This rich set of music by J.S. Bach (or connected to

him by attribution or publication) and transcribed

for the guitar provides a stunning example of the

versatility of the composer's music, the

unquestionable genius of which renders it

universally successful on any instrument with

polyphonic capabilities (solo string instruments

included).

Luigi Attademo and Stefano Cardi provide an eclectic

selection of Bach pieces in successful transcriptions

by themselves and virtuoso classical guitarist and

arranger David Russell. This is followed by a large set

from Anna Magdalena's Notebook performed and

transcribed by Jan Depreter, and complete sets of

the Violin Sonatas & Partitas and Lute Suites by

Franceso Teopini and Attademo, respectively. In the

words of the performer on Disc 1, Luigi Attademo:

'the guitar as we know it today didn't exist in Bach's

time, and although there was certainly a baroque

guitar, it was not widespread in Germany. The

baroque lute was the string instrument closest to

Bach, and there was certainly one in his collection of

instruments, though he probably didn't play it. In any

event he knew a number of lutenists, including L.

Krebs. But we are not using Bach's proximity to the

lute to justify transcriptions for the guitar, rather

pointing out that on various occasions he transcribed

music originally composed for a given instrument in

arrangements for a similar but different instrument.'

In Cardi's set on Disc 2, the sound of the guitar, it's

rich dynamics and full polyphonic capacity are

exploited for creating performances of some of the

harpsichord pieces composed mainly for teaching

purposes in Bach's Cöthen period (1717-23) or in

his early Leipzig years. The rather varied content

also leaves room for pieces by other composers,

such as a Suite by Georg Philipp Telemann (whose

Corrente is featured in this recording) and a Partita

by Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel, where the central

part of the Minuet, the Trio, was composed by J.S.

Bach. Disc 3 features selections from Depreter's

transcription of the entire second Notenbüchlein

für Anna-Magdalena Bach (1725) for classical

guitar, made during his studies. The project to

record it all spanned two decades but benefits

from the continuity of having the same recording

producer and engineer, Peter de Wint, and the

same microphones and recording material through

all the sessions.

Teopini's recording of the Sonatas and Partitas

BWV1001-6 on Discs 4 & 5 was born from his

conviction that such masterpieces are now a

mandatory part of a guitarist's repertoire for the

sake of personal development. His transcription

faithfully complies with the original notation, in

order to not corrupt the implied counterpoint

created by Bach, yet his instrumental approach to

the works is conceived with the aim of justifying

an interpretation of the works on an instrument as

unnatural for Baroque music as the modern

classical guitar surely is, therefore viewing the

instrument as a hybrid of both the violin and the

harpsichord. The right hand takes the role of the

latter, and Teopini carefully avoided using rest

stroke throughout the recording, making sure that

even the most expressive passages were realized with a

free stroke technique The left hand is approached as a

violinist would, holding the notes and using open strings

as much as possible and arranging fingerings to promote

tonal uniformity of all phrases, especially where

sequential modulations occur.

Attademo's recording of the Lute Music, on Disc 6, aims

to bring to the fore the richness of Bach's music without

denying the lapse of time that separates his time from

ours. For that reason, the recording focuses on the study

of Baroque performance practice, on the peculiarities of

the author's writing, on secondary sources that indicate

how Bach's music was originally played, and on the

musical styles that Bach referred to and synthesised. As

well as the four Suites for lute, the Prelude, Fugue &

Allegro BWV998, Prelude BWV999 and Fugue BWV1000

are included.