I gave in earlier today and ordered the 1998 recording of Bach’s “Suites for Unaccompanied Cello†recorded by Yo Yo Ma. I should probably point at that I know almost nothing about classical music. I first came across Bach’s Cello Suites as part of an explanation about recursion in computer programming. If you think that sounds interesting, then read this book.
Yo Yo Ma it turns out is hailed as one of the best cello players in the world today, and even people who never go near classical music are likely to have heard his playing, he recorded all of the cello score for Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. In 1985 he recorded the Cello Suites for the first time, in a recording that is generally regarded as being technically outstanding. In 1998 he worked with six different artists to explore the six different suites using their art, and then re-recorded the Suites introducing the “conclusions†of this exploration. This recording is entitled “Inspired by Bach†though the only bits he has interpreted differently are the phrasing and emphasis and various other things not explicitly denoted on the surviving scores. Basically he didn’t interpret by playing it using a metal bin and a broken bottle or anything quite so modern as that :-)
Since my recent photo course I have been keen on this idea of using art forms to explore personal thoughts, feelings and so on. In fact you could say I have finally woken up to the (really rather basic) concept. At least I understand it now, where is before I could talk about it, but never really knew what it meant. I think the thing that most hit it home for me was when Karl (the tutor on the photo course) told us not to be scared of allowing bits of our personality to show though, and that in fact, you can’t really be artistic if your not willing to show something of yourself in it.
On that note, I decided that given a choice between a technically pure or a artistic exploration, to go for the latter. Jess, who I will soon be sharing a flat with (and is indecently a classically trained music critic), has ordered the original (purist) recording, and when we find and move into our new flat we are going to drink red wine and compare them. If you think that sounds dull, then tough, I like the sound of it so there – but if you think it sounds cool, then why not come and have a listen too…
