Comparisons: Moroney/Virgin Classics,
Hogwood/Decca, Jarrett/ECM
From looking at the
track listings, you might be wondering
why these David Cates performances of
Bach’s French Suites have one extra
movement per Suite. Specifically, what
are those preludes doing at the start
of each Suite? Well, David Cates is
giving his audience some additional
music, using a line of thinking that’s
quite enterprising.
As discussed in the
liner notes written by Mr. Cates, there
are some contemporary sources that include
introductory preludes for the E major
and E flat major French Suites. With
this precedent in mind, Cates has taken
on the assignment of attaching preludes
from other Bach works to the remaining
four Suites "to reflect the mood
and spirit of the suite to which they
are joined. It seemed a natural experiment,
and I like the result."
Of course, there are
Bach enthusiasts who do not care for
such ‘tampering’ with the music of their
favorite composer. However, I think
it best to keep an open mind and determine
whether the inclusion of the selected
preludes adds or detracts from the musical
experience.
I don’t want to leave
you with the impression that Cates just
adds music, because he also has a penchant
for taking some away as well. With little
exception, each movement of the French
Suites is in AABB form, which simply
means that there are two subjects and
each of them is repeated. For whatever
reason, Cates routinely skips the second
subject repeats and is also not averse
to skipping first subject repeats. I
know many Bach fans who won’t even listen
to a Bach performance unless the repeats
are observed, so the market for the
Cates set could be negatively impacted.
The issue of repeats can be a contentious
one, and Cates has placed himself right
in the middle of the controversy.
As for David Cates
himself, he was born in New York and
currently is based in Berkeley, California.
He has studied with Easley Blackwood,
Jacob Lateiner, Roger Goodman, and Edward
Parmentier. Most of the Cates discography
comes from the Wildboar label and includes
other Bach discs as well as a disc of
Froberger harpsichord music.
For this Music &
Arts release, Cates uses a 1999 harpsichord
built by Owen Daly, after a harpsichord
by Antoine Vaudry in 1681. If you venture
to the Victoria and Albert Museum in
London, you can have
a look at the Vaudry harpsichord
up-close and personal. The Music &
Arts liner notes indicate that Daly’s
instrument brings out the French character
of the music. However, the French Suites
are no more French in nature than Bach’s
English Suites are English in orientation.
Sometimes titles can be very deceptive,
particularly when they are penned by
someone other than the composer as is
the case with both the French and the
English Suites.
French in nature or
not, the French Suites are wonderful
Bach creations that contain a smoother
line than Bach’s English Suites or his
Partitas for Keyboard. Although I generally
am equally appreciative of Bach on piano
or harpsichord, I must admit I find
that the better presentation of the
French Suites to be on harpsichord.
The reason is a simple one based on
the fact that the harpsichord has a
sharper tone than the piano. Given the
relatively smooth lines in the French
Suites, use of the piano tends to exacerbate
the rounded contours and result in less
diverse and interesting performances.
One might say that performances on piano
take some of the ‘fizz’ out of the music.
My comparison versions
represent a spectrum from Davitt Moroney’s
ultra-sharp interpretations to the smooth-lined
and warm performances of Keith Jarrett,
Christopher Hogwood offering a fine
blend of sharp and rounded contours
with unerring structure and pacing.
I’ve been steadily listening to these
three versions over the years, and each
one continues to impress me.
Cates offers us exceptional
performances that are appropriately
sharp in contour with an abundance of
buoyancy and poignant utterances. I
have no doubt that Cates is a prime
time Bach keyboard artist fully the
equal of Moroney, Jarrett and Hogwood.
Further, the soundstage is ideal in
that clarity and richness are at optimum
levels.
Although Cates does
not astound me at any point in his performances,
I consider his readings the most consistently
excellent of modern-day recordings.
In addition to displaying a firm grasp
of Bach’s architecture and soundworld,
Cates fully delivers the myriad of emotional
themes and does so in an incisive manner.
He also is willing to take risks, a
prime example being his ‘staggering’
technique that I discuss further on
in the review.
Here’s a more detailed
look at the music and the Cates performances:
Suite No. 1 in D minor
– Even with the D minor Prelude from
the Well Tempered Clavier Book II attached
in front of the Allemande, Cates polishes
off the work in just over 14 minutes
compared to the usual length of 16 to
17 minutes without any prelude injected
into the mix. This isn’t a case of fast
tempos, but the lack of observance of
repeats. In each movement, the second
subject repeats are omitted, and Cates
also skips the first subject repeat
of the concluding Gigue.
