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Bach Six Suites for Cello

J S Bach1685-1750

Cello Suite The Six Suites for

Unaccompanied Cello by Johann Sebastian Bach are acclaimed as some of the greatest works ever written for solo cello. They were most likely composed during the period 1717-1723, when Bach served as a Kapellmeister in Cöthen.

Cello Suite The suites contain a great variety of

technical devices, a wide range of emotional content, and some of the most compelling voice interactions and conversations. It is their intimacy, however, that has made the suites amongst Bach's most popular works today, resulting in their different recorded interpretations being fiercely defended by their respective advocates

Cello Suite An exact chronology of the suites

(regarding both the order in which the suites were composed and whether they were composed before or after the solo violin sonatas) cannot be completely established. However, scholars generally believe that—based on a comparative analysis of the styles of the sets of works—the cello suites arose first, effectively dating the suites pre-1720, the year on the title page of Bach's autograph of the violin sonatas.

Cello Suite The suites were not widely known

before the 1900s, and for a long time it was generally thought that the pieces were intended to be études. There were even attempts to compose piano accompaniments to them, most notably by the composer Robert Schumann. Pablo Casals, however, is credited for increasing their popularity. After discovering Grützmacher's edition in a thrift shop, Casals began studying and performing the works, although it would be 35 years before he would agree to record the pieces.

Cello Suite Unlike Bach's violin sonatas, no

autograph manuscript survives, thus ruling out the use of an urtext performing edition. However, analysis of secondary sources—including a hand-written copy by Bach's second wife, Anna Magdalena—have produced passably authentic editions, although critically deficient in the placement of slurs and other articulation. As a result, many interpretations of the suites exist, with no singularly accepted version

Cello Suite Recent research and speculation

holds that Anna Magdalena may have have been the composer of several musical pieces attributed to her husband[1]. Professor Martin Jarvis of Charles Darwin University School of Music, in Darwin, Australia, proposes that she wrote the six Cello Suites, and was involved with the composition of the aria from the Goldberg Variations (BWV 988).

Cello Suite The suites are in six movements

each, and have the following structure and order of movements.

1. Prelude 2. Allemande 3. Courante 4. Sarabande 5. Galanteries - (Minuets for Suites 1

and 2, Bourrées for 3 and 4, Gavottes for 5 and 6)

6. Gigue

Cello Suite Scholars believe that Bach intended

the works to be considered as a systematically conceived cycle, rather than an arbitrary series of pieces: the cello suites are the most consistent in order of their movements. In addition, to achieve a symmetrical design and go beyond the traditional layout, Bach inserted intermezzo or galanterie movements in the form of pairs between the Sarabande and the Gigue. Furthermore, the suites increase in technical complexity and emotional richness from the first to the last.

Cello Suite It should also be noticed that only two

movements in the entire set of suites are completely non-chordal: that means they consist only of a single melodic line. These are the second Minuet of the 1st Suite and the Sarabande of the 5th Suite. (The 2nd Gavotte of the 5th Suite has but one prim-chord (the same actual note played on two strings at the same time), but only in the original scordatura version of the suite - in the standard tuning version it is completely free from chords.)

Vezelay

Basilique Sainte

Madeleine,Vezelay

Vezelay

interior, Church of La Madeleine, Vezelay, France,

c.1120-32

Some influences from the Islamic world . . .

Church of La Madeleine, Vezelay, France,

c.1120-32

tympanum

see text p. 131, 151

The Romanesque The Romanesque approach to the human approach to the human

formform

Tympanum, Church of La Madeleine, Vezelay, France, c.1120-32

Proportions?Not in textbook

Tympanum, left detail, Church of La Madeleine, Vezelay, France, c.1120-32

Tympanum, right detail, Church of La Madeleine, Vezelay, France, c.1120-32

Mystic Mill, Moses & St Paul Grinding Corn, capitol, Church of La Madeleine, Vezelay, France, c.1120-32

hair “flows” into drapery of clothing

Another art history text interprets this as

a wine press

Demon & Woman, capitol, Church of La Madeleine, Vezelay, France, c.1120-32

serpent

Abbey History In the 9th century, the Benedictine

abbey of Vézelay was founded, as many abbeys were, on land that had been a late Roman villa, of Vercellus (Vercelle becoming Vézelay). The villa had passed into the hands of the Carolingians and devolved to a Carolingian count, Girart, of Rousillon. His two convents were looted and dispersed by Moorish raiding parties in the 8th century, and a hilltop convent was burnt by Norman raiders.

Abbey History In the ninth-century refounding

under the guidance of Badilo became an affiliate of the reformed Benedictine order of Cluny. The Benedictine abbey church of Ste-Marie-Madeleine, with its complicated program of imagery in sculpted capitals and portals, is one of the outstanding masterpieces of Burgundian Romanesque art and architecture, though much of its exterior sculpture was defaced at the French Revolution.

Abbey History About 1050 the monks of Vézelay began

to claim to have the relics of Mary Magdalene, brought, they related, from the Holy Land either by their 9th-century founder-saint, Badilo, or by envoys despatched by him. A little later a monk of Vézelay believed that he had detected in a crypt at St-Maximin in Provence, carved on an empty sacrophagus, a representation of the Unction at Bethany, when Jesus' head was anointed by a woman of Bethany, assumed in the Middle Ages to be Mary Magdalene.

