Johann Sebastian Bach: Six Sonatas for Violin and Piano

Michelle Makarski, Keith Jarrett

Johann Sebastian Bach: Six Sonatas for Violin and Piano
Release date: 27.09.2013 ECM 2230/31
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Johann Sebastian Bach began work on his six sonatas for violin and harpsichord (BWV 1014-19) while at the courts of Weimar and Köthen and returned to the compositions over several decades, revising and polishing until the years before his death. C.P.E. Bach would later pronounce the pieces “among the best works of my dear father.” Prefiguring the classic duo sonata, violin and keyboard meet on equal terms in this music, and both are challenged by Bach’s compositional demands.
Violinist Michelle Makarski invited Keith Jarrett to join her in exploring these pieces, the two musicians – friends since Jarrett’s “Bridge of Light” recording – meeting frequently over a two year period, simply for the pleasure of playing the Sonatas. The idea of documenting them came late in the process: in November 2010 Makarski and Jarrett recorded the sonatas at the American Academy of Arts and Letters in New York. This is Jarrett’s first ‘classical’ recording since his Mozart Piano Concertos discs of 1996, and only the second occasion on which he has recorded Bach on piano rather than harpsichord.
Keith Jarrett’s earlier Bach recordings include “Das Wohltemperierte Klavier” (Buch 1, 1987; Buch II, 1990), “Goldberg Variations” (1989), “3 Sonaten für Viola da Gamba und Cembalo” (1991, with Kim Kashkashian), and “The French Suites” (1991). Michelle Makarski’s New Series recordings include the recital discs “Caoine” (1995, with music of Bach, Biber, Hartke, Reger and Rochberg), “Elegio per un’ombra” (1999, with music of Tartini, Dallapiccola, Berio, Carter and Petrassi) and “To Be Sung On The Water” (2004, with music of Tartini and Crockett).

Johann Sebastian Bach begann bereits in seiner Zeit an den Höfen in Weimar und Köthen mit der Arbeit an seinen sechs Sonaten für Violine und Cembalo (BWV 1014-19), Jahrzehnte später kehrte er zu diesen Werken zurück und überarbeitete sie immer wieder bis in die letzten Jahre vor seinem Tod. Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach zählte diese Stücke später “unter die besten Werke meines lieben Vaters.”
Die Geigerin Michelle Makarski hatte Keith Jarrett eingeladen, mit ihr diese Stücke zu erforschen. Die beiden Musiker – befreundet seit Jarretts Album Bridge of Light – trafen sich zwei Jahre lang regelmäßig, schlicht aus der Freude am Spielen dieser Sonaten. Die Idee, diese Arbeit auch zu dokumentieren, kam erst spät: Im November 2010 nahmen Makarski und Jarrett die Sonaten in den Räumen der American Academy of Arts and Letters in New York auf. Dies ist Jarretts erste Klassikeinspielung seit seinem Doppelalbum mit Mozarts Klavierkonzerten 1996, und erst das zweite Mal, dass er für eine Aufnahme Bach auf dem Klavier und nicht am Cembalo spielte.
Keith Jarretts frühere Bach-Aufnahmen umfassen Das Wohltemperierte Klavier (Buch I, 1987; Buch II, 1990), die Goldberg Variations (1989), 3 Sonaten für Viola da Gamba und Cembalo (1991, mit Kim Kashkashian), und The French Suites (1991). Michelle Makarskis Aufnahmen für ECM New Series umfassen die Rezitalalben Caoine (1995, mit Musik von Bach, Biber, Hartke, Reger und Rochberg), Elegio per un’ombra (1999, mit Musik von Tartini, Dallapiccola, Berio, Carter und Petrassi) sowie To Be Sung On The Water (2004, mit Musik von Tartini und Crockett).
Featured Artists Recorded

