Lynden Cranham - J.S. Bach: The Cello Suites, Vol. 1 (2022) [Official Digital Download 24/192]

Lynden Cranham's earliest memories of Bach were overwhelming, sitting in the huge and resonant space of Westminster Cathedral listening to an organ recital. She subsequently became fascinated (as a listener and a player) by the Bach Cello Suites. It was especially poignant for Lynden, as part of the orchestra during John Eliot Gardiner’s Bach Cantata Pilgrimage, not only to play near the font where Bach had been baptised, in the Georgenkirche in Eisenach, but also to play in Köthen, where he probably composed the Cello Suites. The idea of recording the Suites had been at the back of her mind for most of her career, and when playing part of one of them in a chamber-music concert a few years ago she realised that she'd found an ideal venue for doing such a recording: the beautiful small church of St Peter and St Mary in Fishbourne, West Sussex, complete with its warm, intimate acoustic. As one concert after another was cancelled it gradually became clear to the recording engineer, the producer and myself that, dire as this situation was, it provided the perfect opportunity to begin recording the Suites. So, braving the cold (and maintaining strict social distancing), Suites 1 and 2 were recorded in the church in December 2020. Soon after that, in April 2021, Suite No. 5 was recorded in its original scordatura version; this needed to be recorded alone, as in that way Lynden was able to keep the cello with the A string tuned down to G. Those three Suites make an interesting contrast – the first two relatively conventional in sonority, the fifth introducing something entirely different.

Tracklist:
01. Bach: Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007: I. Prélude
02. Bach: Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007: II. Allemande
03. Bach: Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007: III. Courante
04. Bach: Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007: IV. Sarabande
05. Bach: Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007: V. Menuetts I & II
06. Bach: Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007: VI. Gigue
07. Bach: Cello Suite No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1008: I. Prélude
08. Bach: Cello Suite No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1008: II. Allemande
09. Bach: Cello Suite No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1008: III. Courante
10. Bach: Cello Suite No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1008: IV. Sarabande
11. Bach: Cello Suite No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1008: V. Menuetts I & II
12. Bach: Cello Suite No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1008: VI. Gigue
13. Bach: Cello Suite No. 5 in C Minor, BWV 1011: I. Prélude
14. Bach: Cello Suite No. 5 in C Minor, BWV 1011: II. Allemande
15. Bach: Cello Suite No. 5 in C Minor, BWV 1011: III. Courante
16. Bach: Cello Suite No. 5 in C Minor, BWV 1011: IV. Sarabande
17. Bach: Cello Suite No. 5 in C Minor, BWV 1011: V. Gavottes I & II
18. Bach: Cello Suite No. 5 in C Minor, BWV 1011: VI. Gigue


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