When Covid-19 hit the UK in March 2020 all of our live concerts were understandably cancelled. Practising pieces with no prospect of a live performance became quite depressing. I set up my small music room as a mini recording studio and was fortunate enough to keep doing the odd TV score, pop track or advert. However, there were still weeks on end with no work.

I very quickly missed playing music with my friends and colleagues and began to worry about how difficult it would be to get back into playing again once we were allowed to return to work. I realised that I could utilise my recording equipment to keep my chamber music skills ticking along by recording Bach chorales. These hymn tunes were written for four-part choirs (Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass) and formed the core of Bach’s cantatas. By recording each part one-by-one and layering the parts on top of each other I could create the full four-part harmony on my cello and practising playing along with the other parts to keep my listening, tuning and rhythmic skills to a high level.

I found that I really enjoyed this beautiful music but that I was being super critical of my own playing, leading to hours spent trying to get the perfect take. To mimic life in a real recording studio I decided to set strict time limits and challenged myself to learn, record, edit and mix each chorale in just a couple of hours, uploading them on to YouTube every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

As we began to emerge from the strict lockdown I was fortunate enough to start going back into the studio to record for other people again. I still want to keep recording the Bach Chorales and intend to record all 371 over the next few years. Please consider making a purchase and keep checking back here and my YouTube channel for the latest releases.

If you would like to use these recordings please get in touch using the Contact page.