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Darcy's Reviews > The Cello Suites: J.S. Bach, Pablos Cassals, and the Search for a Baroque Masterpiece
The Cello Suites: J.S. Bach, Pablos Cassals, and the Search for a Baroque Masterpiece
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Siblin’s passion for the Cello Suites mirrors my own. He has several beautiful descriptions of the suites. Though my favorite is actually a quote from the cellist Mischa Maisky, who compares the suites to a diamond “with so many different cuts that reflect light in so many different ways.�
Readers should be aware that Siblin does not have any special credentials or authority when it comes to Bach or classical music. This doesn’t discredit his writing, but it’s important to know what you’re getting into. He is writing this book because he, like many of us, randomly discovered and was moved by Bach’s cello suites and that special awe and sublimity that the suites invoke in listeners, was a catalyst for his research and interest in the subject.
I do think the title was a bit misleading, as the “search for a Baroque masterpiece� was ultimately a very anticlimactic part of this story. What you do get in this book is a lot of Bach biography, interesting anecdotes about Pablo Casals, and Siblin’s ponderings (many of them quite lovely) about his favored subject.
About half-way through the book I felt that Sbilin lost the thread of his narrative and often seemed to be including random information and history because he was running low on material. Part of the problem might be that the Cello Suites were probably nothing more than a musical afterthought for Bach. Casals love for them popularized them, but they are still a fairly limited subject to write an entire book on. Thus, like many current versions of the Suites, Siblin had to improvise and bring in other information to flesh out his book. It wasn’t bad, but like the “reinventions� (211) of suites he so joyously chronicles, it’s not exactly what one is expecting.
Overall, I found more of interest about Casals in this book than I did about Bach. Casals, � The Song of the Birds,� is mentioned several times. I was not familiar with it, but it is incredibly moving. “The Song of the Birds� is a traditional Catalan lullaby that Casal’s often played as a way to protest Spain’s oppression by the Franco regime.
“Birds sing when they are in the sky, they sing: "Peace, Peace, Peace", and it is a melody that Bach, Beethoven and all the greats would have admired and loved. What is more, it is born in the soul of my people, Catalonia.� � Pablo Casals
Readers should be aware that Siblin does not have any special credentials or authority when it comes to Bach or classical music. This doesn’t discredit his writing, but it’s important to know what you’re getting into. He is writing this book because he, like many of us, randomly discovered and was moved by Bach’s cello suites and that special awe and sublimity that the suites invoke in listeners, was a catalyst for his research and interest in the subject.
I do think the title was a bit misleading, as the “search for a Baroque masterpiece� was ultimately a very anticlimactic part of this story. What you do get in this book is a lot of Bach biography, interesting anecdotes about Pablo Casals, and Siblin’s ponderings (many of them quite lovely) about his favored subject.
About half-way through the book I felt that Sbilin lost the thread of his narrative and often seemed to be including random information and history because he was running low on material. Part of the problem might be that the Cello Suites were probably nothing more than a musical afterthought for Bach. Casals love for them popularized them, but they are still a fairly limited subject to write an entire book on. Thus, like many current versions of the Suites, Siblin had to improvise and bring in other information to flesh out his book. It wasn’t bad, but like the “reinventions� (211) of suites he so joyously chronicles, it’s not exactly what one is expecting.
Overall, I found more of interest about Casals in this book than I did about Bach. Casals, � The Song of the Birds,� is mentioned several times. I was not familiar with it, but it is incredibly moving. “The Song of the Birds� is a traditional Catalan lullaby that Casal’s often played as a way to protest Spain’s oppression by the Franco regime.
“Birds sing when they are in the sky, they sing: "Peace, Peace, Peace", and it is a melody that Bach, Beethoven and all the greats would have admired and loved. What is more, it is born in the soul of my people, Catalonia.� � Pablo Casals
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Reading Progress
July 31, 2014
–
Started Reading
January 1, 2015
– Shelved
January 1, 2015
–
Finished Reading
