Cello Suite No. 3 Sarabande, Arranged for Guitar by John Duarte
In Anna Magdalena Bach’s transcription, this sarabande is in the key of C major, in 3/4 time, and simple binary form, with the B section twice as long as the A section. A BACH motive appears in measures 21-22 of the Anna Magdalena Bach manuscript – Bb, A, C, B natural (see below).
A hallmark of the piece is that non chord tones are often placed on the second beat. John Duarte’s arrangement transposes this movement from the original C major to A major, varies slur markings (primarily on the downbeat or eighth note offbeats), adds bass notes, fills out chords, and places harmonies mainly on the first and second beats, which further emphasizes these beats. These changes can be seen from the very first measure:
J.S. Bach’s Cello Suites have been interpreted in a myriad of ways, starting with Bach’s own adaptation of Cello Suite No. 5, BWV 1011 for lute (BWV 995) and the four surviving 18th century sources of the Cello Suites. In the mid-19th century, there was a “revival” of Bach’s music by Romantic Period composers Felix Mendelssohn, Robert Schumann, and others. In the 20th century, guitarist, Francisco Tárrega made a pioneering arrangement of many works by Bach, including BWV 1009, paving the way for Andrés Segovia to further popularize Bach’s music and bring it to the guitar community. In addition, Duarte’s arrangement is particularly significant, as this is the arrangement Segovia used as a basis for his interpretation.
By varying slur markings, adding bass and harmony notes, and sometimes varying octave spacings, Duarte’s arrangement is (in my opinion) respectful of the earliest extant sources while also being idiomatic for guitar and musically satisfying to a contemporary audience. These adaptations can be readily seen by comparing and contrasting the Anna Magdalena Bach manuscript and John W. Duarte arrangement of Cello Suite No. 3: Sarabande, thus providing a framework from which to evaluate and/or arrange Bach’s music for other instruments.
Resources:
Bach, Anna Magdalena. n.d. Six Cello Suites, BWV 1007 – 1012. Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. Manuscript. https://imslp.org/wiki/6_Cello_Suites%2C_BWV_1007-1012_(Bach%2C_Johann_Sebastian).
Duarte, John W. 1982. Suite No. 3, BWV 1009 for Guitar (Original: Violoncello Solo). Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. London: Schott. https://www.schott-music.com/en/suite-no-3-fuer-violoncello-noc49361.html.
Dumas, Marianne. “J.S. Bach Cello Suites.” Accessed Dec. 1, 2020. https://www.jsbachcellosuites.com/.
Wade, Graham. 2016. Traditions of the Classical Guitar. Richmond, UK: Overture Publishing. https://almabooks.com/product/traditions-of-the-classical-guitar/.
Winold, Allen. 2007. Bach’s Cello Suites: Analyses and Explorations. Terre Haute, IN: Indiana University Press.
Wolff, Christoph. 1999. The New Bach Reader: A Life of Johann Sebastian Bach in Letters and Documents. Edited by Arthur Mendel, Hans T. David. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company.