J.S. BACH Cello Suite No.2. Transcription for double bass by T. Pelczar | db - Tomasz Januchta

Lost transcription – arrangement of J.S. Bach's cello suites for double bass by Tadeusz Pelczar

0:00 Prelude
4:51 Allemande
8:43 Courante
11:38 Sarabande
17:00 Menuet I, II
20:36 Gigue

Few people know that in Poland in the 1970s, a collection of transcriptions of cello suites by J.S. Bach for double bass was created, being unique on a global scale. For many years they had been developed by Tadeusz Pelczar, the first double bass player of the National Philharmonic and a longtime professor at the Chopin University of Music in Warsaw. The suites were published in 1971 by the PWM Edition (Polish: Polskie Wydawnictwo Muzyczne) and have been reissued twice.

Despite the fact the material has been performed by students of Polish universities, it has not been comprehensively recorded and widely popularized in the world. Only fragmentary recordings of the arrangement can be found online, and the knowledge of Tadeusz Pelczar and his legacy is practically non-existent. There may be several reasons for this. Perhaps it was due to Poland's political isolation taking place until the fall of communism, or the achievements could have been overshadowed by the then developing global trend of playing early music as close to the original as possible. When being played on the contemporary double bass, Bach’s pieces were solely performed from arrangements truthful to urtext editions, even if they did not use the scale and sonic potential of a modern instrument.

While developing cello suites for double bass, Tadeusz Pelczar adopted a different tactic – driven by the desire to familiarize double bass players with Bach's music, he wanted to extract the fullness of the proper sound of the instrument. It was for this purpose that he decided to develop only five of the six suites and omitted the bourrée from the fifth and the prelude from the third suite. He also made controversial decisions to change the key of the suites, and even the key of individual parts within each piece. Regardless of how we view such ideas today, the collection of transcriptions is deeply thought-out, coherent, technically demanding and, above all, masterful in emphasizing the values of the contemporary double bass. It is a pity that such an achievement has been almost forgotten. Yet, with my project, I want to introduce you to this amazing transcription. By 2022, I will have published my interpretation of the entire transcription of J.S. Bach in the arrangement of Tadeusz Pelczar on my YT channel.

Enjoy,

Tomasz Januchta

Funded within the scholarship of the Ministry of Culture, National Heritage and Sport
Zrealizowano w ramach stypendium Ministra Kultury, Dziedzictwa Narodowego i Sportu

Partners:
Warsaw Philharmonic
PWM Edition (Polskie Wydawnictwo Muzyczne)
Henryk Wieniawski Music Society in Poznań

Cinematographer and editor: Kuba Kossak
Sound engineer: Antoni Grzymała

https://tadeuszpelczar.com.pl/


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"Allemande – home-made music, or on J.S. Bach's suites

We say ‘peace and quiet’, and we think ‘home’. But what if children are roaming around the house, you can hear the plates breaking and the Xbox roaring? And if you still have to deal with all the housework and duties - shopping, cleaning, paying the mortgage and the bills? Jan Sebastian Bach had plenty of children (twenty in total!). I only have three wonderful sons, but sometimes I look for a place to hide away from their unbridled nature.

Bach's music is such a retreat for me. His solo cello suites are like safety capsules that never fail. They’ve allowed you to hide from the noise of the world. Practicing them is like meditation. Some musicologists claim that they were originally meant to be études arranged in an unchanging dance cycle, but their depth far exceeded the framework of ordinary technical exercise.

J. S. Bach's suites are ‘domestic music’ with their ambiguous sense. They weren't written for the Church but for the privacy of one’s home. They weren’t created to celebrate any solemn court ceremony, so you won’t find any ostentation or glitz in them. It’s the music of an internal, intimate dialogue. Home-made music also containing our consciousness and mind.

That's why I decided to start recording the cello suites by J.S. Bach arranged by Tadeusz Pelczar for double bass in my apartment in the Praga district of Warsaw. I’m inviting you both to my home and my head, dear listeners.

Please enjoy my performance of the whole second suite.

Best wishes,

Tomasz Januchta

PS.
Due to the secular nature of the suites, I decided not to record any of them in a church building. While they sound great in a worship space and are highly spiritual, they don’t belong to any religion. They’re our common metaphysical good."