Bach Stories

Record and Artist Details

Composer or Director: Aleksander Dębicz, Johann Sebastian Bach

Genre:

Chamber

Label: Warner Classics

Media Format: CD or Download

Media Runtime: 118

Mastering:

DDD

Catalogue Number: 9029 58401-5

9029 58401-5. Bach Stories

Tracks:

Composition Artist Credit
(3) Sonatas for Viola da gamba and Harpsichord Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Aleksander Dębicz, Composer
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Marcin Zdunik, Cello
Cantata No. 147, 'Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben' Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Aleksander Dębicz, Composer
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Marcin Zdunik, Cello
Cantata No. 170, 'Vergnügte Ruh', beliebte Seele, Movement: Aria: Vergnügte Ruh', beliebte Seelenlust (A) Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Aleksander Dębicz, Composer
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Marcin Zdunik, Cello
Cantata No. 208, 'Was mir behagt, ist nur die munt, Movement: Aria: Schafe können sicher weiden (Sheep may safely graze) Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Aleksander Dębicz, Composer
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Marcin Zdunik, Cello
Erbarm’ dich, o Herre Gott Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Aleksander Dębicz, Composer
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Marcin Zdunik, Cello
Herr Gott, nun schleuss den Himmel auf Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Aleksander Dębicz, Composer
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Marcin Zdunik, Cello
Herr Jesus Christ, dich zu uns wend' Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Aleksander Dębicz, Composer
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Marcin Zdunik, Cello
Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Aleksander Dębicz, Composer
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Marcin Zdunik, Cello
Nun freut euch, lieben Christen g’mein Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Aleksander Dębicz, Composer
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Marcin Zdunik, Cello
Nun komm der Heiden Heiland Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Aleksander Dębicz, Composer
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Marcin Zdunik, Cello
O Lamm Gottes unschuldig Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Aleksander Dębicz, Composer
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Marcin Zdunik, Cello
O Mensch, bewein dein Sünde gross Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Aleksander Dębicz, Composer
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Marcin Zdunik, Cello
Von Gott will ich nicht lassen Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Aleksander Dębicz, Composer
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Marcin Zdunik, Cello
(6) Schübler Chorales, Movement: Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV645 Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Aleksander Dębicz, Composer
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Marcin Zdunik, Cello
‘A new way of thinking about classical music and improvisation’ and ‘historical music practice in a contemporary form’ is the intriguing concept behind ‘Bach Stories’, which feels very much like an offering with which Warner is hoping for some popular appeal, albeit not at the expense of sending more serious classical listeners running for the hills.

So what exactly does all the above mean? Well, modern instruments and pitch for a start, and indeed genuinely modern instruments too, because Aleksander Zdunik’s cello is made by the respected Polish luthier Wojciech Topa. The first disc is devoted to Bach’s sonatas for viola da gamba; played with no improvisational surprises and a strong but not slavish period awareness, these serve as a happy reminder that historically informed Bach performance doesn’t have to mean gut and pluck to carry worth.

With the second disc the aforementioned concept comes fully into play, because here Dębicz and Zdunik’s sensitive Bach chorale transcriptions have been punctuated with their own improvisatory responses to them, and the emotional and stylistic directions these have taken often carry us off to surprisingly profound new musical waters – sometimes loosely rooted in form and tonality, at other times freer on all levels as thoughts unfurl. Note the ‘often’ rather than ‘always’, though, because while Dębicz took the 2013 Transatlantyk Instant Composition Contest for improvising composer-musicians, these improvs do occasionally skirt dangerously close to the sort of superficial classical crossover music that aims to push people’s emotional buttons with minimum compositional effort.

Interestingly, the streamed version of this album is ordered slightly differently, with a cantata transcription slipped in after each of the disc 1 sonatas, and I found myself appreciating both listening experiences in equal measure. Indeed, on the whole, this is an album to appreciate if you can relax about the second disc’s occasional whiff of classical chill-out.

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