Bach's Cello Suites, Volumes 1 and 2

Allen Winold

Description

Extensive analyses of the most beloved of Bach's works

J. S. Bach's Suites for Unaccompanied Cello are among the most cherished and frequently played works in the entire literature of music, and yet they have never been the subject of a full-length music analytical study. The musical examples herein include every note of all movements (so one needs no separate copy of the music while reading the book), and undertakes both basic analyses—harmonic reduction, functional harmonic analysis, step progression analysis, form analysis, and syntagmatic and paradigmatic melodic analysis—and specialized analyses for some of the individual movements. Allen Winold presents a comprehensive study intended not only for cellists, but also for other performers, music theorists, music educators, and informed general readers.

Volume I
Contents
Foreword
Preface
Chapter 1: Historical Background
Chapter 2: The Preludes
Chapter 3: The Allemandes
Chapter 4: The Courantes
Chapter 5: The Sarabandes
Chapter 6: The Optional Dances
Chapter 7: The Gigues
Chapter 8: Summary and Conclusions
Appendix: Analytical Designations
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Appendix: Analytical Designations

Volume II

Contents
Table of Contents for Volume II: Music Examples
Preface
Chapter 1: Music Examples for the Historical Background
Chapter 2: Music Examples for the Preludes
Chapter 3: Music Examples for the Allemandes
Chapter 4: Music Examples for the Courantes
Chapter 5: Music Examples for the Sarabandes
Chapter 6: Music Examples for the Optional Dances
Chapter 7: Music Examples for the Gigues

Sujets

• Musique
• Culture musicale
• Histoire de la musique
• Technique musicale
• Technique musicale
• Techniques musicales
• Technique
• Music
• Musique savante
• History
• Strings
• Classical
• Theory
• History of classical music traditions
• Art music
• Multiple signal classification
• Techniques
• Genres
• Styles

Informations

• Publié par: Indiana University Press
• Date de parution: 10 mai 2007
• Nombre de lectures: 3
• EAN13: 9780253013477
• Langue: English

