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| Artist: | Raaf Hekkema |
| Title: | Raaf Hekkema Solo SACD |
| Released: | 26/05/2023 |
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Please note this release date may be subject to change and also stock arrival can be subject to delays, in particular if this is an overseas release. |
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| Format: | SACD |
| Country | EU/US |
| Barcode: | 0608917295023 |
| Catalogue number: | CC72950 |
| Store location: | pre-order |
| SKU: | WLF07445 |
| Condition: | BRAND NEW & SEALED |
| The items we sell are brand new and unused official releases supplied to us by record companies, unless stated otherwise in the listing. Generally all items are sealed (this will be stated in the listing title). Occasionally we may open an LP to confirm any colour variant. We sometimes sell used items, this will be shown in the listing. | |
Virtuoso classical saxophone player Raaf Hekkema presents Solo, a new solo album of works by J S Bach.
The pandemic in 2020-21 brought little to dispel the gloom among performing musicians. But these months also proved to be a time of reflection and artistic rebirth for many, the arts became a breeding ground for spiritual offspring, and so it proved for me; the genesis of the work you can hear on this album. Finally, there was plenty of time to spend many hours every day working on the project against a background of calm, which made Bach's music all the more comforting!
The prime cut with which I open this album is the Sonata I have assembled from Bach's three sonatas for solo violin. Even though a sonata in six movements may go against musical tradition, I feel it is a very satisfactory solution from a musical perspective.
Soon after this, I cast my greedy eye over the earlier works for organ and harpsichord. The Chromatic Fantasia symbolises early Bach for me; a composer who was heavily influenced by the fantastical style of his idol and predecessor Dieterich Buxtehude.
I made a pilgrimage to my own hero of early music, Ton Koopman. His enthusiasm for my arrangements grew as our meeting progressed. I am deeply grateful to him for his generous assistance.
The Fantasia BWV 922 seemed to be a bigger task altogether. I was keen to let my own creative juices flow in order to adapt the texture in such a way that I could still do the greatest justice to the music's harmonic complexity and sweeping argument.
Before this, however, I had already set about arranging Bach's most famous organ work, the Toccata and Fugue. Generally, I would describe it as a good idea to avoid fugues for what I have in mind, but this one was relatively straightforward for me.
My arrangement of the Partita BWV 1013 is perhaps the simplest of all my Bach transcriptions. All I had to do was transpose this into a key I considered to be better suited to my instrument. I play it on a 1924 curved Buescher soprano saxophone with a matching Buescher mouthpiece. Using historical saxophones may result in a lighter and more transparent sound.
The same argument also applies to the Prelude and Allegro from BWV 998, which I recorded on a straight Buescher alto saxophone made in 1927.
CRITICAL ACCLAIM
"With this fourth solo album (of which three were released by Challenge Classics) Raaf Hekkema has constituted a Guide to the Saxophone that is not only ideal for saxophonists, and conservatoria but also for multiple other interested parties." - HRAudio.net Performance 5 STARS / Sonics 5 STARS
| 1 | Adagio BWV 1001/1 |
| 2 | Allegro BWV 1003/4 |
| 3 | Largo BWV 1005/3 |
| 4 | Allegro assai BWV 1005/4 |
| 5 | Grave BWV 1003/1 |
| 6 | Presto BWV 1001/4 |
| 7 | Chromatic Fantasia BWV 903 |
| 8 | Fantasia BWV 922 |
| 9 | Prelude & Allegro BWV 998 Prelude |
| 10 | Prelude & Allegro BWV 998 Allegro |
| 11 | Partita BWV 1013I. Allemande |
| 12 | Partita BWV 1013II. Corrente |
| 13 | Partita BWV 1013III. Sarabande |
| 14 | Partita BWV 1013IV. Bourrée anglaise |
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