Peter Gregson: Bach and Beyond
Cellist and composer Peter Gregson has recomposed Bach's Cello Suites for Deutsche Grammophon. This exclusive playlist gives an advance taster of his new album and brings together the performances, arrangements and works that have inspired him.
Read more…"I love thinking of sound as textures, wondering what it is to touch sound. As a cellist, I have spent my life to date trying to coax as many different sounds as possible from my instrument, and as a composer, always strive to orchestrate and develop sound not only harmonically or melodically, but texturally as well.
I think this has, ultimately, led me to an obsession with recording music, and producing recordings. "Studio Albums" perhaps conjure up an image of fixing a less than perfect performance, but I find the studio to be the most incredibly inspiring and provocative place, often stirring more arguments than fixing them!
I adore the elegance and honesty of Anner Bylsma's 1992 Bach Cello Suites recording. It's so immediate, so raw. He has written a tremendous and characterful book, 'Bach The Fencing Master', all about the performance and cellistic interpretation of the Suites, which is a fabulous read and gives a glimpse into a mind of a unique artist. This recording is, to my ear, one of the finest technical recordings of a cello that I've heard. You can hear the cello in the church space, but his sound has a glorious "matte" feel to it and all that finger clattering just makes me feel like I'm sitting right there with him! It doesn't sound like anybody else, and although I've selected the Fifth Suite, I would encourage you to sit and listen to all six suites in order, and get lost in elegance of the music and performance.
Keeping with Bach, I have chosen an arrangement of the Goldberg Variations. The piece was originally written for keyboard and written for a wealthy patron who couldn't sleep, but I was told of these beautiful arrangements by a cellist friend here in London, and only recently discovered them. There's a brightness to this recording that focuses the mind. As a not very good pianist, I always marvel at the delicacy and ability of pianists to make audible their opinions of the hierarchy of these delicate chords. Hearing it arranged here for strings makes it perhaps less enigmatic and removes some of the interpretation from voice leading, but it is such a peaceful recording that I have included it!
'Dichterliebe' was the first song cycle I truly fell in love with and made me understand "word painting" in Schumann's music. As a cellist, we don't have words to sing per se, but thinking like a singer is important: plosives, vowel sounds, diction and breathing are invaluable tools in sound creation. The cello is often described as having a "human" sound; if I could convey the range of colours Ian Bostridge does, I'd be a happy man. His recording of 'Dichterliebe' is one you need to experience in sequence, but if time is short, the fifth and seventh songs ("Ich will meine Seele tauchen" and "Ich grolle nicht”) would be my personal favourites.
'Ubi Caritas' by Duruflé is one of my all time favourite pieces of music; the original plainchant is haunting in and of itself, but Duruflé takes it and re-contextualises it in a way that is endlessly inspiring to me, and was especially so as I started out on my "Recomposed" journey.
Max Richter's "Vivaldi Recomposed" was my gateway to the Recomposed series. It features all of the haunting and wonderful hallmarks of Max's pioneering voice in the contemporary classical world, but also has an integrity and proximity to the original Vivaldi which makes it feel very natural. I love the three “Summer” movements in particular.
Last but by no means least: Thomas Ades's “O Albion”, from his 'Arcadiana' Op. 12 for string quartet. I love Ades's music: it's beautiful, angular, smooth, soft, rough. And I think this whole quartet epitomises his sound world and incredible dexterity. I have chosen the sixth movement, “O Albion”, as it is just oozing beauty and pain; it has a patience to it which I've never knowingly heard before. As ever, I'd recommend listening to the whole work, but this movement in particular has an ache which will leave you wanting more and more and more."