# TC Listening Club Part 7: Cello Suite No. 6 (Bach, J.S.)



## crmoorhead (Apr 6, 2011)

This week's work nominated by Clementine.

PURCHASE OPTIONS

There exists a wealth of excellent recordings for this work. Here are but a few and, as always, any additions to this list are welcome:

Bach: 6 Suites for Solo Cello (Fournier) (Decca)
Bach: Cello Suites and Transcriptions (Casals) (Naxos)
Bach: The Six Cello Suites (Tortelier) (EMI)
Bach: Cello Suites (Mork) (Virgin Classics)
Bach: Cello Suites (Kirshbaum) (Virgin Classics)

YouTube LINKS

There are not any full recordings of this work that I can find on YouTube, but I have listed the links to each part of this week's listening club performed by Mischa Maisky and Mstislav Rostropovich. There is also a performance by Yo-Yo Ma of all six Suites in one recording available.

For those who require them:

MISCHA MAISKY

Prelude: 



Allemande: 



Courante: 



Sarabande: 



Gavotte: 



Gigue: 




MSTISLAV ROSTROPOVICH

Prelude: 



Allemande: 



Courante and Sarabande: 



Gavotte and Gigue: 




OTHER INFORMATION

Check out the Wikipedia article on this work:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cello_Suites_(Bach)

The following is taken from the All Music Guide:

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.

Concerning Cello Suite No. 6

As unique and extraordinary as each of Bach's other five cello suites are, the Suite No. 6 is perhaps the most ambitious, strangest, richest of all. For this suite, Bach chose the key of D major, the triumphant key of his Magnificat and the "Dona nobis pacem" which concludes the Mass in B minor. He also calls for a five-stringed variant on the cello, though the work is playable on a conventional (four-stringed) cello. With these resources, Bach calls for resounding joy, carefully implied harmonies, and a rich, dense counterpoint that tests the cellist's skills to the maximum.

The Prelude, in a steady triple meter, is the only place in the set where Bach employed the dynamic markings (forte and piano), to simulate the effect of a Vivaldi-like echo sonata with phrases calling, responding, and gradually growing and developing into a fast-moving and playful cadenza and an untroubled recapitulation. With each suite Bach continues his progression away from simple dance-like structural roots. Melodic leaps are introduced in the fourth suite, chords in the fifth suite, and a subtle mix of chords, leaps, and implied harmonies, which become as important as the melodies, in the sixth suite. Indeed, this suite comes close in its technical challenges to the polyphonic simulations that Bach created in the partitas and sonatas for solo violin.

Joy takes many forms in this suite, from the echo-sonata textures of the Prelude to the stately grace and implied bass harmonies of the Allemande and Sarabande, and the homophonic march-like Courante. But the most unusual movement here must be the double Gavotte, where the subsections call for wide chords and melody over a ground bass, almost resembling a hurdy-gurdy playing at a peasant celebration. Its like wouldn't be heard again until Zoltán Kodály took up solo cello writing some 200 years later. The Gigue culminates this suite, and this great cycle, with a duet for solo cello, where the two interlocking voices gradually climb the scale, ascending to a high climax and sweeping back down to finish.

For another interesting article on the Suites and Pablo Casals look here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2010/jan/16/bach-cello-suites-eric-siblin

For those so inclined, there is an incredibly detailed analysis of all the Cello Suites, including the 6th, to be found here:

http://www.georgcello.com/bachcellosuites.htm


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## crmoorhead (Apr 6, 2011)

UPCOMING

The schedule for the next four Listening Club sessions will be:

PART 8: Piano Sonata No. 16 in G (Beethoven) chosen by CarterJohnsonPiano and starting 30/07/12
PART 9: TBC by KRoad before 29/07/12 and starting 06/08/12
PART 10: Keyboard Concerto No. 1 (Bach, J.S.) chosen by Merve and starting 13/08/12
PART 11: Relache (Satie) chosen by cwarchc and starting 20/08/12

OTHER THREADS

You can still participate in past Listening Club threads here:

http://www.talkclassical.com/19793-tc-listening-club-week.html
http://www.talkclassical.com/19883-tc-listening-club-week.html
http://www.talkclassical.com/19986-tc-listening-club-part.html
http://www.talkclassical.com/20078-tc-listening-club-part.html
http://www.talkclassical.com/20189-tc-listening-club-part.html
http://www.talkclassical.com/20318-tc-listening-club-part.html

NOMINATIONS

To sign up and nominate pieces for listening, use the following thread or PM crmoorhead.

http://www.talkclassical.com/19752-listening-club.html

If a member does not nominate a piece before the deadline in the schedule, a piece will be selected at random from the list of pieces nominated by other members. Members will be given a reminder a few days before the deadline for their selection passes. Nominations must be available on YouTube.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Does listening to viola transcriptions count?


