36554

The Legacy of Bach’s Cello Suites in Twentieth-Century Solo Cello Suites
A document submitted to
The Graduate School

of the University of Cincinnati
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS
in the Performance Studies Division

of the College-Conservatory of Music
February 2020
by
Sunhaeng Lee
B.M., Hanyang University, Korea, 2008

M.M., University of Cincinnati, 2011
A.D., University of Cincinnati, 2014
Committee Chair: Samuel Ng, Ph.D.

Abstract
Until the twentieth century, there does not exist the same kind of repertoire for solo cello
and especially unaccompanied cello as for other instruments. Bach’s cello suites, written
between 1717 and 1723 were the exception to this rule, and these works and this genre have had
a strong influence on composers writing for solo cello in the last century. Max Reger took Bach
as an example and fused Baroque elements with contemporary ones in his three cello suites.
After Reger, the twentieth-century saw a significant increase of solo cello compositions and
many composers wrote cello suites as well as other genres for the instrument. Bach’s influence
on this literature is substantial. This document explores selected solo cello suites of twentieth-
century composers: Max Reger (Three suites, Op.131c, 1915), Gaspar Cassadó (1926), Ernest
Bloch (Suites 1 and 2, 1956, Suite 3, 1957), Benjamin Britten (Op. 72, 1964, Op. 80, 1968, Op.
87, 1972),and Hans Gál (Op. 109b, 1982). These pieces will be examined for their connections to
Bach’s Cello Suites and influences of style, techniques, and other characteristics will be
explored.
ii
iii
Table of Contents
Page
List of Figures and Examples v
Chapter I: Introduction 1
Solo Cello Literature: History and Survey 1
Backgrounds of the Composers 7
Chapter II: Style and Technique in Bach’s Suites for Unaccompanied Cello 16
The General Form of the Baroque Suite 16
Musical Style in Bach’s Cello Suites 24
Chapter III: Select Twentieth-Century Cello Suites 36
Max Reger: Three Suites for Violoncello Solo, Op. 131c (1915) 37
Gaspar Cassadó: Suite for Violoncello (1926) 49
Ernest Bloch: Suite nos. 1–3 for Violoncello Solo 59
(Nos. 1 and 2, 1956, No. 3, 1957)
Benjamin Britten: Three Suites for Cello 71
(Op. 72, 1964; Op. 80, 1968; Op. 87, 1972)
Hans Gál: Suite for Solo Cello Op. 109b (1982) 81
Chapter IV: Conclusion 88
Bibliography 91
iv
List of Figures and Examples
Figures Page
Figure 1. Key and Galanteries in J. S. Bach, Six Suites, BWV 1007–1012 16
Figure 2. Rhythm Patterns in J. S. Bach, Six Suites, BWV 1007–1012 26–27
Figure 3. Key schemes in Reger’s Three Suites, Op. 131c, Nos. 1–3 38
Figure 4. Form of Gaspar Cassadó, Suite, Preludio-Fantasia 50
Figure 5. Form structure of Gaspar Cassadó, Suite, Sardana 51
Figure 6. Form structure of Gaspar Cassadó, Suite, Intermezzo e Danza Finale 52
