Complex synthesis

Arrangements of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach have a long tradition. Jacques Loussier, for example, arranged many works such as the Goldberg Variations as jazz interpretations for his trio. The internationally active Swiss flautist Stefan Keller and the Swiss percussionist Beda Ehrensperger, who lives in Ghana, use well-known flute works such as the Partita in A minor and the B minor Suite by Johann Sebastian Bach and the Solo Sonata in A minor by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach as the basis for their CD. The pieces are played on various instruments, from the subcontrabass to higher flutes, creating a rich tonal palette, and Beda Ehrensperger also uses the various percussion instruments in a varied way.

Stefan Keller has worked for Bach today He searched for ways to combine the original compositions with his preferred, more expansive sounds and creative possibilities such as low flutes, live electronics, live looping and improvisation. The spectrum of methods used is diverse. Sometimes the flautist interprets the pieces in the original version on low flutes, gradually the drums are added and the flute parts are developed further in individual, still recognizable elements. There are also pieces that are characterized above all by free improvisation, where, as in the Badinerie in the B minor suite, the musical material sounds dabbed, especially at the beginning, with trills of sound color or the voice and flute being used together until longer quotations from the original are heard. In the solo sonata in A minor by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, the alto transverse flute adds a warm color and the improvisations sometimes almost sound like baroque embellishments.

The CD also contains three free improvisations from concerts by the two musicians, called Sorbets, which are arranged as intermediate pieces to Bach and Bach. They also feature the really low contrabass and subcontrabass flutes as well as live electronics. All the numbers were recorded in one piece, from which the performers then made a selection. The result is a multi-layered synthesis of baroque music and improvisation that makes you sit up and take notice.