Markku Luolajan-Mikkola, a historically informed musician, has given over a thousand concerts in 30 countries and has won multiple awards for his recordings.
Composition History
Bach's six Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin, completed in 1720, were originally titled 'Sei solo â Violino senza Basso accompagnato' in his autograph manuscript.
Interpretation
The performer, Markku Luolajan-Mikkola, uses a Baroque cello by Barak Norman from around 1700 and a bow by Luis Emilio Rodríguez-Carrington from 2013 for this recording.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Bach described the Sonatas and Partitas as 'Libro primo', suggesting the Cello Suites were likely conceived as 'Libro secondo' in a larger project of complex solo instrumental music.
Compositional Technique
Bach took a notable risk by composing polyphonic music for an essentially single-line instrument in these Sonatas and Partitas, a technique also seen in his Cello Suites and solo flute Partita.
Interpretation
Markku Luolajan-Mikkola's transcription of Bach's Sonatas and Partitas for cello follows Bach's own practice of transcribing down an octave and a 5th.
Interpretation
The performer tunes the open strings' 5ths slightly closer than pure to resolve issues with playing pure 3rds in relation to open strings.
