The Bach Buch

Description

Flute 1, Flute 2, Oboe 1, Oboe 2, Clarinet in Bb 1, Clarinet in Bb 2, Soprano Saxophone, Alto Saxophone, Bass Clarinet 2, Bassoon 1, Bassoon 2 — The music of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) is a gift. Nearly every piece that poured out of this man is as inspired and perfected as the next. His body of work has cut a deep incision in the recorded history of music and set a benchmark to which all the contrapuntal masters who followed have aspired to meet.The transcriptions found within this volume add to the thousands upon thousands of versions of his music already re-worked for different groups and media. The music here does not, however, embellish Bach’s own scores (save but for a couple of instances in which it was felt necessary to add an inner voice to serve the expansive range of the ten woodwinds). The selections are ordered (loosely) to assume a smooth, inclined trajectory of both difficulty and musical breadth. The first piece is a small and simpleminuet, the last is a long interior movement of one of the most beloved and advanced violin concertos in the whole repertoire.As a keyboard player I grew up learning and falling in love with much of Bach’s music at the piano. For this very reason, much of this volume consists of the composer’s keyboard works. One cannot, however, deny many of the most cherished works from Bach’s oeuvre when compiling a set of transcriptions, and many of those “hits” are included here as well.Departing from a traditional harmoniemusik ensemble, I have replaced the horns here with saxophones. There are two reasons: 1) the nature of much of this music requires instruments with an ease of agility not executable so readily on the horn; and 2) the opportunity for saxophone players to be included in such an ensemble was very attractive, pedagogically.I hope you enjoy these gems from such a great genius. This is a collection of 18 of Bach's most celebrated keyboard and instrumental gems, transcribed by master orchestrator Carter Pann, for a flexibly-scored ensemble of 10 woodwinds. It includes works such as Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring from Cantata (BWV 147), Sarabande from Overture in the French Manner, Two-Part Invention No. 6 (BWV 777) and more. The Bach Buch is ideal for individual movements to be used with school ensembles, or features within band concerts. The publication also includes extensive historical and musicological notes by Carter Pann. For advanced players.