The Whole Music Experience

The Cello Suites J.S. Bach, Pablo Casals And The Search For A Baroque Masterpiece By Eric Siblin Atlantic Monthly Press Possibly a literary equivalent of Francois Girard’s film, The Red Violin , Canadian journalist/writer Eric Siblin’s The Cello Suites blends mystery, with biographies that read as multiple narratives. Certainly this page turner transforms the stuff shirt-stiff wig image of J.S. Bach into a man of intrigue and the cello from a melancholic to a magical instrument. Siblin’s journey into the Bach realm began when his career as a pop music journalist was on the wane and he stepped into a concert hall where the mysterious Cello Suites were performed, all 6 of them. This journey led the author to Belgium, France, Spain, and even to discoveries in his hometown, Montreal. He learns cello, joins a Bach chorale camp, and explores the Cello Suites in depth—experiential journalism. While the readers are left hanging in regard to the suite’s origins, Siblin draws h

Christophe Rousset Louis Couperin (1626-1661) Harmonia Mundi Early baroque composer Louis Couperin, not to be confused with his nephew François Couperin, composed amazingly gorgeous suites for harpsichord. While I know little about the Couperin musical dynasty of France, I have enjoyed harpsichord master/baroque music expert Christophe Rousset’s performance of Louis Couperin’s harpsichord suites. The range and emotional depth of these suites can hardly be contained on 2 compact discs and as each disc ends an urge to press the play button surfaces. There is nothing like the regal and distant sound of a harpsichord when performed by a master musician. The shimmering notes, the lilting rhythms, and sensitivity of this instrument invite us to step back in time a few hundred years. This recording contains 6 suites reconstructed by Rousset and each suite contains a number of baroque dances, mostly French with the sarabande hailing from Spain (from what I read recently the shady roo