3rd Concert. Carte Blanche to Henri Demarquette and Michel Dalberto. Chora, Old School

The French term suite, in its original sense of “succession”, designates a collection of pieces conceived for continuous performance, typically in the form of stylised dances. Johann Sebastian Bach’s (1685-1750) six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello (BWV 1007–1012), most likely composed during his tenure at Köthen (1717–1723), represent one of the highest achievements of this genre for solo instrument. Generally dated, according to the most widely accepted hypotheses, to a period before 1720, these works attest to the cello’s emancipation from its former role as a mere accompanying instrument – described by Agostino Agazzari (1607) as the “foundation” of the basso continuo – and its elevation to an autonomous melodic voice, on a par with other protagonists in Bach’s oeuvre. The typical structure of each Suite comprises six movements in the same key: Prélude – Allemande – Courante – Sarabande – a galant dance (Menuet, Bourrée, or Gavotte) – Gigue. No autograph sources survive; the tradition rests primarily on the copy by Anna Magdalena Bach, long but erroneously regarded as autograph. The Suites were first published only in 1825 in Vienna, under the title Six Sonates ou Études pour le Violoncelle seul.

More than a century later, in the closing days of his stay in Dresden, Robert Schumann (1810-1856) composed the Fantasiestücke, Op. 73, almost as if envisioning an escape from the oppressive greyness of the Saxon capital. This triptych has often been described in the literature as a musical act of evasion, created with the assistance of friends from the local court orchestra, and belonging to the genre of Hausmusik, intended primarily for private, domestic performance. Written in February 1849, the pieces display notable flexibility in instrumentation: they may be performed by clarinet, violin, or cello – as in this evening’s concert – with piano accompaniment. Their domestic character is also reflected in the circumstances of their first performance, which took place on 18 February 1849 in the Schumann household, while the family was still in Dresden; about a year later, on 14 January 1850, they were given a public performance at Leipzig’s Gewandhaus.

Almost thirty years later in France, Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924) began work on his Ballade in F-sharp minor for solo piano, later reimagined in 1881 with orchestral accompaniment, though still granting the keyboard a prominent, soloistic role. Structured as a single movement of lyrical character, the Ballade was dedicated to Camille Saint-Saëns, Fauré’s teacher for eleven years at the École Niedermeyer in Paris and later a colleague, with whom – alongside Debussy – he shared the stage of French musical life between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The work was published in 1881 by the Parisian publisher Hamelle as Opus 19.

The programme concludes with Johannes Brahms’s (1833-1897) Variations on a Theme of Paganini, considered a cornerstone of modern pianistic virtuosity. These are, in essence, studies, composed in 1863 on the famous twenty-fourth caprice from Niccolò Paganini’s (1787-1840) CapricciOp. 1, and divided into two books: the first consists of a statement of the theme followed by fourteen variations, while the second comprises a further fourteen. (On this occasion, only the first book will be performed.) Upon its publication, the work provoked debate even among Brahms’s admirers, including Clara Schumann, with some critics dismissing it as a display of virtuosity devoid of genuine expressive substance. As one of the most demanding works in the piano repertoire, it requires from the performer a combination of vigour, absolute control, and extreme lightness. Franz Liszt himself acknowledged that its difficulties surpassed those of his own Grandes Études, also inspired by Paganini. Brahms’s purpose, however, was not mere technical display, but rather a meditation on the historical significance of Paganini’s artistic inquiry – directed towards timbral experimentation and the expressive possibilities of the instrument, rather than purely harmonic or formal elaboration. The work was published in 1866 in Leipzig by J. Rieter-Biedermann.

Federico Foglizzo