Description

Air On A G string is August Wilhelmj’s 1871 arrangement of the second movement of J. S. Bach’s Orchestral Suite No 3 in D major BWV 1068. The arrangement differs from the original in that the part of the first violins is transposed down so that the entire piece can be played on just the violin’s lowest string (the G string, hence the name). This is however an arrangement of the original “Air” from the Orchestral Suite for guitar quartet.

The music of the “Air” is written on four staves, for first and second violins, viola, and continuo. The interweaving melody lines of the high strings contrast with the pronounced rhythmic drive in the bass. I have followed this quite closely in the arrangement for guitar quartet. This is quite a challenging arrangement of this famous piece and the guitar parts will require concentration and practice to get the smoothness of texture obtained by string players.