Word: bach
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Johann Sebastian Bach...
...complete understanding of holidays, however, must include more than just abstract drama. While sixteenth century artists like Johann Sebastian Bach certainly had a sincere religious motivation to continue the tradition of setting the Passion--the biblical story of Christ's arrest and crucifixion--to music, they certainly did not fail to take advantage of the abstract drama which secular audiences can easily appreciate...
...during a discussion with Morris, "I think that what this music is attempting to describe is something that can take all of the imagination of lots of people put together, and still it's trying to describe something that we can't quite grasp." That living, ineffable something about Bach's music, of course, is what makes it art; if you could pin that down, the music would wither. One imagines the same might be true...
Whatever the merits of the six films that make up Yo-Yo Ma: Inspired by Bach, the two-CD sound-track album (Sony Classical), on which Ma plays the Bach cello suites without benefit of ice dancers, landscape artists or snappy one-liners from choreographer Mark Morris, is a major musical achievement. Ma's second take on the Bach suites is also a distinct improvement on the version he recorded at the age of 26 (which is still available on Sony). His playing has grown deeper and more forceful in recent years, and these warmly romantic performances faithfully reflect that...
Just what effect, if any, did the filming of Inspired by Bach have on Ma's interpretations? You'd have to ask him. But anyone who watches Falling Down Stairs, the film on the C-major suite, can see how enthusiastically the cellist responds to Morris' fanciful choreography and hear how some of that unfeigned delight has made its way into Ma's rhythmically light-footed performance. Whether on CD or videocassette, it is the best of all possible introductions to Yo-Yo Ma's newly revised version of the Gospel According to Johann Sebastian Bach...