Johann Sebastian Bach sought not to invent the musical rules of the universe, but to uncover them. His work remains uniquely transcendent, wise and childlike. Here he appears in transfigured light, with both sacred and secular works recast for piano trio by the British-Argentine musical polymath Fred Thomas. On Three Or One, Thomas’s 2021 ECM New Series release featuring Aisha Orazbayeva and Lucy Railton, the focus fell on Bach’s chorale preludes — works conceived for his “mother tongue,” the organ. The Orgelbüchlein (Little Organ Book) stands simultaneously as a compositional treatise, pedagogical method, liturgical collection and theological testament. Brimming with rhetoric and characterisation, these are amongst the composer’s most radical creations. With unparalleled technical ingenuity and emotional force, Bach sets the upright simplicity of Lutheran hymns within labyrinthine structures of inexhaustible fantasy.
Three Or One was hailed as “mesmerizing” (BBC Music Magazine), praised for its “magnificent sonorities” (France Musique), and described as “immaculately conceived” (Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk). All Music remarked that it felt “very much like nothing anyone has heard before,” while Stereophile observed that “Thomas has shown himself to be both fearless and deferential in his interpretations.” Wolfgang Sandner of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung wrote: “There is something purifying about their simple beauty.”
For the trio’s second program, Thomas is joined by violinist Lena Neudauer and cellist Anja Lechner. Neudauer, whose repertoire stretches from Baroque to contemporary, plays with radiant tonal focus and a restless stylistic intelligence, lending both structural clarity and expressive freedom to the musical dialogue. Lechner, long associated with ECM and shaped by her collaborations across early, contemporary and improvised traditions, brings a rare inward gravity to the ensemble, her burnished sound both anchor and singing voice.
Together they explore the breadth of Bach’s stylistic universe, drawing on cantatas, dance suites, solo string works, the Goldberg Variations and The Well-Tempered Clavier. The results are transformative. These transcriptions gently unsettle conventional expectations of the piano trio, revealing instead the luminous clarity and inward joy inherent in the works. In the trio’s performances, the music remains wholly itself, yet freed from the provincial boundaries of time and place, leaving the sense that Bach fathoms and encircles everything.
Lena Neudauer – violin
Anja Lechner – cello
Fred Thomas – piano & musical direction
Three or One is an ECM New Series release.
Executive producer: Manfred Eicher
Transcriptions by Fred Thomas, published by Edition Wilhelm Hansen and available to buy here.
Video playlist of Fred Thomas discussing ‘Three or One’:
“Mesmerizing…utterly beguiles…an illuminating if idiosyncratic Bachian” BBC Music Magazine
“Lyrical and haunting….very much like nothing anyone has heard before” All Music
“Let this programme sink in over several hearings and the music will quietly insinuate itself into your next playlist” Gramophone
“One of the most transportive albums of the year” Between Sound and Space
“A Bach record to be remembered” RTBF Belgium
“Fred Thomas is an astonishingly fine musician…highly effective, and deeply affecting” The Arts Desk
“Magnificent sonorities and meticulous transcriptions from Fred Thomas” France Musique
“Fred Thomas transfigures the master…interpreted with nuance and extreme sensitivity” FIP Radio
“There is something purifying about their simple beauty. With historical performance knowledge, musical sensitivity, while paying attention to the theological content, he carefully reorganized them with a multitude of different compositional techniques…subtly executed interpretations…stimulating transcriptions” Wolfgang Sandner, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
“Thomas’ ECM debut sees him elegantly arrange and reinvent a series of Bach sinfonias, vocal cantata and organ preludes” The Guardian
“Immaculately conceived” Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk
“Wonderfully musical, sensitively communicative” Fono Forum
“Those led by their emotional response will be touched by Bach’s calm and grace. Church music becomes chamber music” Stern
“Magnificently performed…Thomas manages to play Bach perfectly, or better still intimately…lively, current, eclectic, contemporary…A precious recording” Giornale della Musica
“Be prepared for something different from what you can possibly imagine” Yellow Box
“This is a beautiful album that is flawless in its conception and execution and plunges the listener into Bach’s world with a fresh perspective and set of ears. Essential listening” JazzViews
“Thomas has shown himself to be both fearless and deferential in his interpretations. He remains faithful to the source, radical in execution but beholden to the intention…an easy, joyful listen” Stereophile *****
“Thomas’s solo flights are memorable…the three engage deeply with Bach’s material and execute it with the majesty, respect, and affection it deserves. The impression ultimately left is of musicians luxuriating in the splendour of the magnificent material they’re playing and savouring every moment of their real-time interactions” Textura