Figure 7. Structure of Britten’s Three Suites, Ops. 72, 80, and 87 72
Examples
Ex. 1–a. J. S. Bach, Cello Suites, No. 1, BWV 1007, Allemande, mm. 1–2 18
Ex. 1–b. J. S. Bach, Cello Suites, No. 6, BWV 1012, Allemande, mm. 1–2 19
Ex. 2. J. S. Bach, Cello Suites, No. 5, BWV 1011, Courante, mm. 4 and 9 20
Ex. 3. J. S. Bach, Cello Suites, No. 5, BWV 1011, Sarabande, mm. 1–4 21
Ex. 4. J. S. Bach, Cello Suites, No. 5, BWV 1011, Gigue, mm. 1–4 22
Ex. 7. J. S. Bach, Cello Suites, No. 6, BWV 1012, Courante, mm. 53–55 25
Ex. 8. J. S. Bach Cello Suites, No. 4, BWV 1010, Gigue, mm. 15–18 26
v
Ex. 9–a. J. S. Bach, Cello Suites, No. 3, BWV 1009, Gigue, mm. 1 and 5 28
Ex. 9–b. J. S. Bach, Cello Suites, No. 6, BWV 1012, Courante, mm. 1–2 28
Ex. 9–c. J. S. Bach, Cello Suites, No. 2, BWV 1008, Prelude, mm. 1–3 28
Ex. 12. J. S. Bach, Cello Suites, No. 3, BWV 1009, Prelude, mm. 21–26 32
Ex. 13–a. J. S. Bach, Cello Suites, No. 1, BWV 1007, Prelude, m. 1 32
Ex. 13–b. J. S. Bach, Cello Suites, No. 4, BWV 1010, Prelude, m. 1 32
Ex. 14–b. J. S. Bach, Cello Suites, No. 1, BWV 1007, Courante, mm. 14–15 33
Ex. 15–b. J. S. Bach, Cello Suites, No. 1, BWV 1007, Courante, m. 1 34
Ex. 15–c. J. S. Bach, Cello Suites, No. 6, BWV 1012, Courante, mm. 13–14 34
Ex. 16–a. J. S. Bach, Cello Suites, No. 6, BWV 1012, Gavotte I, mm. 1–4 34
Ex. 16–b. J. S. Bach, Cello Suites, No. 6, BWV 1012, Gavotte II, mm. 41/2–12 35
Ex. 17–b. J. S. Bach, Cello Suites, No. 4, BWV 1010, Allemande, mm. 3–5 35
Ex. 18–a. Max Reger, Three Suites, Op. 131c, No. 2, Gavotte, mm. 1–4 and 47–50 39
Ex. 18–b. Max Reger, Three Suites, Op. 131c, No. 2, Gavotte, mm. 9–12 and 55–58 39
Ex. 19. Max Reger, Three Suites, Op. 131c, No. 1, Präludium, mm. 1–4 40
Ex. 20–a. Max Reger, Three Suites, Op. 131c, No. 1, Adagio, mm. 58–62 41
Ex. 20–b. J. S. Bach, Six Suites, No. 2, BWV 1008, Prelude, mm. 55–58 41
Ex. 21. Max Reger, Three Suites, Op. 131c, No. 2, Gigue, mm. 1–8 and 44–51 43
vi
Ex. 22. Max Reger, Three Suites, Op. 131c, No. 2, Gigue, mm. 12 and 23 43
Ex. 23–a. Max Reger, Three Suites, Op. 131c, No. 1, Präludium, mm. 10–11 45
Ex. 23–b. Max Reger, Three Suites, Op. 131c, No. 3, Andante con variazioni,
mm. 133–134 46
Ex. 24–a. Max Reger, Three Suites, Op. 131c, No. 2, Prelude, m. 13 and
Largo, mm. 34–35 46
Ex. 24–b. J. S. Bach, Six Suites, No. 3, BWV 1009, Prelude, m. 1 and
Allemande, m. 1 46
Ex. 25–a. Max Reger, Three Suites, Op. 131c, No. 1, Präludium, mm. 30–32 47
Ex. 25–b. Max Reger, Three Suites, Op. 131c, No. 1, Präludium, mm. 34–37 47
Ex. 25–c. Max Reger, Three Suites, Op. 131c, No. 1, Adagio, mm. 48–55 47
Ex. 26–a. Gaspar Cassadó, Suite, Preludio-Fantasia, mm. 11–16 53
Ex. 26–b. J. S. Bach, Six Suites, Sarabandes 1 and 4, mm. 1–2 54
Ex. 27. Gaspar Cassadó, Suite, Preludio-Fantasia, mm. 17–24 55
Ex. 28. Gaspar Cassadó, Suite, Preludio-Fantasia, mm. 49–51 56
