Bourrée: The Old Tune That Went Electric

Bach’s Bourrée in E minor is a small piece with unusually long legs. This episode follows how the fifth movement of the Suite in E minor, BWV 996, escaped the world of Baroque dance and became a practical tool for modern musicians: a guitar lesson, a riff, a bass line, a joke, a rock chorus, and a way of learning how moving parts fit together. The story begins in the late 1960s, with Ian Anderson listening through the floor as a neighbour repeatedly failed to get past the difficult part of the piece. Anderson never heard the ending, but he heard enough. Soon Jethro Tull turned Bach into Bourée, with Glenn Cornick’s bass dancing around the flute. From there, the episode traces the tune through John Williams, The Beatles’ Blackbird, Bakerloo, Leo Kottke, Jimmy Page, Tenacious D, Paul McCartney’s Jenny Wren, and Alter Bridge. Along the way, it asks why some old music survives not by being protected, but by being used. The episode ends with a new version titled I’m Going Electric.