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...