Ex. 29–a. Gaspar Cassadó, Suite, Sardana, mm. 11–14 57
Ex. 29–b. Gaspar Cassadó, Suite, Sardana, mm. 73–76 57
Ex. 30–a. Gaspar Cassadó, Suite, Intermezzo e Danza Finale, mm. 86–89 57
Ex. 30–b. Gaspar Cassadó, Suite, Intermezzo e Danza Finale, mm. 162–166 57
Ex. 31. Ernest Bloch, Suite No. 1, Prelude, mm. 19–27 61
Ex. 32–a. Ernest Bloch, Suite No. 1, Prelude, mm. 1–4 62
Ex. 32–b. Ernest Bloch, Suite No. 1, Prelude, mm. 28–30 62
Ex. 33–a. Ernest Bloch, Suite No. 1, Allegro (2nd mvmt.), mm. 1–4 63
vii
Ex. 33–b. Ernest Bloch, Suite No. 2, Andante tranquillo, mm. 159–167 63
Ex. 33–c. Ernest Bloch, Suite No. 3, Allegro, mm. 1–5 63
Ex. 34. Ernest Bloch, Suite No. 2, Prelude, mm. 1–4 64
Ex. 35–a. Ernest Bloch, Suite No. 2, Prelude, mm. 4–7 65
Ex. 35–b. Ernest Bloch, Suite No. 3, Allegro, mm. 43–45 65
Ex. 36–a. J. S. Bach, Six Suites, No. 6, BWV 1012, Prelude, mm. 1–2 66
Ex. 36–b. Ernest Bloch, Suite No. 1, Allegro (4th mvmt.), mm. 83–86 66
Ex. 36–c. Ernest Bloch, Suite No. 3, Allegro, mm. 80–82 66
Ex. 37–a. Ernest Bloch, Suite No. 1, Prelude, m. 1, and
Allegro (4th mvmt.), mm. 117–118 67
Ex. 37–b. Ernest Bloch, Suite No. 2, Allegro (4th mvmt.), mm. 391–394 67
Ex. 38. J. S. Bach, Six Suites, No. 5, BWV 1011, Sarabande, mm.1–2 69
Ex. 39. Ernest Bloch, Suite No. 1, Canzona, mm. 48–52 70
Ex. 40–a. Benjamin Britten, Suite Op. 72, I Fuga, mm. 37–44 74
Ex. 40–b. Benjamin Britten, Suite Op. 72, I Fuga, mm. 45–47 74
Ex. 40–c. Benjamin Britten, Suite Op. 72, I Fuga, mm. 53–55 74
Ex. 41. Benjamin Britten, Suite Op. 87, Passacaglia: Lento Solemme, mm. 1–6 77
Ex. 42. Benjamin Britten, Suite Op. 72, Marcia, mm. 10–13 78
Ex. 43–a. Benjamin Britten, Suite Op. 72, Bordone, mm. 1–2 79
Ex. 43–b. Benjamin Britten, Suite Op. 72, Bordone, m. 14 (transition) 79
Ex. 44. Hans Gál, Suite Op. 109b, Introduzione, mm. 1–2 and 24–25 83
Ex. 45. Hans Gál, Suite Op. 109b, All Marcia, mm. 1–4 83
Ex. 46. Hans Gál, Suite Op. 109b, Rondino, mm. 1–2 84
viii
Ex. 47–a. Hans Gál, Suite Op. 109b, Cavatina, mm. 1–8 85
Ex. 47–b. Hans Gál, Suite Op. 109b, Cavatina, mm. 49–57 85
Ex. 48. Hans Gál, Suite Op. 109b, Fughetta, mm. 20–21 and 37–38 86
Ex. 49–a. Hans Gál, Suite Op. 109b, Introduzione, mm. 32–33 86
Ex. 49–b. Hans Gál, Suite Op. 109b, Rondino, mm. 80–81 86
Ex. 50. Hans Gál, Suite Op. 109b, Rondino, mm. 64 and 68 87
ix
Chapter I
Introduction
Until 1909, Bach’s cello suites stood unequalled in the cello literature, but used mostly as
educational tools for the development of cello students. Pablo Casals’s recital in Hamburg, 1909,
marks the elevation of the suites into the performance repertoire, where they have remained into
the present.1 A staple of the concert recital, the suites have also inspired more recent composers
to add to this genre and many twentieth-century composers produced solo works for the cello.
