Cello Suite II in d minor, BWV 1008

The  Cello  Suites, written in Cöthen around 1720, have been called "the
apotheosis of the Dance", a title they share  with  Beethoven's  Seventh
Symphony.   No-one  but  Bach  has  written such rich music for the solo
line.  Everywhere there are several voices implied.   allowing  Bach  to
write  not  just melody, but also counterpoint and harmony.  The flow of
new motifs serves the needs of the implied counterpoint, but the  motifs
also  have their own motivic logic, balancing identity for each movement
with variety within it.  "It is fantastic to think that  with  one  note
after the other there can be melody, the central voices and the bass all
together.   A  wonderful  polyphony  . . . "  Casals  points   out   the
implication for the performer: "We have to give the proper expression to
each voice."

The  six  suites  have  different  characters.   Casals  spoke  of   the
"fundamental  mood  of  optimism" of the G-major suite, contrasting with
the "tragic feeling" of the suite in d-minor, or the "heroic"  suite  in
C-major.   Rostropovic  spoke of the "Lightness" of the first suite, the
"Sorrow and intensity" of the second, the "Brilliance" of the third.

Casals observed "The first thing we must  understand  when  playing  the
cello  suites is that, as with the partitas for violin and for keyboard,
the Prelude gives the character to the whole work".  The first phrase of
the Prelude is a rainbow-arc of three-and-a-half bars.  The character of
each movement should be  differentiated,  and  there  should  always  be
variety  from one dance tempo to the next; the Allemande should probably
be slower than the Prelude, and the Courante faster.  Of  Sarabandes  he
said "A Sarabande is not a romance, or an adagio; it is a Spanish dance,
which used to be performed in the  churches,  and  is  still  danced  in
Sevilla.   We  must  not  be  lost  between  one beat and another".  The
Minuets, being in minor and major  keys,  have  contrasting  characters.
The  later movements are more and more dance-like, with the tempo firmer
and the downbeats more marked.

Many wonderful recordings are available; for example by Pierre Fournier,
Pablo  Casals,  Pieter Wispelwey, or Jaap ter Linden, or on the viola de
gamba by Paulo Pandolfo, on the flute by Wilbert  Hazelzet,  or  on  the
recorder by Marion Verbruggen.

The  first  three  of  the six suites can be played on the recorder.  Of
course the chords have to be played as arpeggios,  and  some  low  notes
have  to  be  rewritten;  these are given here in chords, with the lower
note for flute players, and the upper for recorders.  All slurs in  this
edition  are  editorial  suggestions only, and can be disregarded with a
clear conscience.
                             Peter J Billam

                           www.pjb.com.au/mus