In about 1739 Bach commissioned a strange hybrid
instrument known as a Lautenwerck, Lautenclavicymbel
or lute-harpsichord, a keyboard instrument designed to produce
the sound of a lute, and two such instruments were listed in
his effects after his death. It was doubtless for these that
he composed his Lute Suites and other lute music; attempts to
play them on the kind of lute commonly in use in Northern Europe
in Bach’s day have not always been successful. As Peter Croton
notes in the booklet, reproduced on the Guild website, his own
earlier efforts rather came to grief until he realised that
the Italian lute – i.e. the kind of archlute mainly used as
a continuo instrument – would be ideal for the music.
In recording this music he is taking on hugely
successful guitar transcriptions by John Williams and others
as well as a series of recordings by Nigel North on the Amon
Ra and Linn labels, not to mention Julian Bream on both lute
and guitar. Of Julian Bream’s Bach only scraps remain on 2-CD
sets from DG (477 7550) and RCA (8869 721442 2) together
with a whole EMI CD of his Bach (5 55123 2) – what happened
to the RCA Complete Julian Bream edition? - may we have it
restored to us, please? Look out for remainders and second-hand
copies of 09026 61603 2 on which Bream plays the Lute Suites
BWV996 and 997 on the guitar and the Trio Sonatas BWV525 and
529 on the lute, with George Malcolm.
There’s also a recommendable Paul Galbraith recording
of BWV995-8 on the guitar (Delos DE3258 – see review)
but, if you’re looking for real authenticity, Robert Hill plays
some of Bach’s lute music on a reconstructed Lautenwerck (Hänssler
92.109); I haven’t heard this recording but it was well received
on its appearance in 1999.
In BWV995 Croton is in direct competition with
Nigel North, on the fourth volume of his Bach on the Lute
series – Linn CKD055, but you’re almost certain to like what
you hear so much that you ought to go for the 4-for-2 box set,
CKD300: the CDs, CD-quality and mp3 downloads all cost £20 direct
from Linn. On two of these CDs, CKD049 and CKD055, North plays
transcriptions of Bach’s Cello Suites; in the case of BWV995
no transcription was required, since this Lute Suite is identical
to the Fifth Cello Suite, BWV1011. Which came first is a matter
of debate – since the tuning is more suited to the lute, involving
scordatura for the cello, there is a case for arguing
that this came first. Kirk McElhearn described the Linn as
‘a lovely set – see review
– a sentiment with which I thoroughly concur.
The first movement is marked tres viste
(Guild preserve the old French spelling). North’s tempo struck
me as much more apt in this movement, without ever making the
music sound hurried (Guild track 5, Linn track7) – Croton takes
more than a minute longer and the darker sound of his archlute
against North’s brighter instrument contributes to my finding
the latter a clear winner here.
In all except one of the other movements of the
suite, too, North’s slightly faster tempi and sprightlier rhythms
pay dividends without ever destroying the dignity of the music.
Of the two Gavottes on CKD055 (trs. 11 and 17) neither is allowed
to run away. Croton is good, clearly enjoying and understanding
the music; North is superb, totally immersed in what he is playing.
Unfortunately, the first class always makes the slightly less
good sound less attractive by comparison than when it’s heard
on its own.
In his notes on the Linn website Nigel North
admits to a strong love of the sarabande: “One personal delight
is the chance to play a Sarabande in each suite; Bach’s sarabandes
remain my ‘Desert Island Disc’ music.” This love is apparent
in the three sarabandes which he plays on CKD055, tracks 4,
10 and 16, and nowhere more so than in that of BWV955, where
he lingers just a little longer than Croton over the music (Guild
tr.8, Linn tr.10). This is the one movement which he savours
just that little longer and the extra 23 seconds pay off.
Croton’s own arrangement of the Cello Suite No.1
(BWV1007) is in competition with North’s arrangement of same
work on CDK049; both arrange the suite in C and both are enjoyable
performances in their own right. Differences of tempo are less
marked in this work as between North and Croton and between
both lutenists and Paul Tortelier’s performance on the original
instrument (EMI GROC 5 62878 2, or, more economically
Classics for Pleasure 2 28358 2, 2 CDs in each case), except
that North plays all the repeats in the opening Prelude and
both he and Croton do so in the Allemande second movement, thereby
appearing almost to double Tortelier’s time. Once again, it’s
in the Sarabande that North’s tendency to savour the moment
is telling – his 3:12 for this movement against Croton’s 2:40,
Stephen Isserlis’s 2:46 (on the multi-award-winning Hyperion
CDA67541/2) and Tortelier’s 2:52 just tilts the balance in his
favour.
The Guild recording is good, catching the darker
tones of Croton’s instrument very well. If I prefer the Linn
sound, heard as an excellent CD-quality wma download, that reflects
my preference for North’s instrument rather than any shortcoming
of the Guild engineering. The presentation of the Guild CD
is attractive, with informative notes and a Chardin still life
on the cover.
The inclusion of a transcription of Bist du
bei mir as the short closing item is a real bonus. It’s
well played and correctly attributed to Heinrich Stölzel, who
is now regarded as its only begetter, despite its appearance
in Bach’s Clavier-Büchlein, but neither it nor the inclusion
of the Suite in c minor (BWV997), not recorded by North, is
enough to tilt the balance back in Croton’s favour.
I can’t imagine anyone being disappointed with
the purchase of this Guild recording; I’ve enjoyed hearing it,
but I would recommend spending about 50% extra on the Linn 4-CD
North set for the two major works on this Guild set plus transcriptions
of the remaining Cello Suites and the solo Violin Sonatas and
Partitas.
Brian Wilson
Peter Croton (lute)
