Bach-it-Forward - Bach-centric CD by Dave Camwell Brings Bach to the Saxophone

By -

This extremely faithful recording could prove to be a new standard for listening to Bach's music for young listeners

Playing Bach's music on instruments other than the keyboard is nothing new. It isn't even all that unusual to hear Bach played on the saxophone anymore. However, what makes Bach-centric an unusual find is virtually veridical rendition by Dave Camwell. The accuracy and integrity of the music is of the highest standard.

Opening with Cantata 29, Dave plays all the various lines of music, typically played on a keyboard instrument, on the saxophone --various saxophones, with multiple takes. Not only is the virtuosity of the performance of any given lines brilliant, but the skill of playing each of these lines separately, yet so accurate as to create a single unified sound. It is one instrument, one musician, one glorious piece masterfully composed both by Bach and by Camwell.

This is followed by the Sonata in A minor. The solo lines are graceful dances that sing and yet capture what Bach must have intended. Even though the saxophone was not yet invented in Bach's time, I feel he would have written for this instrument if he could hear how Dave takes what Bach did write and reproduce it so remarkably well.

Dave is joined by Stephen Page for a series of two part inventions (BWV 772-786) with a delightfully clean interpretation. Each line takes importance or sub-ordinance as needed to highlight each without making either player too prominent.

For the Concerto in D minor, James Brute, Nathan Nabb and James Romain join Dave to create a saxophone ensemble. You'd never know the saxophone wasn't a baroque instrument with the clarity and intricacy they weave the lines of music together giving the music a reedy, brassy sound like only a saxophone can.

It's difficult to decide which track is the most amazing. The Ave Maria, arranged and performed by Dave Camwell, certainly has to rank among the options. The slow, lyric soprano saxophone taking the melody over the top an "ensemble" of saxophones (again, all played by Dave), is absolutely beautiful.

What collection of Bach pieces would be complete without including a fugue. Dave opted for Little Fugue in G Minor (BWV 578). He masterfully brings each line into play without every allowing the music to sound muddy of cluttered. Yes, some of this is to the amazing writing of J.S. Bach. But in Dave's version each saxophone is allowed to shine with it's own unique color giving an individuality to each line, while the collections of saxophones give a unity as well.

This is a delightful album, extremely well performed. Don't just consider this for your collection, but tell your friends. Bach-it-Forward!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Role of Music in Opera

By -
There are numerous books on the topic, and every composer, librettist, director, singer and audience member has their opinion as to what role the music should play in an opera. In a play without music, the words ought to support the meaning behind a character's actions. However, in the case of action movies, often times the action is what tells the story and there aren't words, just images to forward the plot. We might hear music to accompany action, build tension, but the action tells the story. Musicals tend to speak until the emotion of the moment just "has" to break out in song - unless it's something like "Mama Mia" where the dialog is the rails we travel on between songs; the songs themselves, written before the concept of the musical, are the focus of the production, while the story is secondary. Operas are a different beast. The music provides emotion to the words spoken, but it also plays the role of ambience when there is only action. In ...
Read more

Episode 210b: Joyeuse le départ

By -
Image
Podcast:  Play in new window  |  Download Subscribe:  Apple Podcasts  |  Android  |  Google Play  |  Stitcher  |  TuneIn  |  RSS Provost Cunningham has Transmigrated, but to where! What is Dr Sage going to do with his body? And how can she bring home her friends, Abigail and Erasmus, without also bring home Cunningham? What are they going to say when they find the “skeleton” she’s hiding in her closet? Cast: Eddie Louise Clark  as Dr Sage Chip Clark  as Professor Savant Justin Bremer  as the Narrator Emily Riley Piatt  as Abigail Entwhistle, Calypso & Dean Stewart Written by  Eddie Louise Theme music by  Unwoman Sound Design by  Chip Michael
Read more

Teaching Composition – What are we trying to achieve

By -
In the process of learning composition I have spent time with a number of instructors who have encouraged me to write twelve-tone, pitch-class, electro-acoustic and other forms of experimental techniques. No matter how much I might understand and appreciate the work of other composers in the genres, these are not forms of music I resonate with. They are simply not forms of music I listen to and I struggle with the idea of writing them. However, in a Master Class by Libby Larsen she made the comment, “Learn them all, because all forms of music have something to offer.” This I very much agree. There are elements of each of the above mentioned forms (and others) that I do resonate with. Berg’s Violin Concerto is a beautiful twelve-tone work, although it is possible to look at numerous sections of the music with a “tonal” analysis. Another composer friend, Gary Bachlund commented that using these techniques can narrow the choices for how to compose a piece of work. If you look at ...
Read more