The Lautenwerk (also called Lautenclavecin, Lauten-Clavicymbel, and Lautenclavier) is the German term for a lute-harpsichord. This is a keyboard instrument with gut, rather than steel, strings, which are plucked by a quill. Bach owned two harpsichords at the time of his death, according to an inventory of his belongings, though neither has survived. The Lautenwerk was played like the harpsichord, though with a softer sound because of the gut strings. The instrument was also known in France (‘clavecin-luth’) and Italy (‘arpicordo leutato’), but most popular in Germany. Even so, the instrument was relatively rare, even in the Baroque, compared to the standard harpsichord.

Although the Suite in E minor, BWV 996 is published "for the lute," there is an marking in an early copy (from about 1715) "aufs Lautenwerk," indicating that the work was not for standard lute, but rather for lute-harpsichord imitating lute sounds and style. (The written note is not in Bach’s hand, but rather in that of J.G. Walther.) The music is low for the lute and has "some unplayable chords in the Prelude and an unidiomatically dense texture, especially troublesome in the fast movements" (Tim Crawford, in J.S. Bach, ed. Malcolm Boyd), if it is attempted on a lute.

The Suite in E minor, BWV 996, begins with a prelude which is a free fantasy. Following that comes an allemande, courante, sarabande, bourreé, and gigue; it is, therefore, French in style, with the addition of the prelude. For descriptions of the conventional movements, see French Suite No. 6 in E major.

The prelude bears further examination. The first section is marked passaggio, which means simply passage work. This section is free in form and style, and easily could have been performed on a lute. The section begins with a long, sweeping, monophonic passage covering two and a half octaves. It searches for an identity, waiting for some time before establishing E minor, then almost immediately leaving that behind (although e minor is re-emphasized several times thereafter). After this introductory passage, the rest of the section alternates monophonic scalar passages and homophonic chordal bits. Most of the chordal sections use dotted rhythms–given that a quicker, imitative section follows, could this seemingly free form actually be a French overture?

Notes: The red boxes show where leading-tone movements help to establish the local key. The clearly established keys in the first portion of the prelude are marked in blue. Keys which may be implied are marked in burgundy. (All of these keys are closely related to E minor, and share a lot of common tones, so the tonal implications are not always clear.) The orange boxes highlight the dotted passages.

The other movement I wish to highlight is the bourreé, which is a famous movement by itself, and is often performed by lutenists, guitarists, and on keyboard. The movement follows standard bourreé conventions (see French Suite No. 6 in E major, above). It maintains a two-part texture throughout except at the final cadence of the first section, where additional pitches are added to complete the chord. The entire bourreé is composed of a single rhythmic motive:

Although only the first section in this binary form is shown, the continuous repetition of this rhythmic motive pervades every measure of the second half as well. Yet, with the changing directions, variety in conjunct vs. disjunct motion, and changes in range, this little movement never grows tired to the ear.

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©2003 Carol Traupman-Carr.