Cello Suites (Bach) - The Suites

The Suites

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

Scholars believe that Bach intended the works to be considered as a systematically conceived cycle, rather than an arbitrary series of pieces: Compared to Bach's other suite collections, 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.

It should also be noticed that only five 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, the second Minuet of the 2nd suite, the second Bourrée of the 3rd suite, the Gigue of the 4th suite, and the Sarabande of the 5th Suite. It should be noted that the 2nd Gavotte of the 5th Suite has but one prim-chord (the same 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.

The Suites have been performed and recorded by many renowned cellists such as Pablo Casals, János Starker, Pierre Fournier, Paul Tortelier, Mstislav Rostropovich, Yo-Yo Ma and Mischa Maisky. Ma won the 1985 Best Instrumental Soloist Grammy Award for his best selling album "Six Unaccompanied Cello Suites".