BACH
Four Suites for Orchestra - BWV 1066-1069 arranged for Guitar
Quartet
Suite No.3 BWV 1068
Suite No.2 BWV 1067
Suite No.1 BWV 1066
Suite No.4 BWV
1069
The Brazilian Guitar
Quartet
Delos DE
3254
Crotchet
Although J. S Bach's orchestral music has been transcribed for guitar ensemble
before, notably selected Brandenburg Concertos by the De Falla Trio and the
Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, this is the first recording of the four suites
for orchestra that I have heard in a setting of this type; it is not a source
of material that readily springs to mind for such treatment and certainly
purists would decry such practices. However, Bach's raw material is beyond
question and the Brazilian Guitar Quartets recording goes a long way to prove
that such music can be presented in more than an acceptable and entertaining
way. Incorporating two eight-string guitars benefits the music; I presume
that the guitar of Everton Gloeden is strung the same as Paul Galbraith's,
each with one added bass string and one extra treble string, which expand
the range and sonority of the group over four conventional instruments.
The ensemble is at all times together, the contrapuntal lines well defined
and the ornamentation clear and well articulated. The allegro movements fairly
skip along and the slower movements convey suitable majestic intensity, rooted
firmly in the baroque never straying into the romantic. Tonally all the members
are well matched and although they do not adopt a wide palate of tone variation
what they do use is intellectually employed.
Sadly the recording is marred by the intrusive (at times heavy) breathing
of one of the musicians on the right hand side of the stereo image (if the
playing positions are the same as the photograph on the CD booklet then the
culprit is likely to be Paul Galbraith). This does reduce the enjoyment of
what potentially would have been a performance of the highest order.
Andy Daly
