Feb 5

Feb 5 Quer Bach, volumes 2 & 3

The second and third installments of SLIXS’ album Quer Bach presents some of the cantor’s best hits realized in an affective acappella style. Not quite the same style as the Swingle Singers, the similarity is strong enough to still make a fair comparison. The ensemble takes a less jazzy approach but does apply their own unique combination of syllabic sounds to give texture to their voices.

Whereas the Swingle Singers made jazzy sounds with swing and imitated cymbals, the effect here is more pure. The sound quality is quite excellent. The bass voices come across strong (perhaps more strong than in real life) and the effect is quite attractive.

Pieces the group tackles includes concerto movements, the Goldberg Variations, fugues, instrumental dances, and in 3rd installment, the concerto BWV 596, complete with the organ part performed by Michael Schönheit.

When the Netherlands Bach group this past year recorded the Art of Fugue (BWV 1080) and used voices I didn’t like the effect. However SLIXS’ rendition of the first fugue here is a delight. These two albums have consumed by weekend and have painted too many smiles on my face. Their musicianmanship, craft in arrangements, and intonation are world class.

This album wouldn’t need to be this perfect to help amplify the understanding that Bach’s music is so universal and affective, but the fact that they perform it all with sensitivity and flair just promotes that idea further. For those familiar with each of these pieces the performances are a special delight, we get to hear them all again as if they were brand new, but yet familiar. It’s this familiarity and the novel approach, I think, that force us to pause and take stock of what this music is and why it’s so profound.

Any album that forces us to do that is worth exploring. This will be a special treat to those who like vocal music, especially that with a contemporary aesthetic. SLIXS is first-rate.