Bach wrote the first five suites for violoncellp prescribing the scordatura, i.w. the downward tuning of the A string to G, in the fifth suite. The sixth suite was written for a five stringed instrument with an additional E string (viola pomposa); however, it is common practice today to perform this piece on the cello. The homophonic works were still little known in the 19th century and even appeared rather foreign and ascetic to a world whose instrumental idiom was exceptionally lush and profuse. It was Pablo Casals who conveyed the importance of these works to a broad public for te first time in the early 20th century. Esther Nyffenegger twice recorded the Six Suites for violoncello solo that Johann Sebastian Bach wrote in Köthen about 1720: in 1971 and 1988 - thus at an interval of about 20 years. In this recording she used three different instruments. For Suites I and VI she played an instrument built by Andrea Guarneri (1672-1698) in 1657, for the minor-mode Suite II and V a cello crafted by Antonio Testore (1688-1764) in 1740, and for Suites III and IV an instrument built by Roland Sandner (*1943) in 1968. Listeners may find it particularly rewarding to compare the sound and quality of the different instruments while listening to the suites. Tracklisting 1-6 Suite Nr. 1 in G-Dur BWV 1007 17:24 7-12 Suite Nr. 2 in d-Moll BWV 1008 21:00 13-18 Suite Nr. 6 in D-Dur BWV 1012 31:06 CD 2 1-6 Suite Nr. 3 in C-Dur BWV 1009 22:56 7-12 Suite Nr. in Es-Dur BWV 1010 27:47 13-18 Suite Nr. 5 in c-Moll BWV 1011 27:03 |
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