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Weiss & J.S. Bach: Suite SW47 for Guitar & Violin on CD

This recording features a work with a

strange coincidence in it's compositional

process and an astonishing dual authorship.

Remarkably, Silvius Leopold Weiss's Lute

Suite SW47 (which he named Suonata) also

comes with a violin part that can be played

over the top of it, composed by none other

than Johann Sebastian Bach. A recent

comparison of sources revealed that the

harpsichord part in Bach's Suite for Violin &

Harpsichord BWV1025, long considered to

be of doubtful attribution, perfectly

matches Weiss's suite. The violin part,

meanwhile, was indeed composed entirely

by Bach and is an additional melody

independent of Weiss's musical material. It

feels almost like a 'free improvisation'

above the suite and recalls a similar process

carried out by Charles Gounod in 1859: his

Ave Maria fits over the first Prelude from

Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier BWV846. The

sole exception is the Fantasia movement in

Bach's piece, which is not derived from

Weiss's suite, meaning both the violin and

harpsichord parts in it are unique to Bach.

This recording presents Weiss's suite on it's

own and with the addition of Bach's violin

part, both versions arranged by guitarist

Alberto La Rocca for his instrument in place

of the lute or harpsichord. (The all-Bach

Fantasia is not included in the version

without violin.) Weiss's Suite (Suonata) is a

high-quality work composed for a 13-course

Baroque lute. It is rarely, if ever, performed

by either lute or guitar players, yet it

contains all the best features of the great

German lutenist's oeuvre: a refined and

elegant compositional style and a varied

range of expression. Bach's 'added melody',

composed with his usual superhuman

ability, shines a new light on the original

suite, as if dressing it up in extraordinarily

elegant attire. The violin part comments on

the original lute texture without suffocating

it, almost like a free improvisation above it.

It plays with the various elements of Weiss's

music, extrapolating ideas for themes,

imitating them or simply wandering freely.

Bach's part is also highly imaginative and

varied in it's expression, frequently adding

complex rhythmic dovetailing and

significant virtuosity while always staying

true to the emotions of Weiss's movements.

Bach and Weiss were friends and met on

several occasions. Johann Friedrich

Reichardt even describes them challenging

each other to an improvisation competition:

'Anyone who understands the challenge of

playing harmonic modulations and decent

counterpoint on the lute will be surprised

and amazed to hear an eyewitness say that

Weiss, the great lutenist, competed with J.S.

Bach, the great harpsichordist and organist,

in playing fantasies and fugues.' While the

origins of his 'transcription with

accompaniment' of Weiss's Suite SW47 are

still a mystery, the fact remains that we can

now enjoy a unique and unusual

masterpiece, which these two brilliant

composers had a hand in writing.