Alberto la Rocca - Weiss & J.S. Bach: Suite SW47 for Guitar & Violin - Music & Performance - CD

This recording features a work with astrange coincidence in it's compositionalprocess and an astonishing dual authorship.Remarkably, Silvius Leopold Weiss's LuteSuite SW47 (which he named Suonata) alsocomes with a violin part that can be playedover the top of it, composed by none otherthan Johann Sebastian Bach. A recentcomparison of sources revealed that theharpsichord part in Bach's Suite for Violin &Harpsichord BWV1025, long considered tobe of doubtful attribution, perfectlymatches Weiss's suite. The violin part,meanwhile, was indeed composed entirelyby Bach and is an additional melodyindependent of Weiss's musical material. Itfeels almost like a 'free improvisation'above the suite and recalls a similar processcarried out by Charles Gounod in 1859: hisAve Maria fits over the first Prelude fromBach's Well-Tempered Clavier BWV846. Thesole exception is the Fantasia movement inBach's piece, which is not derived fromWeiss's suite, meaning both the violin andharpsichord parts in it are unique to Bach.This recording presents Weiss's suite on it'sown and with the addition of Bach's violinpart, both versions arranged by guitaristAlberto La Rocca for his instrument in placeof the lute or harpsichord. (The all-BachFantasia is not included in the versionwithout violin.) Weiss's Suite (Suonata) is ahigh-quality work composed for a 13-courseBaroque lute. It is rarely, if ever, performedby either lute or guitar players, yet itcontains all the best features of the greatGerman lutenist's oeuvre: a refined andelegant compositional style and a variedrange of expression. Bach's 'added melody',composed with his usual superhumanability, shines a new light on the originalsuite, as if dressing it up in extraordinarilyelegant attire. The violin part comments onthe original lute texture without suffocatingit, almost like a free improvisation above it.It plays with the various elements of Weiss'smusic, extrapolating ideas for themes,imitating them or simply wandering freely.Bach's part is also highly imaginative andvaried in it's expression, frequently addingcomplex rhythmic dovetailing andsignificant virtuosity while always stayingtrue to the emotions of Weiss's movements.Bach and Weiss were friends and met onseveral occasions. Johann FriedrichReichardt even describes them challengingeach other to an improvisation competition:'Anyone who understands the challenge ofplaying harmonic modulations and decentcounterpoint on the lute will be surprisedand amazed to hear an eyewitness say thatWeiss, the great lutenist, competed with J.S.Bach, the great harpsichordist and organist,in playing fantasies and fugues.' While theorigins of his 'transcription withaccompaniment' of Weiss's Suite SW47 arestill a mystery, the fact remains that we cannow enjoy a unique and unusualmasterpiece, which these two brilliantcomposers had a hand in writing.