Johann Sebastian Bach was the master composer of the Baroque period and has inspired almost every composer since. Both his secular works, such as the Goldberg Variations, Well-Tempered Clavier, and The Art of the Fugue, and his sacred works, such as The St. Matthew Passion and Mass in B Minor, live on as staples of the repertoire. As well as composing, Bach made his living as an organist and court musician is various German cities such as Arnstadt, Weimar, Coethen, and Leipzig. His musical style shows a mastery of counterpoint, as in The Art of the Fugue, and motivic control, as in his Golberg Variations. Bach also notably used French and Italian techniques, as in his multiple overtures in the French style and in the Italian concertos.
The Six Cello Suites were most likely written between 1717-1723 when Bach was in Coethen. Each is in six movements, all interesting in their variety of mood and texture. The first movement of Suite #3 serves as an introduction, with scalar material gradually morphing into arpeggios. The opening material returns at the end of the movement before an ending filled with quadruple stops (also with a hint of the opening scalar material). The second movement is a duple meter dance for couples, common to the Baroque suite and featuring an upbeat, as does Bach’s example. The third movement, Courante, is a dance is in triple meter and quick tempo with accents lying on weak parts of the measure. The fourth movement, Sarabande, is also in triple meter, but is slow and stately, as compared to the Courante. This dance is said to have originated in Central America and moved in the 16th century to Spain (where it was banned as obscene). The fifth movement is divided into two Bourrées. The first is in the home key of the Suite, C Major, while the second unexpectedly moves to C minor, the parallel minor key. The Bourrée is a quick, French dance in duple meter that is usually light in nature. In the final movement, Gigue, Bach returns to the home key of C major. The Gigue is a quick dance in triple meter. Its origins are the British “jig”, and typically have an accent on the third of the three beats in a measure. In this movement, Bach uses double stops melodically in the cello for a brilliant finish to the work.
Program Notes are by Kyle Blaha, a candidate for the Doctor of Musical Arts Degree at The Juilliard School and faculty member in the Juilliard Pre-College and Evening Division.