Cheap Goldberg Variations: Aria and 70 Variations Adapted, Arranged and Composed by Uri Caine (Music) (Uri Caine Ensemble, Caine/Bach, J.S. Bach, Kettwinger Bach Ensemble) Price
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| ARTIST: | Uri Caine Ensemble, Caine/Bach, J.S. Bach, Kettwinger Bach Ensemble |
| CATEGORY: | Music |
| MANUFACTURER: | Winter & Winter |
| TYPE: | Avant-Garde Jazz, Classical Composers, Fusion, Jazz, Jazz Music, Modern Creative, Pop |
| MEDIA: | Audio CD |
| TRACKS: | Aria, Variation 1, Variation 2, The Introitus Variations, The Dig It Variations, Logic's Invention, The Stuttering Variation, Variation 3: Canon At The Unison, The Hot Six Variation, Variation 5 (+8), Rachmaninoff, The Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde Variation, Vivaldi, Variation For Saxophone & Piano, Variation 4, The Waltz Variation, The Carol Variation, Variation 6: Canon At The 2nd, The Stomp Variation, The Nobody Knows Variation, Canon At The 3rd In 3/4, Variation 7: Gigue, Variation 9: Canon At The 3rd, Variation 10: Fughetta, Variation 11, Variation For Violin & Piano, Variation 12: Canon At The 4th, Variation 13, The Hallelujah Variation, The Verdi Piano Duet Variation, Luther's Nightware Variation, Canon At The 6th In 6/4, The Jaybird Lounge Variation, Variation 14, Variation 15: Canon At The 5th, The Contrapunto Variation, Variation No.1 For Piano Solo, Canon At The 5th In 5/4, The Chorale Variation, Variation 16 (Overture), Don's Variation, Variation For Vinicius, Olive's Remix, The 'I Poem' Variation, Variation 17, Variation 18: Canon At The 6th, Mozart, Canon At The 7th In 7/4, The Minimal Variation, The Tango Variation, The Boxy Variation, Variation 19, Variation 21: Canon At The 7th, The Wedding March Variation, Variation 22, Variation For Gamba Quartet, Canon At The 4th In 4/4, Variation For Piano Solo No.2, Variation On B-A-C-H, Variation For Cello Solo, Handel, Variation 23, Variation 25, Variation 26, Variation 29, Variation 30 Quodlibet, Variation 30 Quodlibet/The Drinking Party, Logic's Organ Prelude, Uri's Organ Prelude, The Blessings Variation, Aria, The Eternal Variation |
| # OF MEDIA: | 2 |
| UPC: | 025091005420 |
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Customer Reviews of Goldberg Variations: Aria and 70 Variations Adapted, Arranged and Composed by Uri Caine
Bach is chuckling! I recently finished (and reviewed here) a biography of Johann Sebastian Bach which made the point repeatedly that our image of Bach as the stern Cantor of Leipzig is incorrect. The writer points out that before his long (and not very happy) job in Leipzig he had been very interested in less serious forms of music than the church cantatas for which he was mostly known in Leipzig. While in Leipzig itself he led the Collegium Musicum (the forerunner of today's Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra) and they met in a coffeehouse known for its conviviality. Further, anyone who listens to his music and who understands the musical conventions of the day can hear the sense of humor Bach brought to his music. This is nowhere more evident than in the Goldberg Variations. Just think of the Quodlibet that ends it - drinking songs and jokes! All this is in service of making the point that Uri Caine's 2+ hour riffs on Bach's Goldberg Variations would probably make the Master smile, even guffaw in places. <
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>I have a friend in Eindhoven, Holland who, like me, is a Goldberg nut. Between us we probably have upwards of fifty versions of the Goldbergs, including versions for organ, string trio, string orchestra; I keep waiting for someone to transcribe it for koto ensemble. But he recently sent me this twofer from the Uri Caine Ensemble. I had known of it and of Uri Caine, but had never heard it. I was not prepared, though, for my reaction. Remembering that Bach had written the Variations for young harpsichordist Johann Theophilus Goldberg to play at night for his notoriously insomniac employer, Count von Keyserlingk (presumably to help him get to sleep), I put the headphones on as I went to bed, thinking I'd give Uri Caine the same opportunity to lull me to sleep. More than two hours later I was still awake, constantly surprised and delighted by the incredible musical imagination Caine has brought to bear on the Variations, and indeed I was vibrating like a violin's E string by the time the second CD had finished. No sleep for the stimulated, I guess you could say. <
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>Others here have written about the various changes Caine brings to the variations, but I'd like to add a few comments. First of all, the basis for most of his variations is the clear-cut harmonic pattern Bach uses in the Aria. In other words, he does not tend to make meta-variations of the individual variations themselves, but sticks to the that G major sarabande harmonic progression of the Aria. Robin Holloway, in his 'Gilded Goldbergs' (which I've also reviewed here) does the opposite; each of his variations is based on the sequence of Bach's own variations. Caine does occasionally pick a specific variation for treatment, but usually not. And indeed, at times he seems more interested in throwing in references to all forms of music since Bach: samba, Gilbert & Sullivan, bossa nova, klezmer, Verdi, other Bach (I heard the St. Anne fugue along the way), Rachmaninov, various kinds of jazz (naturally!), Beethoven piano sonatas, gospel, a Mozart string quartet, viola da gamba music, extended vocal technique (via the oddly fascinating guttural mumblings of that weird guy, David Moss, who was so awful as Prince Orlovsky in the recent DVD of Salzburg's 'Fledermaus'), a clarinettist wailing on 'The Yellow Rose of Texas,' and on and on. He even works in a variation on the notes B-A-C-H. And I've still not even come close to mentioning all the influences. <
