Talk:Cello Suites (Bach)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

	Cello Suites (Bach) is within the scope of WikiProject Classical music, which aims to improve, expand, cleanup, and maintain all articles related to classical music, that aren't covered by other classical music related projects. Please read the guidelines for writing and maintaining articles. To participate, you can edit this article or visit the project page for more details.
	This article is supported by the Compositions task force.

It is requested that one or more audio files of Johann Sebastian Bach's Cello Suite #1 (BWV 1007), movement 1 (prelude) - mutopia sheet music available here, be included in this article to improve its quality. Please see Wikipedia:Requested recordings for more on this request.

[[Category:Wikipedia requested audio of Johann Sebastian Bach's Cello Suite #1 (BWV 1007), movement 1 (prelude) - mutopia sheet music available here,|Cello Suites (Bach)]]

I thought the sixth suite was for the "viola pomposa", not the violoncello piccolo...? 68.6.190.89 08:16, 30 April 2006 (UTC) Andrew

I know there is another name for the violoncello piccolo and that is the "viola da spalla". My name on the Dutch Wiki is Celloman

Umm- why is there only a listing for suite no. 1? I guess I'll put the rest up someday- hopefully within the next week, if I have time. :) Flcelloguy 13:33, 11 Jun 2005 (UTC)

i can't seem to edit this page. anyone else having a problem?tej 23:28, 10 December 2005 (UTC)

Contents 1 suite 1: experimental? 2 Musical Keys 3 Translation 4 Editions? 5 Transcribed for... 6 Suite 4

[edit] suite 1: experimental?

"It should be safe to assume that Bach was still experimenting in writing for solo cello when producing this Suite, since it is technically easier to play than any of the other suites."

do you have a source for this? i would be comfortable with more speculative wording about this unless you have specific scholarship to point to. it doesn't seem like a logical consequence of the relative simplicity of the G major suite that it was necessarily in any way an experiment in cello writing. thanks for the comments about all the suites!tej 00:21, 15 December 2005 (UTC)

Firstly, thanks 83.226.214.112 for your edits! I agree with tej here, and I've removed the part about the first suite--firstly, to my knowledge no evidence exists to suggest the chronology of the suites, (as I mention in one of the main paragraphs), and secondly, to assume it was written before the others simply on the grounds of compositional simplicity is rather dubious in my opinion.

By the way, please take your time to signup to Wikipedia. Best wishes, Lambyuk 20:32, 15 December 2005 (UTC)

Hello! I'm 83.226.214.112, and have now registered to this amazing service under the nick Miffopro (if anyone here ever visits the Internet Cello Society Forums, you might recognize me). First, I apologise for the part about the 1st suite in G-major could be assumed to be an experiment in writing for cello, which was an unfounded statement in every way possible. Thank you Lambyuk, for removing it. But being a cellist myself, as well as being acquainted with many other cellists, I stand by my statement about the G-major suite being technically easier to play than the others, even the 3rd suite in C-major. When studying cello, most students begin with the G-major suite for that very reason. Both technically and musically I think it functions better than the others as an introduction to Bach's musical languange and common technical issues on the cello (apart from being a great musical work on its own, of course). The rythmics are not as complicated, great tonal leaps and string crossings are not as common, the left hand positions more comfortably calculated, and each movement is more coherent. I don't know either if this suite was in fact written before the others, but regardless of that I can very well imagine that it was written as a sort of introduction to the others, although I'm not historically informed enough to prove such a theory.

Even within the suite itself I see a build-up pattern, where one could say the Prelude warms up your right hand, the bowing, with its constant flowing arpeggios, and the following Allemande warms up your left hand with its very scale based movement, before the more complicated note reading starts in the following Courante. The Sarabande then fine-tunes your chord intonation. All this within the fantastic music that comes out. If any of this is worth putting in the article, let me know. :) Botten upp! Miffopro , 11:00, 23 Januari 2006

Added a sentence re. student study under the G major subsection. :) Lambyuk 14:59, 21 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Musical Keys

This is not exclusive to this article, but what's the wiki protocol for musical keys? I always assumed it was capital letter for major, and lower case for minor. This is what you find in music programs of professional orchestras, and it is the same on classical music CD's. I've always felt that "D major" was repetitive, and my guess is that professional musicians would frown on the method of labelling used in this article. - Darkhawk

I don't think it matters that much in English. In German it's always G-Dur and e-moll, but I've seen "D major" on plenty of programs and records. --Quadalpha 21:13, 20 March 2006 (UTC)

D Major, D minor. That's english. Justin Tokke 01:41, 3 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Translation

Can I have permission to translate the text of this great work for the cello from Bach. My username on the Dutch Wikipedia is : Celloman .

Go right ahead! I don't think you need permission at all. It's certainly a good article. Sandover 04:26, 24 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Editions?

Should there be information on different editions of the suites? While I realize there are dozens of editions by later cellists, there should probably at least be some information on the Magdalena Bach, Kellner, and Westphal manuscripts. If someone has access to such sources, that would be great; unfortunately, I don't. Adso de Fimnu 15:38, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

I have photostat copies of the editions you mention, but Wikipedia doesn't particulary like original research. What sort of things were you interested in? Lambyuk 18:41, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Transcribed for...

A while ago Lambyuk removed most of the instruments listed as having transcriptions of the suites, but various people keep adding more. I think this is a little silly, as it doesn't really matter whether there's an arrangement for (say) zither or kazoo. What does anyone else think? Adso de Fimnu 15:38, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Suite 4

It says that the second Bourree is notated in G minor. Yes, but it is in C minor. The reason being is because there was a different system for key signatures in the baroque and earlier times. Minor keys had one less flat (or one more sharp) than we know today. Should this be mentioned? Justin Tokke 01:43, 3 December 2006 (UTC)