“The Latvian cellist Mischa Maisky recorded the Bach’s cello suites “at a small guest house he converted into a studio and called Sarabande, he had a fence built around it with all the notes of the fifth sarabande crafted on the metalwork. He gleefully points out that the studio’s address is 720, his Montagnana cello was built in 1720, the year he came to the West was 1972 – and the year in which Bach has traditionally been thought to have composed the music is 1720.”
Siblin, Eric (2009) The Cello Suites. Crows Nest: Allen and Unwin, p. 90.
Maiky’s recording of Bach’s cello suites
by
Tags:
Featured Content
Parry on choral music
Hubert Parry, who taught Vaughan Williams composition, instructed the composer to “write choral music as befits and Englishman and a democrat.” Vaughan Williams recalled that “this attitude to art led to an almost moral hated of mere luscious sound…” Vaughan Williams, cited in Holmes, Paul (1997) Vaughan Williams. London: Omnibus Press, p.17.
A replacement conductorThe following appeared in the Musical Times, August 1890: We read that “a Saxon engineer has invented an automatic machine, the object of which is to save conductors the physical part of their duties. By pressing a button the apparatus, which is provided with an arm holding a conducting-stick, can be made to beat with the […]
The decentralization (or de-hallification) of classical musicFor generations, the main places to hear contemporary classical music have been the big institutions, primarily at downtown and university concert halls and opera houses, and sometimes in churches and other rather formal settings. That’s all changing. Young composers today are increasingly finding — or creating — outlets for their music in rock and jazz […]
Conducting glovesThe practice of wearing white gloves whilst conducting was common in the nineteenth century. The Musical times reported in July 1884 that: “A German conductor,” we are told, “in order that the public may be more deeply impressed with the feeling of grief intended to be produced by the Funeral March in Beethoven’s ‘Eroica Symphony,’ wears […]
Stanford on Tchaikovsky“Tchaikovsky reminded me, in more ways than one, of his countryman Tourgéniew, whom I once met at Madame Viardot’s. He had none of the Northern roughness, was as polished as a Frenchman in his manner, and had something of the Italian in his temperament… For all the belief which he had in himself, he was […]
Work joyfully and peacefullyIf you will become possessed of this faith you will not need to bother about your success or failure, for success will come. You will not need to be anxious about the results, and will work joyfully and peacefully, knowing that right thoughts and right efforts will inevitably bring about right results. — James Allen […]
Somewhere Over the Rainbow“Somewhere Over the Rainbow”, from The Wizard of Oz, is now a classic, inspiring song, but its had to believe the beginnings were not so smooth: …it was decided that standard melodies of a popular accessible kind , without gimmicks, would best suit the story, and its star [Judy Garland]. Harold Arlen and E. Y. […]
A pen and a hen“A pen is to me as a beak is to a hen.” John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, in an interview with Philip Norman. “The Prevalence of Hobbits”, The New York Times, 15 January 1967, http://movies2.nytimes.com/books/01/02/11/specials/tolkien-mag67.html (accessed 20 July 2020)
The creative learning process“Creativity is a type of learning process where the teacher and pupil are located in the same individual.” — Arthur Koestler
The London Proms in the 1930sA recollection of the London Proms in 1936: The behavior of the Promenaders was more genteel in those days … there wasn’t the same degree of shouting as now. During the famous hornpipe in Henry Wood’s Fantasia on British Sea Songs people tapped with their umbrellas and sticks, rather than stamping. As the applause went […]