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## crmoorhead (Apr 6, 2011)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> Does listening to viola transcriptions count?


Sure, any input is good.  Since the work was originally written for another instrument a comparison with viola would be interesting. Post the recording you are using in your reply.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> Does listening to viola transcriptions count?


One can always count on COAG to be a faithful maverick.


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## cwarchc (Apr 28, 2012)

What's happening to the "Listening Club" has it been forgotten ?
Only 3 responses to this "Amazing" music!!!!!!
I have to admit, I'm biased to the cello, and these are 2 masters
I've listened to Maisky and Rostropvich's renditions.
Whilst I can't comment on the technical side of music
I can say that both versions are brilliant, different but both performances by masters.
It's interesting to hear the different styles
A fine choice for the Club.
Let's get it back to the top
Have a listen people
Post your comments.
Don't let the concept die a slow death


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## Clementine (Nov 18, 2011)

Wow, I completely missed my own thread.

This is one of my favorite pieces of music, and I'd recommend the Steve Isserlis recording; it's a little more romantic, but compensated by his use of gut strings.

This suite really soars like no other, in part because it was originally written for a five stringed kin of the cello. I think it's one of the greatest expressions of joy and beauty in music. While Bach is frequently referred to as being 'pure' this is an instance of something being both pure and human. For me the work simultaneously has a pastoral, angelic, and folk like feeling to it. The _Sarabande_ is absolutely gorgeous, and the _Gigue_ breathtaking. Both the _Prelude_ and finale seam to spring from the earth and into the heavens. Wonderful stuff, and I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do.

And concerning the lack of participation (I'm guilty, as I only managed to keep up with the first three). I think there are a few things that could be remedied.

1. While a week _should_ be plenty of time to listen to a work, we all have our own schedules, and not only work and social schedules, but what we want to listen to on our own as well. I don't know about everyone else, but a week seems to creep up on me very quickly, and I wonder if we'd be better off doing this once every two weeks.

2. Part of the reason I fell off the bandwagon was because of weeks 4 and 5. A very obscure piece that I wasn't able to put on my iPod (the Rangström), followed by a very long and daunting piece (the Liszt). While I wouldn't want to put time or accessibility constraints on pieces, I think the nominators should try and suggest works that are reasonably manageable to come by and listen to.


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## crmoorhead (Apr 6, 2011)

For the record, I have purchased and listened to this piece, I have just had quite a busy week. I have the Fournier recording of this work.









I do love Bach, and this was no exception, but I want to digest some of the features of this piece before making a more detailed reply. I was particularly interested, however, to read about the history of the Cello Suites and their relatively recent discovery. Every major cellist since the beginning of recorded sound has performed this work, which just goes to show how fundamental it is to the instrument.

Excellent choice for listening club. I think it really quite peculiar that more people haven't responded!


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## crmoorhead (Apr 6, 2011)

Clementine said:


> And concerning the lack of participation (I'm guilty, as I only managed to keep up with the first three). I think there are a few things that could be remedied.
> 
> 1. While a week _should_ be plenty of time to listen to a work, we all have our own schedules, and not only work and social schedules, but what we want to listen to on our own as well. I don't know about everyone else, but a week seems to creep up on me very quickly, and I wonder if we'd be better off doing this once every two weeks.
> 
> 2. Part of the reason I fell off the bandwagon was because of weeks 4 and 5. A very obscure piece that I wasn't able to put on my iPod (the Rangström), followed by a very long and daunting piece (the Liszt). While I wouldn't want to put time or accessibility constraints on pieces, I think the nominators should try and suggest works that are reasonably manageable to come by and listen to.


I would try to encourage people to listen to the works outside of the start date and the beginning of the next listening club, but it seems too hard for people to think of it that way. As far as changing it to every two weeks goes, I have enough people signed up to run a club once a week until Jan 2013. Having a new listening club every 2 weeks would fill up the schedule until this time next year! Of course, not very many people have nominated works in advance, so an option might be to trim down the list to people who are interested in participating or who have nominated works in advance. That does, however, seem much too authoritarian to me. First come, first served, is the fairest way to do things and also provides a great deal of variety. I like the surprise of not choosing the pieces myself as it makes me listen to things that might be outside of my usual habits. Moving people ahead of others based on what level of free time they have to respond to threads also seems intrinsically unfair.

As far as nominatimg works that are reasonably managable and obtainable goes, I'm not convinced. The Stockhausen was as obtainable as the Rangstrom, yet it had a high participation level. This Bach piece IS obtainable and managable, yet the response hasn't been great so far. I am keeping a track on not only the number of individual posters replying to each thread, but also who those posters are. I am just curious to see the numbers. There have been 36 individual posters that contributed to the first six weeks of threads, but only 8 of those have contributed to more than three. I think that people will respond if the thread takes their fancy. I'm not hung up on the fact that people aren't consistently making the effort to respond to the threads. I listened to the Rangstrom a few times, but didn't respond to the thread. I will assume that there is always a small proportion of people that do this.

