W E   D O N 'T  K N O W   W H Y, or even exactly when, Bach composed his Six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello, although they were most likely created during his years (1717-23) as kapellmeister in the small town of Köthen, halfway between Hanover and Dresden.  Stylistic comparison with his solo violin sonatas from the same period suggests that he wrote the cello works before 1720.  

       Bach’s original manuscripts of the works do not exist.  The closest we have to an original source is a copy made by Bach’s second wife, Anna Magdalena.  Bach also transcribed the Fifth Suite for lute — and we have his original score for that in his own handwriting.

       The Suites were not published during Bach’s lifetime, and for many decades they were usually thought of as exercises — either ideas that Bach was working out on paper, or as studies for cellists to use in practicing their instruments. 

       The Cello Suites became well known through the efforts of Pablo Casals, one of the 20th century’s most gifted cellists.  Since that time, these suites have become one of the greatest and most-loved works for cello — showcasing a player’s artistry in a journey across a range and depth of emotions.  Cellists tackle these pieces, suite by suite, to master them and to discover their own take on the great art encased therein.

       These "In Focus" performances featuring cellist Alisa Weilerstein were recorded at Severance Hall in January 2021 especially for Cleveland Orchestra audiences.  Weilerstein was raised in Cleveland and played in the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra as a student — and made her solo debut with The Cleveland Orchestra at the age of 13 in 1995, before launching off on her internationally-acclaimed career.

—Eric Sellen
   

Alisa Weilerstein has described the differing natures of these six suites with the following descriptive words:

Suite No.1:  purity, innocence, childhood, possibility

Suite No. 2:  darkness, angst, adolescent dramatic tortured feelings

Suite No. 3:  regal, secure, adult, coming into its own, larger than life, confident, stately

Suite No. 4:  gateway to complexity, wild prelude, wiser than the third suite

Suite No. 5:  loneliness, isolation, devastation, sinking to depths . . .

Suite No. 6:  optimistic nostalgia, generosity, wisdom, benevolence, release/relief, deep satisfaction

UNACCOMPANIED SUITES FOR CELLO
BWV 1007-1012
by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Composed:  circa 1715-25

Scored for:  solo cello

Duration:  15-20 minutes per suite, and just over two hours in total for the six

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B A C H 'S  S E T   O F   S I X   unaccompanied suites for cello belong with the six sonatas and partitas for unaccompanied violin (BWV 1001-1006), all written about the same time around 1720, as representing the unchallenged peak in solo music for those instruments, both in technique and in expressive variety.
    

THE INSTRUMENT
       The violin was well established when Bach wrote the suites, whereas the cello had not yet firmly claimed its role in the string section, with the viola da gamba still being widely used for continuo bass lines and as a virtuoso solo instrument.

       Many of the cellos that survive from that period in today's museums are heavier and larger than the modern form, which evolved later in the 18th century. The sixth of these cello suites was originally written for a smaller, higher-pitched variety of cello.
    

THE FORM:  PRELUDE AND DANCES
       All six of the cello suites follow a pattern derived from French music, each beginning with a Prelude followed by a standard sequence of dances with French names: Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, and Gigue.  All the movements of each suite are in the same key, with an occasional change within any given movement of mode between major and minor.  

       The one thing that was not considered standard is the pair of movements that precede the Gigue.  At this point in the six cello suites, two have Menuets, two have Bourrées, and two have Gavottes.  In each, two of a kind are to be played in alternation — that is say that the first Menuet is heard again after the second Menuet in an A-B-A form (well known in musical circles as da capo form), often found in opera arias and in minuets and scherzos in the classical symphony.

       Dance music was traditionally paid for on commission by the hour.  Therefore, much could be saved by repeating as much as possible.  These dance movements were everywhere formed in two parts each, each half being repeated.  In the cello suites, Bach invariably keeps the two halves in approximate balance, the second half normally a little longer to allow for some exploratory music before returning to the main key.
   

THE DANCE FORMS 
       Bach adopted the traditional styles of dance forms as follows:

       Allemande — in a moderate 4/4 time with a short upbeat and flowing figures, the two halves repeated. In Suite No. 5, dotted figures replace many of the usual running figures. In Suite No. 6, the pulse is almost hidden by a cloud of figuration showing off the range of the instrument.

       Courante — in a moderate triple time (3/2 or 3/4), a little more tuneful than the Allemande, the two halves repeated.  In Suite No. 5, the Courante is more thoughtful, perhaps to reflect the minor key.

            Sarabande — slower tempo, triple time, with some double-stopping, the two halves repeated. In Suite No. 5 the Sarabande has no double-stopping but some very strange intervals, whereas in Suite No. 6 the entire Sarabande is double- and triple-stopped.

            Menuet — a formal dance in 3/4, both halves repeated, alternating with Menuet II.

            Bourrée — in quick duple meter, both halves repeated, alternating with Bourrée II.

            Gavotte — a stately dance in 4/4 with two upbeats, both halves repeated, alternating with Gavotte II.

            Gigue — a lively dance in 6/8, useful for showing off, both halves repeated.  
   

THE PRELUDES
            The Prelude to each suite is not dance music, but a freely composed movement without any repeats, often requiring special techniques such as string crossings, or moving more adventurously from key to key, or simulating a fugue. Suite No. 5 is in two tempos, the first broad, the second a little swifter.
    

EXCEPTIONS
            The first four Suites conform to a standard pattern, but the last two stand apart in certain respects.  For No. 5, in C minor, the player is allowed to lower the tuning of the top string from A to G.  This produces some different, rather surprising resonances, especially in the Allemande.  Yet many players choose not to re-tune, since the music is perfectly accessible in the standard tuning.

            The Suite No. 6 was written for a cello with five strings, not the usual four.  With an extra E-string, this opened up a higher range.  Some cellos at that time were built to smaller dimensions, known as a "cello piccolo" (this was called for by Bach in some of his cantatas).  Such an instrument was played on the arm, like a viola, and usually played by a violinist or viola player.  Undaunted by the greater range of this Suite, most modern players are happy to tackle it on the conventional cello and simply move up to the higher positions on the top string.

PRIVATE THANKS
            These solo Suites were never intended to be played in public.  It is private, intimate music, displaying many layers of feeling in a musical language of the highest sophistication, as in all Bach's music.  Cellists have always found solace and a certain charge in these Suites, yet the music is so all-embracing that those of us who do not play the cello deserve, and perhaps even need, to share in this miraculous world.  Thank you, Bach, for writing them, and to history for preserving them.  Thank you, Pablo Casals, for finding them and showcasing them to the world in the 20th century.  And thank you, thank you, thank you . . . to all who play them and program them and offer them to us. 

—program note by Hugh Macdonald © 2021