Ossia features three works. Each and all are transcriptions. Thus Ossia, or alternate. Bach’s C minor suite will always mesmerize me. The work takes us on a dark journey through supremely powerful places. This version of J.S. Bach’s Suite No. 5 in C minor was transcribed by Laurence Lesser. I first heard a recording of the C minor suite played by Pablo Casals and was instantly hooked! The piece has been by my side through every stage of life. I remember studying the 5th suite with David Soyer like it was yesterday. As we journeyed through this massive piece together, Mr. Soyer told me Bach had also written another version of the C minor suite for lute. None of Bach’s original manuscripts for the cello suites have ever been found. However, there is an autograph manuscript, in Bach’s own hand, of the lute version of this suite! Out of curiosity I checked the lute version out of the library and discovered a plethora of vivid and abounding harmonies, Bach’s own ornamentation, as well as some big surprises along the way. Here was the same piece, but with some really interesting and exciting differences. I incorporated what I thought (at the time) to be some very cool additions-a handful of individual notes, some ornaments and chords, being careful not to “muss up” the cello version. Then, years later, Laurence Lesser serendipitously gave me a copy of his new transcription of the lute version of the suite for cello! The sheer number of harmonic and ornamental additions lifted from Bach’s own hand absolutely overwhelmed me! I was hooked all over again! Here are Mr. Lesser’s own words on his transcription: “Not only do we learn of sometimes quite unexpected harmonies [in the lute version, but] we also have precise examples of how [Bach] went about ornamentation. So, in order to share all this with the listener, I set about combining the two versions. My plan is straightforward: The Prelude incorporates as much lute detail as I could keep. And, since all the dance movements that follow are in repeated sections, I use the cello version as the first statement and the lute version as an ornamented reprise. My hope is that, even if others do not play this version, they will at least have a broader understanding of what might be implied in the relatively spare cello version. Interestingly, the sarabande is almost untouched, with the exception of a handful of harmonies that can only be termed revelatory.” Robert Schumann’s Cello Concerto in A minor is another timeless work. One characteristic that makes this concerto so special is the infinite number of expressive possibilities available at any given moment. Even the very opening melody offers a seemingly countless number of emotional options. The Schumann concerto is a piece that I have held close at heart for many years, experiencing the piece in so many different ways each time I have the chance to perform it. It is said that in a letter to his publisher, Schumann expressed interest in publishing a version of the concerto for cello and string quartet. The publisher declined to publish the string quartet version proposed by the composer. Fortunately for us, however, this version for cello solo and string quartet has been created by Anssi Karttunen, the well-known Finnish cellist. Performing this concerto with a string quartet has deepened my understanding of the work in many ways. The string quartet version offers the soloist an opportunity to converse more freely with the various accompanying voices. In the quartet version, the concerto at times takes on the quality of a string quintet, with all voices on similar musical and emotional footing. This is chamber music in its purest form. Playing this great piece with string quartet is a wonderful way to experience the sensitivity of Schumann in a new fashion. It seems to reveal Schumann’s spirit in special ways. I look forward to many years of playing this piece with orchestras and quartets alike. Wilhelm Fitzenhagen is best known as the cellist to whom Tchaikovsky dedicated the Rococo Variations. In addition to being one of the foremost virtuosos of his day, Fitzenhagen was also a composer. His suggestions to Tchaikovsky, for better or worse, were incorporated into what became the more widely-played version of the Rococo Variations. The Konzertwalzer Op. 31, one of the few of Fitzenhagen’s compositions which has survived, is scored for four cellos, with the first cellist given a virtuoso part. When performing the piece a few years back, I was struck by the thought of how nice it would be to have a version of this piece for cello and piano. When Ossia was conceived the Bach & Schumann were chosen as the