 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
"He made one feel that they were in the presence of a great artist who has tapped into the depth of the soul of one of the world's greatest composers." Barry Peters Toronto Canada |
"The imagery and stories that were told through your words were integral to the music and the atmosphere and clearly enchanted every audience member that day." Matt Price Harrisville, NH |
Macdara Woods
reading his poem "The
Cello Suites" inspired
by Hartshorne's Irish
premiere of 2002
reading his poem "The
Cello Suites" inspired
by Hartshorne's Irish
premiere of 2002
Richard Hartshorne
performing on the double
bass at cello octave J.S.
Bach's Solo Cello Suites
BWV 1007 - 1012
performing on the double
bass at cello octave J.S.
Bach's Solo Cello Suites
BWV 1007 - 1012
Fanfare Magazine
Bach Six Solo Suites, BWV 1007 - 1012 - Richard Hartshorne (db) - Centaur CRC 2349/49/50 (3 CD's: 165:35)
It's the stuff dreams are made of: A tinkerer in his workshop, after a lifetime if excessive puttering, transmutes base metal into gold. Another
possible comparison, the Corpernican revolution, is less apt because Corpornicus left things as they were - after his conceptual junta, the
earth still revolved around the sun. Whereas Richard Hartshorne, making the bass revolve around the music rather than the music around the
bass, has created something new - a joyous, organlike version of Bach's Cello Suites that's wholly organic, never betraying effects of
hothousing. As Humpty Dumpty said, there's glory for you.
Centaur's three-disc set proclaims itself as a premiere recording, but another complete recording of the suites on double bass has recently
become available (Mark Bernat's, on a private label - MAD) and was reviewed by David K. Nelson in Fanfare 21:4. David seemed to
suggest that the difficulty of the undertaking would render just about any result phenomenal, if not entirely acceptable. Referring to the
alchemist, however, we realize that there are bound to be lots of unsuccessful tinkerers but also that the alchemist, in order to succeed, must
produce actual good even in a minute quantity. It was my judgement, when the editor sent me a copy of Bernat's set for review, that despite
Bernat's valiant effort, he had not worked the alchemistic magic, had not confected the sacrament. Hartshorne, by contrast, has worked not
just magic but a musical miracle. The story of the 28 years of labor and frustration that produced the miracle appears in the booklet's notes, in
which Hartshorne describes many stages of experimentation with various combinations of fingerings, improved strings, harmonics, and
scordatura for each suite. It's a facinating story, and an even more detailed account would make absorbing reading. But, finally to make a long
story short, Hartshorne managed, through sheer Yankee ingenuity, to play the suites in the original keys and to preserve not only double,
triple, and quadruple stops that traditional tunings render impossible but even resonant pedals based on the cello's open strings.
There is another story, though, that Hartshorne was perhaps too modest to relate - the spiritual one. His performances glow with an inner
light that was obviously kindled and fostered through the years of application to technical details. The course of that spiritual journey can be
inferred by the reader, though, from Hartshorne's remarks about the technical solutions. Just when he would become satisfied with a
transposed suite (like the sixth, originally written for a five-stringed instrument), some personal demon would drive him to find means to make
the suite sound in the original key. The resulting performances are consistently authoratative and build to unanticipated epiphanies, as in the
popular Gigue of the Third Sonata or the opening of the Fifth (although the revelations are by no means confined to the key of C). Only very
occasionally does a note betray some difficulty of the undertaking: but in movement after movement, Hartshorne proves himself more than a
technical trickster - a profound expositer, in fact, of Bach's sacred texts. Hartshorne gets his elephants to dance. And besides his warm tone
and a variety of expressive devices as impressive as his technical ones, he displays a command of all the nuances of bowing. But this is no
circus act. Nor is it just a courageous attempt: it's the kind of success that only rarely crowns a lifetime of effort. Recommend with reverential
urgency.
Robert Maxham
Bach Six Solo Suites, BWV 1007 - 1012 - Richard Hartshorne (db) - Centaur CRC 2349/49/50 (3 CD's: 165:35)
It's the stuff dreams are made of: A tinkerer in his workshop, after a lifetime if excessive puttering, transmutes base metal into gold. Another
possible comparison, the Corpernican revolution, is less apt because Corpornicus left things as they were - after his conceptual junta, the
earth still revolved around the sun. Whereas Richard Hartshorne, making the bass revolve around the music rather than the music around the
bass, has created something new - a joyous, organlike version of Bach's Cello Suites that's wholly organic, never betraying effects of
hothousing. As Humpty Dumpty said, there's glory for you.
