Lucia Swarts
Six Suites for Violoncello Solo BWV 1007-1012
- Type CD
- Label Challenge Classics
- UPC 0608917278422
- Catalog number CC 72784
- Release date 08 March 2019
About the album
Bach wrote six suites in different keys, each consisting of six movements. And while the titles of the individual movements are largely shared, the wide variety within the collection is quite astonishing. Some of the keys are more comfortable for the performer (G, D and C), while others are difficult in the extreme (E-flat Major). Bach employed unconventional tuning for the cello strings (in the fifth suite) and even wrote for a special five-stringed instrument in the final suite. It certainly appears that Bach was attempting to cover the entire range of human emotions in the six suites. The cheerful, youthful first suite in G major is followed by the introvert, dark and melancholy second, in D minor. The third suite in C major is brilliant, extrovert, rich and replete, an embrace. But the fourth in E-flat Major offers gloomy resistance. The fifth suite in C minor is like an ancient saga – dark and tragic but at the same time majestic – while the final suite in D major resonates with ecstasy, virtuosity and sparkling joie de vivre. Everything is precisely attuned to the characters of the different keys, as they would have been thought of in Bach's day. Keys that are designed to move the audience's souls.
The six movements within each individual suite refine the image. The preludes, with which they all begin, sound like spontaneous improvisations, often looking forward to what follows. The dances that follow the preludes – the stately allemandes and spiritual sarabandes, as well as the rousing courantes and gigues – were all, of course, familiar dance forms in Bach's time, but in the suites, they often transcend everyday reality, plumbing the depths of feeling and providing detail, counter-arguments and contrasts. The full range of human emotions appears to be encompassed within the notes that Bach wrote for a single cello.
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11Suite No. 5 in C Minor BWV 1011 I. Prélude
06:00 -
12Suite No. 5 in C Minor BWV 1011 II. Allemande
06:22 -
13Suite No. 5 in C Minor BWV 1011 III.Courante
02:12 -
14Suite No. 5 in C Minor BWV 1011 IV. Sarabande
03:17 -
15Suite No. 5 in C Minor BWV 1011 V. Gavotte I/II
05:33 -
16Suite No. 5 in C Minor BWV 1011 VI. Gigue
02:13 -
17Suite No. 2 in D-Minor, BWV 1008 I. Prélude
03:42 -
18Suite No. 2 in D-Minor, BWV 1008 II. Allemande
03:55 -
19Suite No. 2 in D-Minor, BWV 1008 III. Courante
02:13 -
110Suite No. 2 in D-Minor, BWV 1008 IV. Sarabande
04:05 -
111Suite No. 2 in D-Minor, BWV 1008 V. Menuet I/II
03:33 -
112Suite No. 2 in D-Minor, BWV 1008 VI. Gigue
02:50 -
113Suite No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1009 I. Prélude
03:28 -
114Suite No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1009 II. Allemande
05:01 -
115Suite No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1009 III. Courante
03:30 -
116Suite No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1009 IV. Sarabande
03:58 -
117Suite No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1009 V. Bourrée I/II
03:59 -
118Suite No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1009 VI. Gigue
03:20 -
21Suite No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007 I. Prélude
02:58 -
22Suite No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007 II. Allemande
04:48 -
23Suite No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007 III. Courante
02:42 -
24Suite No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007 IV. Sarabande
02:42 -
25Suite No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007 V. Menuet I/II
03:28 -
26Suite No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007 VI. Gigue
01:41 -
27Suite No. 4 in E-flat Major, BWV 1010 I. Prélude
04:31 -
28Suite No. 4 in E-flat Major, BWV 1010 II. Allemande
04:53 -
29Suite No. 4 in E-flat Major, BWV 1010 III. Courante
03:43 -
210Suite No. 4 in E-flat Major, BWV 1010 IV. Sarabande
03:54 -
211Suite No. 4 in E-flat Major, BWV 1010 V. Bourrée I/II
05:11 -
212Suite No. 4 in E-flat Major, BWV 1010 VI. Gigue
02:49 -
213Suite No. 6 in D Major, BWV 1012 I. Prélude
04:55 -
214Suite No. 6 in D Major, BWV 1012 II. Allemande
07:46 -
215Suite No. 6 in D Major, BWV 1012 III. Courante
04:08 -
216Suite No. 6 in D Major, BWV 1012 IV. Sarabande
04:18 -
217Suite No. 6 in D Major, BWV 1012 V. Gavotte I/II
04:51 -
218Suite No. 6 in D Major, BWV 1012 VI. Gigue
04:37