Francesco Tristano: Bach & Beyond

Johann Sebastian Bach’s art, for all its formal order and contrapuntal logic, holds seemingly infinite powers to surprise. A shift of harmony here, a change of rhythm there, an unexpected melodic gesture elsewhere can transport listeners to realms of the imagination rarely if ever revealed by other composers. Francesco Tristano fell in love with Bach’s work during childhood, and has remained faithful to it ever since. The Luxembourgian pianist’s playlist embraces the Leipzig Kapellmeister’s creative energy and enduring influence. It offers what he describes as “a selection of tracks inspired by, based on, and developing beyond his timeless music.” Tristano’s Bach interpretations rise from his feeling for the universality of the music, and its refusal to be anchored in a remote, lifeless past. “Bach has been my daily bread for as long as I can remember,” he tells Apple Music Classical. “Recently a dream started to come true: to record and release his complete music for keyboard. Yet the music of Bach stands not only as an immutable monument in music history, but has also served as an inspiration for other composers and producers, arguably more so than the works of any other composer. “In my playlist,” Tristano continues, “I try to balance the original Baroque Bach, and Bach as recomposed over the centuries. My intention is to include recordings by Bach specialists such as Glenn Gould or Andrew Manze, as well as explore the different ramifications of Bach's music, specifically in the electronic realm.” Bach & Beyond opens with Bach’s own transcription of his Cello Suite No. 5 for lute. Its tracklist includes LudePre, Tristano’s radical reinterpretation of Bach’s Prelude in C minor, made in company with American DJ and producer Carl Craig, the ethereal organ sounds of Sutekh’s The Last Hour, and Bach reimagined by Isao Tomita for interplanetary travellers. “The selected tracks are all close to my heart,” says Tristano. “I love the pure sound of the lute (and this particular interpretation by Konrad Junghänel) just as much as the ambient, layered organ samples by Sutekh. In a way they are very complementary. Yet they only begin to explore the possibilities, and potential, of Bach's scores.”