About the album
The Suites for violoncello solo
An exact chronology of the suites (regarding both the order in which the suites were composed and whether they were composed before or after the solo violin sonatas) cannot be completely established. However, scholars generally believe that – based on a comparative analysis of the styles of the sets of works – the cello suites arose first, effectively dating the suites pre-1720, the year on the title page of Bach’s autograph of the violin sonatas.
The suites were not widely known before the 1900s, and for a long time it was generally thought that the pieces were intended to be studies. However, after discovering Grützmacher’s edition in a thrift shop in Barcelona, Spain, at age 13, Catalan cellist Pablo Casals began studying them. Although he would later perform the works publicly, it was not until 1936, when he was 60 years old, that he agreed to record the pieces, beginning with Suites Nos. 1 and 2, at Abbey Road Studios in London. Casals became the first to record all six suites by 1939. Their popularity soared soon after, and Casals’ original recording is still widely available and respected today.
Attempts to compose piano accompaniments to the suites include a notable effort by Robert Schumann. In 1923, Leopold Godowsky realized Suites Nos. 2, 3 and 5 in full counterpoint for solo piano.
Unlike Bach’s solo violin sonatas, no autographed manuscript survived, thus ruling out the use of an urtext performing edition. However, analysis of secondary sources, including a hand-written copy by Bach’s second wife, Anna Magdalena, has produced presumably authentic editions, although critically deficient in the placement of slurs and other articulation. As a result, many interpretations of the suites exist with no solo accepted version. German cellist Michael Bach has stated that the manuscript of the suites by Anna Magdalena Bach is accurate. The unexpected positioning of the slurs corresponds closely to the harmonic development, and the details of his analysis confirm this.
In conversation with... Mayke Rademakers
You are presenting the Bach cello suites in quite an exceptional setting, combined with contemporary composers and improvisations. Could you describe your motivations behind all of this?
These days, there exists a tremendous focus upon “historic” performance practices. Besides the positive and most valuable lessons that we have learned regarding instrumentation, articulation and musical editions, one tends to forget that today’s listener hears within a completely different sphere to that of one who lived 300 years ago. An authentic listening experience is, despite what we would all like to believe, simply not possible.
It is for this reason that I have strived to make a connection with today’s world, by pairing the suites with works by contemporary composers, setting them in an unusual and incisive perspective.
This is designed as a modern reflection, with the hope and expectation that we will hear these suites in a different and more genuinely “authentic” manner thereby.
Could you disclose a little more regarding your choice of these particular composers like Gubaidulina, Kurtag and Schnittke?
The pieces I have chosen do link the suites most effectively. Exactly half-way, between the 3rd and the 4th suite, Per Slava, composed on the B.A.C.H. motive, functions like a centerfold of a magazine. Gubaidulina is a strongly spiritually.
Unlike Bach’s solo violin sonatas, no autographed manuscript survived, thus ruling out the use of an urtext performing edition. However, analysis of secondary sources, including a hand-written copy by Bach’s second wife, Anna Magdalena, has produced presumably authentic editions, although critically deficient in the placement of slurs and other articulation. As a result, many interpretations of the suites exist with no solo accepted version. German cellist Michael Bach has stated that the manuscript of the suites by Anna Magdalena Bach is accurate. The unexpected positioning of the slurs corresponds closely to the harmonic development, and the details of his analysis confirm this.
And your improvisations? Why the use of a silent cello?
In contrast with our time, improvising was very common in Bach’s era. Composing, playing one or several instruments, alongside the art of improvisation belonged to the skills of every musician.
I have always been intrigued to search for those notes which are not actually printed. Throughout these improvisations I was inspired by motives from the suites, the B.A.C.H.-motif and the various keynotes of the 6 suites. All are used in a generically subliminal way, but with enough clarity to ensure that
a connection is felt. When improvising, I prefer the use of the silent cello due to it’s remarkable possibilities in sound and expression. It also enables me to play in an effectively polyphonic manner.
