It is thought that Bach wrote his six suites for
unaccompanied cello between 1717 and 1723, while he was
in the employ of Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cöthen and
had two superb solo cellists, Bernard Christian Linigke
and Christian Ferdinand Abel, at his disposal. However,
the earliest copy of the suites dates from 1726, and no
autographs survive. Thus a chronological order is
difficult to prove, though one guesses that these
suites were composed in numerical order from the way
that they gradually ...(+)
It is thought that Bach wrote his six suites for
unaccompanied cello between 1717 and 1723, while he was
in the employ of Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cöthen and
had two superb solo cellists, Bernard Christian Linigke
and Christian Ferdinand Abel, at his disposal. However,
the earliest copy of the suites dates from 1726, and no
autographs survive. Thus a chronological order is
difficult to prove, though one guesses that these
suites were composed in numerical order from the way
that they gradually evolve and deepen, both technically
and musically.
A Baroque suite is typically a collection of dance
movements, usually in binary form with each half
repeated. Common elements of the suite were the
Allemande (German dance), a moderately slow duple-meter
dance; the Courante, a faster dance in triple meter;
the Sarabande, a Spanish-derived dance in a slow triple
meter with emphasis on the second beat; and a Gigue
(Jig), which is rapid, jaunty, and energetic. Bach took
these typical dance forms and abstracted them, and then
added a free-form, almost improvisatory Prelude which
sets the tone for each suite, and a galanterie, an
additional dance interposed between Sarabande and
Gigue. (In the first two suites, Bach uses a pair of
Minuets.) With these dances, Bach experimented and
created the first, and arguably still the finest, solo
works for a relatively new instrument.
The first suite, in C minor, continues the experiments
with texture, style, and counterpoint undertaken in the
first four works in the set of six. It calls for the
top string of the cello to be played scordatura, in
this case tuned down from A to G. This affects the
sonority of the open string and the overtones produced
when played with other strings, creating a distinctive
effect. Some cellists disregard the unusual tuning
specification, but doing so adds to the work's already
formidable technical challenges.
The fifth suite's Prelude replaces the toccata-like
movements of the rest of the set with an overture in
the French style, beginning with a slow, moody Adagio
introduction with dense chords and irregular rhythms.
These lead into an Allegro section where a fugue-like
counterpoint is implied but not explicitly played.
Although this piece was originally written for cello, I
transcribed it for Viola.
SHEET MUSIC