Few musical genres have a single source that serves as impetus and inspiration for later works
quite like Bach’s cello suites. In this document, by looking at the suites of Max Reger, Gaspar
Cassadó, Ernest Bloch, Benjamin Britten, and Hans Gál, I will demonstrate how composers
relate to the earlier masterpieces while maintaining their own distinctive voice.
Cello Solo Literature: History and Survey
In general, the history of the cello and of its music is a shorter read and the repertoire is a
smaller collection than those of other instruments such as the violin or piano. Although invented
in the sixteenth century, after both the violin and viola were created but before the piano, the
understanding that the cello was an ensemble instrument rather than a solo instrument persisted
well into the late eighteenth century and affected the development of its repertoire. It developed
alongside the other instruments with many new advancements in sound and design in the 1700s,
but its place in the basso continuo of ensembles and orchestras and its importance in the bass
1
Dimitry Markevitch, The Solo Cello: A Bibliography of the Unaccompanied Violoncello Literature
(Berkeley, CA: Fallen Leaf Press, 1989), 10.
1
sections of later orchestras was its central role. Many of the cello masters of this time wrote
music for the instrument, mainly for educational purposes, but solo performances were not
widespread.
The earliest composers to write solos for the instrument include the Italians, Giovanni
Degli Antoni (Ricercate Op. 1, 1687), Domenico Gabrielli (Ricercarj per violoncello solo,
1689), and Domenico Galli (Trattenimento musicale sopra il violoncello a’ solo, 1691).2 Among
these early works, Gabrielli’s are the most polished and take the most advantages of the
instruments many faceted sound. His seven works for the four-stringed cello tuned, C-G-d-g, are
full of technical difficulties, multiple stops, and complicated material.3 Later composers that
predate Bach also contributed to the solo literature, although, confusingly for the modern student,
some of the works use the word, ‘basso’ or ‘violone’, instead of ‘violoncello’, or they also
include a continuo part. G. B. Vitali (Partite sopra diverse sonate, 1680 ca.), Giuseppe Colombi
(a chaconne, a toccata and eighty-one Balli Diversi), Antonio Giannotii (Sonata a violon solo
internally), Francesco Scipriani (12 Toccatas), and Joseph Bodin de Boismortier (Pièces que l’on
peut jouer seul, Op. 40) are notable examples.4
Even with the contributions of these composers, Bach’s six suites, BWV 1007–12, mark
a significant departure from his predecessors and the sets are still unusual for this period in that
they contain so many individual pieces, and for the development of cello technique found inside
2
Robin Stowell, ed., The Cambridge Companion to the Cello (New York: Cambridge University Press,
1999), 137.
3
Ibid.
4
Ibid, 138; see also Markevitch, 9; the exact dates of these pieces are unknown, but assumed to be from the
late 17th to early 18th centuries.
2
them, especially for a composer outside of Italy.5 His works showcase the possibilities of the
cello as a solo instrument and provide a glossary of the elements of Baroque style as well as
featuring some of the more current trends of his day.
The origins of Bach’s cello suites are unknown since there is no autograph manuscript.
There is much conjecture as to the exact date(s) of the pieces and for whom they were written.
Some or all of the six might have been composed as early as Bach’s time in Weimar (1708–17),
but the Cöthen period (1717–23) seems more likely. As no autograph exists, scholars rely on the
copy of the works present in the notebooks of Anna Magdalena, Bach’s second wife. From this
source, they have argued that the suites could be a sequel to the Sonatas and Partitas for solo
violin, which have a more confirmed date (1720), and were thus written in the Cöthen period. As
Capellmeister (director of the chamber music) for Leopold, Prince of Anhalt-Cöthen, Bach
received tremendous support in the composition of secular music during this time. In addition to
definitively dated Sonatas and Partitas, he also composed other major instrumental works
including The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I (1722) and the six Brandenburg Concertos (1721).
