Description
S. Bach — TOCCATA and FUGUE in D minor.
Edited by Milda Agazarian
ISMN 979-0-9000036-2-1
HarpMasters Edition, 2014
Nowadays it is impossible to imagine the full-fledged education of a musician without studying the music of Johann Sebastian Bach – the greatest composer of all time. There is no recorded evidence that Bach composed for the harp. However, in some of his work, there is no specific indication as to the kind of instrument it should be played on. This suggests that the final choice was to be made by the performer.
The given transcription for harp is based on the transcription made by the famous Russian musician, performer on viola da gamba Boris V. Dobrohotov, published in 1977. The piece has been frequently performed in my class through the years and has undergone a series of modifications. Given the fact that the author of the initial transcription was not a harpist, his arrangement presented a great deal of technical inconvenience, inappropriate use of registers, etc. My goal was to work on more suitable version, to enrich it with techniques aimed at tonal and timbral diversity, to reduce unnecessary vibration by using different muffling techniques, and to offer more comfortable fingering and pedaling.
I Highly wish you enjoy this piece of great music!
Milda Agazarian