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>Two small points of interst. Caine begins simply and calmly with the Aria played on Bach's own Silbermann fortepiano followed by the first variation played by gamba and fortepiano. And he later returns to play (on modern piano, and quite beautifully), absolutely straight, the 'Black Pearl' Variation, surely the emotional heart of the set; in doing so he pays a serene and heartfelt homage to Bach. Thank you, Mr. Caine, for that. <
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>It is all done with absolute aplomb by Caine and his henchmen, erm, musicians. Tongue firmly in cheek, yes, but with terrific musicality and great chops. I cannot imagine anyone - except for those thin-lipped purists who probably aren't going to be exposed this set anyhow - not having a great time with these two CDs. It worked on several levels. It's a great Musicology 101 quiz: 'Spot the Influences.' And it can be dipped into at random (in fact, one way I listened to it was to put my CD changer on 'random'; it made not one whit of difference in my enjoyment). Best of all, it's a great energizer and spirit-lifter (pretty important, I'd say, in these parlous time). <
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>So, for those of you who love to smile, who love Bach's Goldbergs, and who don't mind missing sleep, this one's for you. <
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>2 CDs: total time ca. 156 mins. <
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>Strongly recommended. <
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>Scott Morrison
Fin-de-siècle masterpiece
E' passato un certo tempo dall'uscita di quest'ultima fatica di Uri Caine e pochi elementi sono giunti a distoglierci dall'idea che "The Goldberg Variations" sia davvero il disco dell'anno, non tanto per l'impresa in sé, (è comunque eroica, per un giovane jazzista americano, la scelta di affrontare una delle composizioni più geniali della storia della musica), quanto per la capacità di affrontare un grande classico con sguardo lucidamente ironico ma affatto iconoclasta. I puristi storceranno il naso, d'accordo, anche perché identificheranno alcune tracce dissacratorie all'interno del disco, ma ciò che veramente conta è che l'interpretazione di Caine non intende in alcun modo minare le fondamenta del capolavoro bachiano, ma anzi, è volta ad esaltarne i tratti eterogenei e a sviluppare le possibilità di metamorfosi che esso racchiude. Caine esplora le Variazioni Goldberg con lo sguardo del bambino: il mondo di Bach diventa, ai suoi occhi, un paese dei balocchi nel quale è concesso assaggiare, imitare, persino storpiare. Ma si badi bene che, come tutti i bambini che giocano, Caine segue un processo serissimo; nell'infinito gioco dei rimandi ecco allora riproposto (ma in misura più estrema che nel disco dedicato a Mahler) il gusto per lo spiazzamento, pianificato ed imposto attraverso l'alternanza di brani che si rifanno a generi musicali eterogenei: passaggi classici interpretati con austera grazia (le arie d'apertura e chiusura al fortepiano Silbermann e la prima variazione con l'accompagnamento di Vittorio Ghielmi alla viola da gamba), improvvisazioni hard bop ("The Jaybird lunge Variation"), trionfi barocchi (la seconda, terza, sesta e settima variazione), strisce drum'n'bass ("Logic's Invention" e "Logic's Organ Prelude" mixate da Dj Logic), riletture in stile dixieland (la brillante "The Hot Six Variation"), lamenti vocali dilatati all'estremo (la voce di Dean Bowman in "The Dig It Variation"), ballate blues ("The Stomp Variation"), richiami alla musica sacra (la "Introitus Variation" con il coro del Kettwiger Bach Ensemble ed i vocalizzi recitati e disperati di David Moss), elementi free jazz ("Variation for sax and piano" con Greg Osby), idiomi kletzmer ("The Stuttering Variation", "Luther's Nightmare Variation" e soprattutto la "Don's Variation" con un grande solo di Don Byron), sonorità puramente elettroniche (le variazioni 5 [+8], 11 e 23 di Boomish), richiami alla tradizione classica (gli omaggi ai padri in "Rachmaninoff", "Mozart", "Vivaldi", e "Handel"), recitazioni poetiche (l'affascinante "The I Poem Variatrion" con il poeta Sadiq Bey e la 19 con la voce di Tracey Morris), infine echi brasiliani (Vinicius Cantuaria in "Variation for Vinicius") ed argentini ("The Tango Variation" con Joerg Reiter all'accordeon). Insomma, un'alternanza di colpi di scena, un caleidoscopio sonoro che fa di questo disco un serio tentativo di catalogare e mettere a confronto, con atteggiamento enciclopedico, stilemi musicali che saranno alla base della musica dei prossimi anni. Esageriamo? Forse, ma certamente "The Goldberg Variations" è un disco coraggioso, capace di scatenare dibattiti in seno alla critica e, come tale, andrebbe ascoltato con attenzione. Senza dimenticare, ad ulteriore merito di Winter & Winter, una grafica strepitosa, degna delle migliori imprese di Saul Bass.
Arthur Cravan
Music for babies.
The concept behind this CD is full of potential. Unfortunately, Uri Caine's appraoch is simplistic and boring. Putting a jazz piece next to a classical piece might seem clever, but Uri Caine fails to combine the two into something that offers a new perspective. There is nothing musically inventive here, and the pretentious attitude that permeates the whole project is just plain insulting. If you want to hear a truly beautiful, engaging interpretation of classical composition by a modern group, check out Sideshow's "Songs of Charles Ives" CD. For those who want to be fooled into thinking they are listening to creative music, well, there's always Uri Caine.