GABRIEL MARTINS, CELLO
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2022 | 2:00 P.M. Squitieri Studio Theatre
Sponsored by OAK HAMMOCK AT THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
Sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Arts and Culture, the Florida Council on Arts and Culture, and the National Endowment for the Arts
presents
GABRIEL MARTINS, CELLO
Suite for Unaccompanied Cello No. 3, in C Major, BWV 1009 J.S. Bach
Opus3 Artists
SuiteProgramforUnaccompanied
Cello No. 1, in G Major, Johann Sebastian Bach BWV 1007
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Suite for Unaccompanied Cello No. 5, in C Minor, BWV 1011 J.S. Bach
The music is implicit or only suggested in what is written; to apprehend it requires special musical power. Forkel said in his book, “Bach went so far in his understanding of melody and harmony that he could exhaust their possibilities. He combines in a single part all the notes needed to make the harmony and counterpoint complete so that another note is neither necessary nor possible.”
PROGRAM NOTES
Suites for Unaccompanied Cello, No. 1, in G Major, BWV 1007; No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1009; and No. 5, in C Minor, BWV 1011
Born March 21, 1685, in Eisenach; died July 28, 1750, in Leipzig
Although Bach did not play the cello, he was the complete master of any musical medium for which he chose to compose. In 1774, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach wrote to J.N. Forkel, the scholar who was collecting material for the first book-length study of his father, “He understood the capabilities of all the string instruments perfectly. This is shown by his solos for the violin and cello without bass [accompaniment].”
The suites contain musical and mechanical challenges for the performer because the music in them contains so much more than is apparent on a simple reading of the notes. To do them justice, a musician truly has to “read between the lines.”
In 1717, Bach was appointed composer and music director to Prince Leopold, an accomplished musician with a great appetite for instrumental music and the ruler of the tiny state of Anhalt-Cöthen. It was at Leopold’s court that Bach wrote most of his chamber music. The Prince played the viola da gamba, an instrument whose range resembled that of the cello, and he had on his staff two members of the Abel family, who, for three generations, were known as great gambists and cellists.
The six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello are among the most extraordinary inventions of Bach’s incomparable creative power, yet in Bach’s time, the cello was considered an instrument inferior to the viola da gamba.
The cello suites were probably written for the younger of them, Christian Ferdinand Abel, or perhaps for another skilled cellist in Cöthen at that time, Christian Bernhard Linigke. (The sons of Bach and Abel worked together in London from 1762 to 1782, where they were partners in a very successful concert business.) Bach also wrote three sonatas for viola da gamba and harpsichord that may not have been beyond the ability of the Prince. They are now often played on the cello.
Johann Sebastian Bach
The cello’s main use then was to fill out the continuo, or bass, of the chamber and orchestral works, yet around the same date that Bach wrote the six works for unaccompanied violin in 1720, he composed a similar series for unaccompanied cello. These Cello Suites have the distinction of being the first of their kind; they now still arguably stand as the finest works in the cello repertoire.
After the introductory improvisatory Prélude, replete with scales, chords, and runs, the suites proceed with a slow and stately, and often highly ornamented Allemande. The first of the dance movements, the contemplative Allemande was a Renaissance and Baroque dance that originated as a German dance and was still danced throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. Its mood is usually serious and its tempo slow. It flourished as an independent instrumental piece from around 1580 to 1750 and became the first of the four core movements of the solo suite. In its mature Baroque form, characteristically it was more aligned with idiomatic instrumental writing than with dance rhythm.
After the lively and light Courante comes the Sarabande, slow and majestic and characterized by beginning without an upbeat, with an accented dotted note on the second beat of its three-beat measure. Sarabandes, known as zarabanda in the courts of Spain where they were accompanied by castanets and guitar, appeared first in the 16th century in Central America and became popular in the Spanish colonies before journeying to Spain, where the dance was sometimes banned for its fast and loose rhythms. In France, it was transformed into a slow, refined, introspective, and stately dance, and German composers
Like much of Bach’s music, the Cello Suites were neglected for many years after his death, and it was not until well after the revival of his music in the 19th century that they began to be appreciated by a wider public. In the 19th century, they were first thought unimportant, too dry, and academic for the Romantic generation of the time.