Abbey History Thus the erection of one of the

finest examples of Romanesque architecture which followed was made possible by pilgrims to the declared relics and these tactile examples demonstrating the efficacy of prayers. Vézelay also stood at the beginning of one of the four major routes through France for pilgrims going to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, in the north-western corner of Spain.

Abbey History Mary Magdalene is the

prototype of the penitent, and Vézelay has remained an important place of pilgrimage for the Catholic faithful, though the actual relics were torched by Huguenots in the 16th century.

Mstislav Rostropovich,1927

Mstislav Rostropovich loved and practiced the Bach suites

from his teen years, when the legendary Pablo Casals gave him a private performance of one of them. But he did not feel ready to record the complete set until he was 63 years old. Then he found an ideal location for the recording; he carefully chose his recording technicians, and he supervised the sessions besides playing the cello as only he can.

Mstislav Rostropovich Each note is carefully considered and

given its unique shape. The music's structures are made clear, its emotional overtones powerfully conveyed. The conventional structure of a baroque suite--an elaborate overture followed by a series of dances--comes vigorously to life. And Rostropovich gives a spoken introduction to each suite playing illustrative passages on the piano or organ. The result may appeal mostly to specialized tastes.

Suite No. 1 in G major, BWV 1007

The Prelude, mainly consisting of arpeggiated chords, is probably the best known movement from the entire set of suites and is regularly heard on television and in films. The second Minuet is one of only two movements in the six suites that doesn't contain any chords.

Suite No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1008

The Prelude consists of two parts, the first of which has a strong recurring theme that is immediately introduced in the beginning. The second part is a scale-based cadenza movement that leads to the final, powerful chords. The subsequent Allemande contain short cadenzas that stray away from this otherwise very strict dance form. The first Minuet contains demanding chord shiftings and string crossings.

Suite No. 3 in C major, BWV 1009

The Prelude of this suite consist of an A-B-A-C form, with A being a scale-based movement that eventually dissolves into an energetic arpeggio part; and B, where the cellist is introduced to thumb position, which is needed to reach the demanding chords. It then returns to the scale theme, and ends with a powerful and surprising chord movement.

The Allemande is the only movement in the suites that has an up-beat consisting of three sixteenth-notes instead of just one, which the standard form.

The second Bourrée is often notated in G minor, although it is actually in C minor. The frequent use of the note A has led to compromising

Suite No. 4 in E-flat major, BWV 1010

Suite No. 4 is one of the most technically demanding of the suites since E-flat is an uncomfortable key to intonate on the cello and requires a lot of stretched left hand positions. The Prelude primarily consists of a difficult flowing eight-note movement that leaves room for a cadenza before returning to its original theme. The very peaceful Sarabande is quite obscure about the stressed second beat, which is the basic characteristic of the 3/4 dance, since almost every first beat contain a chord, whereas the second beat most often doesn't.

Suite No. 5 in C minor, BWV 1011

Suite No. 5 was originally written in scordatura with the A-string tuned down to G, but nowadays a version for standard tuning is included almost every edition of the suites along with the original version. Some chords must be simplified when playing with standard tuning, but some melodic lines become easier as well.

Suite No. 5 in C minor, BWV 1011

The Prelude is written in an A-B form, and begins with a slow, emotional movement that explores the deep range of the cello. After that comes a fast and very demanding single-line fugue that leads to the powerful end.

Suite No. 5 in C minor, BWV 1011

This suite is most famous for its intimate Sarabande, which is the second of the two movements throughout the suites that doesn't contain any chords. The fifth suite is also exceptional as its Gigue is in the French style, rather than the Italian form of the other five suites.

Suite No. 5 in C minor, BWV 1011

An autograph manuscript of Bach's lute version of this suite exists as BWV 995.

Suite No. 6 in D major, BWV 1012

Suite No. 6 in D major, BWV 1012

It is widely believed that the sixth suite was composed specifically for a five-stringed violoncello piccolo, a smaller cello, roughly the size of a 3/4 normal cello that has a fifth upper string tuned to E, a perfect fifth above the otherwise top string. However, some say there is not substantial evidence to support this claim: Anna Magdalena's manuscript only informs the player that it is written for an instrument "a cinq cordes" and the other sources do not mention any intended instrument at all.

Suite No. 6 in D major, BWV 1012

Possible intended instruments for the suite do include the aforementioned violoncello piccolo, but also include a special five string version of the violoncello piccolo popular in the late-17th and 18th centuries, which was played on the arm like a viola, as well as a five-stringed normal sized cello. As the range required in this piece is very large, the suite was probably intended for a larger instrument, although it is conceivable that Bach—who was fond of the viola—may have performed the work himself on an arm-held violoncello piccolo. However, it is equally likely that beyond hinting the number of strings, Bach did not intend any specific instrument at all as the classification, construction and instrumental technique of instruments in the early 18th century was highly variable with respect to time and geographical location, and demanding a specific variation would have limited the work's distribution.

Suite No. 6 in D major, BWV 1012

Cellists wishing to play the piece on a modern four-string cello encounter great difficulties as they are forced to use very high positions to reach many of the notes. However, most recordings available today are made with a regular four-string cello, with exceptions including the recordings of Anner Bylsma and Alexander Rudin.

Suite No. 6 in D major, BWV 1012

This suite is written in much more free form than the others, containing more cadenza-like movements and virtuosic passages. It is also the only one of the suites that is partly notated in tenor clef, which is not needed for the others since they never go above the note G4.