Sunday, December 11, 2011

Cello Suite no. 1 - Prelude by J.S. Bach (1685 - 1750)

Okay, anyone who gets the wrong idea about Bach, that he is some "old wig" composer, with nothing beyond the stereotypical Baroque compositions in his offering, really needs to listen to the Cello Suites.  This prelude is so beautiful and moving.  It is for solo cello and shows me again what kind of genius Bach was.  I mean, is there anything he can't do?  How, as an organ player did he write something so amazing for cello.  This particular prelude can easily be found on youtube with perfomances by Yo Yo Ma, Rostropovich, and Mischa Maisky to name a few of the better performances I found.  To me this piece falls under the category of instrument changing (kind of like life changing).  It makes me want to switch from playing piano to playing cello.  I have always liked the cello, but this prelude makes it sound even more beautiful. Perhaps the biggest argument for becoming a composer is that you figuratively get to perform any instrument you want, or at least provide a voice for it.

No comments:

Post a Comment