Johann Sebastian Bach's unaccompanied cello suites (BWV 1007-1012): sources, editions and interpretations

Abstract

Because the autograph of J. S. Bach's Unaccompanied Cello Suites, BWV 1007-1012, is missing we are left to rely on four manuscript copies of the 18th century. The first part of this study discusses the relevance and reliability of these copies, then compares their content giving similarities and variants. The second part of the thesis discusses the treatment of the Unaccompanied Cello Suites in the 20th century by editors and selected performers. A number of editions are related back to the manuscript sources and commented on with regard to their function or peculiarities. How the cellists Casals, Tortelier, Harnoncourt and du Pré view the importance and function of an edition is investigated, as are their recordings of the Cello Suites. These case studies have been undertaken to ascertain the approach of 20th-century cellists to the interpretation of Bach. Of primary importance to Casals and Tortelier is a study of the music itself. These cellists rely heavily on intuition to direct their performance as does du Pré. While Casals and Tortelier rejected 18th-century performance practice principles as being irrelevant, this was central to Harnoncourt's approach to playing Bach. How playing traditions of the 19th century have inevitably affected 20th-century performances is considered, as is execution of shifts and application of vibrato.