Product Review

This recording offers a fresh approach to the Bach compositions. Many others have arranged works by Bach for the guitar, but Lily's arrangements (published by Mel Bay Publications and used for recording) are quite different. Bach seldom wrote dynamics and ornaments and left these nuances to the aesthetic judgment of the performer. Ornaments are to be used especially in the repetitions of slower movements of his compositions. Lily's arrangements give the performer greater latitude in providing dynamics and ornaments. The arrangements on this recording allow the compositions to be played faster, and the harmonic fingerings Lily uses to reveal harp-like nuances never before heard on a recording of Bach arranged for guitar, completely in keeping with Bach's own approach to his music. This approach inspired the title of the CD, Bach on Fire.