Bach’s suites opened up new possibilities for the cello with these pieces, and it is unclear
the degree to which if any he was influenced by the earlier solo cello works. Sets by his
predecessor seem to have pedagogical purposes and they sometimes include a basso continuo or
a second cello (as in the case of Gabrielli, 1689).6 However, Bach relied completely on the
instrument’s own ability to create differing textures through multiple stops and arpeggiated
5
David Schulenberg, Music of the Baroque, 2nd ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2008), 259.
6
David Ledbetter, Unaccompanied Bach: Performing the Solo Works (New Haven: Yale University Press,
2009), 36.
3
melodies and he initiated a new phase of maturity for the cello not found in earlier examples. In
the words of Carlos Pietro:
The ricercari of Gabrielli and degli Antoni are perfectly structured works that
demand considerable mastery of the cello. Nevertheless, they cannot be compared
to the extraordinary legacy bequeathed by Bach in his Six Suites for Cello Solo,
the first cardinal work in the history of the cello, which had never before been
used for works of such musical richness and technical difficulty.7
The intended recipient(s) for the suites is also up for debate, however, the level of
virtuosity found in them certainly narrows down the possibilities. As Christoph Wolff notes, the
virtuosity both in terms of practical demands and in refinement of the complex musical material
was unmatched:
Bach’s unaccompanied violin and cello compositions also epitomize virtuosity,

and, on account of their singularity, to a degree even greater than his keyboard
works of comparable technical demands. Both sets of solo pieces demonstrate
Bach’s command of performing techniques but also his ability to bring into play,
without even an accompanying bass part, dense counterpoint and refined harmony
with distinctive and well-articulated rhythmic designs, especially in the dance
movements.8
Indeed, these works are extremely virtuosic and demanding in both technique and
expression, but Bach at Cöthen had at his disposal two able cellists: Christian Ferdinand Abel
and Christian Bernhard Linike. In his book Oxford Composer Companions: J.S. Bach, Malcolm
Boyd suggests that Abel, who was Bach’s friend and colleague at Cöthen was the cellist for these
works.9 However, David Ledbetter argues “Linike, who was an excellent cellist and joined
Prince Leopold’s Capelle at Cöthen in 1716, as the most likely person related with the Bach’s
7
Carlos Prieto, The Adventures of a Cello (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2006), 222.
8
Christoph Wolff, Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician (New York: W.W. Norton, 2000), 232.
9
Malcolm Boyd, Oxford Composer Companions: J.S. Bach (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999), 90.
4
cello suites.”10 Both have been named as probable intended players, but as there is no reliable
evidence to be sure in either case, it is possible that the music was for the use of either player.
Bach’s suites did not inspire further compositions or a shift in the accepted role of the
cello immediately. And, in the later eighteenth century and into the nineteenth century, the many
cellists that participated in this shift mainly composed their own pieces in a virtuosic and
contemporary style, rather than performed historical pieces. These performer/composers include
Jean-Pierre Duport (1741–1818) and his brother, Jean-Louis Duport (1741–1819), Bernhard
Heinrich Romberg (1767–1841), Adrien-François Servais (1807–66), Auguste-Joseph
Franchomme (1808–84), Carlo Piatti (1822–1901), Georg Goltermann (1824–98), Friedrich
Grützmacher (1832–1903), Karl Davydov (1838–39), David Popper (1843–1913), Wilhelm
Fitzenhagen (1848–90), Julius Klengel (1859–1933), and Hugo Becker (1863–1941).11 Later in
the century, a few minor works for solo cello not associated directly with cellists were written
such as Jacques Offenbach’s thirteen operatic fantasies and Sibelius’s Theme and Variations, c.
1887.