Centaur's three-disc set proclaims itself as a premiere recording, but another complete recording of the suites on double bass has recently
become available (Mark Bernat's, on a private label - MAD) and was reviewed by David K. Nelson in Fanfare 21:4. David seemed to
suggest that the difficulty of the undertaking would render just about any result phenomenal, if not entirely acceptable. Referring to the
alchemist, however, we realize that there are bound to be lots of unsuccessful tinkerers but also that the alchemist, in order to succeed, must
produce actual good even in a minute quantity. It was my judgement, when the editor sent me a copy of Bernat's set for review, that despite
Bernat's valiant effort, he had not worked the alchemistic magic, had not confected the sacrament. Hartshorne, by contrast, has worked not
just magic but a musical miracle. The story of the 28 years of labor and frustration that produced the miracle appears in the booklet's notes, in
which Hartshorne describes many stages of experimentation with various combinations of fingerings, improved strings, harmonics, and
scordatura for each suite. It's a facinating story, and an even more detailed account would make absorbing reading. But, finally to make a long
story short, Hartshorne managed, through sheer Yankee ingenuity, to play the suites in the original keys and to preserve not only double,
triple, and quadruple stops that traditional tunings render impossible but even resonant pedals based on the cello's open strings.
There is another story, though, that Hartshorne was perhaps too modest to relate - the spiritual one. His performances glow with an inner
light that was obviously kindled and fostered through the years of application to technical details. The course of that spiritual journey can be
inferred by the reader, though, from Hartshorne's remarks about the technical solutions. Just when he would become satisfied with a
transposed suite (like the sixth, originally written for a five-stringed instrument), some personal demon would drive him to find means to make
the suite sound in the original key. The resulting performances are consistently authoratative and build to unanticipated epiphanies, as in the
popular Gigue of the Third Sonata or the opening of the Fifth (although the revelations are by no means confined to the key of C). Only very
occasionally does a note betray some difficulty of the undertaking: but in movement after movement, Hartshorne proves himself more than a
technical trickster - a profound expositer, in fact, of Bach's sacred texts. Hartshorne gets his elephants to dance. And besides his warm tone
and a variety of expressive devices as impressive as his technical ones, he displays a command of all the nuances of bowing. But this is no
circus act. Nor is it just a courageous attempt: it's the kind of success that only rarely crowns a lifetime of effort. Recommend with reverential
urgency.
Robert Maxham
Review by Antony Skipper
submitted to www.jsbach.org
re Bach Six Solo Suites, BWV 1007 - 1012
Richard Hartshorne (db) Centaur CRC 2348 / 49 / 50
If you already love the Cello suites, and also like the more delicate and musky sound of the double bass, you will kill for this set of the suites
on Bass. After reading the review of this awesome set of disks by Robert Maxham in the review magazine "Fanfare" of July/August 1998,
(Volume: 21 , # 6), I ordered a copy.
Robert's review that made my flesh creep was spot on. This is a classic. The more you already know the suites and their many renditions, the
more you will appreciate Richard Hartshorne's labour of love and poetry. Every minute has fresh vision that would make Bach sigh.
You may never get to hear this. Then you will be sharing another world to mine.
submitted to www.jsbach.org
re Bach Six Solo Suites, BWV 1007 - 1012
Richard Hartshorne (db) Centaur CRC 2348 / 49 / 50
If you already love the Cello suites, and also like the more delicate and musky sound of the double bass, you will kill for this set of the suites
on Bass. After reading the review of this awesome set of disks by Robert Maxham in the review magazine "Fanfare" of July/August 1998,
(Volume: 21 , # 6), I ordered a copy.
Robert's review that made my flesh creep was spot on. This is a classic. The more you already know the suites and their many renditions, the
more you will appreciate Richard Hartshorne's labour of love and poetry. Every minute has fresh vision that would make Bach sigh.
You may never get to hear this. Then you will be sharing another world to mine.
"Your version on the bass is so unusually mellow and rich. It truly touches the soul and makes me want to continue no matter what. Thanks for
sharing this with the world, you are very gifted."
Nicole Helton
It was truly a privilege to be part of this event. Your words and music were performed with a great awareness for each other and gave the
audience an unforgettable experience.
Deirdre McPartlin
Harriville, NH
Bach With Verse is an odyssey for the audience too. Perhaps it is a pilgrimage. But, one supplies one's own tale after such an experience,
lured back by the dialog, the poem and the Suites themselves.
Sarah Bayles
Harrisville, NH
sharing this with the world, you are very gifted."
Nicole Helton
It was truly a privilege to be part of this event. Your words and music were performed with a great awareness for each other and gave the
audience an unforgettable experience.
Deirdre McPartlin
Harriville, NH
Bach With Verse is an odyssey for the audience too. Perhaps it is a pilgrimage. But, one supplies one's own tale after such an experience,
lured back by the dialog, the poem and the Suites themselves.
Sarah Bayles
Harrisville, NH
| The BACH SUITES |
