"Bach: Air on a G String (v5)" genre: Piano
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	BEAUTIFUL & ROMANTIC, this is one of Bach's most loved creations. A sublime melody, which never repeats itself once, is spun over a resolutely stepping bass line. Here it is transcribed for piano and bass, giving the piece a rhapsodic and highly personal character. The haltingly slow pace even gives it a tinge of longing and sadness. I repeat each half of the air, the second time with percussion.
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	Story Behind the Song I have always been deeply moved by J.S. Bach's Air from the third Orchestral Suite in D Major, better known as the Air on a G String. It is one of the all-time popular pieces in the classical repertoire, most familiar in its original string setting for two violins, viola, and bass. My fascination prompted me to pick out the melodies on keyboard, which brought a deeper understanding of how this brief but intense music holds together. While not as formally contrapuntal as Bach's other works, the layers of melody fade in and out in a wonderfully organic musical evolution, all the while framed by a resolutely-stepping, quintessentially-Bach bass line. The many warm seconds, sevenths and other dissonances help sustain the piece's intense drama and poignant romance. The richness in so short a work ultimately prompted me to develop a full transcription for piano so that I could enjoy it directly. While a transcription for two hands cannot possibly reach all the lines of music in a piece scored for four string instruments, it brings additional immediacy and intimacy to music so well-known in chamber performance. Occasionally, the piano transcription must include repeated notes to prolong a chord that a string instrument would normally have held. It also varies the repeats of the two sections of the air by allowing a few more liberties of interpretation and by lowering the bass an octave. For a totally different transformation, see also the organ mix of the same piece.

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