Winding down with Yo-Yo Ma

It is that time of year again. In observance of the Passion and Crucifixion of Jesus Christ we are getting a few precious days when the world can grind to a near complete stop. So I say so should we. For me the Holy Week means enjoying the traffic-free atmosphere of the city, the quiet, balmy afternoons and the chance to sleep long, long hours.

Of course, a huge help in the wind down process is music, preferably old, most often sacred and always beautiful. You know, the sort some people raise their eyebrows to when heard on ordinary times but which is most appropriate for the final days of Lent. And my wind-down sound for this year is Simply Baroque, where cellist Yo-yo Ma performs baroque music from the 18th century with the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra by Ton Koopman.

Baroque is a style of music that was popular in Europe from the 1600's up to the late 18th century. It was the first time wherein a single voice or instrument was written to carry the melody with a bass accompaniment. It was also the first time when improvisation was used by performers. I guess you can say that baroque music is the great great and great grandfather of the pop song. Vivaldi's Four Seasons is a fine example of early baroque music. So is Handel's Water Music and those works by Johann Sebastian Bach like Air on a G String and Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring.

Yo-yo Ma is probably the most popular cellist in the world today. This is due not only to his music artistry but also to many media-friendly activities. Nearly the whole world watched him in the premiere performance of Tan Dun's Symphony 1977 which was composed expressly for the hand-over rites of Hong Kong to China and his collaboration with Wynton Marsalis in a mini series about music intended for young viewers gave even disinterested kids an idea of who Yo-yo Ma is.

Yo-yo Ma was born in Paris of Chinese parents. His father was his first cello teacher and he had his first solo recital when he was only five years old. Wonder how he carried that cello. He studied with Janos Scholz and with Leonard Rose at Julliard. He graduated from Harvard University from which he also has an honorary doctorate degree. He is known as a vital, extremely adventurous musician who has performed tangos, Bach, new compositions, played the fiddle, the Chinese erhu, gone high tech and done other things with extraordinary fervor. He is no different with Simply Baroque.

The album focuses on music created by Johann Sebastian Bach and Luigi Boccherini. Bach is of course considered the greatest composer who ever lived. He was a famous organist and it was for this instrument that he wrote some of his best works. Bach composed passions, masses, oratorios, motets, cantatas, concertos, sonatas, preludes, fugues, etc. etc., you name it, Bach did it. Boccherini also belongs to the Baroque period but he was not as successful as Bach and it was only after his death in 1805 that his talent and originality gained appreciation.

For Simply Baroque, Yo-yo Ma collaborated with Ton Koopman, the founder and conductor of the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra where the musicians play instruments from the Baroque period. This is not really new for Ma who uses a cello made by Stradivari in 1712 but his instrument had to be transformed backwards to what was probably its original state for this recording. The music you get from this album approximates how it was played during the time of Bach and Boccherini.

This is particularly true in the case of Boccherini, the first virtuoso cellist, who composed especially for the cello to show off his abilities. I can imagine what a treat it was for Ma to perform his music with a real baroque orchestra. This is probably how it was then for the great master. Included here are two of his rarely heard pieces, the Concerto in G Mayor for Cello and String Orchestra G.480 and the Concerto in D Major for Cello and Orchestra. G478.

The Bach selections were not written for the cello but given his propensity for variations, contrasting instrumentations, transcriptions, and was certainly one musician who was never static, I am sure he would have approved of what Ma and Koopman did to some of his most famous works. These are Sei Lob und Preis mit Ehren, Erbarme dich, Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring, Ertot uns durch dein Gute, Ich ruf 'zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ, Kommst du nun Jesu, vom Himmel herunter, Lab mein Herz die Munze sein, Dein blut, der edle Saft, and Air on a G String all arranged for cello and chamber ensembles by Koopman.

Take the time to enjoy this one and have a blessed Easter.