Program:
J.S. Bach: Suite No 1, Prelude
Gabriel Kahane: Hollywood & Vine
J.S. Bach: Suite No 1, Allemande
Domenico Gabrielli: Ricercar No 1
Benjamin Britten: Suite No 1, Fuga
India Gailey: Mountainweeps, I. & III.
Daniel Bernard Roumain (aka DBR): Why Did They Kill Sandra Bland?
Leyla McCalla: Meditation No. 1
Benjamin Britten: Suite No 3, Barcarole
J.S. Bach: Suite No 1, Minuet No 1
Scott Ordway: Nineteen Movements for Solo Cello, V.
J.S. Bach: Suite No 1, Gigue
Program Notes:
The root of this program is J.S. Bach’s Suite No 1 for Solo Cello. In spending time with this Suite during the lock-down in 2020, I noticed the ingenious ways Bach takes 3 simple notes – G, B, and D – and turns them on their heads, creating 6 distinct and contrasting movements that each begin with, and bear out of, these sole notes. I had the idea that it would be fun to expand that motif and look for other pieces that use these 3 notes – or their minor counterpart (G, B-flat, D) and make a sort of “super-suite” by tying these pieces together. Of course, this generally means that I’m working in the keys of G major and g minor, and certainly not all pieces in those keys tell a cohesive (or coherent!) story when put together, but I found the end result – today’s program – compelled me. *Note: today’s program is a condensed version of a longer conception, and for the sake of time, variety, and the story told in today’s program, among the omissions are the middle movements (Courante, Sarabande, and Minuet 2) from Bach’s 1st Suite.
The title is a nod to Terry Riley’s In C, which is a piece based on 52 cells of music – often not more than a couple of notes, all in C major, and often based on the C major triad (C, E, G) – to be repeated and layered in a loosely structured way that creates a new piece every time it’s played. Like his piece, the triad (in this case, G major/minor) is at the root of everything, and is a continuing thread throughout the program.
We open with Bach’s famous 1st Suite Prelude, which needs no introduction as one of the most ubiquitous pieces of classical music (at least for cello!) that exists today. Out of the ashes grows Gabriel Kahane’s “Hollywood & Vine,” an effervescent, charming piece, written for me and commissioned by Bang on a Can in 2021. This piece is a nod to the harmonic language of Laurel Canyon and artists like Elliott Smith, merging Gabe’s songwriting persona with his classical composer persona, and searching for more vernacular colours on the cello outside of – or perhaps, in addition to, the traditionally classical sound world we know and love on the instrument.
Gabe’s piece seamlessly melts back into Bach with a fading scale, leading us to the meandering, sweet Allemande. Following the Allemande, we head slightly backwards in time to Domenico Gabrielli, which brings us into the world of g minor. From this dark baroque turn emerges the Fuga from Britten’s 1st Suite, building upon the sly, energetic playfulness we heard in Gabe’s music.
The harmonics at the end of the Fuga transform into India Gailey’s “Mountainweeps,” another piece written for me during the pandemic, but a little earlier on, as part of my social media collaborative project #SeptemberSoloCello in 2020. India’s writing is evocative of high alpine glacial environments in their stark, cool, beauty, and the ensuing chaos that develops in movement 3 is a commentary on the devastating effects of climate change – everywhere, but especially in Earth’s most fragile ecosystems. (In this program, for the sake of time and flow, we will be hearing movements 1 and 3.)
As the Sarabande is at the heart of each Bach Suite, at the heart of this program we have DBR’s haunting, powerful piece “Why Did They Kill Sandra Bland?,” the emotional crux and only real “slow movement” of the program. This was also commissioned by Bang on a Can – this one in late summer, 2020. Following the murder of George Floyd and collective public reckoning with racism in America, DBR and I wanted to continue that conversation in our collaboration. What resulted was this ode to Sandra Bland – a celebration of her life, and a mourning of a life ended far too soon. The piece is subtitled “An Apology to Black Women” with a note from the composer which reads: “Black women deserved more, continue to suffer, and continue to be victimized. I pledge to listen more, defend more, and call attention to their trauma, brilliance, and truth. What will you do?”
After the emotional and introspective journey via DBR, we have a moment to reflect with Leyla McCalla’s “Meditation No. 1”. You may know Leyla as a folk musician, an incredible singer and cellist herself. When Bang on a Can paired us in the spring of 2021, she told me that she had always wanted to write a classical piece for her cello. (She intends to expand this meditation into a set of pieces, hence the naming “No 1”!).
Leyla’s meditation brings us back to major in this strangely A-B-A (or major-minor-major) structured program, with Britten’s not-so-subtle nod to Bach’s 1st Prelude in his 3rd Suite Barcarole – and with this, a return to home.
This brief return evaporates right back into Bach’s Minuet, and then smoothly into Scott Ordway’s “V.” from Nineteen Movements for Unaccompanied Cello – also a sort of barcarolle, clearly inspired by Bach’s 1st Suite. (I say this with full confidence as this piece was also written for me – my first commission fresh out of school in 2016!). In our final moments, we tie everything together with the Gigue and go on our merry way.
-Arlen Hlusko