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Isn't it Time You Listened to Bach on Mandolin?

Rating: 2 votes, 5.00 average.
The music of the "old master" as some affectionately refer to him - Johann Sebastian Bach - has received a lot of well deserved attention of late from the mandolin world. Sure, we've played and recorded his music for years, but it's hard to ignore three important Bach projects in the past 18 months by some pretty big names. Like Thile, Marshall, Avital, Lichtenberg. I suspect many of you have not heard a note from a single one of these. Many of you have though, and a few of you probably have all three and can't get enough.



If you've not yet listened to one of these recordings, you really owe it to yourself to at least sample the free audio tracks and sound bites wherever they're available.

If you dare to play this music, be prepared to be enlightened, amazed, moved, and at times plain intimidated by the sheer genius of the compositions.

Mike Marshall and Caterina Lichtenberg's new JS Bach recording just out is the perfect example of how well Bach's music fits our little part of the music world. It's the point of this writing, and it's music that should become a part of your collection. If you're only going to buy one mandolin recording in 2015 let me suggest that Mike and Caterina's JS Bach would be a superb choice.

But being greedy I want more. Evan J. Marshall's solo duo-style version of Bach's Air in G I heard in concert once remains one of the most moving live performances I've ever witnessed on a mandolin. It's time for him to do an entire album of Bach. And the Modern Mandolin Quartet as well, and more.

Now more then ever, Bach's music is celebrated by the general mandolin community and sources of inspiration abound. Publishers have taken note. In the process of writing this we even discovered some ambitious chap tabbed out Bach's Cello Suite No. 1 for us long ago. Who knew? We didn't.

A few resources follow. Feel free to add your own in the comments sections. There are many. And just maybe, maybe, some of you that only listen to mandolin music will move on to Bach for other instruments or be inspired to learn standard notation. Hey, it's a big world out there and there's a lot of take in. Be careful, have fun. That's the whole point of all of this.



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Comments

  1. Espresso Geek's Avatar
    Yes!!! Bach:Sonatas and Partitas, Vol 1 . - Chris Thile Great listening!!!
  2. JeffD's Avatar
    Scott I think you are psychic. I was about to write something like this. Or maybe great minds think alike, or more likely, its just in the air for perceptive folks to snatch up.

    I am particularly interested in how the mandolin is so suited to the music. Bach is well known to be a kind of music that transcends the instrument it is played upon, and works well on a huge variety of instruments. I grew up with Switched on Bach and the Swingle Singers and that Carribian band that played Bach on steel drum.

    That said, playing Bach on mandolin is less of a stretch than synth or marimba. Its a real match. Like Bach on guitar - it feels intended.