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That's why, when I perform Bach's cello suite, I change the rhythms, sometimes quite a bit. I see it as a great sketch in melody and harmony, a springboard to e
by palimpsests 9y ago
That's why, when I perform Bach's cello suite, I change the rhythms, sometimes quite a bit. I see it as a great sketch in melody and harmony, a springboard to experiment with some more rhythmically sophisticated ideas.
It's so fascinating to me that we've fallen under the very real illusion in these modern times that "classical" music has virtually no concept of improvisation, that most of the primary elements of music are completely fixed, static, dead. That's definitely not how it used to be.
- ken 9y agoIt's true that in my years taking cello lessons, improvisation never came up. That might help, but I'm not convinced that it's a complete explanation for the disconnect between me and Johann. I confess I don't know the rules of baroque improvisation, but the links posted in other comments here seem to be faithful to the score (at least, for the ones I'm familiar with), yet the commenters seem skeptical anyone could dislike these recordings.
- imcoconut 9y agoIt's interesting that you point that out. I remember reading that in his day Bach was widely renowned at improvisation.