MichaelNanasakov

Bach-Godowsky: Cello Suite No.2 (arr. for Piano)
"Prelude"
　It is very contemplative and philosophical music, and Godowsky adds rich counterpoint treatment to Bach's introspective flow of sound, creating a truly profound piano piece. The piece begins with a bass doublet, which is not present in the original.

　The six notes that sound like mourning bells seem to suggest the world of the three "unaccompanied cellos" that are about to unfold. The piece begins somberly in the lower register, but suddenly, in the fifth bar of the original piece, a long, breathy phrase "D─C─B" is added in the treble register, which expands the acoustic world at once. The three-dimensionality of this sound is truly wonderful. In these first two pages alone, there are movements in the style of a mirror-image canon or a stretta, and Godowsky's mastery of counterpoint can be fully appreciated. After the 55th bar of the original, Bach's score has only 16th-note passages, but Godowsky reintroduces the theme here.

　This would be a correct interpretation of the music. The theme then gradually increases in volume and range, and finally appears once more with thick chords, but this is a major departure from Bach's original (specifically, bar 59 of the cello score corresponds to the first bar of the piano), creating an overwhelming conclusion.

"Armando."
　This movement is lively and light. Godowsky intertwines the 16th notes of the original with canon-like movements and counter-melodies.

"Courant."
　This is another exercise-like movement with fast 16th-note movements. Godowsky has made this movement into a piano piece full of power. The fine movements of the original are used as accompaniment, and the combination with the rich melody creates a thick sound that is not found in the original.

"Sarabande."
　This is a gentle dance piece in which the player moves with a leisurely gait. Godowsky raises the melody an octave, enhances the bass, and adds a rich counter-melody to create a profound sound. Furthermore, Godowsky rewrites the original piece after the 20th bar, adding four bars to reproduce the opening theme, which is smoothly connected to the 21st bar of the original piece. The chromatic harmony full of shadows in the latter half of the piece is also attractive.

"Menuetto."
This elegant minuet consists of the first minuet in D minor and the second minuet in D major.
First, the first minuet. The original piece has both the first half and the second half repeated, but Godowsky did not make the first half a simple repeat. In other words, the first part begins with weak notes accompanied by string pizzicato, and the second part is accompanied by strong chords, each with a different expression. In addition, after the 16th bar, four bars are newly added to reproduce the opening theme.

　Next comes the second minuet. Again, the first half does not use a simple repeat. In the first, he uses two notes in the bass clef as if they were holding notes, and in the second, he raises the pitch castle to make it more Bianistic. Furthermore, he boldly changes the second half of the piece after the 21st bar of the original, adding eight new bars and recreating the main part of the second minuet.
If there is a problem in terms of performance style, it is the dacapo to the first minuet after the second minuet. Normally, after the da capo, "repeat signs" are usually ignored, but if we follow Godowsky's score faithfully, we should play "the first half of the 1st Menuetto with a green return and the second half without repeat". In any case, it would have been better to rewrite the first minuet after Da Capo with a simpler version without repeats, wouldn't it?

"Gigue."
　This is music full of power and fervor.　Here, too, the counterpoint writing is rich, and the canon-like movements that can be found throughout the piece are ingenious. In addition, the second half of the 40th bar of the original piece has also been significantly altered, with the addition of eight new bars, and the part after the repeat (the part that becomes F major) has appeared once more. Then, the theme echoes in the treble clef by the crossing of the two hands are added, and the piece closes with great excitement and power.