Gertrud Schilde; Norddeutscher Kammerchor
Description
Violinist Gertrud Schilde has probed the enigmatic and monumental Ciaccona from JS Bach's Partita in D minor and uncovered spectacular evidence in the form of a whole series of traditional chorale melodies hidden away in its intricate compositional design. On this eye-opener of an album the enterprising violinist teams up with the Northern German Chamber Choir to present her revealing discoveries.
Martin Luther's consoling Easter hymn "Christ lag in Todesbanden" runs like a red thread through the work. The chorales, from "Jesu, deine Passion" through "Den Tod niemand zwingen kunnt" to "Jesu, meine Freude," deal with the double theme of death and resurrection. This is surely no coincidence. Bach penned this work not too long after the death of his first wife. It was not until he returned from an official trip to Karlsbad that he learned of this tragic event - when his beloved wife already lay in her grave.
It is thus not surprising that traces of Maria Barbara are encountered in the Ciaccona. However, Bach would not have been Bach if he had not avoided obvious allusions, preferring instead to use a subtly encoded numerical mysticism. Again and again his wife's name can be deciphered; the year of her death can be found as well as the names of their children. In this way the Ciaccona occupying a central and special place in the cycle of three sonatas and three partitas for violin solo becomes a magnificent memorial tribute to his late wife.
Gertrud Schilde adds yet another aspect to this surprising discovery: together with Jan Philip Schulze she also presents the Mendelssohn version of the Ciaccona with piano accompaniment, which sheds bright new light on the rhythmic and harmonic course taken by this splendid masterpiece. The chorales produce a fresh and vibrant impression with the knowledgeable conductor Maria Jürgensen.
Tracklisting
Cologne Chamber Choir, Collegium Cartusianum, Peter Neumann
Stephen Marchionda
Christian Euler, Paul Rivinius
Caterva Musica, Erdal Akkaya
Leipzig String Quartet
Andrzej Szadejko, Agnieszka Budzinska-Bennett, Cracow Singers
Lea Suter
Wolfgang Sawallisch, Leopolder-Quartett, Munchner Klaviertrio
Patrick Demenga; Latvian State Academic Choir; Youth Choir Kamer; Riga Cathedral Boys Choir; Andres
Chor "Astrolabium", Tomasz Drozdek T.ETNO, Kinga Litowska
Monika Plachta, Chor Mieszany Katedry Wawelskiej, Andrzej Korzeniowski, Pawel Wajrak, Katarzyna Luk
Roberta Mameli, Adam Kruzel, Polski Chor Kameralny, Sinfonia Varsovia, Jan Lukaszewski
English National Opera Orchestra / Martyn Brabbins
Capella Warmiensis Restituta, Ingrida Gapova, Kacper Szelazek, Aleksander Rewinski, Piotr Pieron
Soloists; Frieder Bernius; Kammerchor Stuttgart
Cologne Chamber Choir, Collegium Cartusianum, Peter Neumann