In 1915, two composers, Max Reger and Zoltan Kodály, produced works that
dramatically changed the perception of the cello’s solo capabilities and inspired later composers.
Max Reger composed his three solo cello suites Op. 131c in 1914 and they were premiered in
1915, becoming the first significant appearance of a monumental solo work for cello since
10
Ledbetter, 35.
11
Stowell, 137.
5
Bach’s.12 Kodály’s Sonata, Op. 8, (1915) is an equally significant work; it is imbued with folk
music and folk-like music derived from the composer’s song collecting.13
After these works by Reger and Kodály, the twentieth century saw an explosion of music
written for cello, including many Suites, Sonatas, and other works. Robin Stowell’s The
Cambridge Companion to the Cello is an invaluable source on this repertoire, and, in The Solo
Cello: A Bibliography of the Unaccompanied Violoncello Literature, Dmitry Markevitch
provides information on a myriad of these compositions by many notable composers: Paul
Hindemith (Sonata Op. 25, No. 3, 1923); Eugéne Ysaÿ

e (Sonata Op. 28, c. 192 4), Gaspar
Cassadó (Suite, 1926), Bohuslav Martinů (Etudes rhythmiques, 1931), Wolfgang Fortner (Suite,
1932), Ernst Krenek (Suite, Op. 84, 1939), Luigi Dallapiccola’s (Ciaccona, Intermezzo e adagio,
1945), Paul Tortelier’s (Suite, 1945; Mon Cirque, 1986), György Ligeti (Sonata, 1948–53),
Hans-Werner Henze (Serenade, 1949), Sergei Prokofiev (Sonata, Op. 133, 1952), George Crumb
(Sonata, 1955), Ernest Bloch (3 Suites 1 and 2, 1956, 3, 1957), Giacinto Scelsi (Trilogy, 1957–
64; Voyages, 1974), Toshiro Mayuzumi, (Bunraku, 1960), Bernd-Alois Zimmermann (Sonata,
1960), Imogen Holst (Fall of the Leaf, 1962), Britten (3 Suites, Op. 72, 1964; Op. 80, 1968; Op.
87, 1972), Iannis Xenakis (Nomos Alpha, 1965; Kottos, 1977), Roger Sessions (Six Pieces,
1966), Krzysztof Penderecki (Capriccio per Siegfried Palm, 1968), Rogelio Huguet y Tagell
(Suite Espagnole 1 and 2; Hallucinations and Deuxième Suite), Bjorn Fongaard (Five Sonatas,
Op. 125, 1973), Betsy Jolas (Scion, 1973), Aram Khatchaturian (Sonata-Fantasia, 1974),
Fernando Grillo (Etolie, 1975), Yardona Alotin (Sonata, 1976), Henri Dutilleux (Trois Strophes
sur le nom de Sacher, 1976–82), Paul Ben-Haim (Music, 1977), Alberto Ginastera (Punena No.
12
Stowell, 138.
13
Ibid, 139.
6
2, Op. 45, 1977), Luciano Berio (Les mots sont allés, 1979), Yury Falik (Composition, 1979),
Luis de Pablo (Ofrenda, 1980), Joan Guinjoan (Cadenza, 1981), Ned Rorem (After Reading
Shakespeare, 1981), Hans Gál (Sonata Op. 109a; Suite Op. 109b, 1982), Randall Myers (Tre
Canzoni Orientale (India, Japan and Spain), 1982), William Walton (Passacaglia, 1982), Frank
La Rocca (Secret Thoughts, 1986).14
From among the many solo pieces written in the twentieth century for cello, this
document focuses on the suites of five composers: Max Reger, Gaspar Cassadó, Ernest Bloch,
Benjamin Britten, and Hans Gál. The purpose of this document is to examine these twentieth-
century solo cello suites through the lens of their interaction with the cello suites of J. S. Bach.
To varying degrees these suites all demonstrate use of Baroque suite characteristics and Bach-
like elements in particular. Also, these suites allude to Bach’s suites in terms of genres, melodic
writing, harmonic language, monophonic, homophonic and polyphonic textures, idiomatic
qualities and quotations. These issues will be explored in detail in my document.
