Suite for solo cello No. 4 in E flat major, BWV 1010
Suite for solo cello No. 5 in C minor, BWV 1011
Suite for solo cello No. 1 in G major, BWV 1007
Bach's suites for solo cello have performed on the viola many times, and it's hard to conceive of Bach's having objected to such a practice when he arranged one of the suites for lute and was in general an inveterate recycler of his own music. The tracklist for this release by Ukrainian violist Maxim Rysanov designates the viola version performed as a transcription; the booklet indicates that it is the arrangement by British violist Simon Rowland-Jones. In any event, playing the suites on the viola changes them somewhat ...
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Bach's suites for solo cello have performed on the viola many times, and it's hard to conceive of Bach's having objected to such a practice when he arranged one of the suites for lute and was in general an inveterate recycler of his own music. The tracklist for this release by Ukrainian violist Maxim Rysanov designates the viola version performed as a transcription; the booklet indicates that it is the arrangement by British violist Simon Rowland-Jones. In any event, playing the suites on the viola changes them somewhat beyond simply transferring them to a higher range. The resonance of the cello on its rolled chords is lost, replaced by a lighter touch in the figuration and in the genuinely polyphonic passages. Rysanov makes the most of this lighter touch, producing lyrical, somewhat dance-like suites. This breaks the connection between the suites and the unaccompanied sonatas, which are indisputably weighty works, but these are very attractive performances on their own terms. Somewhat like violinist...
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