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Pieter Wispelwey Plays Bach

Cellist Pieter Wispelwey, looking past the camera against a blue background, with a flower in the foreground
courtesy of the artist
/
Rayfield Allied
Pieter Wispelwey

On The Bach Hour, the Dutch cellist talks with host Brian McCreath about the composer's suites for solo cello, and Ton Koopman leads Amsterdam Baroque in the Cantata No. 140, "Wachet auf."

On the program:

Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 645 (arr. Sir Granville Bantock) - Jonathan Plowright, piano

Suite No. 1 in G, BWV 1007 for solo cello - Pieter Wispelwey, cello

Cantata BWV 140 Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (translation) - Sandrine Piau, soprano;  James Gilchrist, tenor;  Klaus Mertens, bass;  Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and Choir, Ton Koopman, conductor

Watch a documentary about Pieter Wispelwey's recording of Bach's Cello Suite:

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

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Pieter Wispelwey It is an extraordinary undertaking. It might not have taken him so much brainpower. I mean, but the writing for two choirs and two orchestras, like in the [Saint] Matthew Passion might have required more, but it was unheard of to write for a singular string instrument.

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Brian McCreath J.S. Bach’s Suites for Solo Cello are a cornerstone for players of that instrument, including Pieter Wispelwey. Coming up today on The Bach Hour, you’ll hear from the Dutch cellist and his latest revelations about these extraordinary works.

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Brian McCreath Hello, I'm Brian McCreath; welcome to The Bach Hour from Classical Radio Boston WCRB, a service of WGBH. Pieter Wispelwey is an artist of constant curiosity, no matter what music he’s playing. But when it comes to Bach, that curiosity is charged by the mysteries of the six cello suites. These powerful artistic statements, written for unknown reasons, are an incredible journey when heard together, but each of the suites is also a journey unto itself. Pieter Wispelwey’s performance of the Cello Suite No. 1 is coming up.

Also on the program today is the Cantata No. 140, Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, or “Awake, calls the voice to us.” It’s one of the most well-known of Bach’s cantatas, and you’ll find a complete translation of it when you visit us online at Classical WCRB dot org, where you can also hear this and past programs again on-demand. Again, that’s at Classical WCRB dot org.

The Cantata 140 is rich with symbolism, and one small part of it has emerged as one of the most familiar of Bach’s works in our own time. Here is pianist Jonathan Plowright with British composer Granville Bantock’s transcription of Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme.

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Brian McCreath The chorale prelude Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme. It was in 1748 that Bach published that prelude in a set with five others that we now call the Schübler Chorales for organ. British composer Sir Granville Bantock created that version of Wachet auf in 1931, and that performance featured pianist Jonathan Plowright.

Wachet auf, both in the form of this prelude and the Cantata No. 140 you’ll hear later in the program, are examples of Bach’s music that we can trace to specific times and places. But many of Bach’s works remain shrouded in mystery, like the six suites for solo cello.

These pieces have been a touchstone for cellists ever since the young Pablo Casals picked them up from a music store in the late 1800’s. And even though he had recorded the set twice before, Dutch cellist Pieter Wispelwey decided, in 2012, to celebrate his 50th birthday by recording them for the third time. That decision speaks to the power of this music, not just in individual performances, but also in the life of a cellist. I asked Pieter Wispelwey to describe what these works mean to cellists.

Pieter Wispelwey There's so many dimensions to it. One is that, of course, it's a collection of 36 character pieces, in a way. And they're grouped six by six, so every suite has six movements in one key, in the same key. So that already stands for a certain atmosphere and a certain character. But then within every suite, the movements have their own personality. And of course, they change over the years. You think, oh, this guy is actually not so friendly or, this girl is actually beautiful, or things like that.

Brian McCreath When you think of these pieces, what role they may have played in Bach's life, what do you think he was trying to get at by writing these six, as you call them, character piece sets?

