Episode 136: Hear the Dance: A Suite of Dances (Part 2)

In this second part of our Hear the Dance journey into Jerome Robbins' A Suite of Dances, Cellist Hannah Holman joins host Silas Farley to provide a deep-dive introduction to the Bach Cello Suites that provide the ballet's exquisite score. As Holman explains, the music is a seminal work for every cellist, with complex challenges and varied delights throughout—all of which are complicated and enriched when performed onstage with the work's solo dancer. (42:48)

Written by Silas Farley 
Edited by Emilie Silvestri

Music:
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D major (1931) by Igor Stravinsky
6 Suites for Solo Cello: Prelude & Gigue from Suite 1 in G major, BMV 1007 Sarabande from Suite V in C minor, BMV 1011 Prelude from VI in D major, BMV 1012 by Johann Sebastian Bach
Symphony No.4 in E Minor, op.98 (I. Allegro non troppo, II.Andante moderato, III. Allegro giocoso, IV. Allegro energico e passionato) by Johann Sebastian Bach
All music performed by the New York City Ballet Orchestra, Yo-Yo Ma and Herbert von Karajan

Reading List: 
Somewhere: The Life of Jerome Robbins by Amanda Vaill
Jerome Robbins, By Himself: Selections from His Letters, Journals, Drawings, Photographs, and an Unfinished Memoir Edited and with Commentary by Amanda Vaill
Misha: The Mikhail Baryshnikov Story by Barbara Aria
Illusions of Camelot: A Memoir by Peter Boal
Bach: Music in the Castle of Heaven by John Eliot Gardiner