The inaugural edition of Make Music Winter, which unfolded in New York yesterday, included Thruline, a delightful musical installation by the composer James Holt. For one hour in the early evening, musicians from the chamber orchestra The Knights were positioned at all forty-four stops along the F subway line, each one playing the prelude from Bach's G-major Cello Suite. Holt further explains the project on the MATA blog. I didn't make it all the way to Coney Island, but I caught quite a few Thruline performances in Manhattan, enjoying the peculiar sensation of riding the subway with no destination in mind. I'm not sure how many commuters fully grasped what was going on — it was sometimes difficult to hear the players from inside the car, unless you were positioned near the door — but I liked the idea of a subliminal Bachian occupation. The video above shows Guillaume Pirard at the West 4th Street stop, detouring into the Sarabande before resuming the prelude as the doors close. Below are Lev "Ljova" Zhurbin at West 23rd and an unidentified cellist at Delancey.
