Bach's Cello Suites, Volumes 1 and 2

Analyses and Explorations

Allen Winold

• Publisher: Indiana University Press
• Year: 2007
• ISBN:
  9780253013477
• Topic: Médias et arts de la scène
• Subtopic: Musique classique

J. S. Bach's Suites for Unaccompanied Cello are among the most cherished and frequently played works in the entire literature of music, and yet they have never been the subject of a full-length music analytical study. The musical examples herein include every note of all movements (so one needs no separate copy of the music while reading the book), and undertakes both basic analyses—harmonic reduction, functional harmonic analysis, step progression analysis, form analysis, and syntagmatic and paradigmatic melodic analysis—and specialized analyses for some of the individual movements. Allen Winold presents a comprehensive study intended not only for cellists, but also for other performers, music theorists, music educators, and informed general readers.

BACH’S
CELLO SUITES

BACH’S
CELLO SUITES

Analyses and Explorations

Volume I: Text

ALLEN WINOLD

Indiana
University
Press

BLOOMINGTON AND INDIANAPOLIS

This book is a publication of

Indiana University Press

601 North Morton Street

Bloomington, IN 47404-3797 USA

http://iupress.indiana.edu

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© 2007 by Allen Winold

All rights reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The Association of American University Presses’ Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition.

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984.

MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Winold, Allen.

Bach’s cello suites : analyses and explorations, volume i : text / Allen Winold.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references (p.) and index.

ISBN 978-0-253-21885-8 (pbk. : alk. paper)

1. Bach, Johann Sebastian, 1685–1750. Suites, violoncello, BWV 1007–1012.

2. Suites (Violoncello)—Analysis, appreciation. I. Title.

MT145.B14W57 2007

787.4′1858092—dc22

2007000628

1 2 3 4 5 12 11 10 09 08 07

To Helga with love, and with deep gratitude
for her insight and inspiration

Contents

Preface

1. Historical Background

2. The Preludes

3. The Allemandes

4. The Courantes

5. The Sarabandes

6. The Optional Movements

7. The Gigues

8. Summary and Conclusions

Appendix: Analytical Designations

Detailed Table of Contents for Volume I: Text

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Preface

Johann Sebastian Bach’s Suites for Unaccompanied Cello have inspired listeners and performers for almost 300 years, and yet there has been no full-length analytical study devoted exclusively to these magnificent works. My first goal in writing this book was to fill this gap by presenting analyses of all the movements of the suites; my second goal was to involve readers actively in the explorations of these works.

I wrote the book for three groups of readers with varied but related interests. I wrote it for cellists and other performing musicians, not to insist that they follow my ideas on how to interpret, perform, and teach these works, but rather to show them how concepts from music analysis could help them form their own ideas on interpreting, performing, and teaching these works. I wrote it for music teachers and for advanced students, not to challenge them with new theories, but to help them explore ways in which traditional analytical techniques and ideas could be made more accessible and meaningful. I wrote it for interested and informed general readers and music listeners, not to give them a superficial survey of the Cello Suites, but to introduce them to the excitement that can come from delving deeply into the study of these works.

To meet these goals and serve these readers, I use analytical techniques from a variety of sources, and I adapt and simplify some of the concepts and techniques to make them easier to understand and apply. All analyses include a set of basic techniques—formal analysis, harmonic reduction, functional harmonic analysis, linear analysis, and melodic analysis. Other specialized analytical techniques are introduced in the analyses of individual movements. The basic analytical concepts used throughout the book are presented in the first two sections of chapters 2 and 3 in conjunction with the study of the Preludes and Allemandes of the First and Second Suites. Readers who wish to focus only on the movements of a single suite should read these sections before reading the discussions of the movements of that particular suite.

The organization of the study reflects an emphasis on active involvement on the part of the reader. Chapter 1 engages readers in an exploration of the historical background of the Cello Suites and presents basic ideas that shape the analytical studies which follow. Chapters 2 through 7 invite readers to explore the individual movements of the suites at the same time they are learning various analytical concepts and techniques. These chapters are organized by movement types rather than by individual suites, to facilitate recognition of common characteristics in each movement type. Chapter 2 discusses the Preludes and introduces basic harmonic and melodic concepts. Chapter 3 discusses the Allemandes and emphasizes concepts of form. Chapter 4 discusses the Courantes and emphasizes detailed investigations of rhythm and melody. Chapter 5 discusses the Sarabandes and introduces some more advanced or speculative ideas. Chapter 6 discusses the optional dances (Minuets, Bourrées, and Gavottes) and explores the relation between music and dance. Chapter 7 discusses the Gigues; and introduces the technique of recomposition. Chapter 8 considers the relations between the movements of the individual suites, and addresses questions of performance practice, textual revision, meaning and emotion in music, and the application of analysis to perception, performance, and pedagogy. A detailed table of contents at the end of volume 1 enables readers to find discussions of specific movements and explanations of specific analytical concepts.

To foster active involvement, the book is presented in two volumes—the first containing the text, the second containing the music examples and analyses. This produces a more readable format for the examples, makes it easier for readers to go back and forth easily between text and music, and facilitates the playing of the examples on cello, piano, or other instruments. The music examples include the complete cello part of all movements of the suites, so that it is not necessary to have a separate copy of the music for the suites while reading the book. Both volumes end with an appendix that presents a summary of analytical designations, symbols, and abbreviations.

I hope that readers, especially theorists, musicologists, and music educators, will play the examples in the second volume, and not just focus on the analytical discussions in the first volume. I hope that readers, especially performers and students, will study the analytical concepts in the first volume, and not just focus on the music examples in the second volume. In this way all readers may experience the fruitful interaction between the analysis of music, with its emphasis on thoughtful exploration of possibilities, and the practice of music, with its emphasis on active realization of these possibilities.

I acknowledge my indebtedness to my colleagues at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and to other scholars and writers from Bach’s own time to the present, whose insights have helped me to understand and value the Cello Suites. I acknowledge my appreciation to Janos Starker, Helga Winold, Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, and Emilio Colon from the cello department at the Jacobs School of Music and to the many generations of cellists whose performances of these works have brought them to the world in such a rich variety of styles and interpretations. I especially want to acknowledge the skill, support, patience, and encouragement of Michele Bird, Dawn Ollila, Jane Quinet, Pam Rude, and Donna...