2

CD 1
Johannes Brahms: Sonata No. 1 in E Minor for piano and cello, Op. 38
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15:27
e I. Allegro non troppo
05:21
2 II. Allegretto quasi menuetto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 06:27
g III. Allegro
Johannes Brahms: Sonata No. 2 in F Major for piano and cello, Op. 99
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 08:28
i I. Allegro vivace
07:14
5 II. Adagio affettuoso . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
06:53
6 III. Allegro passionato. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
04:32
l IV. Allegro molt0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
TOTAL TIME: 54:22
CD 2
Benjamin Britten: Cello Suite No. 3, Op. 87
02:28
e Introduzione: Lento . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01:48
2 Marcia: Allegro
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01:26
3 Canto: Con Moto
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01:54
4 Barcarolla: Lento
02:06
5 Dialogo: Allegretto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
02:53
6 Fuga: Andante espressivo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01:20
7 Recitativo: Fantastico
00:56
8 Moto perpetuo: Presto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11:31
n Passacaglia: Lento solenne
02:41
o Traditional/Shaw: A Brit in Denmark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
04:21
r Ernst Bloch/Shaw: ( Prayer). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(Persian Sam). . . . . . . . . . . . 06:43
s Thophile De Wallensbourg:
03:22
t Traditional/Shaw-Casals: El Cant dels Ocells (Song of the Birds) . . . . . .
07:16
u Wang Liping/Henderson: (Song of the Burial of Flowers) . . . . . .
TOTAL TIME: 50:45

CD 1 Recording and mixing: Bernhard Hanke

CD 2 Recording engineer Tracks e-9: Andrej Kocan
CD 2 Recording engineer Tracks o-u: Marc Casanovas
CD 2 ARTISTIC ASSISTANTS TRACKS e-9: JAN FLESSEL AND ESTERA RAJNICKA
CD 2 Mixing engineer: Marc Casanovas / NorCat Lyd
Music production: Jacob Shaw, Marc Casanovas / NorCat Lyd
Executive Producers: Glen Roven, Ira Yuspeh, Mitch Yuspeh
Mastered by: Ira Yuspeh for M & I Recording
Photos: Nikolaj Lund
Photo of Jos Gallardo: Nikolas Hagele
Design: KILMULIS design

Jacob Shaw (cello), Jos Gallardo (piano),

Zhang Meng (guqin), Cui Ying (pipa), Yang Xinyue
(guzheng), Wang Shamei (yangqin), Yan Yan (erhu)
Piano: Steinway model D (Hermes&Weger Augsburg//Helmut Trndle)
Celli: Paolo Antonio Testore on loan from the Royal Danish Academy of
Music and a cello made for Jacob in 2007 by Patrick Robin
Bows: Albert Nrnberger on kind loan from Morten Zeuthen and a bow
made for Jacob in 2003 by Stphane Tomachot
Recorded between 2009 - 2015 in Augsburg and Copenhagen.
RR90015 RR Roven Records 2015.
www.rovenrecords.com
All rights reserved.
Made in the UK.

This debut project has taken almost 6 years,

from the first note recorded in June 2009 until
the last, in March 2015. The different pieces
were recorded at 2 year intervals. Between
recordings I was influenced by other different
artists, places, and personal experiences. This
had a huge effect on my musical development and
listening back, I can literally map these changes
through the variances both in my playing and
choices of repertoire.
In 2009 I won the competition held by the
foundation of the Banque Populaire in France.
The prize and their support enabled me to record
the Brahms sonatas. The date of the recordings
coincided with my master-studies at the Leopold
Mozart Zentrum (Augsburg University); therefore
the Augsburg University concert hall with such a
wonderful natural acoustic and Steinway concert
grand was selected for the recording.
Via my former professor and mentor, Julius
Berger, I met the wonderful pianist Jos Gallardo
in the mid 2000s and I knew as soon as I heard
him that there was no one else I would dream of
recording the Brahms sonatas with. He brings
magic to the piano, his colours and sensitivity

are unique. There are so many things I could write about the Brahms sonatas : The first sonata and its
homage to Bach D ie Kunst der Fuge, the second written for friend and cellist Robert Hausmann (cellist
of the Joachim quartet), and so on and so forth. Most of these things (if not all) have been written down
and explained over and over. So instead I will answer a question:Why have I chosen to record perhaps
some of the most well known repertoire for cello in my first ever commercial recording? The answer is
simple. I love his music. Passion, drama, love, fragility, beauty. I hear and feel in his music all aspects
of life.
The Third Suite for Solo Cello by Benjamin Britten (CD 2, e-n) is based on three Russian songs from
Tchaikovskys volumes of arrangements along with Kontakion (Hymn for the Departed). This suite is
Brittens final work for the cello. As with his other works for cello, it was written for the great Russian
cellist Mstislav Rostropovich in 1971. It is often said that when a person nears death their life plays out
backwards, flashing in front of their eyes for just a split second. Similarly, the form of this piece appears
backwards, with nine movements containing variations on themes that appear only in the coda at the end
of the suite. Furthermore, I cannot help but draw parallels between the form of this piece and the personal
struggle undertaken by Rostropovich in the USSR during the early 1970s. His friendship and sheltering of
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn coupled with his support for dissidents led to official disgrace and eventual exile.
Britten quotes the G major prelude of Bach (CD 2, i) and throughout the suite intertwines variations on
Russian songs, before ending almost 30 minutes of heart wrenching passion and beauty with Hymn for the
Departed (CD 2, n). I believe this demonstrates a strong show of support for Rostropovich during such a
delicate political and humanistic struggle.
A Brit in Denmark (CD 2, o) is a combination of two traditional melodies: the first, from the Danish island
of r and the second, a Scottish fiddle tune. Following my relocation to Denmark in 2012 I have become
interested in Scandinavian folk music, which has captured my imagination. It felt only natural to merge the
wonderful fiddle culture I experienced during trips to Scotland with a beautiful Danish melody and form
this piece.

