Description

Urtext edition with articulation markings – Soft-cover performing edition

When you think cello, you think of Bach’s immortal cello suites.

The suites take centre stage in the cello literature. They are timeless and beautiful and accompany cellists from their student years up through their professional career at the highest level.

Appropriately and not surprisingly there are countless editions of the suites. But the composer’s autograph has not come down to us. It is lost and this circumstance has always been a major challenge for editors. The four surviving handwritten sources and the original first edition of 1824 differ in many details, the articulation and phrasing being particularly ambiguous.

At Bärenreiter, having published the New Bach Edition and presently publishing the New Bach Edition-Revised, we feel particularly committed to the cello suites. We have approached the editorial problems from several angles and have published editions that meet the needs of students and professional performers alike.

This new edition, based on volume 4 of the New Bach Edition – Revised (NBArev), now completes Bärenreiter’s collection of the cello suite editions. Andrew Talle has fundamentally reassessed the relations between the surviving sources and has drawn conclusions regarding their evaluation and consequently the genesis of the suites. His evaluations are augmented with thorough discussions of the instrument for which the suites were conceived and the interpretative practices in Bach’s day.

The musical text of the edition is based on these findings. It approaches the composer’s original intentions as far as the sources will permit. Details regarding articulation were deemed as being viable and were added to the musical text if they appeared in the majority of the sources. “This edition does not present a perfect reconstruction of the lost autograph; no editor could claim to do so. Instead, I have attempted to provide musicians and scholars with a reliable version of the surviving musical text of the six cello suites and to shed light on the options which the Bach sources offer.”

This flyer takes you through our various editions of Bach’s Cello Suites.

Description

Bach’s Six Suites for Violoncello solo are among the highlights of eighteenth-century solo string literature. From early on, these pieces have also been performed on the viola – a practice that still enjoys unbroken popularity today.

The source situation regarding the cello suites is complex: Bach’s autographs are lost and the surviving sources often contradict each other with regard to phrasing, bowing and other musical details. While most existing viola transcriptions rely on the manuscript copy by Anna Magdalena Bach, this edition follows the manuscript prepared by Johann Nikolaus Schober as well as the anonymous manuscript believed to be commissioned by Johann Traeg more closely because they might reflect later thoughts and elaborations on the Suites by the composer. Chung Park based his arrangement on a thorough study of Bärenreiter’s Urtext editions of Bach’s Cello Suites and recommends violists to refer to these editions and facsimile resources (BA05217 edited by Douglas Woodfull-Harris and Bettina Schwemer; BA05278 edited by Andrew Talle) for further information on the evaluation of the sources and the comparison of differing readings.

The arranger:

Chung Park is a conductor, violist, and educator who received his professional training at the Peabody Conservatory as well as the University of Miami. He studied viola in Hannover, Germany, with Hatto Beyerle of the Alban Berg Quartet. An experienced performer and educator, Chung Park has taught at several universities, among which the University of Central Florida, Appalachian State University and the University of Chicago, and has delivered masterclasses across the United States. In 2022 he was appointed conductor of St. Olaf Orchestra, St. Olaf College, Minnesota.

www.chungpark.com

Description

The suites are the very core of cello literature, with their timeless beauty accompanying cellists from their student years throughout the height of their professional careers.

Considering the works’ significance, the great number of editions in existence is not surprising. However, the composer’s autograph has not been preserved and is considered lost. This circumstance creates an exceptional challenge many editors faced over the years. The four autograph sources still in existence and the first print from 1824 show numerous small deviations, especially in terms of articulation markings and phrasing.

This facsimile edition is the first to juxtapose all four autograph sources as well as the first print (along with Bach’s own arrangement of Suite No. V for lute). For the first time, readers can compare a specific section in all sources at one glance. This allows for a straightforward and immediate consideration of all sources.

Description

When we think of the cello, we automatically think of Bach’s immortal cello suites. They are the very core of cello literature, their timeless beauty accompanying cellists from their student years throughout the height of their professional careers.

Considering the works’ significance, the great number of editions in existence is not surprising. However, the composer’s autograph has not been preserved and is considered lost. This circumstance creates an exceptional challenge many editors faced over the years. The four autograph sources still in existence and the first print from 1824 show numerous small deviations, especially in terms of articulation markings and phrasing.

In this two-volume edition of Bach’s cello suites, Andrew Talle now presents an entirely new view of the relationships between existing sources. The first volume contains the edited musical text, which comes as close to the composer’s original intention as the surviving source material allows: “This edition does not constitute a perfect reconstruction of the lost autograph; that is something no editor could claim to accomplish. Instead, I have attempted to supply musicians and researchers with a reliable version of the surviving musical text of the six cello suites, and to convey a sense of the many possibilities Bach encouraged his musicians to explore.”

The second volume presents, for the first time, synoptically arranged facsimiles of the handwritten sources as well as the first print (with Suite No. V also including Bach’s own arrangement for lute), allowing readers to compare any specific section in all sources at one glance. This allows for a straightforward and immediate consideration of all sources, making editorial decisions transparent and self-evident.

Andrew Talle’s edition is supplemented by a comprehensive discussion of the instrument for which the suites were created, as well as information regarding musical interpretation during Bach’s time.

Description

The standard edition – with performance markings

August Wenzinger’s edition of Johann Sebastian Bach’s famous solo suites for violoncello has become the recognized edition for cellists today. Wenzinger’s year-long experience in the field of the performace practice of early music has left its mark on this edition and makes an outstanding guide for an authentic interpretation.

This flyer takes you through our various editions of Bach’s Cello Suites.