November 2010, American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York

Original Release Date

27.09.2013

  • CD 1
  • Sonata No. 1 in b minor, BWV 1014
    (Johann Sebastian Bach)
  • 1Adagio04:11
  • 2Allegro02:57
  • 3Andante03:08
  • 4Allegro03:18
  • Sonata No. 2 in A major, BWV 1015
    (Johann Sebastian Bach)
  • 5Dolce03:01
  • 6Allegro03:05
  • 7Andante un poco02:54
  • 8Presto04:21
  • Sonata No. 3 in E major, BWV 1016
    (Johann Sebastian Bach)
  • 9Adagio04:36
  • 10Allegro02:53
  • 11Adagio ma non tanto04:56
  • 12Allegro03:40
  • CD 2
  • Sonata No. 4 in c major, BWV 1017
    (Johann Sebastian Bach)
  • 1Largo04:42
  • 2Allegro04:19
  • 3Adagio03:06
  • 4Allegro04:41
  • Sonata No. 5 in f minor, BWV 1018
    (Johann Sebastian Bach)
  • 5(Largo)08:06
  • 6Allegro04:17
  • 7Adagio03:14
  • 8Vivace02:40
  • Sonata No. 6 in G major, BWV 1019
    (Johann Sebastian Bach)
  • 9Allegro03:32
  • 10Largo01:45
  • 11Allegro (Cembalo Solo)04:43
  • 12Adagio03:17
  • 13Allegro03:10
Das Geheimnis ist die Demut, mit der sich die beiden Musiker auf den Gipfel dieses Werks begeben. Nichts stört diesen reinen Bach-Klang, jede scheinbar noch so kleine Note, jede scheinbar noch so nebensächliche Struktur wird mit dem gleichen Ernst und der gleichen Liebe aufgenommen und an den Hörer weitergegeben. Mit feinst ausbalanciertem Anschlag sorgt Jarrett am Flügel für höchstmögliche Transparenz, beide Instrumente können sich so innig miteinander verweben, dass sie in Bereiche der Musik vordringen, die losgelöst von allem Irdischen den meisten verschlossen bleiben.
Stephan Schwarz, Fono Forum
 
Jarrett hat schon einige Bach-Solowerke eingespielt (darunter die Goldberg-Variationen) […] Auch Bachs Violinsonaten liegen ihm. Trockene Bässe, leichte Höhen, geschäftige Rhythmen, eine gänzlich unschwelgerische Tongebung - das verfehlt die Wirkung nicht. Und Makarskis leicht spröder, nie in den Vordergrund drängender Ton passt dazu. Gemeinsam klingen die beiden schon fast nach historischer Aufführungspraxis, trotz des (ziemlich pedalfrei bedienten) Flügels und obwohl sie sich zweifellos nicht um stilistische Detaildiskussionen gekümmert haben. Das mussten sie auch gar nicht. Jarrett und Makarski wollen nichts beweisen mit dieser Aufnahme, die klingt, als ob sich die beiden an einem verregneten Sonntagnachmittag zum reinen Vergnügen getroffen hätten: entspannt, spielfreudig, keineswegs überambitioniert.
Susanne Kübler, Tagesanzeiger
 
Vibratoarm, nüchtern, fast asketisch versteht Michelle Makarski diese Musik. Das heißt nun nicht, dass sie sich ständig im unteren Bereich der Dynamik-Skala aufhalten würde. Sie lotet die Zonen zwischen Laut und Leise und vor allem die Übergänge dazwischen sehr genau aus. Auch in den schnellen Sätzen. Das klingt spielerisch leicht, wenn auch ein wenig aristokratisch. Makarski bertreibt keine Virtuosenprotzerei, ihr Spiel ist frei von Kraftmeierei – mit dem angenehmen Nebeneffekt, dass ihre Töne nie kratzen, nie schaben, nie schleifen.
Keith Jarretts Bach-Stil hat sich auch nach knapp einem Vierteljahrhundert nicht grundlegend geändert: klare Tongebung, zurückhaltender Pedal-Gebrauch, und immer auf der Suche nach dem Mysterium.
Dr. Christoph Vratz, WDR
 
