J.S. Bach / Carvalho - Cello Suites 1

There has not been a more important or influential body of cello music written before or since the 6 Bach Cello Suites. Now treated almost reverentially by cellists, for two hundred years they were virtually unknown until a young Catalan cellist, Pablo Casals, discovered them in a little shop and breathed life back into these masterpieces. For some the music is deeply spiritual, for others the pieces are closely connected with nature... or perhaps it is the ingenuity of their structure and symmetry that inspires people to be moved by the Cello Suites. Whatever the reasons, people always come back to Bach. Through, seemingly the most simple means, Bach speaks to the soul and the intellect at once. Like the best fairy tales or myths, his music is layered and can be enjoyed and understood at different levels at different times of our lives. He is everywhere and a deeply rooted part of our lives, from performances in the greatest concert halls to contemporary films, used as music of political statement, as exciting imaginative music to be explored by the greatest jazz musicians, for mothers to soothe their babies, for people to celebrate weddings or deep consolation at funerals. The profound imagination behind the cathartic simplicity of Bach's Cello Suites makes his music a companion for life for the listener and a mystery to be constantly re-examined and explored by the performer.