Of the five dance movements, the first three and the final one were stylized dances generally used in the familiar classical suite sequence: Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, and Gigue. In order to balance the structure around the slow and expressive Sarabande, Bach also inserted an extra dance movement before the Gigue, drawing upon three types of dance, Minuet, Bourrée, and Gavotte, whose diverse character enriched the Baroque suite throughout the early 18th century.
All six of the cello suites share perfection of design, supreme beauty of their melodies and their counterpoint, and the marvelous use of the cello, so rarely intended as a solo instrument until Bach wrote these works. A suite, in Bach’s time, consisted essentially of a formal opening movement that was a kind of musical call to attention, and then a series of stylized adaptations of 16th century dances that had moved from the ballroom to the concert-room in the 17th century. Many of the dances are of a light character, and the only nondance movement is the initial movement, a Prélude. In Bach’s six cello suites the preludes vary considerably in character, but they are all designed to fix the home key firmly in mind. With few exceptions, all the movements of each suite are in the same key, and Bach uses the same sequence of dances in all the suites, except for the penultimate movements, which vary.
Following the Allemande comes the Courante, or corrente, an Italian dance movement in triple meter that originated in the 16th century and became a regular part of the solo suite, in the position following the Allemande. It takes its name from the French word for running and is a triple meter dance dating from the Renaissance when it was used as a courtly running or jumping dance.
The character of Cello Suite No. 1 is easy-going and charming. In this suite, Bach used the traditional forms beginning with a Prélude, which the famous cellist Rostropovich commented: “doesn’t utilize melody — only texture, structure and rhythm.” This Prélude is derived from the kind of improvisation that was once expected of instrumentalists when they first sat down to play and was sometimes called “preluding.” It includes arpeggiated chords and is one of the most well-known movements of all of the six suites.
These inserted forms were called galanteries and included the graceful minuet, the bright gavotte, and the bourrée, all originally French. The galanteries were then still popular social dances.
The third cello suite is one of the longer works in the set of six, but it has a very defined structure. The music is taut and trim; it is written with economy and clarity. Its mood is complex and confident. There are few ways to establish the home key more firmly than Bach does in just the first two measures of the Prélude, for example. He begins it with a descending C-Major scale, adds a broken chord of C Major and a held low C, and then goes on with a rising scale. The ear will never wonder where “home” is during this extended movement or during the rest of the work.
Between the Sarabande and the Gigue, there was leeway for the composer to insert a light-hearted dance.
generally followed the French models. In the suites, it is always the slowest movement. It is normally binary in form with simple melodies that invite profuse
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The dance movements that follow the Prélude begin with a contemplative German dance Allemande. The next dance in this suite is a quick Courante, another regular part of the solo suite. Following the Courante is a slow Sarabande. The Sarabande, which can be traced to the elegant courts of Spain, moved to France where it was transformed into a slow, refined, introspective dance. It is followed by a contrasting pair of graceful Minuets. The Minuet, in 3/4 time, comes from the French term meaning small, delicate, and pretty. During Bach’s time, it was slow, ceremonious, and graceful.
The suite closes with another dance, a lively Gigue, or jig. The Gigue is derived from a jig in binary form.
Suite for Unaccompanied Cello No. 1, in G Major, BWV 1007
Although suite movements are basically entirely independent of one another, the Allemande and the Courante here seem to resemble the Prélude, because
Irish Gigue or jig, like the Allemande, Courante, and Sarabande, is a core of the dance suite. This fast dance movement in binary form was used as the traditional closing movement of the suite. The Gigue, in compound time, a quick and wild solo dance, appeared in a courtly form danced by couples in ballet style. Bach often favored the Italian flowing triple motion common in this dance form.
