Bach - Lute / Guitar Suite 4-BWV1006a [Isbin]
More solo Bach, i delved into these suites early on in my Classical music quest, and immediately i fell in love with them, and it fuelled a love for Classical music played by the guitar, i don't know why the guitar hasn't broken into the Classical repertoire the same way as the violin or cello has, the guitar seems a loner, there's Composers that almost exclusively composed for the guitar, Sor and Tarrega for instance, and they're marginalised because of it, but for me it's a terrific instrument, i certainly find it easier to listen to than solo violin music.
Sharon Isbin is American, born in 1956, she is a tremendous advocate of commissioning new works, this disc was recorded in 1988, and it shows Isbin on the front cover with her guitar [photo by Stuart O'Sheilds], a soft focus shot, nice blue / green colour dress, and excellent lettering, makes this a really nice Lute Suites disc to own.
The Suite No4 has 6 movements to it, and i'm really fond of 1, 3 & 5-6, but it's the opening Prelude that is the crowning glory of the whole disc, a virtuoso piece of guitar music, lasting just over 4 minutes, it alternates between robust virtuoso playing, and refrained lyrical thoughtfulness, not a serious extreme, very subtle, but it causes nice waves, and it's this constant complexity which excites the heart and mind, it's a whirlwind of a piece, it never lets up, there's no pauses to take a breath, and it's hard to actually point out and focus in on any one part, because it just doesn't unravel and becomes parts, it's like a seamless woven garment, there is a sort of resolution in the middle [3:19-3:28], but deep down it's not a piece to 'think'about, rather just lie back and listen, and soak it all up.
Here's John Williams playing the opening Prelude on YouTube.
