Matilda Colliard - Johann Sebastian Bach: Complete Suites for Cello Solo (2021)

Bach loved to collect and gather his best works in series, normally constituted by an elegant number of works. Six was a number he particularly prized: in fact, there are six English Suites, six French Suites, six Partitas for keyboard instruments, six works for unaccompanied solo violin (three Sonatas and three Partitas), six Brandenburg Concertos… to cite but a few examples. Each of the series cited above represents a true collection of masterpieces, and many of them represent one of the summits of the literature for a given instrument or ensemble. This is certainly the case with the six works for solo violin and with the six Suites for solo cello.

Together, these Suites do indeed build an itinerary exploring all the moods and feelings of the human soul, and, possibly, they also constitute a musical “history of salvation”, from the original innocence of the first Suite to the resurrection of the D-major Suite, after experiencing suffering, joy, death and hope. Dance here becomes life, and, possibly, it also becomes prayer.