J.S. Bach: Suite for lute, BWV 995 | 7-String Guitar

00:00 Prelude, 02:09 Tres vite, 06:00 Allemande, 11:32 Courante, 13:21 Sarabande, 16:37 Gavotte 1, 18:34 Gavotte II, 20:52 Gigue

Sheet music coming soon! Please check back here, or my website https://www.classicalguitarist.ca/pub....

I'm happy to present my 7-string arrangement of Bach’s magnificent Suite for Lute, BWV 995 (G minor) which is derived from his Cello Suite no. 5, BWV 1011 (orig.C minor). This performance marks the first step before I record it in a beautiful church acoustic for an upcoming album featuring this and two other Bach suites.

This piece is especially significant for guitarists interested in seeing how Bach himself added bass notes to a cello suite. To my knowledge, it’s the only example of that process, and it’s also a prime illustration of how Bach transposed music into different keys to better suit an instrument. Interestingly, the original cello suite calls for a scordatura, where the high A string is tuned a tone lower to G, making the piece much less awkward than in standard tuning.

In the 90's, it was this piece that first inspired me to explore guitars with more than six strings after hearing Narciso Yepes’ recording on a 10-string guitar. I loved how the extended range filled out the texture in key moments, adding a wonderful sense of depth and weight.

Years ago, I tried adapting this work for an 8-string guitar, but it proved too demanding to reach between the bass notes and higher strings — the idiomatic flow of the piece was lost. Also, the sympathetic vibration of the extra strings were too much to control. After recording BWV 1001 on a 7-string (which is in the same key), I began arranging this suite. Initially, I had the 7th string floating, but I soon realized I needed more low notes. Placing it above the fingerboard solved nearly every challenge I faced in the arrangement. Occasionally, I need to reach behind the capo, but it’s worth it to access those beautiful bass notes.

The original suite is in G minor, though guitarists often play it in A minor on a 6-string. I wanted to take a slightly different approach: using a capo on the 2nd fret (making it sound in G minor under Baroque pitch) and tuning the 3rd string to F♯ adds a lovely sonority throughout. It was a real pleasure to see how this arrangement evolved, and I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoyed bringing it to life.