Overview

EARLY MUSIC – JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH CYCLE
Week: the many faces of Johann Sebastian

Period instruments and authentic baroque performances next to suites for cello played on the Cretan lyra, jazz and rock piano improvisations together with powerful variations of Goldberg, the Athens’ Concert Hall pipe organ contends with the blues harmonies of an electric Hammond organ: what is it that makes the music of Bach so alluring and mysterious, that invites us to ‘discover’ it over and over again as if through a prism of infinite angles? It is certainly ‘pure’ music, where every note is vital to the gradual building of the magnificent edifice, but also music which is infused by truth, allowing it to speak directly to our soul.
From the ‘first Bach’ to…the last!
Which young student of the piano hasn’t put on their music stand the score ‘A first book of Bach’, perhaps their first chance to play real music after a couple of years or so full of finger exercises and ‘boring’ scales?
Sunday, 5 March, during the day-long Big Day Bach, the Athens Concert Hall invites into its foyers and halls not only those small pupils, but also students of every instrument and of all ages, tomorrow’s musical talent, for a celebration overflowing with the music of the great Cantor of Leipzig. Entrance is free for the public.

J.S. Bach’s Cello Suites on the Cretan Lyra

Yiorgos Kaloudis interprets on the 4-string Cretan lyra, selected parts of one of the most important works of J.S. Bach, the Suites for Solo Cello. Cellist, lyra player, improviser and composer, Yiorgos Kaloudis, created a new interpretive approach, adding a fourth string on the Cretan lyra and transcribing this work of Bach in the authentic tonalities of the composer.

J.S. Bach:
– Cello Suite no. 1, BWV 1007
– Cello Suite no. 2, BWV 1008
– Cello Suite no. 3, BWV 1009
– Cello Suite no. 4, BWV 1010
– Cello Suite no. 5, BWV 1011

Yiorgos Kaloudis 4-string Cretan Lyra with sympathetic strings