The performances themselves
are generally superb. The Allemande
and the Sarabande are given a fine weight
and serious nature, especially the totally
bleak Sarabande. I love the drive in
the Cates Courante, and his Gigue has
exceptional detail and tension. My only
reservation concerns the two courtly
Menuets where Cates is a little too
fast and jittery to summon up images
of regal dancing.
Suite No. 2 in C minor
– The C minor has an Air not found in
Suite No. 1. This particular Air is
similar to the concluding Gigue in that
both are sharp and abrupt; as in Suite
No. 1, Cates is fantastic when presenting
Bach at his most impetuous and severe.
I also love the Cates Allemande that
tugs at the heart with poignant inflections
and hesitations not surpassed in any
other version I have heard. Also, this
time around Cates is a little more lyrical
with the Menuets, erasing the doubts
I have about his treatment of the Menuets
in Suite No. 1.
Suite No. 3 in B minor
– More great performances and skipped
repeats from Cates. However, unlike
the preludes he uses in the first two
Suites, the Prelude in B minor, BWV
923 allows for a natural lead-in for
the Allemande.
There is a Cates performing
trait that I noticed in the earlier
Suites which reaches its fruition in
the Sarabande of the Suite No. 3. It
involves the technique of staggering
voices/musical lines. For those not
familiar with this term, it is based
on the fact that most music has multiple
lines – a primary melody line and one
or more secondary lines. Staggering
a musical line or voice simply means
that the line plays slightly after the
beat. Some folks prefer the explanation
that the keyboard artist’s hands are
totally in unison.
However it is explained,
the effect is to tug at the rhythmic
flow, and the results can be wonderful
or a complete disaster. The potential
for disaster is that the staggering
can destroy the musical flow/momentum
and also damage the work’s cohesion.
Conversely, it can be distinctive and
enhance the music’s diversity, richness
of texture, and poignancy. These are
exactly the results achieved by Cates
with his staggered voices throughout
the French Suites. He uses them judiciously,
presents them at the right points in
the score, and insures that they do
not disturb the music’s cohesion. Cates
shows himself to be a risk-taker who
fully succeeds.
Suite No. 4 in E flat
major – The 4th Suite is
my favorite of the six. First, Bach’s
joyous energy reaches it peak in the
form of the lively Courante, vivacious
Gavotte, hyper-active Air, and the Gigue
that is a real jig in 6/8 time. Second,
the Allemande with its ascending lines
is one of the most uplifting keyboard
pieces in Bach’s corpus. Lastly, the
Menuet could well be the gorgeous Bach
ever wrote. Cates plays this Suite to
perfection. The high-energy movements
are absolutely exhilarating and sharply
focused, his Allemande is sure to lift
one’s spirits, and he invests the Menuet
with thought-provoking utterances of
sublime beauty.
Suite No. 5 in G major
– The music and performances continue
in splendid fashion. The Gigue is a
particularly compelling piece that might
be the best gigue from any composer’s
pen. The first section is brilliant,
playful, and exuberant, while the second
section takes us on a wild ride of ever-increasing
tension and desperation. My wife has
commented that this music is very busy,
and she is correct. It’s teeming with
activity and multiple themes of strong
contrast. Cates again is exceptional
in conveying Bach’s breadth of emotions
although I remain loyal to the Moroney
and Jarrett versions, which offer that
extra ounce of abandon.
Suite No. 6 in E major
– Cates concludes his program with another
set of consistently excellent performances.
I especially love his heavenly interpretation
of the Allemande, and you won’t be able
to stay still when listening to the
high-octane Bourée.
I do have a minor quibble
concerning the Prelude. It’s a great
piece of music and can also be a wonderful
introduction. However, as with the other
Suites, the pause between the Prelude
and Allemande is about eight seconds.
That amount of time is simply too long
to create a significant spillover effect.
Still, I’m glad to have the pleasure
of listening to Cates play the Prelude.
In conclusion, this
newly issued recording of the French
Suites is a must for every Bach keyboard
enthusiast and would also be an excellent
choice as one’s only version. David
Cates offers a constant level of excellence
I haven’t found in any other version
I know. What Bach’s inspiration offers
us is exactly what Cates provides. And
although true to Bach’s soundworld,
Cates is also imaginative and daring.
He delivers the total package with harpsichord
sound that can’t be beaten. I won’t
be surprised if I cite the Cates set
as one of the best recordings of 2004,
and I urge readers to add it to their
Bach library.
Don Satz