Suite (6)
Cello Suite No. 1 in G major
The first of six suites for unaccompanied cello. Composed during Bach's tenure as Kapellmeister in Cöthen, the suite consists of six movemen...
Cello Suite No. 2 in D minor
The second of Bach's six suites for unaccompanied cello, set in D minor, lending it a darker and more introspective character than the first...
Cello Suite No. 3 in C major
The third suite returns to a bright, expansive key and is the most extroverted of the set. The Prélude's brilliant scale passages and bariol...
Cello Suite No. 4 in E-flat major
The fourth suite marks a shift in technical demands, with the key of E-flat major requiring less resonant string crossings and more careful ...
Cello Suite No. 5 in C minor
The fifth suite requires scordatura tuning (the A string lowered to G), giving the instrument a darker, veiled sonority. The Prélude opens w...
Cello Suite No. 6 in D major
The final and most technically demanding of the six suites, likely written for a five-stringed instrument (viola pomposa or violoncello picc...
Sonata (3)
Sonata for Viola da Gamba and Harpsichord No. 1 in G major
The first of three sonatas composed at Cöthen for viola da gamba and obbligato harpsichord. On modern cello, the piece reads as chamber musi...
Sonata for Viola da Gamba and Harpsichord No. 2 in D major
The second gamba sonata is the most outgoing of the three. The opening Adagio is brief, almost a prelude, and gives way to an Allegro of dan...
Sonata for Viola da Gamba and Harpsichord No. 3 in G minor
The darkest and most ambitious of the three gamba sonatas, cast in three movements rather than the usual four and closer in scale to a conce...