Pieter Wispelwey Well, it's sort of a fashion to see these compositions as experimental, and they are. But if you really think that way, then you would have to say that that they weren't successful because he never wrote a second set. So, it is an extraordinary undertaking. It might not have taken him so much brainpower. I mean, the writing for two choirs and two orchestras, like in the [Saint] Matthew Passion, might have required more. But it was unheard of to write for a singular string instrument. So, now, picking up my cello and playing the pieces, I really keep that in the back of my mind, that this is not normal. We should savor it and enjoy it with that in mind.

Brian McCreath The set begins with the Suite in G major, but, according to Pieter Wispelwey, during this piece, Bach already hints at what’s to come later in the series.

Pieter Wispelwey This is the simple suite. This is the naive suite. This is a kind piece. It's humble. It's not too extroverted. The prelude starts off, preluding on the harpsichord or whatever. So it's a cello in this case. But then at the end, when the chords are spread the other way around and you get into a high position on the top string [sings], that in itself is already a warning sign of things to come. Not in the first suite, but later on. So, of course, this is not super dramatic, but it is intriguing. It's already a sign that Bach's creativity is not happy with limited tools. I mean, the cello is already stretched, like, the texture is stretched. I mean, it starts with [sings] and becomes [sings]. So, that's theater. I mean, small-scale theater, but meaningful. Then you get this very calm Allemande, which is gentle, a spirited Courante. Is this the shorter Sarabande? Might be, but it's so perfectly balanced. I mean, there's four bar phrases. It's just so perfect. And it's interesting when you compare the analog movements - the Sarabandes from the other suites - this is then a small version of what happens later. So then there's this very simple Menuet, a nice second Menuet in G minor, and it always reminds me of the keyboard pieces that he wrote for his son. And then, small-scale Gigue, because later on, the Gigues, they are on a scale that's not according to French style or taste. A French sequence of dances would always end in lighter courses, and Gigues in Bach's suites are nice final movements. They work well.

Brian McCreath And here is the Cello Suite No. 1, with cellist Pieter Wispelwey, here on The Bach Hour.

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Brian McCreath The Suite No. 1 for solo cello by J.S. Bach, in a performance by Dutch cellist Pieter Wispelwey. In making this recording, Wispelwey invited the musicologists John Butt and Lawrence Dreyfus to consult with him, and you can see their conversations, along with performances by Wispelwey, on a DVD that accompanies this recording of the cello suites. Visit us at Classical WCRB dot org, look for About The Bach Hour, and you’ll find an excerpt of that documentary.

On November 25, 1731, the residents of Leipzig heard Bach’s Cantata No. 140 for the first time. Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, or “Awake, calls the voice to us,” was written for a Sunday that only happens every eleven years on the church calendar. But despite that, judging by the number of copies made of its score, it’s one of the few sacred works by Bach that stayed in the public eye in the years immediately after his death.

Based on a 16th century hymn tune, the piece is a joyful celebration of union between an individual believer and the divine. Bach plays the theme out as a wedding that starts with a chorale-based procession…

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Brian McCreath … and continues with a dialogue between an individual, in the voice of the soprano soloist, and Jesus, in the voice of the bass.

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Brian McCreath And along the way, one of Bach’s most famous choruses evokes the vigilance of the watchman, waiting for the divine to arrive:

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Brian McCreath With references to the parable of the Wise Virgins and the Song of Songs, it’s an unusually sensual cantata that ends with the words, “No eye has ever perceived, no ear has ever heard such joy like our happiness.”

The complete text of this piece is available in a translation from Emmanuel Music. Just visit our web site, Classical WCRB dot org.

Here is a performance of the Cantata No. 140 with soprano Sandrine Piau, tenor James Gilchrist, and bass Klaus Mertens. Ton Koopman conducts the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and Choir, here on The Bach Hour.

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Brian McCreath The Cantata No. 140, Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, in a performance by the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and Choir, with director Ton Koopman. The soloists included soprano Sandrine Piau, tenor James Gilchrist, and bass Klaus Mertens.

Remember, if you’d like to hear this program again on-demand, just visit us online at Classical WCRB dot org.

Thank you for joining me today, and thanks also to audio engineer Antonio Oliart Ros. I’m Brian McCreath, and I’ll hope to have your company again next week here on The Bach Hour.