Sinfonia (Arioso) from BWV 156 by Bach (PDF)

Sinfonia (Arioso) from Cantata "Ich steh mit einem Fuß im Grabe" BWV 156 by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750). PDF sheet Music arranged for classical guitar. Comes with both a notation edition with left hand fingering and a separate tab edition. Left hand fingering. Early-Intermediate level (grade 5). Free video lesson and performance. This is a PDF download.  

This arrangement is of the first movement, often nicknamed Arioso, from Cantata BWV 156. In case you've heard another version, the sinfonia was later adapted as the middle movement (Largo) in Bach's Harpsichord Concerto in F minor, BWV 1056. I first added the melody (originally an oboe soloist) and then the basso continuo line and have kept them intact except for some changes in the octave to fit on the guitar. I then added the violin accompaniment whenever the melody was sustaining the tied quarter notes. Due to the cramped limitation of one stave, I've combined the continuo line with the accompaniment into one written voice to create a clean score. Sustain the bass and accompaniment notes as needed. Video Performance Lesson Link

Free Video Performance & Lesson

Original Cantata: ‘Ich steh mit einem Fuss im Grabe’, performed by the Netherlands Bach Society for All of Bach, opens with a Sinfonia that is dominated by a melancholy oboe solo. The first aria has an unusual construction. While the tenor already appears to be reconciled with his imminent death, the soprano cuts through his sorrowful notes with Johann Hermann Schein’s hymn ‘Machs mit mir, Gott, nach deiner Güt’. Lars Ulrik Mortensen, conductor and harpsichord.