Bach on the Banjo

I'd never thought of it, but it turns out it's a match made in heaven.  There are a lot of videos out there of Bach on the Banjo, but these are quite nice- Enjoy.


4 comments:

Grim said...

I suspect that much of the virtue is in Bach, but the banjo is able to sustain its part.

douglas said...

Yes, it has tonal and 'attack' similarities to the harpsichord that make it a (perhaps surprisingly) good choice for some of these renditions.

Gringo said...

Time and again, what Bach wrote for instrument A has been played on instrument B. Or what was written for A&B being played on C&D. For that matter, while I can't think of any example offhand, Bach would often take a tune of his and use the tune with different instrumentation -resulting in a different BWV number to add to the Bach catalog. And I am not talking about mere harpsichord- piano changes.

Think of Fantasia's take on Bach . Choral gone to synthesizer:A tribute to Wendy Carlos. Sinfonia To Cantata #29, J.S. Bach.

So, there is no surprise that Bach also works for banjo. Bach works with any instrument.

douglas said...

"Bach works with any instrument."

Well, yes. That's because Bach's music is in touch with the truth of the universe. Therefore, no instrument can be beyond it or limit it.