Gramophone Magazine
September 2018
Editor's Choice

Thomas Dunford (lute)

Bach, J S: Cello Suite No. 1 in G major, BWV1007
Bach, J S: Lute Suite No. 3 in G minor, BWV995
Bach, J S: Partita for solo violin No. 2 in D minor, BWV1004: Chaconne

Thomas Dunford continues to expand his discography on Alpha with a programme of solo lute works by J.S. Bach, recorded in the ideal surroundings of the Salle de Musique of La Chaux-de-Fonds in Switzerland.

He performs an original composition by Bach for lute, the Suite in G minor BWV 995, as well as his own arrangements of the (Cello) Suite BWV 1007 and the famous Chaconne from the Partita BWV 1004 – the latter piece has a notorious reputation for being (virtually) unplayable, at least on the violin!

"What we get with Dunford’s Bach is a certain purity, a relatively unadorned line which assimilates articulation in favour of flow and clarity. The expression – of form or emotion – is all in the phrasing, which relies on the art of silence as much as a subtle rubato. It’s quite beautiful and refreshing, as though excrescences have been shorn away to reveal the classical architecture underneath." - Gramophone Magazine September 2018