Keith Jarrett long ago established that he does not come to Bach with any kind of agenda other than to represent the music as unpretentiously and respectfully as he can. His is not jazzman’s Bach; indeed he has said that Bach (which he learnt to play before he took up jazz) is for him a release, an opportunity to worry less about projecting his own personality than that of the composer. The evidence of this recording of Bach’s six wondrous sonatas for keyboard and violin, in which he is joined by Michelle Makarski, the American violinist with whom he has worked before on pieces of his own, is that nothing has changed in his attitude. Thre is nothing gimmicky here: from Jarrett come soft hands producing clear textures, well-judged tempi and precise but never fussy articulation; from Makarski stylish and musical playing, Baroque in its low vibrato and relaxed tone but with still a touch of ‘modern’ sweetness to the sound. The air of two fine and technically well-equipped musicians happy to give themselves up to music which is more than capable of speaking for itself is near-total: slow movements are quietly dignified [...] while fast ones are allowed to build impressive heads of steam out of their own resources with perfect naturalness. [...] for its cool beauty and unaffected honesty, this recording is one that will be very easy to live with.
Lindsay Kemp, Gramophone
 
While both performers have strong musical personalities, they achieve an apt democratic balance between the violin and piano parts, although occasionally the recording seems to favour Jarrett over Makarski’s full yet refined tone. Both musicians give impeccable technical performances and, while there is no shortage of recordings of these Sonatas, Jarrett and Makarski’s interpretations add something individual.
Barry Witherden, BBC Music Magazine
 
In collaboration with violinist Michelle Makarski, he has made what I think may be the definitive recording of Bach’s six violin sonatas on modern instruments. Makarski plays with dancing, bell-toned joy, while Jarrett cedes the spotlight to her violin while simultaneously making every note count, creating a keyboard sound that is the auditory equivalent of a constantly-unfurling string of pearls. This being an ECM production made under the studio supervision of Manfred Eicher, the recorded sound is (as always) rich and spacious, which one might not expect to be the best choice for music of such an intimate nature. But it works perfectly, burnishing the sound of both instruments and creating a listening experience that is really quite unique for this repertoire.
Rick Anderson, CD-Hotlist for Libraries
 
Michelle Makarski has been a friend of Jarrett’s for many years, and they would often play these sonatas for their own pleasure. The warmth and amicable nature of the playing in this recording is no doubt a result of these musicians’ familiarity with the works and with their own responses. All technical issues are swept aside in fine music-making, even in really tricky movements such as the first Allegro of BWV 1017. Makarski’s fairly silvery tones contrast with a nicely rounded piano sound to create an airy but direct effect which makes no moves towards added or artificial profundity. [...] Jarrett’s colour and relaxed weight of touch at the keyboard keeps everything transparent without becoming precious and fragile, and Makarski’s melodic phrasing, dynamics and articulation are usually very refined. She performs with a restraint in vibrato which on occasion leans towards ‘authentic’ Bach, but she keeps plenty of life in the sound, responding to Jarrett’s unpretentious playing with an equality of expression which makes for very satisfying listening.
Dominy Clements, Music Web International
 
Versatile violinist Michelle Makarski renews her fruitful association with legendary jazz pianist Keith Jarrett in these strikingly individual accounts. Jarrett emerges as the stronger personality and makes a persuasive case for using the piano in Bach performance, adopting a fresh, spontaneous approach and drawing a remarkable variety of colour from the instrument, especially in his solo movement in BWV 1019. However, Makarski matches him all the way with responsive, spirited playing and an intuitive sense of style, full of expressive detail.
Robin Stowell, The Strad
 
