Utwory na płycie:

• Cello Suite No.2 in D minor, BWV 1008 - Sarabande
• Cello Suite No.2 in D minor, BWV 1008 - Menuett I & II
• Cello Suite No.2 in D minor, BWV 1008 - Gigue
• Cello Suite No.3 in C major, BWV 1009 - Prelude
• Cello Suite No.3 in C major, BWV 1009 - Allemande
• Cello Suite No.3 in C major, BWV 1009 - Courante
• Cello Suite No.3 in C major, BWV 1009 - Sarabande
• Cello Suite No.3 in C major, BWV 1009 - Bourree I & II
• Cello Suite No.3 in C major, BWV 1009 - Gigue
• Cello Suite No.1 in G major, BWV 1007 - Prelude
• Cello Suite No.1 in G major, BWV 1007 - Allemande
• Cello Suite No.1 in G major, BWV 1007 - Courante
• Cello Suite No.1 in G major, BWV 1007 - Sarabande
• Cello Suite No.1 in G major, BWV 1007 - Menuett I & II
• Cello Suite No.1 in G major, BWV 1007 - Gigue
• Cello Suite No.2 in D minor, BWV 1008 - Prelude
• Cello Suite No.2 in D minor, BWV 1008 - Allemande
• Cello Suite No.2 in D minor, BWV 1008 - Courante
• Cello Suite No.5 in C minor, BWV 1011 - Sarabande
• Cello Suite No.5 in C minor, BWV 1011 - Gavotte I & II
• Cello Suite No.5 in C minor, BWV 1011 - Gigue
• Cello Suite No.6 in D major, BWV 1012 - Prelude
• Cello Suite No.6 in D major, BWV 1012 - Allemande
• Cello Suite No.6 in D major, BWV 1012 - Courante
• Cello Suite No.6 in D major, BWV 1012 - Sarabande
• Cello Suite No.6 in D major, BWV 1012 - Gavotte I & II
• Cello Suite No.6 in D major, BWV 1012 - Gigue
• Cello Suite No.4 in E-flat major, BWV 1010 - Prelude
• Cello Suite No.4 in E-flat major, BWV 1010 - Allemande
• Cello Suite No.4 in E-flat major, BWV 1010 - Courante
• Cello Suite No.4 in E-flat major, BWV 1010 - Sarabande
• Cello Suite No.4 in E-flat major, BWV 1010 - Bourree I & Bourree II
• Cello Suite No.4 in E-flat major, BWV 1010 - Gigue
• Cello Suite No.5 in C minor, BWV 1011 - Prelude
• Cello Suite No.5 in C minor, BWV 1011 - Allemande
• Cello Suite No.5 in C minor, BWV 1011 - Courante

CD 1:
Suite 1 (BWV 1007)
Suite 2 (BWV 1008)
Suite 3 (BWV 1009)

CD 2:
Suite 4 (BWV 1010)
Suite 5 (BWV 1011)
Suite 6 (BWV 1012)

Suity bachowskie, solowe na wiolonczelę w aranżacji na historyczne saksofony. I cóż słuchacze, miłośnicy muzyki Bacha, na to powiedzą? Sam Bach pewnie byłby zachwycony. Tym bardziej, że Raaf Hekkema podszedł do sprawy bardzo poważnie. Pieczołowicie dobierał historyczne saksofony i ustniki do każdej z suit, stworzył genialne aranżacje. Muzyk, wykładowca Royal Conservatory w Hadze, twierdzi, że Johann Sebastian Bach był jednym z najbardziej wpływowych kompozytorów, którym zawdzięczamy powstanie repertuaru saksofonowego. No cóż, to wszystko może szokować. Ale kiedy posłuchamy tych suit w tej aranżacji - to sprawy nabierają zupełnie innej perspektywy. To wprowadzenie saksofonu do zupełnie innych przestrzeni. Ta muzyczna wycieczka jest absolutnie fascynująca. O wykonaniu tylko jedno słowo - zachwycające. A wszystko w jakości Super Audio!

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Raaf Hekkema: Since I started teaching at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, I have become more conscious of my self-chosen mission: to create a place for the saxophone within the classical music tradition. One way to do this is to forge a stronger bond between the players and the classical tradition, in the knowledge that the saxophone repertoire too is indebted to the great composers of the past. The most influential of them all is, without a doubt, Johann Sebastian Bach.

The path to this recording was long, windy and fascinating. It started with the awareness that the cello suites provide exceptional playing material for saxophonists. But I long felt that for playing Bach on the saxophone, only the light-sounding soprano saxophone would do which was, I believed, incompatible with the instrument for which the suites were written. During preparations for my previous CD recording of Bach’s partitas for violin (Challenge Classics, CC 72648), I discovered that the alto sax fitted with an old-style mouthpiece could reproduce the refined articulation of the violin. Vintage mouthpieces represent the sound ideal of days gone by. Then came the idea to play the suites on six different saxophones, each of which holds a unique place in the history of the instrument. After that, much time went into working out a usable assignment of transpositions and an appropriate choice of instruments, the resulting sound character being the deciding factor.

Played on: C-melody saxophone (or tenor saxophone in C) Conn New Wonder Series I (1922), modernized Conn Eagle mouthpiece, restored to its original state by Marten Postma - Suite 1. Tenor saxophone Selmer ‘Adolphe Sax’ (1932), Buescher True Tone mouthpiece (ca. 1930), renovated by Marten Postma - Suite 2. Soprano saxophone Yanagisawa Elimona (1991), Vandoren S27 mouthpiece - Suite 3. Alto saxophone (or mezzo-soprano) in F Conn (1928), mouthpiece custom-made by Marten Postma - Suite 4. Straight alto saxophone Buescher True Tone (1927), Buescher mouthpiece (ca. 1920) - Suite 5. Alto saxophone Buffet-Crampon Prestige (1985), mouthpiece custom-made by Vandoren specialist Jean-Paul Gauvin, based on a Selmer C** - Suite 6.

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Recording: Oud Katholieke kerk Delft, the Netherlands, 11-15 October 2017