Extrait

BACH S CELLO SUITES

BACH S CELLO SUITES
Analyses and Explorations
Volume I: Text
ALLEN WINOLD
Indiana University Press
BLOOMINGTON AND INDIANAPOLIS
This book is a publication of
Indiana University Press
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Bloomington, IN 47404-3797 USA
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2007 by Allen Winold
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The Association of American University Presses Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition.
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984.
MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Winold, Allen.
Bach s cello suites : analyses and explorations, volume i : text / Allen Winold.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p.) and index.
ISBN 978-0-253-21885-8 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Bach, Johann Sebastian, 1685-1750. Suites, violoncello, BWV 1007-1012.
2. Suites (Violoncello)-Analysis, appreciation. I. Title.
MT145.B14W57 2007
787.4 1858092-dc22
2007000628
1 2 3 4 5 12 11 10 09 08 07
To Helga with love, and with deep gratitude for her insight and inspiration
Contents
Preface
1. Historical Background
2. The Preludes
3. The Allemandes
4. The Courantes
5. The Sarabandes
6. The Optional Movements
7. The Gigues
8. Summary and Conclusions
Appendix: Analytical Designations
Detailed Table of Contents for Volume I: Text
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Preface
Johann Sebastian Bach s Suites for Unaccompanied Cello have inspired listeners and performers for almost 300 years, and yet there has been no full-length analytical study devoted exclusively to these magnificent works. My first goal in writing this book was to fill this gap by presenting analyses of all the movements of the suites; my second goal was to involve readers actively in the explorations of these works.
I wrote the book for three groups of readers with varied but related interests. I wrote it for cellists and other performing musicians, not to insist that they follow my ideas on how to interpret, perform, and teach these works, but rather to show them how concepts from music analysis could help them form their own ideas on interpreting, performing, and teaching these works. I wrote it for music teachers and for advanced students, not to challenge them with new theories, but to help them explore ways in which traditional analytical techniques and ideas could be made more accessible and meaningful. I wrote it for interested and informed general readers and music listeners, not to give them a superficial survey of the Cello Suites, but to introduce them to the excitement that can come from delving deeply into the study of these works.
To meet these goals and serve these readers, I use analytical techniques from a variety of sources, and I adapt and simplify some of the concepts and techniques to make them easier to understand and apply. All analyses include a set of basic techniques-formal analysis, harmonic reduction, functional harmonic analysis, linear analysis, and melodic analysis. Other specialized analytical techniques are introduced in the analyses of individual movements. The basic analytical concepts used throughout the book are presented in the first two sections of chapters 2 and 3 in conjunction with the study of the Preludes and Allemandes of the First and Second Suites. Readers who wish to focus only on the movements of a single suite should read these sections before reading the discussions of the movements of that particular suite.
The organization of the study reflects an emphasis on active involvement on the part of the reader. Chapter 1 engages readers in an exploration of the historical background of the Cello Suites and presents basic ideas that shape the analytical studies which follow. Chapters 2 through 7 invite readers to explore the individual movements of the suites at the same time they are learning various analytical concepts and techniques. These chapters are organized by movement types rather than by individual suites, to facilitate recognition of common characteristics in each movement type. Chapter 2 discusses the Preludes and introduces basic harmonic and melodic concepts. Chapter 3 discusses the Allemandes and emphasizes concepts of form. Chapter 4 discusses the Courantes and emphasizes detailed investigations of rhythm and melody. Chapter 5 discusses the Sarabandes and introduces some more advanced or speculative ideas. Chapter 6 discusses the optional dances (Minuets, Bourr es, and Gavottes) and explores the relation between music and dance. Chapter 7 discusses the Gigues; and introduces the technique of recomposition. Chapter 8 considers the relations between the movements of the individual suites, and addresses questions of performance practice, textual revision, meaning and emotion in music, and the application of analysis to perception, performance, and pedagogy. A detailed table of contents at the end of volume 1 enables readers to find discussions of specific movements and explanations of specific analytical concepts.
To foster active involvement, the book is presented in two volumes-the first containing the text, the second containing the music examples and analyses. This produces a more readable format for the examples, makes it easier for readers to go back and forth easily between text and music, and facilitates the playing of the examples on cello, piano, or other instruments. The music examples include the complete cello part of all movements of the suites, so that it is not necessary to have a separate copy of the music for the suites while reading the book. Both volumes end with an appendix that presents a summary of analytical designations, symbols, and abbreviations.
I hope that readers, especially theorists, musicologists, and music educators, will play the examples in the second volume, and not just focus on the analytical discussions in the first volume. I hope that readers, especially performers and students, will study the analytical concepts in the first volume, and not just focus on the music examples in the second volume. In this way all readers may experience the fruitful interaction between the analysis of music, with its emphasis on thoughtful exploration of possibilities, and the practice of music, with its emphasis on active realization of these possibilities.
I acknowledge my indebtedness to my colleagues at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and to other scholars and writers from Bach s own time to the present, whose insights have helped me to understand and value the Cello Suites. I acknowledge my appreciation to Janos Starker, Helga Winold, Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, and Emilio Colon from the cello department at the Jacobs School of Music and to the many generations of cellists whose performances of these works have brought them to the world in such a rich variety of styles and interpretations. I especially want to acknowledge the skill, support, patience, and encouragement of Michele Bird, Dawn Ollila, Jane Quinet, Pam Rude, and Donna Wilson of Indiana University Press, and copyeditor Eric Schramm.
Finally I acknowledge my gratitude to my teachers who helped me find the knowledge to answer my questions, and to my students who helped me find the courage to question my answers.
BACH S CELLO SUITES
1. Historical Background
History is philosophy teaching by examples.
Henry St. John, Viscount Bolingbrooke
When, in 1735, Viscount Bolingbrooke wrote this perceptive definition of history, he was probably referring to significant social or political events as the examples that bring philosophical insight. There is no reason, however, why the composition and performance of works such as J. S. Bach s Cello Suites, written roughly a decade earlier, could not serve equally well. In this spirit I present some of the historical events related to the Cello Suites, not as mere facts, but as examples that may provide insight into the composition, analysis, and performance of these works.
1.1.0. Early Biographical Documents: The Genealogy and the Obituary
In the same year in which Bolingbroke wrote this definition of history, Bach wrote a genealogy entitled The Origin of the Musical Bach Family; in 1774 his son Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach and others added supplemental materials. This genealogy lists fifty-three members of the Bach family, from Veit Bach, a Hungarian baker who played the cittern, to Johann Heinrich Bach, a good clavier player. The members of the Bach family were well established as musicians in Thuringia and other parts of Germany; indeed, the name Bach was virtually synonymous with the word musician. Here is Bach s own listing of the positions he held up until 1735:
Court Musician, in Weimar, to Duke Johann Ernst, Anno 1703;
Organist in the New Church at Arnstadt, 1703;
Organist in the Church of St. Blasius in M hlhausen, Anno 1707;
Chamber and Court Organist in Weimar, Anno 1708;
Concertmaster as well, at the same Court, Anno 1714;
Capellmeister and Director of the Chamber Music at the Court of the Serene Prince of Anhalt-C then, Anno 1717;
Was called hence, Anno 1723, to become Music Director and Cantor at the St. Thomas School, in Leipzig; where, in accordance with God s Holy Will, he still lives and at the same time holds the honorary position of Capellmeister of Weissenfels and C then. 1
As a young boy, J. S. Bach benefited from association with his musically active siblings and with apprentices who came to live and study in the