Dear Friends and Colleagues,
The B-minor Partita, BWV 1002, the second instalment of our edition of Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas in individual volumes, is now available for purchase.
We took the opportunity to revise the performance notes to refer specifically to this partita whenever possible, and to make other revisions in the scores. For example, when Heather made her video-recording of the Double Presto (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezyoCqQC_vI) , she realized that she was not able to play all of the passages at her desired tempo; therefore, she changed some fingerings. Some of these new fingerings simply use stronger finger combinations, but others were somewhat unusual. This prompted us to re-work various fingerings throughout, trying to find solutions that we believe would appeal to most guitarists. While it is true (and all too common) that playing fast as an end in itself wears thin on both the listener and the player, the Sonatas and Partitas were written to cover all aspects of playing; when using the hands well, with ergonomic fingerings and practising intelligently, players can use the Double/Presto to learn to play fast, and to play fast well.
We also made some small revisions to the added notes. For example, we learned that the interval of a 9th (sounded simultaneously) was not approved-of in two-part counterpoint in the Baroque era, so we altered one of our ossia measures.
While not performed as much as the main movements, the doubles in this partita represent some of Bach’s most unusual and most ingenious writing, because of how he created three-, four-, and even five-part textures in what looks on paper to be a single melodic line. We have discussed this compound-melodic notation in a little more depth for this volume, and we will make more videos soon to explore the topic further.
There is a significant benefit for guitarists playing these doubles, specifically because of this single-line writing, to which we have added almost no extra basses––because those basses are usually already there (just not on the expected beats). Playing this music on the guitar allows players to use their hands in a very supple and relaxed manner, and we have carefully chosen the fingerings––and then further refined them for this edition with that intent in mind––so that the simple act of playing the music teaches us to use our hands better.
Both this volume and that of the first Sonata, BWV 1001, are very affordable, less than $20 CAD, with international shipping under $10. They can be purchased at www.SonatasAndPartitas.com (http://www.sonatasandpartitas.com/) .

With best wishes,
Frank and Heather

Please take a moment to read the attached article and/or watch the video, and forward it on to your students and friends who may wish to learn more about Bach's music. If they want to keep receiving this newsletter, they will need to subscribe here. (http://www.sonatasandpartitas.com/)
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