Background of the Composers
Max Reger
Max Reger (1873–1916) was active as a composer, performer (pianist, organist,
conductor), and professor in Leipzig at the end of the nineteenth century and early twentieth
century. He composed Lieder, chamber music, choral music, instrumental music (mostly piano
and organ), and orchestral compositions. Fugues and variation forms figure as an important
aspect of his compositions and among his most well-known works, including: Fantasy and
14
See Stowell; Markevitch.
7
Fugue on BACH, Op. 46, Toccata and Fugue in D minor (from Op. 129), Introduction,
Passacaglia and Fugue, Op. 127, for organ; Variation and Fugue on a theme by Mozart (1914)
for orchestra; and for choir and orchestra, Gasang der Verklärten (1903), Der 100 Psalm (1909),
Der Einsiedler (1915) and the Hebbel Requiem (1915).
Many of his works reflect his interest in and cultivation of musical styles and forms from
the past, especially the Baroque period, which he fused with modern techniques often with
programmatic connection.15 Walter Frisch describes Reger’s general compositional style as
“Historicist Modernism,” and explains:
His music uses older forms, drawing on composers of the past. At the same
time, it manifests a language that is radical, and is technically and
expressively very much part of the early twentieth century.16
Older forms are important to Reger and there are many fugues, variations, and dances among his
works that draw from eighteenth-century inspiration, but it is Bach’s style in particular, and
explicitly stated by the composer, which influenced Reger’s music. In an article, “What is J. S.
Bach to Me, and What Does He Mean to Our Time?” Reger clarified Bach’s influence on his
own music and then argued that Bach’s music could cure the “illness” he saw in contemporary
musical culture.17 Reger sought to put into practice this assertion and many of his compositions
have direct and or indirect ties to Bach’s own music. His cello suites directly link to Bach’s own
15
John Williamson, “Reger, (Johann Baptist Joseph) Max (imilian),” Grove Music Online, 2001; Accessed
February 15, 2018, https://www-oxfordmusiconline-
com.proxy.libraries.uc.edu/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-
0000023064.
16
Walter Frisch, “The Music of Max Reger,” The Musical Quarterly 87, No. 4 (2004): 628–30, Accessed
August 25, 2017, http://www.jstor.org.proxy.libraries.uc.edu/stable/3600980.
17
Max Reger, Selected Writings of Max Reger, ed. and trans. Christopher Anderson (New York: Routledge,
2016), 81–82.
8
suites in that very few solo suites existed between the two composers, especially in terms of
repertoire pieces, and Reger’s style is closely modeled on the earlier composer’s.18
Reger composed the Three Suites for Unaccompanied Violoncello, op. 131c, in
Meinningen in autumn 1914, and the Simrock Publishing House released the first edition in
1915.19 Each suite is dedicated to a cellists with whom Reger had concertized: Suite No. 1 to
Julius Klengel; Suite No. 2 to Hugo Becker; Suite No. 3 to Paul Grümmer (1879–1965).20 The
exact date(s) of the premieres is unknown, but a record exists of a performance of at least one
suite on March 18, 1916, given by cellist, Marits Frank, and occurring two months before
Reger’s death.21 As I will show in chapter two, these pieces demonstrate Reger’s deep
understanding of and relationship to Bach’s suites.
Gaspar Cassadó
Gaspar Cassadó (1897–1966), hailing from Barcelona, Spain, was an internationally-
famous cellist through the first half of the twentieth century and beyond. His early music
education came from his father, Jaquín, who was an organist and composer. He received a
scholarship from the Barcelona Conservatory to study with Pablo Casals in Paris beginning in
1810.22 His international career commenced in 1918, and he played recitals with such pianists as
18
Williamson, “Reger, (Johann Baptist Joseph) Max (imilian).”
19
Max Reger, Drei Suiten für Violoncello solo (München: G. Henle Verlag, 1992), iii.
20
Ibid.
