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Thread: Bach Prelude #1 from Well-Tempered Klavier on mandola

  1. #1
    bass player gone mando
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    Default Bach Prelude #1 from Well-Tempered Klavier on mandola

    Seems like a natural fit but I can't find any recordings of it. Not the Cello prelude, the Klavier one. Any suggestions welcome.
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    MandolaViola bratsche's Avatar
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    Default Re: Bach Prelude #1 from Well-Tempered Klavier on mandola

    Well, it is a wonderful piece, but I can't imagine a convincing transcription for mandola. Perhaps mandola/mandocello duo? It goes much too low for mandola alone (even octave mandolin), and I think it would sound pretty poor to have to bring those low notes up an octave. But the key of C is so wonderful on mandola... and mandocello, too. So a duo is what I'd probably go for. As for non-piano recordings, classical guitar is probably your best bet.

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    Registered User Ken_P's Avatar
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    Default Re: Bach Prelude #1 from Well-Tempered Klavier on mandola

    Quote Originally Posted by bratsche View Post
    Well, it is a wonderful piece, but I can't imagine a convincing transcription for mandola. Perhaps mandola/mandocello duo? It goes much too low for mandola alone (even octave mandolin), and I think it would sound pretty poor to have to bring those low notes up an octave. But the key of C is so wonderful on mandola... and mandocello, too. So a duo is what I'd probably go for. As for non-piano recordings, classical guitar is probably your best bet.

    bratsche
    I agree. It's too big a range for one instrument, but like much of Bach's keyboard music, works very nicely if you have a 'cello and someone to play along with.

  4. #4

    Default Re: Bach Prelude #1 from Well-Tempered Klavier on mandola

    . . . And, not that it should be admitted on this forum, but it's a pretty easy fit for guitar.

  5. #5

    Default Re: Bach Prelude #1 from Well-Tempered Klavier on mandola

    Thinking a little more (and only a very little), playing the prelude on guitar and the subsequent fugue as a guitar-mandola/mandolin duo might be pretty effective.

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    Registered User Martin Jonas's Avatar
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    Default Re: Bach Prelude #1 from Well-Tempered Klavier on mandola

    Looking at the IMSLP page for the piece here, I see that they have a transcription of the prelude No. 1 for solo viola (as well as solo violin, cello and bass viol). That should be playable on mandola although whether it's effective is another matter.

    There is also an arrangement of the prelude and fugue for four viols (treble, treble, tenor, bass) and from the ranges of the instruments, that arrangement should transfer directly to mandolin quartet.

    Martin

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    bass player gone mando
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    Default Re: Bach Prelude #1 from Well-Tempered Klavier on mandola

    Quote Originally Posted by Martin Jonas View Post
    Looking at the IMSLP page for the piece here, I see that they have a transcription of the prelude No. 1 for solo viola (as well as solo violin, cello and bass viol). That should be playable on mandola although whether it's effective is another matter.

    There is also an arrangement of the prelude and fugue for four viols (treble, treble, tenor, bass) and from the ranges of the instruments, that arrangement should transfer directly to mandolin quartet.

    Martin
    That's interesting, thanks. I may give that a try. It's quite a different arrangement.
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    Still Picking and Sawing Jack Roberts's Avatar
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    Default Re: Bach Prelude #1 from Well-Tempered Klavier on mandola

    My wife used to play this on the piano all the time, but hasn't for a while. Last night I tried my hand(s) at it on Mandola using the piano score, and it really didn't work for me. (I tried playing up an octave). I think it can be done (by someone with more patience and skill than I possess) but maybe it is better tried with two instruments.

    Laurindo Almeida did a version in the '70s with two guitars in his album "Bach is Beautiful", which is out of print, I believe. I have the record somewhere, but I think I've played the grooves off of it. Maybe he tuned his low E down to C on one of the guitars in order to play this, but I'll try to dig the record up and see if I can figure out what he did.

    I started to play this on piano after giving up on Mandola. It is amazing how much playing Mandola has made piano playing easier. I haven't sat at the piano in over 20 years, but I was getting most of the notes after two or three tries.
    Last edited by Jack Roberts; Oct-31-2013 at 11:27am.
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    Still Picking and Sawing Jack Roberts's Avatar
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    Default Re: Bach Prelude #1 from Well-Tempered Klavier on mandola

    Here's a version on Guitar. Note the differences.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKyMKzGzXjE
    Ha, ha! keep time: how sour sweet music is,
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  10. #10

    Default Re: Bach Prelude #1 from Well-Tempered Klavier on mandola

    Quote Originally Posted by Jack Roberts View Post
    Here's a version on Guitar. Note the differences.
    "Level: 7, Upper-Advanced" Really? Either the LAGA is a little liberal in doling out assessments of difficulty or I'm better at this than I thought (more likely the former). The arrangement I play is in C, but a bit different than the video and does invert the arpeggio of one measure to leave my E at E.

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