David Dalle
Thursday November 20th, 2025 with David Dalle
Musical bookends, with NEW Bach and Abdullah Ibrahim; Cheikh Lo's first album in a decade and more!
Today I have the wonderful opportunity to present new music by Johann Sebastien Bach! Two anonymous, undated works for organ were found in the Belgium Royal Library in 1992. Peter Wollny, the directory of the Bach Archive in Leipzig has spent 30 years trying to identify these works. He finally amassed enough independent evidence to state with 99.99% certainty that Bach composed these two works, and the existing scores were written down by one of his organ students, Salomon Günther John, in 1705. These two pieces are chaconnes, a set of variations over a short bass line. Aside from these, Bach only wrote one chaconne, his famous chaconne in d minor from his 2nd solo violin partita. So now we have two additional chaconnes from Bach! Organist, conductor, and founder of the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and Choir, Ton Koopman, gave the world premiere of these two pieces in Bach's St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, where Bach is buried, and where I spent a lot of time visiting during my 2023 visit to Leipzig (and hearing Bach organ works and cantatas performed). We will bookend the first set of music today with the two new additions to the Bach catalogue, chaconne in d minor BWV 1178 and chaconne in g minor BWV 1179!
| Chaconne in d minor BWV 1178 Johann Sebastien Bach/Ton Koopman - Single - Bach Archive 
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| Grana Od Bora Sissoko, Segal, Parisien, Peirani - Sou Kora - No Format |
| Jikko Cheikh Lo - Maame - World Circuit
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| Kayhan Kalhor and Erdal Erzincan started collaborating nearly 20 years ago, they are performing together this Saturday evening in Montreal. The concert sold out quickly, but I ended up being able to grab a ticket! This will make only the fourth time in nearly 28 years I have seen Kayhan live, and first time with Erdal! Hosted by the Centre des musiciens du monde, which runs superb and frequent programming as well as classes.
https://centredesmusiciensdumonde.com/notre-calendrier/ |
| Alli Turnam Kayhan Kalhor & Erdal Erzincan - Kula Kulluk Yakisir Mi - ECM |
| And with Bach's chaconnes in his catalogue increasing from one to three, I have to play the famous chaconne in d minor from the 2nd partita! One of Bach's most grand and profound instrumental structures, we will hear the transcription for piano by Ferruccio Busoni. He had the sound of Bach's organ in his mind, greatly thickening the texture and density of the music. Brahms wrote of the chaconne: "On one stave, for a small instrument, the man writes a whole world of the deepest thoughts and most powerful feelings. If I imagined that I could have created, even conceived the piece, I am quite certain that the excess of excitement and earth-shattering experience would have driven me out of my mind." We hear one of the most powerful recordings, a live recording from Carnegie Hall by Jorge Bolet in 1974. |
| Chaconne in d minor Johann Sebastien Bach-Ferrucio Busoni/Jorge Bolet - Great Pianists of the 20th Century vol. 10 - Philips |
| Gol Nishan Kayhan Kalhor & Erdal Erzincan - Kula Kulluk Yakisir Mi - ECM |
| Bamba Moofi Djouli Guedj Cheikh Lo - Maame - World Circuit
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| Camino Sissoko, Segal, Parisien, Peirani - Sou Kora - ECM |
| Chaconne in g minor BWV 1179 Johann Sebastien Bach/Ton Koopman - Single - Bach Archive
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| For the second half of the show, we are going to hear a live album from Abdullah Ibrahim. I initially planned on playing just the first side of this album when I first listened to it, but then on listening to side B, I found Abdullah Ibrahim, a musician after my own heart, bookended this set! Recorded at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1980, it begins and ends with the piece Thabo Bisago. This is an extraordinary, joyful performance. He is joined by South African singer Johnny Classens, Americans, drummer Don Mumford, bassist Essiet Okun Essiet, and Carlos Ward on alto and flute. Abdullah Ibrahim plays soprano sax and occasionally sings as well as play the piano of course. Wonderful album! |
| Thaba Bosigo Abdullah Ibrahim - South Africa - Enja |
| Siya Hamba Namhlanje Abdullah Ibrahim - South Africa - Enja |
| Iza-Ne Zembe Gawuale Abdullah Ibrahim - South Africa - Enja |
| Black and Brown Cherries Abdullah Ibrahim - South Africa - Enja |
| Our Loving Family Abdullah Ibrahim - South Africa - Enja |
| Elsie's River Abdullah Ibrahim - South Africa - Enja |
| Pancakes Abdullah Ibrahim - South Africa - Enja |
| Capetown Carnival Abdullah Ibrahim - South Africa - Enja |
| Thaba Bosigo Abdullah Ibrahim - South Africa - Enja |
| I attended Brel! Le Spectacle at the NAC this past Sunday with my mother. With Belgian singer Olivier Laurent doing a brilliant and uncanny impersonation of Jacques Brel. The four musicians with him were terrific too. I was really impressed! |
| Amsterdam Jacques Brel - Jacques Brel - Universal |
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2:12 PM, November 20th, 2025