Transcription, performance and recording of Johann Sebastian Bach's works for lute on a ten-string guitar
Abstract
'Transcription, Performance and Recording of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Works for Lute on a ten-string
Guitar' is research that participates in the wide discourse on transcribing and performing Bach’s lute
works on the guitar. Building upon an examination of the primary sources and previous guitar
transcriptions, but also presenting new information and points of differentiation, the research sheds
new light on an area of interest that is rightly shared by performers and scholars.
The submission comprises of five elements: in the written discussion, I consider selected issues from
my research, describing the course that led to specific choices, but also the concerns and lines of
enquiry that influenced or derived from my practical musical experience. In the commentary upon
the examination of the primary sources, I justify my editorial choices in detail, commenting further
upon details that can be inferred from this examination, elements that support the interpretive
process of editorial decision-making, but also the features of an editorial process that pertains to
musical works. The transcriptions condense the knowledge derived from my editorial engagement
and my performance practice, but present it in such a way that aims at, and awaits, the individual
performer’s further unfolding of the music. The recordings capture a possible way of completing this
process, but also contribute to the argument that the use of a ten-string instrument offers new
perspectives on these crucial works. Finally, facsimiles of certain primary and secondary sources are
presented to further facilitate the critical reading of my choices and my concerns – to support the
continued discourse in this area.
This submission is, therefore, a record of my engagement with the works in question, but also an
invitation for continued dialogue.
Type
Thesis, PhD Doctor of Philosophy
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