De cellosuites van Bach in een nieuw daglicht
Een exacte chronologie van de suites, in welke volgorde ze gecomponeerd zijn en of ze voor of na de solovioolsonates geschreven zijn, kan niet worden vastgesteld. De meeste musicologen geloven echter dat de cellosuites eerder geschreven zijn, gebaseerd op de vroegere compositiestijl van Bach, wat zou betekenen dat de suites voor 1720 geschreven zijn. Pas in de 20e eeuw kregen de suites echter een grote bekendheid en voor lange tijd werden de stukken enkel gezien als studiewerken. Het was de Catalaanse cellist Pablo Casals die Grützmachers editie van de suites vond in een kringloopwinkel in Barcelona op dertienjarige leeftijd. Gedurende zijn leven trad hij regelmatig met de suites op, maar het was pas in 1936 dat hij ze voor het eerst opnam, op zestigjarige leeftijd, beginnend met Suites nr. 1 en 2 in Abbey Road, Londen. Casals was de eerste die de suites opnam en zijn interpretatie is nog steeds veelgeprezen en ruim beschikbaar. Sindsdien behoren de suites tot het repertoire van elke meestercellist en op dit album is het Mayke Rademakers die een nieuwe interpretatie geeft aan de prachtige werken van Bach.
De suites worden aangevuld met cellowerken van de modernere componisten Gubaidulina, Britten, Kurtág, Penderecki and Schnittke. Volgens Rademakers is een authentieke luisterervaring onmogelijk, ondanks dat we er graag in geloven. Om die reden streeft ze naar het maken van een connectie met de wereld van deze tijd. De combinatie van hedendaagse componisten met de bekende suites zorgt voor een ongebruikelijk en scherp perspectief. Daarnaast presenteert Rademakers een aantal improvisaties op elektronische cello.
Rademakers gaf vele recitals, kamermuziekconcerten, radio-uitzendingen en soloconcerten in Nederland, Oostenrijk (Wiener Musikverein), Italië, Duitsland, Noorwegen, Engeland (Londen) en gedurende het festival van Aspen (V.S.). De recensenten prezen haar sensitieve en muzikale spel. Meer dan eens is zij vergeleken met Jacqueline Dupré.
Die Suiten für Cello solo
Eine exakte Reihenfolge der Suiten Bachs, sowohl in Bezug auf die Reihenfolge, in der sie komponiert wurden, als auch in Bezug auf die Frage, ob zunächst die Suiten für Cello oder die Solosonaten für Violine entstanden, kann bis heute nicht ohne zweifel festgelegt werden. Die Wissenschaft vermutet jedoch, dass, basierend auf einer Stilanalyse, die Cello Suiten zuerst komponiert wurden und datieren sie auf die Zeit vor 1720, das selbe Jahr, das Bach auf dem Autographen seiner Violinsonaten vermekrt hat.
Mayke Rademakers kombiniert auf dieser Aufnahme diese Suiten, deren Kunstvertigkeit erst seit dem 20. Jahrhundert anerkannt ist (vorher galten sie als Übungsstücke), mit zeitgenössichen Kompositionen für Cello solo.
"Heutzutage liegt ein starker Fokus auf der historischen Aufführungspraxis. Neben den großen Erungenschaften dieser Entwicklung, wie das Wissen über Instrumentation und Artikulation sowie die großartigen neuen Editionen, vergessen wir häufig, dass der Hörer dies jedoch ganz anders wahrnimmt als der vor 300 Jahren. Somit ist ein authetisches Hörerlebnis, wie wir es uns wünschen leider nicht möglich.
Aus diesem Grund habe ich mich dazu entschieden eine Brüke zum Hier und Jetzt zu bauen, indem ich die Suiten mit Werken zeitgenössicher Komponisten kombiniert habe und den Suiten somit in eine ungewohnte und prägnante Perspektive zu verleihen.
Diese Konzeption dient der modernen Reflektion, mit der Hoffnung und Erwartung, dass wir die Suiten in einer anderen und vielleicht auch authetischeren Art und Weise erleben können." - Mayke Rademakers
Press
"La Furia", "Stagioni" and "Johann Sebastian Bach The Cello Suites" which are very, very special CDs by cellist Mayke Rademakers
Stretto, 16-2-2018
["] ..More surprising are the modern solo cello compositions Rademakers places in between the suites: mostly obscure works by Gubaidulina, Penderecki, Schnittke and beautiful improvisations."
NRC Handelsblad, 30-11-2015
["]..Mayke Rademakers does not only perform Bach’s Suites in an exquisite manner, she mixes the baroque music with contemporary compositions. And this is one terrific cocktail!"
Pizzicato, 02-11-2015
Opening season Kunstkring Ommen.
De Stentor, 28-9-2015
''This recording is beautiful. with a great balance between direct and indirect sound.''
Nederlands Dagblad, 06-3-2015