Cello in the Time of Bach II

Continuing on with my Cello in the Time of Bach series, this Volume II presents J. S. Bach’s Unaccompanied Cello Suites Nos. 1 and 2 as well as works by J. S. Bach’s contemporaries Georg Philipp Telemann and Jean-Baptiste Barrière.

As before, all recordings were done at home during the pandemic which carries inherent limitations as I’ve described in the past. For a more seamless experience, consider opening a second browser window to view the program notes below as you listen.

About the Music

As I wrote in the notes for the preceding set, Bach’s Suites for Unaccompanied Cello are the Mount Everest for cellists who spend their entire life studying these foundational and profound works. Each Suite has its own character. Where the Suite No. 3 in C major presented in the previous set is considered bright and exuberant, the Suites in this second set are quite different.

Suite No. 1 in G major, BWV 1007 opens with the extremely well known Prelude. In fact, if you Google the phrase “that famous cello piece,” recordings of this Prelude will appear at the top of the search results. This opening Prelude is gentle and flowing, bringing to mind the meaning of the word “Bach” which, translating from German into English, means “brook”, or “stream.”  As with the other Suites, the Prelude has a freer structure compared to the other movements which are based on dance forms. The Prelude establishes the key, presents certain musical material and generally sets the tone for the remainder of the Suite. The somewhat free form Prelude is followed by a faster paced Allemande and Courante, then a slow contemplative Sarabande which is the emotional heart of the Suite. Next is a pair of either Minuets, Gavottes or Bourrées, providing the opportunity of presenting a major or minor key shift compared to the rest of the Suite. A lively Gigue then concludes each Suite. As a whole, the Suite No. 1 has a sense of calm and peace. But also a sense of wonder, exploration and discovery as the movements unfold. Pablo Casals spoke of the “fundamental mood of optimism” of this first Suite.

Suite No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1008 is quite different.  The relative naiveté of the first Suite is replaced with what Casals called a “tragic feeling” and Mstislav Rostropovich described as “sorrow and intensity.” Some believe that Bach composed this around the time of the death of his first wife, Maria Barbara. On August 12, 1968 Rostropovich was scheduled to perform the Dvořák Cello Concerto with the Soviet State Symphony Orchestra at their debut performance at the Proms in London. By unhappy coincidence the concert occurred on the same day the Warsaw Pact invaded Czechoslovakia to put an end to Alexander Dubček’s Prague Spring. The visiting Russian artists were greeted by angry demonstrators who disrupted much of the performance. Although the humanitarian cellist managed to complete the performance, he spent much of it in tears, feeling deeply for the Czech people. As an encore Rostropovich played the Sarabande from Bach’s Suite No. 2 in a show of solidarity with them.

As described in the notes for my first Cello in the Time of Bach set, Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1712) was a prolific composer who actually enjoyed greater fame and recognition during his lifetime than J. S. Bach. Telemann composed 12 Fantasias for Transverse Flute without Bass (TWV 40:2-13) around 1727-8. Because he played the flute himself, he understood it’s possibilities as well as limitations. Each Fantasia is complete in itself but the twelve represent a cyclic set, each with a different tonality ascending from A major though A minor, B minor, B-flat major, C major, D minor, D major, E minor, E major, F# minor and G major to G minor. Because of the physical limitations inherent in a one-key flute of that era, other keys were impractical. Telemann’s inventiveness is apparent as he included movements seemingly impossible on the flute such as Fugues, a French Overture and a Passacaglia. In this set I present the Fantasia No. 1 originally in A major, transcribed for Cello.

Telemann also composed a set of 12 Fantasias for Solo Violin in 1735. I presented Fantasia No.7 in my earlier set. In this set I present Fantasia No. 9, TWV 40:22 which begins with a gentle and sorrowful Siciliana then proceeds to a very active Allegro but keeping with the subdued character in minor key. The final Allegro is fast paced and heavily rhythmic concluding the work in a definitive manner.

In the Baroque era, there were two distinct lines of bowed stringed instruments. The violin family had arched backs, four strings and fretless fingerboards. The viol, or gamba, family had flat backs, 5 or 6 strings and fretted fingerboards. Jean-Baptiste Barrière (1707-1747) of Bordeaux, France, began his studies on the viol but later became an early proponent of the cello which had gained popularity in Italy by the end of the 17th century and superseded the viola da gamba by the later 18th century. In his short lifetime Barrière became one of the most celebrated composers and cello virtuosos of the Baroque era. After only 2 years at the Academie Royale de Musique in Paris (early name for the Paris Opera), King Louis VX granted him special privileges at Fontainebleau. In that period royal composing privileges typically lasted only 6 years but the King granted Barrière lifetime privileges. Barrière ultimately composed four books of sonatas for cello, a volume of 6 sonatas for the pardessus de viole (a higher pitched cello) and a book of harpsichord sonatas. All four books of cello sonatas, 24 sonatas in total, were written for solo cello with a figured bass line - with two exceptions. Book III’s second Sonata in D minor (1739) is actually a trio sonata and the fourth Sonata in G major from Book IV is for two cellos without figured bass. I am presenting this Sonata No. 10 in G major for 2 Cellos in this current set. It is in three movements beginning with the stately Andante where the two voices are created equally. In the second movement, Adagio, the first cello sings in an highly ornamented upper voice throughout. The third movement, Allegro prestissimo, equalizes the roles of the two cellos once again in a spirited finale - a fun romp!  I am performing both parts in this recording.