August 2023 -Calendar updates

byClaudia Ochoa Cruz - 0 Comments

The most exciting news also comes in the summer


Before anything further, I want to let you know that the calendar will now be comprised of all the months of the 2023–2024 season. Harry Armitage made this possible by sharing his own database with me (created since 2007). It contains information from orchestras that we are aware of, including new orchestras and websites, as well as information from their entire seasons. The date each piece was composed as well as significant remarks are included in his database, which is also organised, comprehensive, and translated from many languages. As of right now, collecting and organising the data for the blog will be done using a template similar to Harry's database. Building a database that is as rich as feasible is the goal in order to processing and analysing them. As a result, we will be able to analyse the data by cohorts, groups, or even individual online broadcasts. I'll be doing a quick survey in the coming days; if you'd be willing to take the time, please do. Let's go on to the post's content for the month of August after that.


August 2023

Since Johann Sebastian Bach was one of the composers who gave the cello true prominence and demonstrated its tremendous potential as a solo instrument, the cover of the month of August is devoted to him. For this reason, this post will give a brief overview of the six cello suites, followed by a chronicle of the development of the cello and some closing thoughts for the summer.


Cover August 2023

For a solo cello, Bach's Suites
Image: Johann Sebastian Bach, portrait by Elias Gottlob Haussmann. Animation by PhotoFunia.


For a solo cello, Bach's Suites

Starting off, let's mention some details regarding these masterpieces. Because Bach never signed a final copy, it is impossible to know when he composed the cello suites, but it is generally accepted that they were written between 1717 and 1723 (Lawrence, 2012). The first edition of «Six Sonates or Etudes For Le Violocelle Solo Composed By J. Sebastien Bach Oeuvre Posthume» was published in 1824 (Jarvis, 2007). At least two of these pieces are thought to have been composed specifically for the viola da gamba (Mickelson, 2018).

Bach's time in Cöthen is characterised by some authors as a place where he was free to express his creativity and even compose works for cello and viola da gamba without playing them. He also had access to the talents of exceptional musicians like Christian Ferdinand Abel and Christian Bernhard Linigke, and everything came together in what could be described as a welcoming and comfortable atmosphere (Lawrence, 2012). The suites are thought to have been written to go along with dances, in part because his residence in Cöthen «was more secular than his other residences» and in part because he employed dance forms with «French, Italian, and German» roots; despite the fact that there were few cello compositions prior to this creative time, «the amount of Works in this genre increased exponentially after Bach published his suites» (Hebson 2010).

Surprisingly, one of the world's most renowned cellists, Steven Isserlis, maintains a «theory-that-is-not-a-theory» to explain the significance of these exquisite suites: «together they represent a spiritual meditation, taking us from the gentle, cradle-rocking Nativity (Suite No.1), through the D minor anguish of Gethsemane (No. 2) and the musical ‘heart of darkness’ of the Crucifixion (No. 5), to the joy of the Resurrection, celebrated in the pealing bells that open No. 6» (Coghlan, 2021).


Questionable authorship?

The six cello suites' authorship has been disputed by a number of people; some say that it was his second wife Anna Magdalena or maybe Christian Ferdinand Abel. It is clear that different research methods were used to make each of these reconstructions. None of these explanations, however, is compelling enough to unify them under a single agreement and identify the "true" author of the works for cello.


Cello "evolution"

The violin and other stringed instruments are thought to have been played at festivals and other social events before and during the 16th century. (Hamilton, 1984; Braun, 2015). However, they did not start to make any significant "technical progress" until the seventeenth century, first in Italy and subsequently in England and France.

Solo cello compositions first appeared between 1660 and 1697, supporting any appreciation the bass violin («violetta, violone, violone da brazzo, and, in the second half of the seventeenth century, violoncino and violoncello») may have attained. (Hamilton, 1984). Before the endpin became widely used, these type of instruments might have been played in a variety of postures, including while resting on the floor, on the foot, with a rope over the chest, or with the calves supporting the player (Braun, 2015). It should be noted that according to some authors, Bach invented the Viola Pomposa, a five-string instrument designed to be «played in the da braccio position» (Lawrence, 2012). Furthermore, the luthiers of the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries were real masters of stringed instruments.


