Bach: Morimur

One of the great revelations about this recording of J.S. Bach's Partita No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004; chorales; Ciaccona for solo violin and four voices is how it supports the notion that it was popular during the Baroque era to use the medium of numbers to create riddles and hidden messages within a musical text. Because of extensive research into the work of Bach, particularly by Dr. Helga Thoene of the University of Düsseldorf, it is known that he used these methods quite regularly to reference his own name and to underscore his spiritual beliefs by creating a veritable doxological theology by coding it deeply within his sacred works. Reading works that were entirely instrumental — such as the Six Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin — was a fruit of Thoene's discovery. She found inside the Ciaccona from the Partita in D Minor, 1004 BMV a kind of epitaph for Maria Barbara Bach, a series of chorale quotes based on the symbolism of numerical patterns interpreted by means of using the Gematria (Hebrew numerology). Violinist Christoph Poppen, together with ECM's Manfred Eicher and the Hilliard Ensemble, have devised a program that would make the hidden chorales audible. Using the research of Dr. Thoene on the Ciaccona, which was published in 1994, the collaborators have created one of the most stunning works of Baroque interpretation in the history of recorded music. This is a recording that, more than any in memory, or perhaps any performance known widely, has made the thoughts of the composer audible to listeners. The five movements of the Partite No. 2 are linked together by various chorales on Morimur, so the Partita is played in its entirety. Hearing such a small ensemble sing Bach is revelatory as well, the nuances are completely audible and are fleshed out by means of enunciation, control, and nuance. The entire hinge of the recording is the Ciaccona itself for violin and the quartet's voices where the Hilliards virtually intone the single verses in parallel lines with Poppen's violin. There is a harmonic complexity at work that was never even conceived of before, which makes the violin a more texturally colorful instrument in this context and ensemble's collective becomes a single instrument of harmonic alliteration and refinement.

In essence, this is now a piece that has never been heard before; it is startlingly new though it has existed for centuries. Its relevance must be evaluated anew, while its discovery and intimate portrait of the composer should be cherished. Ultimately, however, none of this would matter a bit of the music found here were not deeply moving, profoundly honest, and respectfully performed. This is, from whatever viewpoint one hears or views such a new approach and interpretation of a timeless classic, a masterpiece of unprecedented proportion.