Aged 17 I moved to Paris, to study. It was here that I met my great friend Theophile de Wallensbourg
who introduced me to a new world of art, culture, music and Parisian life. I have since performed several
of his works.
(Persian Sam) (CD 2, s) is dedicated to me and inspired by Persian music and the
Kamancheh (4 stringed instrument).
One of the great classical Chinese novels A Dream in Red Mansions was written by Xueqin Cao in 1784.
In the 1980s this book was adapted for Chinese television and became one of Chinas most celebrated
television dramas. Song of the Burial of Flowers (CD 2, u), written by Chinese composer Liping Wang,
is the theme tune to this drama and is sung by the beautiful, young heroine Daiyu Lin. In 2013 I premiered
the cello concerto On the Beach with Alice in Bejing, written by British composer Philip Henderson. In
2015, Philip kindly agreed to arrange Song of the Burial of Flowers for me to play together with a group
of traditional Chinese musicians visiting Copenhagen. It gives me great pleasure to include Song of the
Burial of Flowers as the last track of my release.
The most important thing I have learnt in the 6 years, between my first ever recording (the passion of
Brahms op.99) and my last (the simple beauty of the Catalonian folk tune, El cant dels ocells), is the
irreplaceable significance of music to my life. As Nietzsche so eloquently wrote Ohne Musik wre das
Leben ein Irrtum. (Without music, life would be a mistake). I hope that you get as much pleasure listening
to this recording as I have had creating, constructing and realising each element of it.
With my warmest wishes,

2009620153

2009
Foundation of the Banque
Populaire

Julius Berger2000
Jos Gallardo

Robert Hausmann

CD2e-n

1971

2070
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
G
CD2i30
CD2n

CD2oAero
2012

10

17Theophile
de
Wallensbourg
Persian SamaCD2s
Kamancheh
17842080
CD2u
2013
Philip Henderson
On the Beach with Alice2015

99El
cant
dels ocells

Jacob

11

12

Jacob Shaw

Award winning British cellist

was born in London in 1988. After studies at the
Yehudi Menuhin School, he moved to Paris where at 19 years old he became the youngest ever cellist to
graduate with highest honours from the cole Normale de Musique in Paris.
With a vast repertoire and fresh approach to classical concerts, Jacob established Radical Classic as
an alternative movement to build a diverse and new generation of classical music lovers. His passion
for collaborating with different cultures and musical genres has led to projects with indie, jazz, folk,
traditional and electronic musicians.
In 2008, together with his family, Jacob founded the Festival International de Musique de Chambre en
Charente in France (www.chalaismusique.com).
A dedicated teacher, his students have won national and international competitions and he frequently
holds classes and workshops in music schools and universities. In 2013 Jacob was appointed International
Music Ambassador for Dulwich College International (Asia).
Jacob Shaw is based in Copenhagen, Denmark. Further information available at www.jacobshaw.de

13

Jos Gallardo

Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

began at the age of five with piano
lessons, first in Buenos Aires at the Conservatory. Later he continued his studies with Prof. Poldi Mildner at
the Department of Music, University of Mainz and received his diploma. During this time he discovered his
passion for chamber music.
He was musically inspired by artists as Menahem Pressler, Alfonso Montecino, Karl-Heinz Kammerling,
Sergiu Celibidache, Rosalyn Tureck and Bernard Greenhouse.

14

Jose Gallardo has won numerous national and international awards. Invitations to numerous tours and
festivals followed, including the Chamber Music Festival Lockenhaus, Verbier Festival, Lucerne Festival,
Chopin and his Europe Warsaw, Ludwigsburg Castle Festival, Schwetzingen Festival, Schleswig Holstein,
the Kronberg Cello Festival, Cork Music Festival, Musiktage Hitzacker, Kaposfest Hungary and the Rheingau
Music Festival.

A busy concert and chamber music Cooperation in Europe, Asia, Israel, Oceania and South America connects
him among others with Gidon Kremer, Barnabs Kelemen, Linus Roth, Benjamin Schmid, Carolin Widmann,
Alina Ibragimova, Dmitry Sitkovetski, Nils Mnkemeyer, Andreas Ottensammer, Nicolas Altstaedt, Mikls
Pernyi, Maximilian Hornung.
Recordings for EMI, Hnssler, Challenge Records Int., Oehms Classics, Neon, Genuin, Warner and Naxos as
well as television and radio productions in BR, SWR, MDR, BBC, RAI, etc.
From 1998 to 2008 he was a lecturer at the Department of Music, University of Mainz, since the fall of 2008
he taught at Leopold Mozart Centre, University of Augsburg.
Since 2013 he became, together with Andreas Ottensamer, artistic director of the chamber music festival
Brgenstock Festival in Lucerne.

The Music Confucius Institute (MCI) was established in 2012

between the Central Conservatory of Music (CCOM) in Beijing and The Royal Danish Academy of Music
(RDAM) in Copenhagen.
The purpose of the MCI is to facilitate musical and cultural exchange between China and Denmark. MCI
aims to actively contribute towards the future global development of music by creating synergies between
classical Western and Chinese musical traditions.
Through the power of creativity and inspiration, MCI believes we can harness the beautiful diversity of
sound. MCI is open to anyone who is interested in Chinese musical tradition and culture.
The traditional Chinese instruments on this recording are played by the teachers of the MCI.
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With kind support from:

www.rovenrecords.com

www.jacobshaw.de