Suite for Unaccompanied Cello No. 3, in C Major, BWV 1009
Bach chose the Bourrée as the fifth movement for the third suite. The 17thcentury Bourrée, danced in quick double time, begins with an upbeat and originated in France’s Auvergne region. The Bourrées are in C Major and minor, the second played as a contrasting centerpiece between two performances of the first.
Suite for Unaccompanied Cello No. 5, in C Minor, BWV 1011
Gabriel Martins, cello
— Program notes © Susan Halpern, 2022
The suite proceeds with a slow, stately, and meditative, Allemande.
The suite closes with an animated Gigue or jig.
Following the Allemande comes the quick Courante. A slow and stately Spanish Sarabande is next, and then a pair of bright French Gavottes follow. A Gigue forms the traditional closing of the suite.
they, too, are based on scales and triads. Next comes a stately Sarabande with a long, complex theme.
Cellist Gabriel Martins has established himself as one of the world’s most compelling young artists, with a deep commitment to the timeless masterpieces of classical music. His artistry has already been recognized through an extensive list of accolades including the 2020 Concert Artists Guild – Young Classical Artists Trust Grand Prize, the 2020 Sphinx Competition Gold Medal, the David Popper International Cello Competition Gold Medal, the International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians Silver Medal, the Schadt String Competition Gold Medal, the Orford Music Award, and the Prague Spring Czech Music Fund Prize. These successes have led to a number of high-profile debuts including Wigmore, Carnegie, and Merkin Halls, 92nd Street Y, the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, Maison Symphonique in Montréal, and the Arkansas, Memphis, Indianapolis, New Russian State, Pacific, and Phoenix Symphony Orchestras. According to legendary cellist Ralph Kirshbaum, he has “revealed heart, passion, intellect, and a finely-nuanced palette of colors in a compelling manner worthy of a seasoned artist.”
For Martins, great masterpieces require great patience and solemnity in order to reveal their true, extraordinary capabilities. His powerful belief in this is what drives his distinctive, emotive performances. In 2021, Martins gave his first complete Bach Suite Cycle, in collaboration with Kaufman Center and
Prélude in the series, this introductory movement has two parts in the manner of a French opera overture, the first grave, the second the only fugue in the suites.
In Suite No. 5, Bach specifies a variant of the usual tuning of the instrument’s highest string in order to make a different harmonic vocabulary available. The Prélude derives from the kind of improvisation once expected of instrumentalists when they first sat down to play, and thus was called The“preluding.”mostelaborate
the Alphadyne Foundation, where he played all Six Cello Suites back-to-back in New York City. In 2022, he gave his first complete Beethoven Cycle, in collaboration with pianist Audrey Vardanega and the Lakes Area Music Festival, performing and recording all of the works for Cello and Piano. In addition to his commitment to the great classics of the cello repertoire, Martins composes his own works and arranges many others. His Songs of Solitude received their World Premiere in the spring of 2021 in collaboration with the Brooklyn Public Library, and his new cello arrangements of Bach’s Solo Violin Sonatas and Partitas have received high acclaim and a feature in The Strad Magazine. Martins’ performances have been broadcast on NPR, WQXR, KUSC, WFMT, and more. He is also a passionate educator, teaching privately and giving a number of master classes. He served as a teaching assistant both at the IU Jacobs School of Music and the USC Thornton School of Music, and his students have gone on to achieve major success in competitions and performances around the world.
Born of American and Brazilian heritage, Martins grew up in Bloomington, Indiana. He began playing the cello when he was five, studying with Susan Moses at the Indiana University String Academy. He went on to receive his B.M. as a Presidential Scholar at the USC Thornton School of Music with Ralph Kirshbaum. In his freshman year at USC, he won the school’s concerto competition as well as its Bach competition. He received his M.M. at the New England Conservatory of Music. His festival appearances include Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute, where he toured with Miriam Fried, and the Aspen Music Festival, where he won the concerto competition. He now resides in Boston, Massachusetts, with his partner, violinist Geneva Lewis, whom he frequently collaborates with as a duo. He plays on a composite Francesco Ruggieri cello made in Cremona, c. 1690, and a François Nicolas Voirin bow made in Paris, c. 1880.
