Sydney Symphony Orchestra's video: Timothy Constable plays Bach s Sarabande

Our percussionist, Timothy Constable’s plays Bach’s Sarabande on the marimba as a piece he’s finding uplifting right now. "This piece is very special to me. I first learnt it with my late professor Anders Loguin in Stockholm, now some time ago. I’m pretty sure it was his favourite piece. Bach was not immune to the lure of the exotic. The Sarabande originated in the Spanish colonies in South America. I always try to ground these Partita movements in their dance origins, and for me it’s in the mix of Bach’s restrained poise, and the seductively passionate rhythms and chords of these dances that some wonderful magic happens. I’ve also found beautiful coincidences with the rhythmic vocabulary of traditional Korean shaman music, in which I’ve been emerged more recently. My Korean teacher also tragically passed recently, so between that and the general sadness among humans just now, I hope this seems an apt and uplifting moment in everyone’s day." – Percussionist Timothy Constable