I'm biased against the Liszt, of course, but I also think that 74 mins is perfectly doable. There are many essential pieces that are longer and Listening Club is the perfect excuse to make time for these pieces while there is opportunity for a shared listening experience and feedback.


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## Clementine (Nov 18, 2011)

crmoorhead said:


> As far as nominatimg works that are reasonably managable and obtainable goes, I'm not convinced. The Stockhausen was as obtainable as the Rangstrom, yet it had a high participation level. This Bach piece IS obtainable and managable, yet the response hasn't been great so far.


Good point. Perhaps people just don't like cello?


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## crmoorhead (Apr 6, 2011)

The cello is a beautiful instrument!  There might also be a preference towards orchestral pieces. This is the first solo instrumental piece in the listening club. But it's probably not good to overanalyse just yet.


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## quack (Oct 13, 2011)

Sorry to have missed the listening club threads, i'm not in the club but i'll contribute if I may as i'd hate to see such a good idea die.

Particularly good to start with Bach as his cello suites were one of my first introductions to classical. All the many voiced complexities of symphonies didn't appeal to me at first but finding these works for single singing instrument really allowed me to hear the beauty of the music.

I usually make time and listen to them in one sitting, which means I am probably a bit overwhelmed when I get to No. 6 so listening to 6 alone or just the Allemande is quite illuminating. I don't feel I know this work at all, despite listening to it quite a lot of times, and the interpretations don't help, each cellist makes it sound quite different. Rostropovich makes it lush and romantic, a lot longer than other interpretations but doesn't seem much longer to listen to. More modern interpretations may have better sound but it seems like they are mic'd inside the cello which makes it a little unnatural. Also, the suites are the tennis of classical music with so much grunting, sniffing and huffing going on it can really distract from the music. I understand it takes a lot of effort to produce such beautiful music but I much prefer the least vocal of players. I suppose I shouldn't listen on headphones.

Fournier really sounds interesting, never heard his version before, sounds very spikey and dramatic rather than rich and deep, might have to get that CD. I have a viola transcription of these works and although I really like viola music I think it doesn't work as well as on cello, might get a viola da gamba version too sometime.

It is strange that a bunch of dance tunes of the day have become such significant, virtuoso pieces with so much expression and can easily compete with Bach's many religious works for their depth of feeling and incite, while I love most of Bach's other solo instrument work the cello suites seem to rise above those beautiful works and set me dreaming in the purest of Bach's spiritual sound worlds. Or something.


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## cwarchc (Apr 28, 2012)

Clementine said:


> Good point. Perhaps people just don't like cello?


I can't believe that, there are people who don't like the cello????


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## Taneyev (Jan 19, 2009)

I've the 6th.suite by Cassadó, Gendron, Tortellier, Fournier and 2 versions by Starker. Have it also on viola and violin. IMHO, the cello suites are much better that the violin ones, except the formidable Chacone.


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## Turangalîla (Jan 29, 2012)

Clementine said:


> And concerning the lack of participation (I'm guilty, as I only managed to keep up with the first three). I think there are a few things that could be remedied.
> 
> 1. While a week _should_ be plenty of time to listen to a work, we all have our own schedules, and not only work and social schedules, but what we want to listen to on our own as well. I don't know about everyone else, but a week seems to creep up on me very quickly, and I wonder if we'd be better off doing this once every two weeks.
> 
> 2. Part of the reason I fell off the bandwagon was because of weeks 4 and 5. A very obscure piece that I wasn't able to put on my iPod (the Rangström), followed by a very long and daunting piece (the Liszt). While I wouldn't want to put time or accessibility constraints on pieces, I think the nominators should try and suggest works that are reasonably manageable to come by and listen to.


I agree with crmoorhead in that we should listen to the pieces _before_ the week begins (we normally have more time on the weekends). Leaving a simple comment about the piece between Monday and Friday should not be too hard if we have already listened to the work.

(Although I'm sure one to talk, since I've only kept up until week five, and have only commented a few times.)


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## crmoorhead (Apr 6, 2011)

CarterJohnsonPiano said:


> I agree with crmoorhead in that we should listen to the pieces _before_ the week begins (we normally have more time on the weekends). Leaving a simple comment about the piece between Monday and Friday should not be too hard if we have already listened to the work.


Yes, this should be possible for those that already have the works, but I was also suggesting that members use the first week to obtain and/or listen to the recording and then post their comments in week 2. We haven't had that many clubs to date, so maybe it is a bit early to analyse it, but mostly people forget about the past threads by the second week.


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