Bach: The Cello Suites

This book shows how Bach's Cello Suites, once dismissed as curiosities, became central to how we conceive of the cello.

Edward Klorman (Author)

9781009054591, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 11 September 2025

188 pages
21.5 x 13.9 x 1 cm, 0.25 kg

'A new, magnificent, must-have reference handbook on Bach's Cello Suites.' Mozart Circle

Originally dismissed as curiosities, J. S. Bach's Cello Suites are now understood as the pinnacle of composition for unaccompanied cello. This handbook examines how and why Bach composed these highly innovative works. It explains the characteristics of each of the dance types used in the suites and reveals the compositional methods that achieve cohesion within each suite. The author discusses the four manuscript copies of Bach's lost original and the valuable evidence they contain on how the Suites might be performed. He explores how, after around 1860, the Cello Suites gradually entered the concert hall, where they initially received a mixed critical and audience reception. The Catalan cellist Pablo Casals extensively popularized them through his concerts and recordings, setting the paradigm for several generations to follow. The Cello Suites now have a global resonance, influencing music from Benjamin Britten's Cello Suites to J-pop, and media from K-drama to Ingmar Bergman's films.

List of figures
List of examples
List of tables
Preface
Acknowledgements
1. Contexts: Cöthen, French style, 'opus' collections and the cello
2. Dance types, preludes and analytical perspectives
3. The four manuscript copies
4. Transmission, performance and reception, 1720–c. 1900
5. Pablo Casals and the Cello Suites in the cultural imagination
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Baroque music [c 1600 to c 1750 AVGC3]