Guitar Arrangements in Performance: An investigative study of the interrelationship between arranging and performing the music of J.S. Bach

Abstract

Despite a century-long tradition of arranging J.S. Bach’s music for classical guitar, scholarly engagement with the interrelationship between the arrangement and performance process is limited. This practice-led project identifies and distils core principles for arranging Bach’s music for solo guitar; namely, the first, second, and fifth Suites for Unaccompanied Cello (BWV 1007, 1008, 1011), Lute Suite in G minor (BWV 995) and Violin Partita No. 2 (BWV 1004). With various notable existing arrangements as a point of departure, this study investigates the manner in which the processes of performance and arrangement are interrelated, and how competing technical and musical challenges that arise from concepts such as idiomaticism and authenticity can be negotiated to define what is hereby termed an effective arrangement. This performance-led project culminates in two 60-minute recitals and a 7500-word exegesis.