Bach's Cello Suite No. 6 - Rostropovich plays the Prélude

Mstislav Rostropovich plays the Prelude from Bach's Cello Suite No. 6 in D major, BWV 1012. Filmed at the Basilique Sainte Madeleine, Vézelay, Yvonne, France in 1991. On YouTube you can compare Rostropovich's romantic, older-style interpretation of Bach to the more classical original-instrument approach by Mischa Maisky. 1. Prélude 2. Allemande 3. Courante 4. Sarabande 5. Gavotte I - Gavotte II - Gavotte I 6. Gigue according to Wikipedia: It is widely believed that the sixth suite was composed specifically for a five-stringed violoncello piccolo, a smaller cello, roughly the size of a 7/8 normal cello that has a fifth upper string tuned to E, a perfect fifth above the otherwise top string. However, some say there is not substantial evidence to support this claim: whilst three of the sources inform the player that it is written for an instrument "a cinq cordes", only Anna Magdalena Bach's manuscript indicates the tunings of the strings and the other sources do not mention any intended instrument at all. Other possible instruments for the suite include a version of the violoncello piccolo played on the arm like a viola, as well as a five-stringed normal sized cello, called a viola pomposa. As the range required in this piece is very large, the suite was probably intended for a larger instrument, although it is conceivable that Bach—who was fond of the viola—may have performed the work himself on an arm-held violoncello piccolo. However, it is equally likely that beyond hinting the number of strings, Bach did not intend any specific instrument at all as the construction of instruments in the early 18th century was highly variable. Cellists wishing to play the piece on a modern four-string cello encounter difficulties as they are forced to use very high positions to reach many of the notes, though modern cellists regularly perform the suite on the 4-string instrument. Performers specialising in early music and using authentic instruments generally use the 5-string cello for this suite, including Pieter Wispelwey, Anner Bylsma and Jaap ter Linden. This suite is written in much more free form than the others, containing more cadenza-like movements and virtuosic passages. It is also the only one of the suites that is partly notated in the various C clefs, which is not needed for the others since they never go above the note G4 (G above middle C. Mstislav Rostropovich called this suite "a symphony for solo cello" and characterised its D major tonality as evoking joy and triumph. Мстисла́в Леопо́льдович Ростропо́вич, Mstislav Leopol'dovič Rostropovič

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YouTube | September 17, 2007

Tags:. .century. .composed. .anna. .required. .beyond