Hopkinson Smith J.s. Bach. Suites Nos.1,2,3 (2013) [qobuz 24 96]

Like many other composers of his time, Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) reused and rewrote much of his earlier material, often transcribing entire works for new instruments. So it probably would not have surprised him that musicians today are doing the same things with his music. Theorobist Hopkinson Smith follows up his successful album of Bach's Cello Suites 4, 5 & 6 transcribed for lute with the present disc of Nos. 1, 2 & 3, saying he transcribed the latter for theorbo because he finds the instrument more ideally suited in sound and aesthetic to the first three suites.

As a child, Antoine Tamestit studied the violin, but at age 10, he fell in love with the six unaccompanied Cello Suites of J.S. Bach and immediately wanted to switch to the cello. His teacher advised him that playing that instrument would involve learning a completely new technique, so he was allowed to switch instead to the viola. Thus, Tamestit was able to play the suites as arranged for his present instrument, and because the viola has the tuning of C-G-D-A, Bach's originals have been transposed up an octave.

J.S. Bach's six Cello Suites are most frequently heard as they were written, though these beloved works are no longer the exclusive domain of cellists, because they have been increasingly arranged for other instruments, especially the viola. On this hybrid SACD from BIS, violist Maxim Rysanov plays the Suites No. 2, No. 3, and No. 6, as arranged by Simon Rowland-Jones. Because the viola's tuning is an octave higher than the cello, the keys and much of the music remain the same, except for a few minor technical changes.