Andrew York - Bach Cello Suite in C major - Gitarrissimo, Oberhausen Germany

Andrew York live in Oberhausen Germany for the Gitarrissimo Festival, November 2009. Four movements from the 3rd Cello Suite in C major by J.S. Bach. Prelude, Courante, Saraband, and Gigue.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Andrew York
• classical
• guitar
• Grammy
• Gitarrissimo
• Oberhausen
• J.S.
• Bach
• Cello
• Suite
• live
• concert
• acoustic

[Allegro1900]

@michaelfogler Hi Michael, I love what Andrew does. It's great to listen to a guitar tuned like a cello.

[michaelfogler]

What he says many guitarists do is better than what he's doing. A guitar cannot out-cello a cello.  A cello is the best at being a cello. A guitar should do what it does best which involves more harmony and counterpoint than what he's doing. Bach clearly changed his own music when he transferred it from one instrument to another.

[dombert]

My apologies to the performer, but as a former classical guitarist turned cellist, I find this performance unsettling. I'm not sure what he is trying to accomplish. It really is silly and more than a little self-indulgent. On top of all this, the performance is so contrived and affected with bad rubato that there really is nothing to redeem it. Please, don't do this sort of thing again.

[jeanvignes]

Thanks for sharing this very interesting approach to JS Bach. I enjoyed listening.

[kaimialana]

@michaelfogler I enjoy his experiment. Time and time again I have heard the same Segovia arrangements by many musicians, and it has become overdone. By returning to the original score and tuning, Andrew has done something interesting. Unfortunately, this is a poor recording.

[canonmj]

Andrew York is the American version of Roland Dyens...always pushing the envelope. Very interesting to see the guitar tuned this way. What is the tuning?

[fuszogar1]

One might argue that the aim is not to reproduce Bach's piece, but rather invigorate it with new compositional breadth. But then, why bother calling it an arrangement? That seems to me a variation on a theme, rather than a reproduction. I believe that York's intent was for the audience to listen to Bach's composition in his interpretation, not his original variation.

[fuszogar1]

@michaelfogler Whilst I do agree conceptually with what you are saying, I have sadly yet to come across a decent arrangement of the cello suite in C for guitar, or for that manner, any plucked string instrument. Bach's pieces are ones extraordinary melodic and harmonic integrity, and I have heard many a times arrangements of Bach pieces that simply failed to uphold the high musical standard of the original. One can not out-Bach Bach.

[GenMata]

The Cello sound is great. York is amazing

[opensourceguitar]

I was playing an arrangement of suite no.2 and the extra notes were so cheesy! I play cello and wanted to see if I could tune the guitar down to C in use 5th, like a cello. Thank you Mr.York! Now I must find vry high tension strings and have fun, great video!

[michaelfogler]

to be specific, check out what Bach does himself: compare the 5th cello suite with the 3rd lute suite or the E major violin partita with the 4th lute suite. There are lots of differences. Bach did a lot of transferring of music from one medium to another. And he NEVER just assigned the notes verbatim from his original on one instrument to the new instrument. He always rearranged the piece to suite the strengths of the new instrument.

[IamtheSpankster]

@michaelfogler That's just like, your opinion, man.