The practice of reworking
Bach's music stretches through the jazz era back to the Baroque itself, and the "recompositions" of
Bach's Six Suites for solo cello heard here are not as radical as they may sound from that title. Yes, cellist
Peter Gregson uses the basic material of each movement as a stimulus for further creative activity, but the original material is always there and clearly presented, and in several movements he sticks pretty close to
Bach's script. The diversity of
Gregson's treatments, in fact, is the strength of his approach. He has a couple of arrows in his quiver, expanding the textures and the melodic development of each movement by means of five more cellos on one hand, and through the deployment of synthesizers on the other (and often with both at the same time). His basic approach is to begin with the main material of a movement, elaborating it in various directions. Sometimes there are banks of cellos; sometimes, especially in the Sarabandes (sample that from the Suite No. 1 in G major for solo cello, BWV 1007), there are minimalist synthesizer atmospherics.
Gregson never falls into a formula, and he's beautifully recorded by Deutsche Grammophon at
George Martin's AIR Studios in London. This may be an interesting and entertaining release even for listeners who think they "don't like experimental electronic music." ~ James Manheim