Shifting Ground
Shifting Ground weaves together pieces for solo violin and violin/electronics by J.S. Bach and composers of other eras to form a program with dramatic arc, flow, and scope. Bach’s music is a perfect fusion of technical mastery and innovation, but it’s his ability to transcend technique and access the spiritual and mystical realm that has inspired this program, which is played in five acts.
Alongside existing works by Rafiq Bhatia, Matthew Burtner, Mario Davidovsky, Nicola Matteis, Kaija Saariaho, and Paul Wiancko, Alexi has commissioned two new works for this project by composers Salina Fisher and Angélica Negrón. Shifting Ground premiered in Spring 2023 at Princeton University Concerts, Cal Performances Berkeley, Boston’s Celebrity Series, and the Phillips Collection, and debuts in a new collaboration with new media artist Xuan at the Baryshnikov Arts Center and Ojai Festival in 2024.
The title Shifting Ground is a reference to the heart of all Baroque music—the ground bass—upon which variations are built, and whose omnipresence in music symbolizes Bach’s enduring legacy.
The album version of Shifting Ground is out now. Listen here.
Program
RAFIQ BHATIA Descent (2021)
J.S. BACH Allemande from Violin Partita No. 2 in D minor BWV 1004 (1720)
PAUL WIANCKO Allemande from X Suite (2019)
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ANGÉLICA NEGRÓN The Violinist for violin and electronics, story by Ana Fabrega (2023)
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J.S. BACH Grave from Violin Sonata No. 2 in A minor, BWV 1003 (1720)
NICOLA MATTEIS Alia Fantasia (c. 1700)
KAIJA SAARIAHO Nocturne for solo violin (1994)
SALINA FISHER Hikari for solo violin (2023)
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MARIO DAVIDOVSKY Synchronisms No. 9 for violin and tape (1988)
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MATTHEW BURTNER Elegy (Muir Glacier 1889-2009) for violin and glacier sonification (2017/2020)
J.S. BACH Chaconne from Violin Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004 (1720)
“Kenney seems to view — and, more impressively, convey — the sonatas and partitas not at the level of measures or phrases, but entire movements. Yet at no point does his interpretation draw attention to itself.”
“To every Bach offering, Kenney . . . brought piercing insight and a masterful sense of voicing. Vertically, horizontally, altogether: the music cohered and shone in every direction.”