# Anner Bylsma Has Died – Aged 85



## RICK RIEKERT (Oct 9, 2017)

The great Dutch cellist Anner Bylsma has passed away at the age of 85.

He was a towering figure in the Baroque cello movement. I suspect every lover of Bach's music has heard at least one of his vivid recordings of the Cello Suites. He inspired many to explore Bach's music on gut strings.

With his wife, violinist Vera Beths, and violist Jürgen Kussmaul, he set up a string ensemble, L'Archibudelli - the name being a portmanteau of bow and guts - which made a number of recordings of Classical and Romantic repertoire on period instruments.

Anner Bylsma recorded for Das Alte Werk, Telefunken, Decca, Harmonia Mundi, Seon, RCA, Phillips, and EMI. He also published a book on the Bach Solo Cello Suites, entitled _Bach, The Fencing Master_. RIP.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Anner Bylsma has died.


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## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

There was another thread on this in the Musicians subforum a few days ago, but I appreciate you bringing this to the attention of more folks with another thread. He was a seriously great, multifaceted musician who will live on through his incredible recordings, especially of Bach. I was recently showed his first recording of the Bach cello suites and I've been an admirer since. It has quickly become my favorite recording of these works. 

Rest in peace to the master.


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

I greatly liked many of the L’Archibudelli recordings. They had a real freshness to them and were, of course, very musical: enlightening and "different" without any attempt to shock.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Roll of Honour


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Enthusiast said:


> I greatly liked many of the L'Archibudelli recordings. They had a real freshness to them and were, of course, very musical: enlightening and "different" without any attempt to shock.


Unlike Gould, .

But I have not heard of this Artist, I shall have to explore!


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

RICK RIEKERT said:


> He also published a book on the Bach Solo Cello Suites, entitled _Bach, The Fencing Master_. RIP.


Anyone who's read this care to comment about it?


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

> Unlike Gould, .
> 
> But I have not heard of this Artist, I shall have to explore!


^ Yes, indeed. Gould was opinionated in his words and playing. But on occasion he achieved the miraculous!


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

I have a theory about Bijlsma in baroque music, Bach. That his great experiment, something which evolved all through his career as a musician, was to bring the idea of recitative to cello (or gamba - did he play a Gamba with Asperen? I can’t remember.) That’s to say, an articulation which is increasingly made of short phrases, a rhetorical structure possibly, a move away from long singing aria type musical lines. In this respect he’s very close to Harnoncourt, who also was a cellist - I’d say more uncompromising than Harnoncourt. I’m listening now to a concert recording of the second Bach suite, from Leiden in 1998, and the “music as recitative” conception is really clear.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Enthusiast said:


> I greatly liked many of the L'Archibudelli recordings. They had a real freshness to them and were, of course, very musical: enlightening and "different" without any attempt to shock.


It's the classical conception of late c19 music which I find slightly shocking, and not in a good way, in the Dvorak op 77 double bass quintet for example.

Did he record any early music, or was he too much committed to cello to try earlier instruments? Is there any Frescobaldi? Or c20 music? (Ravel - I can imagine he would be good in Ravel.)


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## premont (May 7, 2015)

Mandryka said:


> Did he record any early music, or was he too much committed to cello to try earlier instruments? Is there any Frescobaldi? Or c20 music? (Ravel - I can imagine he would be good in Ravel.)


A rather extensive discography but most of it Baroque and Vienna classical. However I was surprised to see the Messiaen recording Quatuor Pour La Fin Du Temps.


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

^ I don't know that Dvorak and was thinking mostly of their Schubert. I can imagine that Dvorak and Brahms might need a more "juicy" approach than they might give it.


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## RICK RIEKERT (Oct 9, 2017)

Mandryka said:


> I have a theory about Bijlsma in baroque music, Bach. That his great experiment, something which evolved all through his career as a musician, was to bring the idea of recitative to cello (or gamba - did he play a Gamba with Asperen? I can't remember.) That's to say, an articulation which is increasingly made of short phrases, a rhetorical structure possibly, a move away from long singing aria type musical lines. In this respect he's very close to Harnoncourt, who also was a cellist - I'd say more uncompromising than Harnoncourt. I'm listening now to a concert recording of the second Bach suite, from Leiden in 1998, and the "music as recitative" conception is really clear.


Bylsma addresses this in a conversation with Tim Janof:

AB: The concept of flowing lines is not appropriate for eighteenth century music, it belongs to the nineteenth century. Music became more chromatic and more overtly emotional in the nineteenth century, which resulted in long flowing lines. In Bach's time too, chromatic passages may have been played more sustained than diatonic ones -- just try it. But we shouldn't impose nineteenth century principles on Bach.

By the way, I love Bruckner too, but, for my taste, too many big lines are played in his music, as well as in Brahms and other nineteenth century composers. Maybe it's easier to conduct a long line when moving one's arms about with that painfully imperfect instrument, the "baton," an instrument which is unfit for showing more than one motive per minute. We shouldn't let the limitations of the baton get in our way to "true" music making. We need to take a fresh look at how we play all music, not just Baroque music.

TJ: When you perform Bach, do you still think of musical lines, even if they are not flowing? With the kind of articulations you describe in your book, where there are lots of gaps between notes, it makes it more difficult to sense a connected musical line.

AB: I don't agree at all. I think people can sense the line just fine. I want to make sure that I don't lace things together that are meant to be separate. I don't want to mash the notes together. Fortunately, I have the text on my side, with the articulations clearly marked.

TJ: You assert that slurs have become more of a necessary evil than a way of expression. You lament that we want more tone, more singing, and therefore speak less with our instruments. What's wrong with singing?

AB: There's nothing wrong with singing, but I can't stand the modern way of opera singing, where you cannot understand the words. The modern way is more bellowing than singing. I hate bellowing, since it all sounds the same after awhile. Modern string players also bellow too much.

I simply don't buy the argument that we string players must sing more because we have to play in bigger halls. In a well-designed hall, you can play with much nuance, and the audience will hear it clearly. We need to stop making excuses for insensitive playing. The music must come first!

Bach's music is about counterpoint. You destroy the sense of counterpoint when you take the various voices and squash them into a single line. Without counterpoint, the genius of Bach is buried.

Of course, there are many ways to play Bach. I would hate it if everybody played exactly like me.


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## larold (Jul 20, 2017)

I always enjoyed his work and he is represented well in my collection. I especially liked his contributions to one of my favorite Beethoven albums -- that has never had a commercial release on CD though Haydn House will burn you a copy:


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## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

Mandryka said:


> It's the classical conception of late c19 music which I find slightly shocking, and not in a good way, in the Dvorak op 77 double bass quintet for example.
> 
> Did he record any early music, or was he too much committed to cello to try earlier instruments? Is there any Frescobaldi? Or c20 music? (Ravel - I can imagine he would be good in Ravel.)


He has made an excellent recording of Messiaen's Quatuor pour le fin du temps.


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## Larkenfield (Jun 5, 2017)




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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Larkenfield said:


>


Good job, this is what this thread was missing. It's sounding splendid from the get go!


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## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

Captainnumber36 said:


> Good job, this is what this thread was missing. It's sounding splendid from the get go!







Such an excellent cellist...


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