Who's afraid of Bach?

Some people love to play Bach and consider learning his pieces a life-long process; others are afraid to touch his music!

Not so much because they're afraid of being "incorrect" but because the music can be so deep. Personally, I have learned the Chaconne more than 10 years ago but never felt that it was ready to be performed live. Especially when I heard what Ricardo Gallen did with the whole Suite: Apparently, the concert was lit only with a couple of candles, and after each movement, he blew out a candle. Right before the Chaconne, the last candle was extinguished and he played this monumental work in complete darkness. I mean ... how much cooler can it get?

• Should beginners play Bach?
• Should one be schooled in Baroque performance practice to take it on?
• What about transcriptions for the guitar: are there better or worse ones, and why?
• Should they stay close to the original instrumentation or be adapted to the guitar's unique qualities?
• Should we do our own transcriptions? 

This topic was suggested by a fellow tonebase community member and we thought this would be an interesting starting point for the DISCUSSION OF THE WEEK! If you have a topic that you want to be featured, simply write me a DM here in the Community

I remember talking to Emma about the unwritten rules that exist in performing music by Bach. The main takeaway was that it's of course nice to be fluent in the language of baroque interpretation. But Bach certainly would be happy to know that his music will be performed until the end of days

PS: I've added some secondary sources on historical performance practice. To be honest, I have them on my computer and look at them VERY rarely, so don't be afraid to save them and don't learn the intricacies by next week