J.S.Bach Goldberg-Variationen (Remastered) Sax Allemande

• Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750): Goldberg Variationen, BWV 988:
• 1 Aria 02:01
• 2 Variatio 1 01:49
• 3 Variatio 2 01:22
• 4 Variatio 3 Canone allunisono 01:21
• 5 Variatio 4 00:59
• 6 Variatio 5 01:07
• 7 Variatio 6 Canone all seconda 00:58
• 8 Variatio 7 Al tempo di Giga 01:35
• 9 Variatio 8 01:47
• 10 Variatio 9 Canone alla terza 01:10
• 11 Variatio 10 Fughetta 01:05
• 12 Variatio 11 00:59
• 13 Variatio 12 Canone alla quarta 01:41
• 14 Variatio 13 02:15
• 15 Variatio 14 01:38
• 16 Variatio 15 Canone alla quinta 01:52
• 17 Variatio 16 Ouverture 01:21
• 18 Variatio 17 01:00
• 19 Variatio 18 Canone alla sesta 01:13
• 20 Variatio 19 01:27
• 21 Variatio 20 01:06
• 22 Variatio 21 Canone alla settima 01:39
• 23 Variatio 22 Alla breve 01:22
• 24 Variatio 23 02:12
• 25 Variatio 24 Canone allottava 01:10
• 26 Variatio 25 Adagio 03:23
• 27 Variatio 26 01:00
• 28 Variatio 27 Canone alla nona 00:55
• 29 Variatio 28 01:09
• 30 Variatio 29 01:06
• 31 Variatio 30 Quodlibet 01:07
• 32 Aria da capo 01:58
• Total Runtime 46:47

Info for J.S.Bach Goldberg-Variationen (Remastered)

Countless musicians have approached Bach’s work in various and often unconventional ways. One reason for that is probably the strong architectural component in Bach’s music that allows for a wide variety in performance. But most of all, the 'patron' Bach wrote music for musicians and has given us this incredibly inspiring and fulfilling sphere. Sax Allemande

At this point, we would like to assure you that this very version for saxophones is an exact and complete reproduction of Bach’s music.

More than any other instrument, the saxophone has become a symbol and an icon of jazz. But apart from this cool and existentialist nimbus, the saxophone takes in a special role in the sphere of classical music. Its inventor and name giver, the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax, designed and created the instrument around 1840. His aim was to add a timbre to a traditional symphonic orchestra that was supposed to connect strings and the wind section, i.e. to mediate between the two groups. In his famous orchestration of Modest Mussorgsky’s piano concerto 'Pictures at an Exhibition', Maurice Ravel shows what incomparably noble sounds this instrument can produce. He orchestrates the cantilena 'The Old Castle' as a solo for alto saxophone. The French composers of the late 19th and early 20th century – Berlioz, d’Indy, Debussy, Ravel – were the first ones to grasp the possibilities of the new invention and used it for their creations. The traditionally woodwind-friendly milieu of the French music since impressionism proved to be fertile ground. Especially in Paris, an excellent school for classical saxophone was established. As musicians and pedagogues, its founder Marcel Mule and his successors at the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique de Paris, Daniel Deffayet and Claude Delangle, have influenced generations of saxophonists, who spread that knowledge throughout the world.

Sax Allemande also follows this tradition. Arend Hastedt, Markus Maier, and Frank Schüssler founded the ensemble after graduating from universities in Munich, Basel, and Zurich. Their goal was to further develop the art of playing an instrument and the wonderful classical, concertante saxophone sound, and to add another facet to it.

This recording is already the second cooperation with FARAO classics. The year 2001 gave rise to a recording under the title 'Sax At The Opera', which approaches famous works such as Mozart’s Don Giovanni or Bizet’s Carmen from a saxophonist point of view.

„As historian Will Durant once said, 'nothing is new except arrangement.' And while Durant was speaking about the moral ideas of Jesus, he might as well have been speaking of this highly unusual arrangement of Bach's Goldberg Variations for three, sometimes four, saxophones by the trio, sometimes quartet, ensemble Sax Allemande. Sure, it takes some getting used to -- after all, a blown brass saxophone ensemble is an entirely different musical beast than a plucked-string, two-manual harpsichord -- but once you make the adjustment, the effect is amazing. It's amazing because it's so beautiful, amazing because it's so musical, and most of all amazing because it's so impossibly but wonderfully appropriate. Part of the reason it's amazing is that the Sax Allemande is a subtle, sensitive, soulful ensemble with absolutely unbelievable individual and collective technique. No matter what Bach or the arrangement throws at them, the players knock it out of the park. And part of the reason it's amazing is that the music itself is seemingly indestructible. In a very real sense, it doesn't seem to matter what instrument or combination of instruments play the Goldberg -- harpsichord, piano, string trio, sax trio, whatever -- as long as it's played well, the piece holds up as one of the great monuments of Western music. While clearly not for everyone, anyone with an open mind and an open heart will surely enjoy this disc. From another room, FARAO classics' digital sound could easily be mistaken for the real thing.“ (James Leonard, AMG)

Sax Allemande:
Frank Schüssler, soprano saxophone
Arend Hastedt, alto saxophone
Markus Maier, baritone saxophone
Special Guest:
Marcus Weiss, tenor saxophone

Sax Allemande
1996 gegründet, begeistert das klangstarke Ensemble Sax Allemande in zahllosen Konzerten ein noch zahlreicheres Publikum.

Saxophone auf dem Terrain der hohen Kunst der klassischen Kammermusik sind für viele Hörer ein Novum, dessen spektakulären Reiz sich nur die Wenigsten entziehen können.

Von Anfang an ergab sich die Herausforderung, durchdachte, stimmig konzipierte, Konzertprogramme aus überzeugenden Bearbeitungen und ausgesuchten Originalkompositionen für diese Besetzung auf die Bühne zu bringen.

Dafür stehen die aufsehenerregenden CD-Einspielungen und nicht zuletzt der Echo Klassik award für die beste Kammermusikeinspielung des Jahres 2009.

Hector Berlioz beschrieb das Saxophon - ob seiner Fähigkeit Klangfarben anzunehmen - als das Chamäleon unter den Instrumenten. Zudem prädestiniert eine breite Palette an Dynamik und Artikulationen die Saxophonfamilie zu den aufregendsten musikalischen Manövern.

Sax Allemande zelebriert diese Möglichkeiten mit virtuoser Leichtigkeit und mitreißendem Charme.

Booklet for J.S.Bach Goldberg-Variationen (Remastered)