Cello Suite no. 5 in C minor
BWV 1011 performed by Hidemi Suzuki
KIT Royal Tropical Institute, Amsterdam
Behind the music
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Nowhere in the six suites does the cello sound lonelier than in the Sarabande of no. 5
Bach could make a cello throb like an organ, as shown in the Cello Suite no. 5 in C minor, the darkest of the set of Six Cello Suites. The Prelude arises from the depths like an organ prelude, culminating in what appears to be a fugue, however difficult it may be in practice to play a fugue on one cello. Yet Bach manages to suggest here that a new part keeps entering, and that parts that entered earlier move along with it, albeit inaudibly. It is precisely this multiplicity of parts and the ensuing conversation that inspires cellist Hidemi Suzuki when he plays this piece.
Besides the key of C minor, there is another explanation of the dark character of this suite. That is the fact that the highest A string is tuned a tone lower: scordatura. It gives the A string (now the G string) a slightly murkier sound and makes it a bit easier to play chords. Moreover, the weightiness of the key is confirmed. The dominant of C minor is G, a tone that is now heard in two separate strings – as the cello also has a low G string.
The Cello Suite no. 5 follows the usual structure of a Prelude followed by six dances (divided over five sections). The elaborate Allemande and the lusty Courante are followed by a desolate Sarabande. Suddenly, there are no chords or double stops at all, and the mournful melody has to provide its own root note. Nowhere in the six suites does the cello sound lonelier than here.
The French character of the suite, emphasised in dotted rhythms, is further confirmed in the fourth section; a two-part Gavotte. This dance in duple time, which originated in France, is very robust in character, thanks to its numerous chords on strong parts of the bar. And the dotted rhythm of the Gigue is also French in style.
Six Cello Suites, BWV 1007-1012
The Six Cello Suites by Johann Sebastian Bach are part of the Old Testament of cello literature. Every cellist who looks at the music senses immediately how naturally the notes are arranged around the strings of the instrument. Yet there are many questions and discussions about these ‘Suites a Violoncello Solo senza Basso’. Did Bach really write the music for cello, or for cello alone? When did he write this music – at the court of Cöthen or earlier? Even the authorship is called into question sometimes, although claims that Anna Magdalena Bach (who notated the only surviving manuscript) could be the author herself cannot be taken very seriously. The suites take a route from simplicity to increasing virtuosity: from the usually open strings of the first three suites, via the more complex key of E-flat major of the enigmatic Suite no. 4 to the dark Suite no. 5, which requires the cellist to tune the highest string one tone lower. Suite no. 6 is the most unusual, as it requires a five-stringed instrument – probably the viola pomposa, or otherwise the cello piccolo.
- BWV
- 1011
- Title
- Cello Suite no. 5 in C minor
- Instrument
- cello
- Genre
- chamber music
- Serie
- Six cello suites
- Year
- between 1717 and 1723
- City
- Köthen
- Special notes
- In this suite, the tuning of the highest string of the cello must be changed from A to G.
With support from
Ammodo
Extra videos
Vocal texts
Original
Translation
Credits
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- Release date
- 23 February 2018
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- Recording date
- 25 August 2017
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- Location
- KIT Royal Tropical Institute, Amsterdam
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- Cellist
- Hidemi Suzuki
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- Cello
- Andrea Amati, Cremona, approx. 1570?
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- Director and editor
- Bas Wielenga
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- Music recording
- Guido Tichelman, Bastiaan Kuijt
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- Music edit and mix
- Guido Tichelman
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- Camera
- Jeroen Simons
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- Focus pull
- Luc Brefeld
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- Grip
- Kaspar Burghard
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- Gaffer
- Gregoor van de Kamp, Patrick Galvin
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- Data handling
- Eline Eestermans
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- Interview
- Shunske Sato, Onno van Ameijde
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- Translation
- Geert van Bremen, Atsuko Kohashi
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- Production
- Jessie Verbrugh
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- With support from
- Ammodo
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