Cellist Anja Lechner's New Album, "Bach, Abel, Hume"

Released on ECM Records, the disc explores works for solo cello across the centuries

Anja Lechner, cellist of the Rosamunde Quartett, has recently released her newest album on the ECM Records label. The disc is the latest of more than twenty albums that Lechner has created for ECM.

At the crux of the disc are J. S. Bach's first two suites for solo cello. Lechner juxtaposes these beloved works with lesser-known pieces, originally written for viola da gamba. The Scottish composer Tobias Hume's work The First Part of Ayres (1605) is a series of miniatures, each depicting a mood or idea — with movements including “A Question”, “An Answer”, and “Harke Harke”.

Lechner then jumps forward 150 years to works by the German galant composer Carl Friedrich Abel, who was also a prominent gambist of the era. His Arpeggio and Adagio are expressive, intense works that convey his skill on the instrument, as well as his intimate familiarity with its technique.

A past student of Heinrich Schiff and János Starker, Anja Lechner spent 18 years appearing with the Rosamunde Quartett, from its founding until its dissolution in 2009. She regularly appears as a soloist with leading orchestras, as a chamber musician, and as a participant in diverse projects across creative genres.

A number of composers have written works especially for her, including Tigran Mansurian, Valentin Silvestrov, Tõnu Kõrvits, Hooshyar Khayam, Zad Moultaka, and Dino Saluzzi.

You can listen to the new album here.