Part biography, part music history, and part literary mystery, the cello suites is a dramatic narrative featuring legendary composer johann sebastian bach, worldrenowned cellist pablo casals, and author eric siblins own quest to uncover the mysteries that continue to haunt this musical masterpiece. Eric siblin is in many ways just the kind of listener whom musicians love to find in their audiences. This sounds like a great book kevin a definite one for my tbr pile. Bach, pablo casals, and the search for a baroque masterpiece 9780802145246. Must admit though, that i find it hard to read and listen to music oh dear a woman who cant multitask. Siblin s book is partly an attempt to flesh out these portraits. I put six questions to siblin about his book, the cello suites.
Bach, and their mutual obsession with the sonic possibilities of the cello. Siblin has given us a compelling portrait of a passionate, prickly bach. Eric siblin puts us in touch with the joy of discovering a new passion in life. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. The cello suites ebook by eric siblin 9780802197979. Start a free 30day trial today and get your first audiobook free. One fateful evening, journalist and popmusic critic eric siblin attended a recital of johann sebastian bachs cello suitesan experience that set him on an epic quest to uncover the mysterious history of the entrancing compositions and their miraculous. This is rich terrain, and siblins book is an engrossing combination of musical and political history spiced with generally vivid descriptions of the cello suites themselves.
Eric siblin is an awardwinning journalist and filmmaker, and the former pop music critic at the montreal gazette. Siblin winds up mixing high and low musical forms, art and political histories, bach s and casals s individual stories and matters of arcane musicology into a single inquisitive volume. To accomplish this task, the author goes back and forth between the lives of johann sebastian bach and pablo casals, the 20th century catalan cellist who first performed, recorded and popularized the suites. The cello suites by eric siblin, 9781742375861, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide. Get it today with same day delivery, order pickup or drive up. He makes life difficult for his readers by copying the. Eric siblin, a relapsed pop music writer, stumbles upon a performance of three of bachs cello suites, is hooked and embarks upon a voyage of discovery. Siblin, the former popmusic critic at the montreal gazette, travels around the world following the suites through the lives of bach and spanish cellist pablo casals, whose. Eric siblin is the bestselling author of the cello suites, which won the qwf mavis gallant nonfiction prize and the mcauslan first book award, and was a finalist for the governor generals literary award, the writers trust nonfiction prize, and the bc national award for canadian nonfiction. Siblin has managed to keep his book varied and to strain only occasionally as he fills in those 36 blanks.
The cello suites by eric siblin by dallas morning news. The cello suites audiobook by eric siblin rakuten kobo. Mar 21, 2010 eric siblin is the bestselling author of the cello suites, which won the qwf mavis gallant nonfiction prize and the mcauslan first book award, and was a finalist for the governor generals literary award, the writers trust nonfiction prize, and the bc national award for canadian nonfiction. I like classical music, love the cello suites yoyo mas version is my favourite, but i knew nothing about bach himself or pablo casals until i read this book. Eric siblin tells how the yearold pablo casals stumbled on bachs forgotten masterpiece eric siblin fri 15 jan 2010 19.
Jan 20, 2011 eric siblin has written an engaging book that weaves together three stories. Winner of the mavis gallant prize for nonfiction and the mcauslan first book prize, the cello suites weaves together. Bach, pablo casals, and the search for a baroque masterpiece. Bach, pablo casals, and the search for a baroque masterpiece by eric siblin atlantic monthly press. Very readable and entertaining, i thoroughly enjoyed this book by eric siblin.
One fateful evening, journalist eric siblin attended a recital of johann sebastian bachs cello suites and began an epic quest that would unravel three centuries of intrigue, politics, and passion. Phil daoust on the story of an obsession with a masterpiece. Bach, pablo casals, and the search for a baroque masterpiece, now appearing in paperback. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading the cello suites. One autumn evening, shortly after ending a tenyear stint as a po. Cello suites download free pdf and ebook by eric siblin. One fateful evening, journalist eric siblin attended a recital of. One fateful evening, journalist and popmusic critic eric siblin attended a recital of johann sebastian bachs cello suitesan experience that set him on an epic quest to uncover the mysterious history of the entrancing compositions and their. Siblin casts his book in 36 short chapters to reflect the six dance movements of the six suites.
The idea was vague, but i had a strong sense that there was a story there, somewhere, and decided to follow in the footsteps of the notes, he writes. In his debut, a canadian journalist traces the history of johann sebastian bachs six cello suites from their composition to their rediscovery almost 200 years later. Bach, pablo casals, and the search for a baroque masterpiece by eric siblin via. The idea to write a book about the bach suites, one that is not aimed at classical connoisseurs, came to mr. Eric siblin is a writer with interests in history, music, hockey, and olive oil. John terauds the cello suites is a work of everpercolating interest.
