Some random thoughts about the Bach solo cello suites....apologies if this comes out pretentious....
Miles Davis said that hearing Paul Buckmaster practice them in the morning helped him finally understand Ornette Coleman. Something about viewing a melody from all different angles. Maybe like some sort of aural cubism?
Being a single line (with some double stops), the melody is untethered to rigorous harmony, introducing a wonderful ambiguity and surprise that is not in Bach's other music. I could see how Miles could have this realization, because the effect of the suites to me is similar to Ornette's first quartet, which had no piano. Without chords underneath, the soloist could play pure melody regardless of overruling harmony. "Harmolodic" indeed! Some months ago I saw Ornette live for the first time - basically what he does is stand and play beautiful melody, regardless of key.
Pierre Fournier's recordings from 1961 present Bach as living and breathing. There's an obvious physicality to the sound, but there's also an energy and presence to it which I haven't heard elsewhere in most other Bach recordings (although I really haven't heard many, compared to many other people). I remember thinking a long time ago that much of Bach was meant to be played the hell out of, to be rocked. That's what one's got here - kind of amazing for a 50-year-old recording of 300-year-old music. (It's a strong contrast to the only other version of all six I've heard all the way through, which is Yo-Yo Ma's ice-cold rendition).
BULLETIN: I just did a YouTube search for Fournier and Bach and much to my surprise a whole page of links appeared! More thoughts after viewing....
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