Tanja Tetzlaff's approach to playing the Bach Cello Suites involves a light-footed feel, focusing on clear articulation and phrasing with minimal vibrato, sometimes even letting an open string resonate freely.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Thorsten Encke, a contemporary composer, was inspired to write his pieces "Cracks" and "Clouds" after watching a National Geographic video about a Swedish ice skater and the acoustic phenomena of black ice.
Performer Biography
Tanja Tetzlaff, the cellist on this album, plays a cello made by Giovanni Baptista Guadagnini in 1776.
Interpretation
Cellist Tanja Tetzlaff believes that the Bach Cello Suites, despite their sacred status, are fundamentally dance suites, with each containing five dances introduced by a prelude.
Compositional Technique
Thorsten Encke's pieces "Cracks" and "Clouds" utilize a second, acoustically transformed cello part played back through multiple loudspeakers to create a three-dimensional sound experience.
Instruments
The 6th Bach Cello Suite was originally written for a five-string instrument with an additional high E string, making it challenging to perform on a standard four-string cello.
Album & Artwork
The album concept combines Bach's Cello Suites with Thorsten Encke's modern pieces, aiming to create a dialogue between old and new music and to encourage attentive listening.
