came back to perform the exciting and genre crossing music festival ArtLink with pianist Tanja Zapol- ski. The festival is led by visionary CEO Jovanka Višekruna Janković, to whom I presented the idea of this mind-blowing project. Her immedi- ate response was: “We will do that right here in Belgrade!” And so, it happened!” How did you come up with the idea of combining mu- sic and running? “First of all, I have been a pas- sionate cellist and runner since the age of 11. The present idea came as I was running with my three kids (now aged 8, 4 and 2) in the baby cart through Copenhagen, more or less constantly for six years or so. I get many ideas out there on the track - some better than others! But this turned out to be among the better ones. Do you get tired; can you play easily after running about 30 kilometres? “Just like when running a mara- thon, you will hit “the wall” around two-thirds down the track and start feeling a certain fatigue - in your legs, of course, but, more impor- tantly in this case, in your arms and hands. So, yes, it feels very tiring and certain things in your playing don’t function at all like normal. So, you have to start compensating by changing your cello technique. That is a very exciting challenge for a cel- lo-nerd like me [laughs].” Why the Bach suites? What made you choose this com- position? “Bach’s 6 cello suites, with their 36 movements, are monumental. They are a cornerstone of Western musical history, not to mention for any cellist. The term Bach Marathon already exists in the classical mu- sic world. It means performing a section of Bach’s work in full at a concert. So, the idea of pairing a Bach Marathon with a real mara- thon came up. Running long-dis- tance is a monumental act of activ- ity - ask any runner. Performing all six suites is - to me at least – like
Bahovih šest svita za violončelo sa svojih 36 stavova su monumentalne, kamen temeljac u istoriji zapadne muzike Bach’s 6 cello suites, with their 36 movements, are monumental. They are a cornerstone of Western musical history
performing the circle of life. So, I thought why not mirror the two cir- cles, let them face each other? What comes on top of that is humour, in- tuition, reflection and, well, a par- ty in the streets!” How do people react; do they run with you to the new suite? “The running audience gathers around the starting line. The start- er gun sounds and I play the first movement (Prelude I) and we run the first kilometre. I carry the cel- lo in my hands, as that’s turned out
to be the best way to do it. I use a carbon fibre cello that’s a bit light- er than a regular cello. Then I play the second movement (Allemande I) and we run another kilometre. This continues 36 times in total until the runners reach the finish line. Both the running audience and people cheering along the route have react- ed with great enthusiasm. So, inside the Bach Ultra Marathon project, the running audience gets a beau- tiful and special workout day, while the audience we run past gets a fan- tastic musical surprise.”
Music » Muzika | 79
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