BRUCH’S KOL NIDREI OP.47

Amanda Forsyth talks about finding inspiration from a Jewish cantor to help her play emotional slides and singing phrases

Bruch Kol nidrei op.47. Urtext edition, paperbound with marked and unmarked string parts. Ed. Annette Oppermann. Pf reduction Johannes Umbreit. Vc fingering and bowing Christian Poltéra. Order no. HN1145, ISMN 979-0-2018-1145-1. €10. Printed with permission of G. Henle Verlag, Munich © 2019

Ifirst studied this beautiful piece with William Pleeth when I lived in London as a teenager, and I performed it very often as a student. At that time my dad – a composer and trombonist, but also an amateur pianist – had rented an upright piano for our flat, so that he could accompany me. His sustaining pedal didn’t work but when we played Kol nidrei together he insisted on doing the whole introduction anyway, so that all the long notes from the string parts sounded short and plucked! Even today I remember that sound every time the orchestra begins.

In concert I like to pair this piece with two others: Bruch’s Adagio on Celtic Themes op.56 and also his Canzone op.55. Kol nidrei in particular gives me floods of goosebumps all over my body when I play it, and it has often brought me to the brink of tears.

Inspired by a cantor

Bruch based this piece on the Kol nidrei sung by a cantor in synagogues before the main service begins on every Jewish festival of Yom Kippur (bit.ly/3MzQ9xn). When I was younger I played it in many churches and synagogues, although I am not Jewish myself, but only when I was living in Ottawa later in my life did I decide to go to a synagogue on Yom Kippur to hear how a Kol nidrei should really sound. The cantor sang it in a way that was guttural and heart-wrenching, and he used expressive slides that are so important to remember in this music. Now I think about that sound whenever I play this piece.

Approach to slides

There are so many ways you could approach slides here. I like to play them all over the place, in an old-fashioned romantic style, sometimes concealing one with my bow, then digging into the string to bring out another, moving slowly or quickly, lightly or MATT DINE heavily, very often on one finger. I definitely don’t like a square finger-by-finger approach, because that isn’t vocal at all. It’s quite obvious if someone hasn’t thought about the voice from the way they play.

CHERYL MAZAK

THE SOLOIST

NAME AMANDA FORSYTH

NATIONALITY CANADIAN

STUDIED WITH WILLIAM PLEETH, HARVEY SHAPIRO, LYNN HARRELL

RECORDS FOR ANALEKTA

‘The cantor sang in a way that was guttural and heart-wrenching, and he used expressive slides that are so important to remember in this music’

For Forsyth’s latest news and performances, visit www.amandaforsyth.com

A strong, singing opening

To bring out a vocal quality at the beginning of the piece, I slide lightly down to an open string for the first A of bar 10, like a sigh. I then switch to the D string for the second A so that I can slide up to the C, and in bar 11 I slide from the C sharp to the D, without ever stopping my vibrato. That’s three slides in two bars, just as the cantor sings it, with so much expression between the notes.

This opening material should not be too free, either here or when it repeats in a different octave from bar 13. Up until the end of bar 16 Bruch is making a strong introductory statement that does not need any real variation outside what is already written. It’s too soon for echoes – we’re not ready for that until after the declamatory fanfare of bars 21–24, in the piano from bar 25.

Improvisation and air

The passage from bar 31 is, to me, like music coming from the heavens, with a misty, far-away feeling that is high, airy, breezy and free. I think of the sky as the music builds and opens up into bar 39, where I do a huge, sighing slide down on the octave C.

I play a fermata on the first note of bar 54, before leading into the cadenza that follows. This can have a really improvised feel. I could tell you nine different ways to play that bar, depending on which note you wanted to lean on! It can be very rhapsodic. From bar 59 the music becomes angelic, pure and almost hymn-like, full of sunshine.

Building tension

For the vocal passage from bar 91, I hold the G in bar 92 for its full length, to keep a feeling of tension. If I’m working with a conductor who I can trust to wait for me, I hold on to the final A of the ad lib in bar 95 even more, because it’s just so special.

INTERVIEW BY PAULINE HARDING

William Pleeth taught me to practise three fingerings for every passage, so that I could choose whichever one I wanted in performance

From bar 96 the music becomes super clean and smooth. I ignore Bruch’s a tempo because I prefer to play more slowly here, to draw the audience into a vortex of energy and tension. In bar 97 I add a huge diminuendo, with maximum vibrato and a pianissimo bow.

Highs and lows

Imagine a soprano singing as you shift up the octave in bar 101. It’s a long slide, so you have to decide whether to move the left hand on the old bow or the new bow, on the old finger or the new finger, and whether to hide the slide or bring it out. Whatever you choose, avoid adding an extra note mid-shift, because that will ruin the fluidity. I like to slide on the new bow, so that I can hear where I’m going, especially if I’m tense for any reason! But I might vary what I do, depending on my emotions. I then slide down to the B on the next bow.

From bar 105 Bruch uses the lower registers of the cello for the first time in the whole piece. Enjoy the sound of the C string here. I am particularly fond of mine, so I like to linger on this note. You can do so much to draw out the different ambience of the lower strings.

My general approach

Every time I play this piece I do it in a slightly different way, with varied fingerings and dynamics. I particularly love to use open strings and harmonics. As a kid I always felt as though I would get in trouble for not playing ‘properly’ if I played an open string, but to me open strings are the most beautiful things that there are. Even a false harmonic can be beautiful, if you treat it the right way with the bow. Pleeth always taught me to practise three different fingerings for every passage, so that I could choose whichever one I wanted to play in performance depending on how I felt in the moment. That is something that I still do to this day. It allows me to try something new each time I perform, depending on the hall and on how intimate I feel when I play. That has been very important to me when performing this piece.