Bach Cello Suites

Sometimes great creative ideas flow from constraints. J.S. Bach (1685-1750) wrote six unaccompanied cello suites and six solo sonatas and partitas for violin. This music delivers seemingly limitless musical expression with the simplest and most economic means. Bach’s ability to create complex and inventive counterpoint and harmony using a single solo instrument is amazing. The suites are a collection of Baroque dances which were popular in Bach’s time. Gavottes, bourrées, allemandes and courantes are now long forgotten dance forms, but the music remains timeless.

Here is Yo-Yo Ma playing all six cello suites:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcR6j_JNwQs

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/inspired-by-bach-cello-suites/id518668394″]Find on iTunes http://www.amazon.com/The-Cello-Suites-Inspired-Bach/dp/B0000029YB”]Find on Amazon

[typography font=”Cantarell” size=”28″ size_format=”px”]Bourrées from Suite No. 3[/typography]

Dr. Suzuki included violin and viola transcriptions of these Bourrées in Book 3. You can read about the history of the bourrée here. Here is Rostropovich playing the original version for cello. Consider how the second bourrée (starting around 1:57) contrasts in character with the first:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuD3gFGETEE

About Timothy Judd

A native of Upstate New York, Timothy Judd has been a member of the Richmond Symphony violin section since 2001. He is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music where he earned the degrees Bachelor of Music and Master of Music, studying with world renowned Ukrainian-American violinist Oleh Krysa.

The son of public school music educators, Timothy Judd began violin lessons at the age of four through Eastman’s Community Education Division. He was a student of Anastasia Jempelis, one of the earliest champions of the Suzuki method in the United States.

A passionate teacher, Mr. Judd has maintained a private violin studio in the Richmond area since 2002 and has been active coaching chamber music and numerous youth orchestra sectionals.

In his free time, Timothy Judd enjoys working out with Richmond’s popular SEAL Team Physical Training program.

2 thoughts on “Bach Cello Suites”

  1. For a much faster, gutsier, yet light-hearted approach, listen to Natalia Guttman here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lW3VEi6tuiY,

    and a lighter, more tempered approach, by Daniel Lee here, starting at .37 seconds:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLo04SeJ7WY

    but my interpretive heart and spirit is mostly with Anner Bylsma in this period performance, if you can get over the rougher sound of his boisterous bow on the gut strings and generally poorer audio recording quality:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zppOQSg8hok

    Reply

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