Maya Beiser – Infinite Bach (2023) [Official Digital Download 24bit/44,1kHz]

In InfInIte Bach, the avant-garde cellist Maya Beiser elevates our sensory perception of the solo cello Suites of J. S. Bach in the expanded realm of spatial audio. Anchoring her body and instrument in the studio space, she reimagines this seminal Baroque work in a visceral experience that is both immersive and transcendental. The multilayered sounds of her cello emerge as ethereal and illuminated, like ambient lights and shadows tempering the overwhelming force of tradition.

Infinite Bach (or, if one prefers the stylization here, InfInIte Bach) is released as a solo cello album, recorded during the COVID-10 pandemic by Maya Beiser in her farmhouse in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts. However, Beiser really had a creative partner, producer Dave Cook, who edited and mixed the sessions at a studio in upstate New York. Beiser says that she was inspired by Alvin Lucier’s 1969 work I Am Sitting in a Room, that “I began to imagine making the Suites and this room speak to each other and inform the project of recording Bach’s work.” Thus, Cook’s mixing emphasizes harmonics and drones that were, in a sense, a part of the music. Sometimes the music sounds as it usually does, but more resonant; in other passages, there are overtones or an octave drone. Beiser is best known for her collaborations with contemporary composers, among them Philip Glass, and to an extent, this is what one might expect from an artist who has long been concerned with the qualities of musical surfaces. In other ways, the concept is original and will appeal to those interested in modern techniques of presenting traditional material, as well as to contemporary remixers and samplers. – James Manheim

Tracklist:
1. Maya Beiser – Bach: Cello Suite no 1 in G major BWV 1007: I. Prélude (02:55)
2. Maya Beiser – Bach: Cello Suite no 1 in G major BWV 1007: II. Allemande (04:30)
3. Maya Beiser – Bach: Cello Suite no 1 in G major BWV 1007: III. Courante (02:48)
4. Maya Beiser – Bach: Cello Suite no 1 in G major BWV 1007: IV. Sarabande (03:41)
5. Maya Beiser – Bach: Cello Suite no 1 in G major BWV 1007: V. Menuetts I & II (03:53)
6. Maya Beiser – Bach: Cello Suite no 1 in G major BWV 1007: VI. Gigue (01:59)
7. Maya Beiser – Bach: Cello Suite no 2 in D minor BWV 1008: I. Prélude (04:59)
8. Maya Beiser – Bach: Cello Suite no 2 in D minor BWV 1008: II. Allemande (04:30)
9. Maya Beiser – Bach: Cello Suite no 2 in D minor BWV 1008: III. Courante (02:21)
10. Maya Beiser – Bach: Cello Suite no 2 in D minor BWV 1008: VI. Sarabande (05:02)
11. Maya Beiser – Bach: Cello Suite no 2 in D minor BWV 1008: V. Menuetts I & II (03:26)
12. Maya Beiser – Bach: Cello Suite no 2 in D minor BWV 1008: VI. Gigue (03:06)
13. Maya Beiser – Bach: Cello Suite no 3 in C major BWV 1009: I. Prélude (05:16)
14. Maya Beiser – Bach: Cello Suite no 3 in C major BWV 1009: II. Allemande (03:46)
15. Maya Beiser – Bach: Cello Suite no 3 in C major BWV 1009: III. Courante (03:17)
16. Maya Beiser – Bach: Cello Suite no 3 in C major BWV 1009: IV. Sarabande (06:11)
17. Maya Beiser – Bach: Cello Suite no 3 in C major BWV 1009: V. Bourées I & II (04:31)
18. Maya Beiser – Bach: Cello Suite no 3 in C major BWV 1009: VI. Gigue (03:22)
19. Maya Beiser – Bach: Cello Suite no 4 in E flat major BWV 1010: I. Prélude (07:09)
20. Maya Beiser – Bach: Cello Suite no 4 in E flat major BWV 1010: II. Allemande (05:29)
21. Maya Beiser – Bach: Cello Suite no 4 in E flat major BWV 1010: III. Courante (03:43)
22. Maya Beiser – Bach: Cello Suite no 4 in E flat major BWV 1010: VI. Sarabande (04:45)
23. Maya Beiser – Bach: Cello Suite no 4 in E flat major BWV 1010: V. Bourées I & II (06:03)
24. Maya Beiser – Bach: Cello Suite no 4 in E flat major BWV 1010: VI. Gigue (02:47)
25. Maya Beiser – Bach: Cello Suite no 5 in C minor BWV 1011: I. Prélude (06:40)
26. Maya Beiser – Bach: Cello Suite no 5 in C minor BWV 1011: II. Allemande (05:32)
27. Maya Beiser – Bach: Cello Suite no 5 in C minor BWV 1011: III. Courante (02:14)
28. Maya Beiser – Bach: Cello Suite no 5 in C minor BWV 1011: VI. Sarabande (04:19)
29. Maya Beiser – Bach: Cello Suite no 5 in C minor BWV 1011: V. Gavottes I & II (06:42)
30. Maya Beiser – Bach: Cello Suite no 5 in C minor BWV 1011: VI. Gigue (02:33)
31. Maya Beiser – Bach: Cello Suite no 6 in D major BWV 1012: I. Prélude (07:18)
32. Maya Beiser – Bach: Cello Suite no 6 in D major BWV 1012: II. Allemande (08:40)
33. Maya Beiser – Bach: Cello Suite no 6 in D major BWV 1012: III. Courante (03:31)
34. Maya Beiser – Bach: Cello Suite no 6 in D major BWV 1012: IV. Sarabande (04:27)
35. Maya Beiser – Bach: Cello Suite no 6 in D major BWV 1012: V. Gavottes I & II (04:40)
36. Maya Beiser – Bach: Cello Suite no 6 in D major BWV 1012: VI. Gigue (04:03)