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Bach Six Suites for Cello
J S Bach
1685-1750
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
Vezela
y
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 approach to
the human form
Tympanum, Church of La Madeleine,
Vezelay, France, c.1120-32
Not in textbook
Proportions?
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 9thcentury 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
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
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 AB form, and begins with a slow,
emotional movement that
explores the deep range of the
cello. After that comes a fast
and very demanding singleline 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
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
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.