Composer: Bach, Johann Sebastian

English Suite No. 6 in D Minor, BWV 811 (arr. D. Cerovic and G. Krivokapic for 2 guitars)

Montenegrin Guitar Duo

Year of Production: 2016

Playing Time: 00:23:07

Catalogue Number: NVF0159

English Suite No. 6 opens in chorale style in 9/8 time with elegantly broken chords. This is interrupted by a sudden burst of semiquavers leading to a moment's reflection before plunging into an extended and brilliant fugal Allegro. Of the Preludes in the English Suites this is the longest and most elaborate. The Allemande which follows is, in comparison, an oasis of calm, with superb contrapuntal writing and ingenious tonal modulations. The Courante unites a French-style melodic line with a sparkling walking bass. After the restrained eloquence of the Allemande this movement seems to imply its own celebration of Bachian joie de vivre.

The Sarabande, in 3/2, has a hymn-like grandeur and dignity, The Double extends the emotional range with an interwoven texture creating a fine tapestry of sonorities.

The Gigue, in 12/16 metre, is virtuosic in both compositional aspects and the technical demands on the performers. Bach's incomparable art of fugal writing is at full stretch here, the second half representing, as in mirror images, inversions of the exposition of the opening first section. The magnificence of the trills at strategic points is matched by the driving thrust of the triplets in perpetual motion building up to a dramatic finale.