Bach's lute suites: trill surplus, guitar and lautenklavier

Juozas Rimas wrote (October 23, 2001):
Can anyone confirm that there are so many trills in the score of the Sarabande from the lute suite in e (BWV996) as Robert Hill does on his lautenklavier? I didn't notice such HUGE abundance of trills in any other performance of Bach. I can even say that the melody itself is hardly distinguishable under the thick cover of trills. I listened to Segovia's version on the guitar to compare it and, although Segovia barely connects sounds and sounds too Spanish, the melody is much better heard. The melody's so good that I'd rather remove most of the trills than stick to authenticity.

As a side note, what do you think of the guitar recordings of the lute suites in general? For me, the guitar sound is very fragmented, chopped, having little resonance and the music cannot come out in a smooth rivulet-like flow when it would be nice if it could. The guitar is a wonderful instrument in the agitated Spanish music, including Gipsy Kings, but I'll probably forget about guitar versions of the Bach's suites and limit myself with the lautenklavier. The instrument sounds so good (at least in the Hill's nicely echoing recordings) that it seems more appropriate in other works as well - even more appropriate than the harpsichord that the works are usually played on (take Hill's BWV 906 fantasia, for instance - I now can't imagine a better sound for this jolly piece than that coming from the lautenklavier).

Michael Grover wrote (October 23, 2001):
[To Juozas Rimas] I agree wholeheartedly with everything you said about Hill's performance. That was the very first thing that grabbed my attention, the apparent overabundance of ornamentation. I thought the same thing as you, that it was almost hard to listen to the tune through all the trills. I'm glad I'm not the only one! I was almost afraid to bring that up as a criticism because the CD is so well-reviewed. But, having said that, I do very much enjoy that CD and love the sound of the lute-harpsichord.

Thomas Braatz wrote (October 23, 2001):
[To Michael Grover & and Juozas:Rimas]
The NBA V/10 indicates only the following embellishments (ornamentation) for BWV 996:

Praeludio, only in the Passaggio before the Presto: 10 upper mordents and 4
lower mordents
Allemande: 1 lower mordent at the very beginning and 3 upper in the 2^nd half
Courante: 4 lower and 11 upper
Sarabande: 9 lower and 19 upper (this is the most heavily ornamented mvt.)
Bourree: 1 upper in the 2nd half
Gigue: none

This does not preclude the artist from adding his own, but it must be down in good taste.

Hope this helps!

Thomas Braatz wrote (October 23, 2001):
Listen also to the two versions (one heavily embellished) of the sarabandes in the English Suites BWV 807, 808, 811. These are Bach's own heavily ornamented versions, but I do feel that the simple version should be played first, then let the performer glory in all the possibilities offered by the simple version. Robert Hill should have played the simple version first before repeating it as a heavily embellished version. Sometimes performers will play the simple version of each half first, then repeated the segment with the ornamentation the second time through.

Juozas Rimas wrote (October 23, 2001):
< The NBA V/10 indicates only the following embellishments (ornamentation) for BWV 996: >
What is NBA? Is the manuscript or copy of the work available?

< Sarabande: 9 lower and 19 upper (this is the most heavily ornamented mvt.) >
19 upper? Hill probably went dogmatic and included all of them. :)

< Bourree: 1 upper in the 2^nd half >
I can hear more than one in Hill's version. Hmmm.... But his Bourree is very good, the embellishments don't spoil the piece.

Thomas Braatz wrote (October 23, 2001):
To Juozas who asked: >>What is NBA?<<
The NBA is the Neue Bach Ausgabe, the most recent, authoritative edition of
Bach's works.

>>Is the manuscript or copy of the work available?<<
Bärenreiter usually prints working copies of the music contained in the NBA, so if they print it, it is an up-to-date version unlike the others from other publishers that are not based on recent scholarship. However, I have no idea about the availability of this specific work.

Robert HIll / Lute Harpsichord

Francine Renee Hall wrote (February 28, 2002):
I checked with both the Tower Records Stores in Chicago and they were out. I also checked Amazon and nothing was listed. But I finally got lucky and found Robert Hill's Bach with the BWV 998 on lute harpsichord at Tower on the internet. (It's only $11.00) So I placed an order about an hour ago. Thanks Kirk! Your suggestions are making me poor but happy!

(I'm still waiting for Leonhardt's Weckmann and Froberger on harpsichord; Richard Goode's Bach Partitas on piano; and a 2-CD 50-track Hyperion sampler No. 2.)

thanks Bach list! I learn so much too!

Robert Hill: Short Biography | Recordings of Non-Vocal Works
Reviews of Non-Vocal Recordings: “Bach as Teacher” from Robert Hill | Bach Harpsichord Discs from Hill and Suzuki
Discussions of Non Vocal Works: Lute Works - played by Robert Hill (Lute-Harpsichord)