It is not superficially jazzy Bach; it is Bach played by musicians who are expert improvisers, remaining respectful to Bach’s score. Makarski and Jarrett do not clutter it up with much in the way of ornaments or other historic filigree. It is clean, emotive, unfussy, and flexible Bach. [..] through avoiding  a sense of competition with past versions and bringing a fresh perspective to this familiar music, Makarski and Jarrett have  achieved what might be the most accessible and readily appealing set of the Bach Six Sonatas for general listeners.
David N. Lewis, Chronogram
Johann Sebastian Bach began work on his six sonatas for violin and harpsichord (BWV 1014-19) while at the courts of Weimar and Köthen and returned to the compositions over several decades, revising and polishing until the years before his death. C.P.E. Bach would later pronounce the pieces “among the best works of my dear father.” Prefiguring the classic duo sonata, violin and keyboard meet on equal terms in this music, and both are challenged by Bach’s compositional demands. The group of sonatas was conceived as a set – six sonatas in six keys, three major and three minor. Bach’s first biographer Forkel wrote that the six sonatas “may be reckoned among Bach’s masterpieces in this genre. They are fugued throughout, and even contain characterful natural canons in dialogue between the two instruments. A master is required to play the violin part, for Bach knew the possibilities of that instrument and spared it as little as he did the harpsichord.”

Michelle Makarski is the violinist here. A player of exceptionally broad interests, committed to ‘classical’ repertoire from the pre-Baroque to New Music, but also experienced in jazz and improvisation, Makarski first came to ECM via Keith Jarrett. She appeared on his New Series album “Bridge of Light”, recorded in 1993. It featured Makarski as soloist on the “Elegy for Violin and String Orchestra” and as Jarrett’s duet partner on the “Sonata for Violin and Piano”. That recording led to other discs with Makarski at ECM ranging from a series of recital discs – beginning with the solo album “Caoine” – to experiments with Tomasz Stanko, John Surman and Dino Saluzzi on the prize-winning “From The Green Hill”, and playing alongside the Hilliard Ensemble in Stephen Hartke’s “Tituli”.

Through the years, Makarski and Jarrett have remained in contact. They first played the Bach sonatas together at Christmas 2008, and returning to the music became a theme of their weekend meetings over the next two years. “Every time she visited we played it again.” Jarrett tells Ethan Iverson in the September 2013 issue of Down Beat.

As Makarski has noted, the approach was the opposite of ‘casual’. “Think of it as the musical equivalent of a time-lapse exposure,” Makarski suggests, “with the camera focused on a process in Nature; planets moving, wrinkles appearing, trees leafing. You don't need to decide anything; you just watch. In our case, we just listened.”

One thinks here also of Jarrett’s early statement when recording Book 1 of Das Wohltemperierte Klavier: “This music does not need my assistance.” The intention, then as now: not to inflict interpretive ‘personality’ on the work. “It’s nutritious because it’s not me,“ Jarrett says. “I’m just throwing myself to the other guy, and asking him ‘Show me something I still don’t know about music’.”

The idea of documenting the music came late in the process: in November 2010 Makarski and Jarrett recorded the sonatas at the American Academy of Arts and Letters in New York. “Even after deciding we’d like to record, the process didn’t much change,” Makarski notes. “What you have is a window on an organic long-term process of exploration and deep listening. It’s a kind of momentary document of a joyously renewed friendship – not a strategically planned project.“

This is Jarrett’s first ‘classical’ recording since his Mozart Piano Concertos discs of 1998, and only the second occasion on which he has recorded Bach on piano rather than harpsichord.
Keith Jarrett’s previous Bach recordings include “Das Wohltemperierte Klavier” (Buch 1, 1987; Buch II, 1990), “Goldberg Variations” (1989), “3 Sonaten für Viola da Gamba und Cembalo” (1991, with Kim Kashkashian), and “The French Suites” (1991). Michelle Makarski’s New Series recordings include the recital discs “Caoine” (1995, with music of Bach, Biber, Hartke, Reger and Rochberg), “Elegio per un’ombra” (1999, with music of Tartini, Dallapiccola, Berio, Carter and Petrassi) and “To Be Sung On The Water” (2004, with music of Tartini and Crockett).

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