Cousins, I've been playing the Bach Cello Suites (alone, in my practice room) for about 40 years and all that time have been wondering what they'd sound like if performed by a truly fine hornist. I've finally got my answer.
While reading the latest issue of the Horn Call, last night, I came across not one, but two rave reviews of Jacek Muzyk's new recording of the Suites 1, 2, and 3. This morning, I logged onto Amazon and discovered that they'll sell it to you as a CD or as an mp3 download. Better yet, you can preview each of the tracks: <http://tinyurl.com/5yxnpv> Amazon's previews were enough to tell me that this is a seriously good hornist at work (he's principal in Buffalo). But they were not enough to convince me that performing the suites on horn makes musical sense. But, what the heck, I told myself, the download's only 8 bucks. So, I bought it and have been listening to it off and on all day. Frankly, I still haven't made up my mind. Muzyk's a hell of a horn player--technically and musically--no doubt about it. But... But what? Why am I not convinced? Why do I suspect that, as horn transcriptions, the suites really are best suited to the practice room? Is it that the recording engineer let Muzyk down? The mic is certainly too close and the horn too present for such intimate music. (And, no, this isn't a matter of turning down the volume.) Is it in the very nature of the horn, an instrument which simply can't float musical lines through the air or whisper in your ear like a cello? Is it that I can't help but compare Muzyk's reading to those of, say, Casals, Starker, and Rostropovich, whose CDs I own? (How many musicians of any sort can hang with that crowd?) Well, as I say, I dunno. Not convinced, yet. Might be by tomorrow. I'll be interested to hear what other people think. --John ************************* John Mason Charlottesville, Virginia _______________________________________________ post: horn@music.memphis.edu unsubscribe or set options at http://music2.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
