Prelude BWV 855a BACH-Siloti

Alexander Ilyich Siloti (1863 - 1945) was a Russian virtuoso pianist, conductor and composer who had
excellent connections to the great Russian composers of his time, such as Sergei Rachmaninoff and
Peter Tchaikovsky.
Siloti took Bach’s Prelude in E Minor from the “Well-Tempered Clavier”, transposed the key from E to
B, changed a few things and created a completely new wonderful piece of music. It is advisable to
listen to both versions with an open mind and decide for yourself whether you prefer one of them.
The present arrangement by Walter Abt refers to the Siloti version and is arranged in different
versions - for guitar solo, for 2 guitars and for a C instrument (flute, oboe, violin, clarinet Bb, concertina, C-instruments,etc.)
and guitar accompaniment, including a counterpoint composed by Walter Abt on BWV 855a.