The search led siblin to barcelona, where casals, just thirteen and in possession of his first cello, roamed the backstreets with his father in search of sheet music and found bachs lost suites tucked in a dark corner of a store. Siblins book is partly an attempt to flesh out these portraits. Jan 06, 2011 the cello suites weaves together three dramatic narratives. Best of all, the cello suites makes us want to pop in a cd and really listen to those cello suites. The book contains 36 chapters, smartly organised using the 6 parts of the 6 cello suites as titles. One evening, journalist eric siblin attended a recital of johann sebastian bachs cello suites and began an epic quest that would unravel three centuries of intrigue, politics, and passion. Winner of the mavis gallant prize for nonfiction and the mcauslan first book prize, the cello. The cello suites weaves together three dramatic narratives. Bach, pablo casals, and the search for a baroque masterpiece kindle edition by siblin, eric. The cello suites by eric siblin, 9781846553561, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide. The making of a record by eric siblin and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Jan 15, 2010 eric siblin tells how the yearold pablo casals stumbled on bachs forgotten masterpiece eric siblin fri 15 jan 2010 19. How bachs cello suites changed eric siblins life culture.
Educated at concordia university in montreal, he has worked as a staff reporter for the canadian press and the montreal gazette. Eric siblins bach infatuation in the cello suites the new york. This is rich terrain, and siblins book is an engrossing combination of musical and political history spiced with generally vivid descriptions of the cello suites themselvessiblin has given us a compelling portrait of a passionate, prickly bach, of casals, a musician who was also politically engaged, and an engrossing cast of. After the teenage catalan cellist pablo casals 1876. That investigation is one thread of a cleverlyconstructed book.
Bach, pablo casals, and the search for a baroque masterpiece by eric siblin available from rakuten kobo. However, when it comes to bach and any sort of nuanced discussion of the suites themselves, siblin falls short, failing to offer the slightest analysis or interpretation of the music. An awardwinning journey through johann sebastian bachs six cello suites and the brilliant musician who revealed their lasting genius. A seamless blend of biography and music history, the cello suites is a truelife journey of discovery, fueled by the power of these musical masterpieces. Dec 20, 2010 eric siblin includes these and countless other facts in the cello suites, a book that will fascinate anyone who loves bachs music. The economist this is rich terrain, and siblin s book is an engrossing combination of musical and political history spiced with generally vivid descriptions of the cello suites themselvessiblin has given us a compelling portrait of a passionate, prickly bach, of casals, a musician who was also politically engaged, and an engrossing cast of. Eric siblin siblin weaves together three dramatic narratives. Eric siblin is an awardwinning journalist and filmmaker, and was the pop music critic at the montreal gazette. As the subtitle suggests, the cello suites is a book of multiple tales. Even though the six chapters are entitled suite 1 through suite 6 and subdivided by movement prelude, allemande, courante, etc. He made the transition to television in 2002 with the documentary word slingers, which explores the wacky subculture of competitive scrabble tournaments. Bachs composition of the cello suites and the manuscripts subsequent disappearance in the eighteenth century. Siblin when he attended a recital in toronto in 2000. The remarkable story of six suites composed for cello by j.
Eric siblins bach infatuation in the cello suites the. So far, the work has been published in thirteen territories and in nine. Eric siblin includes these and countless other facts in the cello suites, a book that will fascinate anyone who loves bachs music. Bach in the early 1700s, eric siblins new book is at once a study of music, a work of history, and a passionate tribute.
Bach, the story of the great cellist pablo casals and his personal quest to determine the story of the original manuscript of bachs six suites for solo cello. He notes, for instance, that bachs four musical sons kept his work in circulation, that mozart was mightily impressed by a motet he heard at a leipzig church, and that the 12yearold beethoven raised some. The cello suites, by eric siblin anz litlovers litblog. Eric siblin is the bestselling author of the cello suites, which won the qwf mavis gallant nonfiction prize and the mcauslan first book award, and was a finalist for the governor generals literary award, the writers trust nonfiction prize, and the bc. His first book, the cello suites, explores the multilayered story of an epic composition by johann sebastian bach. The next several years of his life will be dominated by a search centred on the cello suites and their history. One evening, journalist eric siblin attended a recital of johann. One fateful evening, journalist and popmusic critic eric siblin attended a recital of johann sebastian bachs cello suitesan experience that set him on an epic quest to uncover the mysterious history of the entrancing compositions and. Eric siblin has captured an extraordinary romancethat of pablo casals, j. Winner of the mavis gallant prize for nonfiction and the mcauslan first book prize, the cello suites weaves together three dramatic narratives. The cello suites eric siblin bok 9780802119292 bokus. One autumn evening, not long after ending a stint as a pop music critic, eric siblin attended a recital of johann sebastian bach s cello suites. Jan 04, 2011 eric siblin has captured an extraordinary romancethat of pablo casals, j.
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