Bach’s direct source of inspiration for the cello suites was most probably the virtuoso cello playing of Christian Ferdinand Abel, also in the service of Prince Leopold of Köthen and a superb violinist and viola da gamba player as well. This must, however, remain guesswork, as the original manuscripts of the cello suites have been lost. It is primarily thanks to Anna Magdalena Bach, Bach’s second wife and a singer in service to Prince Leopold with the title of Cammer-Musicantin, that we owe the survival of these works. It was she who prepared many first copies of Bach’s works, including the earliest known copy of the cello suites. Quirine Viersen uses the most recent edition from Bärenreiter as the basis for her first recording of the Bach cello suites; this edition is an amalgamation of four manuscript copies, including the original copy by Anna Magdalena Bach. After in-depth study of the Bärenreiter edition and of the historical musicological works by Mattheson, Leopold Mozart and Quantz, the greatest musical theorists of the Baroque era and the forefathers of today’s historically informed performance movement, Quirine Viersen allowed herself to be guided by instinct rather than by intellect and finally decided to follow her own intuition. Having said this, she did study the Suites with her teacher Heinrich Schiff, played them in a masterclass with Yo-Yo Ma and took lessons with no one less than Nikolaus Harnoncourt. But most of all she took to heart the lessons she received from her own father Yke Viersen: principal Cellist with the Concertgebouw Orchestra for the last 30 years. Quirine Viersen about the Suites: “Even though the suites were not composed for ecclesiastical use, they do seem to deal with higher matters. This has nothing to do with ‘Amen’ or ‘Allah hu akbar’. I feel that we are people who attempt to come as close as possible to the heart of our existence. In many ways we have possibly become a little unworthy; we have torn ourselves loose and have completely forgotten that things can often have a deeper meaning, that these things can exist in a broader context. This was self-evident to Bach, for his life and his works were permeated with awe for higher things, for God. This was an integral part of the time in which he lived. Bach was not simply a man whose musical genius would never be equalled but was also an enthusiastic and inspired craftsman who set himself the highest demands.” “The German language draws a felicitous distinction between two different types of people: Kopfmensch and Bauchmensch. The first relies on his head, his intellect, whilst the second relies on his belly, his gut feelings. I am clearly a Bauchmensch. When I am on stage I am principally concerned with what I feel, with trying to express what I believe lies inside Bach’s music. What was Bach’s intention in composing his suites for cello? For me they are a landscape in which everything exists to be discovered afresh. Many musical narratives are possible and each landscape has its own perfumes and colours; each movement represents a particular state of mind. To traverse Bach’s music is to traverse infinity.”
- Wykonawca Viersen Quirine
- Data premiery 2011-09-01
- Nośnik SACD