Reflexion

A few years ago, I saw a movie that made me so uneasy that I would only recommend it to those with nerves of steel; Otherwise, it would be hard for them to forget it and they might end up writing a paragraph of a post about it. The Priests is a korean horror movie in which two catholic priests carry out an exorcism. Anyone who has seen this movie will probably remember many of its scenes; in my case, I also remember those in which priests carried a music player that they used to perform the ritual with background music by Bach, our composer this month.

Despite the fact that we are unsure of the exact reasoning for the usage of Bach's music in the film, there are certain conclusions we could make. Many of Bach's compositions contain the letters J. J., Jesu, Juva and S. D. G., Soli Deo Gloria can be found (Otto, 2014). He is also regarded as having held a firm devotion to Lutheran orthodoxy and a strong conviction in the word of God. «Yes, he loved the word of God and, therefore, set its words of eternal life to the  greatest music which has ever been composed by any man in history. And all this work of his he did, indeed, to the glory of God alone» (Hofreiter, 1995). However, there are many who disagree with this viewpoint and attempt to analyse it from a modern standpoint, emphasising how progressive Bach was (Marissen, 2018).

In a world governed by the omnipresence, omnipotence and omniscience of God, It would be a little hard not to trust someone who was determined to create works destined for the word of God and who covertly did so in favor of the rise of modernity (although it is simpler to follow the crowd and avoid becoming a salmon -be cautious as there are those who hold these hypotheses-) At the moment, 30% of people worldwide identify as or recognise themselves as Christians. Despite the fact that there are numerous diverse Christian theologies, all of them are grounded in the Love that Jesus of Nazareth preached and taught during his Public Ministry. (Yes, we are also aware that each religion upholds its own principles and how each one has influenced our daily lives. Max Weber conducted a thorough inquiry into it). It would be wise to keep in mind that all of them, rather than dividing us, really bring us together. God brings us together under the same principle of Love,  Love to God and Love to others,—in the here and now—not just as a Pascalian wager, but on a daily basis.

Without a doubt, there are many different ways of viewing Christianity in Asian culture. For example, if the filmmakers had read the writings of Brian Weiss, who are well known and respected in the West but have contractions with Christian theology, we might ask them what they think about Christianity again. Imagine if we were given the challenging task of constructing a story within the networks of social relations in 16th or 17th century Europe. Getting to know a country that is slightly different from our own can feel like getting to know a separate planet. Well, this is what writers who have studied Bach's cello solos have done.

There is a general opinion that the suites were likely composed with secular dances and gatherings in mind, as well as with the cello and its predecessors being less sophisticated instruments than the violin. But, how can we take Steven Isserlis' claim that «there are religious connotations in the suites»? who, by the way, is one of the finest cellists in the world, has spent a tremendous amount of time studying and interpreting them (more than any of the people who are currently reading this post), and who has proposed his «theory-that-is-not-a-theory». Maybe his non-theory deserves more of our attention. For instance, I like cakes, especially chocolate ones, and I believe that if I used the right research methods, I could conduct in-depth research on this subject, possibly receive approval from a peer review panel, or even publish an article. However, I can hardly knead the flour…

There is a strange fact about Casals, and many authors have emphasised his chance encounter with the cello suites in a Barcelona music store, in a manner similar to how Anthony Hopkins did with George Feifer's book.

Whether or whether Casals' chance discovery of Bach's suites was synchronicity, the fact that we can now enjoy these lovely compositions, whether they are for cello or viola da gamba, second-category instrument or newly-born instrument, with gut or wire strings, secular or religious, is undeniable. This incredible instrument enhances and beautifies ordinary life on its own. It's interesting how some publications highlight the "progress" and "evolution" of the cello, but let's be honest: has the design of the instrument really evolved over time? The ancient art market would disagree. It should be noted that such engineering by the time's luthiers could only meet very high musical standards, and they would undoubtedly be outstanding performers, so we could initially doubt the hypothesis about the comfortable atmosphere (secular) Bach may have experienced during his stay in Cöthen.


References



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