Remembering Anner Bylsma (1934 – 2019)
With heavy hearts we share the loss of Dutch cellist, Anner Bylsma. His presence and artistry have made an enormous impact, profoundly influencing the lives of generations of cellists. Over the course of his career, Bach played a significant role in Bylsma's life as reflected in his performances, writings, and the two sets of recordings of the complete Cello Suites he made in 1979 and 1992. In fact, his first recording was the first ever to be recorded on gut strings, achieving a significant stride in the period performance movement. Bylsma was a strong believer in the essential accuracy, and therefore sanctity, of the Anna Magdalena Bach manuscript of the Cello Suites. He accepted there were some mistakes but not that all performance indications were suspect and therefore optional. In [...]
