements, however, excluding (very
sensibly!)
the Fugue and Double.
The Fugue in G Minor, BWV 1000, is the odd one out here. In 1720 Bach
wrote
his Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin (without accompaniment),
known as
BWV 1001-1006. BWV 1000 is, as a matter of fact, a lute arrangement of
the
Fugue from the Sonata in G Minor, BWV 1001. The lute version is
thought to
have been done by Weyrauch and survives in tablature only. It is
unlikely if
we will ever know if Bach knew of this arrangement, of if he even
approved!
Weyrauch is certainly free in his adaptation, yet the spirit and basic
text
of the violin original remain. In including this fugue in his
recording, Kim
Heindel has acted in the spirit of Bach's time by successfully
adapting this
wonderful piece from one instrumental idiom to another. Bach also
wrote it
as an early organ Fugue in D Minor with a somewhat different opening
but
still in four voices. Nowadays it is associated with an organ prelude
in the
same key, BWV 539, and is sometimes called "The Fiddle."
Interestingly, the Suite in E Major, BWV 1006a, derives from the same
solo
violin collection and was originally the Partita No. 3, last of the
set.
This is clearly not writing for the lute and cannot be played on it in
E
Major, nor does the very low tessitura fit the harpsichord. The
manuscript,
now also in Japan, is thought to be an autograph. There is neither a
title
nor any indication of the intended instrument. The six familiar
movements -
Prelude, Loure (a rare title for Bach), Gavotte, Menuets 1 & 2,
Bourree, and
Gigue - acquire a new character on the lautenwerk. To my ear, this
version
works very well on the instrument and it is an ideal way to begin the
recording. What a wonderful way to introduce us to this special
instrument
and a relatively unknown, rather private part of Bach's musical life!