The Bach Variations, Windham Hill's follow-up to its successful sampler The Impressionists, features Windham Hill artists performing fourteen of Bach's most memorable compositions. It is being released just in time for the Christmas season when Bach's compositions are often considered seasonal favorites.
In this recording, some of the most diverse artists from the Windham Hill roster present their own adaptations, arrangements, or "straight" performances of the elastic and enduring music of Bach. The Bach Variations presents everything from simple transcriptions, to freely adapted extensions of Bach melodies. The secret to this recording is that no matter what the instrumentation, the performances are faithful to the spirit of the Bach Original.
In a sense, Bach is the ultimate "crossover" artist; to an extent unparalleled anywhere, his work has continued through the years to inspire musicans of every stripe. The work of this German Baroque composer can't be confined by geography, or by a period of history, or even by the boundaries of "classical music". Bach's music has become a kind of universal musical inheritance, still vibrant and alive almost 300 years after it was written. During his lifetime, J.S. Bach was a famed improviser and transcriber, and that's perhaps the reason why so many musicians have improvised upon or transcribed his music.
