Johann Sebastian Bach:
Partita in B-flat Major, BWV 825
Notebooks for Anna Magdalena Bach:
No. 5 Menuet
No. 7 Menuet
No. 22 Musette
No. 18 Marche
No. 19 Polonaise
Prelude and Fugue in C-sharp Minor, BWV 849

Felix Mendelssohn:
Lieder ohne Worte Op. 30, No. 2 in B-flat Minor
Lieder ohne Worte Op. 67, No. 3 in B-flat Major
Lieder ohne Worte Op. 30, No. 5 D Major
6 Gesänge, Op. 19a - Neue Liebe
6 Lieder, Op. 71 - Nachtlied
Lieder ohne Worte Op. 102, No. 5 in A Major

Michael Gees: How can a musical idea develop over and above what has been written down? What would Bach have thought about Mendelssohn? What would have happened had they been able to encourage each other to extemporise on their compositions? It is considerations such as these that lead me to explore the music of Johann Sebastian Bach and Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy by way of adaptational improvisations. In this context, I want to mention the term historical performance practice. Once upon a time – long before the invention of jazz – it was desired of, and common for, performers to treat the prescribed material creatively, improvising on the works in front of them, not only playing them, but also playing with them.

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Recorded at Kammermusikstudio SWR, Stuttgart, Germany, 16-18 November 2016