Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) wrote his 2-part Inventions and 3-part Sinfonias for a keyboard instrument, composed for his family’s musical education, initially to improve the technique of his eldest son Wilhelm Friedemann.
This purity and density of the music, distilled in an abstract and universal language, invited numerous arrangements from the nineteenth century onwards, allowing the Inventions and Sinfonias to be performed in many different settings. Bach himself, a fervent reuser and arranger of both his own and other people’s compositions (consider for example his reworking of music by Vivaldi, Marcello and Albinoni) would probably have had no objections to these numerous ‘translations’ of his music.
This recording presents an unusual version of the two-part Inventions for two violins arranged by the performers Yulia Berinskaya and Valentina Danelon themselves, where Bach’s aim to pursue ‘a cantabile style of playing’ through the independence of the parts is achieved admirably in the natural expressiveness of the two stringed instruments. The three-part Sinfonias were arranged for two violins and viola by Ferdinand David (1810–73). He was not only one of the leading violinists of his era but also, most importantly, had very close links to Felix Mendelssohn, and so was heavily involved in the early nineteenth-century ‘Bach renaissance’, inspiring him to arrange various Bach works.
As well as the works chosen for this recording being scored for the same instruments, the pairing of Bach and Sergey Ivanovich Taneyev (1856–1915) is a logical one: Taneyev was affectionately known by Tchaikovsky as the ‘Russian Bach’ due to his deep knowledge and expert application of the art of counterpoint. This recording presents his beautiful String Trio for 2 violins and viola Op. 21.
Played with genuine affection and warmth by Yulia Berinskaya, Valentina Danelon and Anna Serova, all three pursuing a thriving international career.
