Bach: Cello Suite Nº 1 in G BWV 1007

This is the “easiest” of the six Bach Cello Suites. It has the least number of double stops and chords, and also the least number of extensions. The low number of extensions is thanks largely to the fact that this Suite is in the very comfortable key of G major.

PRELUDE

This ever-so-gentle movement has many passages that benefit from being played in the upper half of the bow. The Edited Version ignores many of what would seem to be the original bowing indications, preferring instead to explore the possibilities of blurred, overlapping string crossings and the use of slurred pairs of notes for the oscillating string crossing passages.

Manuscript Comparison     Duo Version with “Walking Bass”     Clean Version     Edited Version

ALLEMANDE

This movement, like the Prelude, also seems to have a very gentle character. It is one of the most legato (slurred) of all the movements of the six cello suites and we will benefit from a lot of lefthand pizzicatos to help the lower fingers and the open strings to sound

Manuscript Comparison      Duo Version with “Walking Bass”    Clean Version      Edited Version

COURANTE

The long upbeat and the string crossing leaps make this movement an excellent example of a piece that benefits from “reverse bowings” (with downbows on upbeats, and upbows on downbeats). It is also very interesting from a bowing point of view because of the frequency of asymmetrical, unbalanced figures requiring carefully planned bowings to ensure that the asymmetries do not drive us out to an unwanted part of the bow.

Manuscript Comparison      Duo Version with “Walking Bass”     Clean Version      Edited Version

SARABANDE

It is said that Sarabandes tend to lean on the second beat of each bar and this is certainly very much the case in this Sarabande. There is only in fact one bar (bar 15) that doesn’t seem to ask for a crescendo to its second beat.

Manuscript Comparison       Duo Version with “Walking Bass”    Clean Version      Edited Version

MINUETS

Manuscript Comparison   Duo Version with “Walking Bass”     Clean Performance Version      Edited Performance Version

GIGUE

Manuscript Comparison    Duo Version with “Walking Bass”    Clean Performance Version      Edited Performance Version