Bach: Cello Suites

A low note can remain in the memory while the cello moves above it, suggesting a foundation that is no longer literally sounding. Casals adds another kind of continuity: phrases seem to lean towards particular notes and breathe after them. Following that movement is a more revealing introduction than treating the recording as a venerable monument.

Bach’s eighteenth-century compositions and this twentieth-century performance are separate histories. Casals recorded Suites 2 and 3 in 1936,1 and 6 in 1938, and 4 and 5 in 1939. They circulated on 78 rpm records before later complete editions brought them together. The linked EMI digital compilation contains all thirty-six movements; its 2010 release date and 2012 compilation copyright do not date the performances.

Unaccompanied does not mean unsupported

A bass note, a moving upper line and a chord can suggest different roles within a single instrument. Casals shifts weight towards the destination of a phrase and allows the pulse some flexibility. Listen for that direction rather than expecting every repeated shape to receive identical emphasis. The result need not be measured against a modern ideal of evenness to become intelligible as a set of performing choices.

Stay beyond the familiar opening

The first Prelude is an entrance, not a summary of the entire cycle. Each suite continues through movements derived from dances, including the Allemande, Courante and Sarabande. Their changing patterns of weight remain meaningful even when nobody is literally dancing. Hear one suite at a time, comparing the quicker movements with the space of a slow one. In the fifth suite’s Sarabande, the time after a note can seem as consequential as the note itself.

An achievement without a discovery myth

The Library of Congress cautions against claiming that Casals rescued entirely unknown music: nineteenth-century cellists already knew the suites. His importance lies in making their musical value compelling in performance. A specific original-release review has not been established here. Later recognition includes Ralph Moore’s 2010 reissue appraisal, which considered interpretation alongside old recording sound, and selection for the National Recording Registry in 2018. Those later judgements should encourage attentive listening, not replace it.