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This edition accompanies the ‘8 Bach Sarabandes for Solo Violin Arr. by Fred Thomas for Rachel Podger’. My research for the Sarabande arrangements included collecting and notating all the 3-note and 4-note chords that J.S. Bach wrote in his Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin. In Part 1 they chords are presented in the order in which they appear within each movement; however, no chord is repeated (within a movement). In Part 2 they are shown ascending from the bottom of the instrument to the top. Presented in this concise way, these chords provide valuable study material for any violinists interested in playing Bach’s incredibly difficult music.

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Table of Contents

Sarabande No. 1 – English Suite No. 3, BWV 808
Sarabande No. 2 – English Suite No. 1, BWV 806
Sarabande No. 3 – English Suite No. 2, BWV 807
Sarabande No. 4 – French Suite No. 6, BWV 816
Sarabande No. 5 – English Suite No. 6, BWV 811
Sarabande No. 6 – French Suite No. 5, BWV 816
Sarabande No. 7 – Wir setzen uns mit Tränen nieder (St. Matthew Passion, Pt.2 No. 78), BWV 244 Sarabande No. 8 – Suite in A Major, BWV 832

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This edition offers a simple and clear method of how to deal practically with the rhythmic intricacies of the Medieval Ars Subtilior repertoire. With examples from notoriously difficult pieces such as ‘Le greygnour bien’, ‘Sus un fontayne’, ‘Sumite Karissimi’ and ‘Amour m’a le cuer mis’, musicians will be led through a pragmatic guide to how to feel (using both the mind and body) the complex rhythms of this remarkable repertoire, found in the Chantilly Codex and other Medieval manuscripts.

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These overdubbed piano transcriptions can be heard on Fred Thomas’ ECM New Series album ‘Three or One‘.

Table of Contents

01. Cantata ‘Der Herr denket an uns‘  – Sinfonia (BWV 196)
02. Cantata ‘Herr, gehe nicht ins Gericht mit deinem Knecht‘ – Aria ‘Wie zittern und wanken der Sünden‘ (BWV 105)
03. Cantata ‘Weichet nur, betrübte Schatten‘ – Aria (BWV 202)
04. Cantata ‘O heilges Geist und Wasserbad‘ Aria ‘Jesu, meines Todes Tod‘ (BWV 165)
5. Cantata ‘Allein zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ‘ – Aria ‘Wie furchtsam wankten meine Schritte‘ (BWV 33)

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Jazz leads sheets of the music of 19th Century German opera composer Richard Wagner, transcribed/transformed by Fred Thomas. Huge dramatic scenes are boiled down to discreet miniatures, each expressed on one or two sides of A4, ripe for improvisation.

Table of Contents

01. Prelude (Parsifal)
02.Wedding March (Lohengrin)
03. Overture (Tannhäuser)
04. Prelude to Act III (Tristan and Isolde)
05. Night Watchman’s Song (Die Meistersinger) 06.The Shepherd’s Song (Tristan und Isolde) 07. Klingsor (Parsifal)
08. Journey Over the Mountain (Siegfried)
09. Bells (Parsifal)
10. Forest Murmuring (Siegfried)
11. Beckmesser’s Song (Die Meistersinger)
12. Johannistag (Die Meistersinger)
13. Mime’s Complaint (Siegfried)
14. Underscoring (Siegfried)
15. Lausch (Tristan und Isolde)

All compositions by Richard Wagner (1813-1883)
Arranged by Fred Thomas
Recorded on the album ‘Dick Wag – A Tribute to Richard Wagner’ (buy here)
By Fred Thomas, feat. Benoît Delbecq (piano) & Ewan Bleach (reeds)

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Lead sheets containing lyrics, melody and harmony, of Fred Thomas’ songs from his project The Beguilers (2012-2012)

Table of Contents

1. A Cradle Song (William Blake)
2. A Dream (William Blake)
3. Ask Me No More (Thomas Carew)
4. Early One Morning (Anon)
5. Fall, Leaves, Fall (Emily Brontë)
6. Gentle Lady (James Joyce)
7. He is a Stranger to Me Now (James Joyce)
8. I Hid My Love (John Clare)
9. I Laid me Down Upon a Bank (William Blake)
10. London (William Blake)
11. Love to Faults is Always Blind (William Blake)
12. Memories (James Joyce)
13. Mother, I cannot Mind my Wheel (Walter Savage Landor)
14. O Mistress Mine (William Shakespeare)
15. Rest, Sweet Nymphs (Francis Pilkington)
16. Take, O Take Those Lips Away (William Shakespeare)
17. Tara’s Halls (Thomas Moore)
18. The Birds (William Blake)
19. The Water’s Monotone (James Joyce)

All songs composed by Fred Thomas, 2010-2012

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Exercises for the development of general technique, intonation, ear training and improvisation. The order of intervals goes from simple to complex, starting with the most consonant (unison) and ending with the most dissonant (tri-tone). Intervals are paired with their corresponding inverse, e.g. 5ths/4ths (shown by vertical lines with arrows), and taken through the circle of 5ths.
Examples from Western Classical Music of each interval are given.