Programme

David Gordon (1965-)

April Fool

David Gordon  

Air

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Interpretations based on the following:

Johann Christoph Bach (1642-1703)

Lamento: Ach, dass ich Wassers gnug hätte 

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Fürchte dich nicht BWV 228

Johann Sebastian Bach

Jesu, meine Freude BWV 227

David Gordon  (1965-)

English Isobars 

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Interpretations based on the following:

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Fürchte dich nicht BWV 228

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-88)

Cantabile - third movement from the keyboard Sonata in B minor Wq. 55/3

David Gordon (1965-)

Brandy for Four

Performers

Piano & harpsichord: David Gordon

Double bass: Sandy Burnett

Drums: Tom Hooper

Programme Notes

Sandy Burnett writes:

May I begin by expanding on the “Preludes and Grooves” in today’s title?

Firstly, Preludes: for us this not only refers to Bach’s exquisitely crafted short pieces inspired by a single idea or motif, but also in the broader sense of präludieren – the way that Baroque musicians would freely improvise on themes. And secondly, Grooves: ostinatos or repeated chordal patterns are central to both Baroque and jazz music, as is the sense of the harmony being firmly rooted from the bass line below, in order to facilitate free-flowing creativity above.

Both the solo keyboard works of the Well-Tempered Klavier and the larger-ensemble Brandenburg Concertos show Bach systematically exploring the possibilities of a genre in as many different ways as possible. And in turn David Gordon has taken three works from those collections as jumping-off points for compositions of his own.

In a collaborative performance of the complete Bach motets, Tenor Madness answered Bach’s original choral music with instrumental improvisations. Two of them find themselves in today’s programme: our creative reactions to Jesu, meine Freude and Fürchte dich nicht.

Elsewhere in this Johann Sebastian Bach-centred programme we look forward and back to dip into the extensive talent pool of the Bach family. Forward to Carl Philipp Emanuel, Johann Sebastian’s second composing son and a great exponent of the new “sensitive style” of the 1770s. And back to Johann Christoph, cousin of Johann Sebastian’s father, and someone who JSB especially admired, calling him a “profound composer”. High praise indeed.

Biographies

Tenor Madness: Trio

Tenor Madness is a piano trio project that takes Renaissance and Baroque themes and improvises on them in the modern idiom. Their highly-praised collaborative projects with choirs and other instrumentalists have brought fresh light to works by composers including Gesualdo, Salamone Rossi, Purcell, Byrd, and JS and JC Bach. Tenor Madness have broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and performed at the Aldeburgh Festival, the Cambridge Jazz Festival and the London Jazz Festival.

David Gordon: Piano & Harpsichord 

Harpsichordist, jazz pianist and composer David Gordon trained as a mathematician at Bristol University before turning to music full-time, and he has since toured all over the world. He appears on countless CDs as composer, leader and sideman. David has written four concertos, the most recent - entitled Earthcycle - is itself a sequence of four mini-violin-concertos, written as companion pieces to Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.

Sandy Burnett: Double Bass

Sandy Burnett enjoys a wide-ranging career that combines broadcasting, performing and lecturing. After a decade spent as presenter on BBC Radio 3 he was appointed the Academy of Ancient Music’s Hogwood Fellow.  He has directed all of Bach’s sacred cantatas and is a first-call double bass player. During lockdown he established an online classical music appreciation Listening Club, and is an accredited Art Society lecturer.

Tom Hooper: Drums

Tom Hooper began playing drums on the sofa with chopsticks at about six years old. He began playing professionally at age 14, performing with local bands and summer season theatre pit work in Cornwall; later he gained a jazz performance degree from London’s Royal Academy of Music. Tom’s extensive performing and recording credits include Steve Harley, Grace Jones, Simple Minds, Sir John Dankworth OBE, Wynton Marsalis, Omar, and Ben Earle.