two main events, but Fitzenhagen’s Konzertwalzer seemed like a nice way to end, so I created this version for cello and piano. Also, I couldn’t resist the urge to fiddle with Fitzenhagen’s music - after all, this was the man who felt it necessary to fiddle with Tchaikovsky’s music for cello. I hope you enjoy these fresh takes on two of the most profound and emotionally vivid works in the cello’s repertoire; as well as the delightful dessert! ~ Ben Capps Biography BEN CAPPS, CELLO Exciting young American cellist Benjamin Capps enjoys a versatile performing career as a soloist and chamber musician. His artistry has been praised as “most appealing” by the New York Times, “virtuosic and impassioned” by the Barre Montpelier Times, the Holland Times hailed Capps as a “young cello phenomenon from New York” with “dazzling technique and a fearsomely meaty tone”, and after a recent performance of the Elgar Concerto, the Epoch Times proclaimed that “Capps has it all . . . cello playing of the very highest standard.” He has performed at such prestigious venues as Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium, Weill and Zankel Halls, Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall, Alice Tully Hall, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C., Mann Hall in Tel Aviv, Meyerson Hall in Dallas, and the Auditorio Nacional, the Palace of Fine Arts and Sala Nezahualcoytl in Mexico City. He has appeared as soloist with the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas, the Manchester Music Festival Orchestra, Danbury Symphony Orchestra, the New York Concerti Sinfonietta, the Juilliard Pre-College Symphony, and the Manhattan School of Music Composer’s Orchestra. Recent performance highlights include a recital tour of China, a recital tour of the Midwest, a 10 concert recital tour of Vermont, performances in Greece’s Megaro Mousikis/Mitropoulos Hall and Parnasos Hall, and appearances in New York, Chicago, and Washington D.C.’s Dumbarton Series. In 2012 Mr. Capps recorded the complete Beethoven Cello Sonatas with musical commentary for Vermont Public Radio, with a performance of the set in one concert. In 2013 Mr. Capps recorded the Complete Sonatas of Mendelssohn & Brahms with musical commentaries for VPR with a series of performances of the complete sonatas. At age 21, Capps was appointed principal cellist of Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas, a dynamic New York based symphony orchestra founded by conductor Alondra de la Parra, whose highly regarded premier Sony Classics recording Mi Alma Mexicana attained platinum status. An avid chamber musician, he has been guest artist at the Manchester Music Festival, Burgos Int’l (Spain) and Summit Festivals, Kefalonia Music Festival, Burlington Ensemble Summer Festival, International Chamber Soloists, and has participated in the Bowdoin, the Perlman Music Program, the ChamberFest and FOCUS! Festivals in Lincoln Center. Mr. Capps has made numerous appearances on Manhattan’s Tactus Series, and has performed on Trinity Church’s Music at One series, as well as numerous appearances at Bargemusic. Capps is committed to presenting music of today’s composers and has premiered numerous new cello works, including Daniel Vezza Pulsations, Marcus Paus Cello Sonnets, Anna Klein Fits and Starts, Vezza Circles, Reiko Futing Kaddish, and Robert Karpay’s Cello Concerto. His premiere recording of Andrew Violette’s 72-minute work: Songs and Dances for unaccompanied cello on Innova Records was released in June 2010, Violette’s 45-minute Cello Sonata on Innova Records in 2012, and his recording of Anna Klein’s Fits and Starts (on Tzaddik) was selected as WQXR’s free download from the album of the week. A native of New York City, Ben Capps began playing the cello at age four, continuing at Juilliard Pre-College with Anne Alton and modern cello guru Fred Sherry. He received a Bachelor of Music degree from Manhattan School of Music in 2008, and was awarded a Master of Music Degree from Juilliard in May 2010, both under the guidance of the late David Soyer of the Guarneri Quartet, and recently earned a Graduate Diploma from the New England Conservatory with Laurence Lesser. He is the recipient of many awards, including the New York State Association of Music Teachers Scholarship Competition 1999; Juilliard Pre-College Symphony, Concerto Competition, 2001, the Lillian Fuchs Award, 2004, the Francis Goelet Scholarship, Juilliard 2008-2009, and the Irving Mulde Scholarship, Juilliard, 2009-10 and the Piatagorsky Scholorship, NEC, 2012-2014. Mr. Capps plays on a beautiful English cello made by William Forster II, in 1782. www.BenCapps.com