21
Ibid.
22
Robert Anderson, “Cassadó (Moreu), Gaspar,” Grove Music Online, 2001; Accessed February 6, 2018,
https://www-oxfordmusiconline-
0000005099.
9
Harold Bauer, Arthur Rubinstein and José Iturbi, piano trios with Yehudi Menuhin and Louis
Kentner, as well as concertos with many of the world’s finest conductors and orchestras. Among
his many recordings is the Pfitzner Cello Concerto, a piece that had been dedicated to him.23 He
made numerous transcriptions for cello of instrumental pieces by C. P. E. Bach, Mozart,
Schubert, Tchaikovsky, and etc., and he left many important editions of cello works. As a
composer, Cassadó wrote an oratorio (1946), a cello concerto in d minor (1926), Rapsodia
catalana for orchestra (1928) and several works for cello and piano.24 Although his music was
influenced by Falla and Ravel, it also features elements from Spanish and particularly Catalonian
sources such as intonations and rhythms, which help create his “expressiveness and vividness of
content, clear form, a wealth of melody, colorful harmony and mastery of polyphony.”25
Cassadós suite, published in 1926 and dedicated to Francesco von Mendelssohn, is a good
example of the mix between his compositional style and Spanish folk music.26
Ernest Bloch
Ernest Bloch (1880–1959) was born in Switzerland but spent most of his life in America.
He began his musical education on the violin and he studied composition in Germany and France
in addition to Switzerland in his early adult life. In 1916, immigrated to the United States,
becoming a citizen in 1924. His academic career in America is divided into two periods: 1916–
1930 and 1939 until his death in 1959, separated by a sojourn in Switzerland where he had no
23
Anderson, “Cassadó (Moreu), Gaspar.”
24
Ibid.
25
Elaine Anne Boda, “Selected Violoncello Works of Gaspar Cassadó,” (DMA diss., Florida State
University, 1998), 17.
26
Gaspar Cassadó, Suite for Violoncello, Wien: Universal Edition, 1926.
10
teaching responsibilities. (1939–1940). His earlier American period saw him teaching
composition and theory at the Mannes school of music (1917–20) and at the Cleveland Institute
of Music (1920–25), and then directing the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (1925–30). At
this time, he had success with a performance by the Flonzaley Quartet of his first String Quartet
(1916) and had orchestral works performed in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. Notable
works include Concerto Grosso No. 1 (1925), Four Episodes for Chamber Orchestra (1926),
awarded the Carolyn Beebe Prize of the New York Chamber Music Society, America, an Epic
Rhapsody (1928), awarded the first prize in a contest sponsored by Musical America, and
Helveria, awarded the RCA Victor Award (1929).27 During his second European period (1930–
39), he focused on composition, producing the Sacred Service (1933), the Piano Sonata (1935),
Voice in the Wilderness (1936), Evocations for orchestra (1937), the Violin Concerto (1938),
while also conducting in both Europe and the United States.28 His second American period began
in 1940 when he took a position at the University of California, Berkeley (1940–52); he
composed fewer pieces at this time but among them are Suite Symphonique (1944), Concerto
Symphonique for piano and orchestra (1948), and Suite Hébraïque for viola (or violin) and
orchestra (1951). In his later years, he lived at Agate Beach, Oregon where he continued to
compose and where he felt less limited by genre concerns. It was during this period, he
composed the three suites. He died of cancer in 1958.
Perhaps influenced by the cosmopolitan nature of his life, Bloch’s musical style is very
broad and diverse. In his earliest period, in Munich and Paris, his compositions show influence
27
David Z. Kushner, “Bloch, Ernest (USA),” Grove Music Online, 2014; Accessed January 29, 2020,
1002257441.
28
Ibid.
11
from Richard Strauss (melody, harmony and orchestration), Wagnerian music dramas, and the
music of Debussy and Mussorgsky, characteristics of which continued in his later music.29 Many
of his large compositions reflect his Jewish heritage, and together these pieces are known as the
“Jewish Cycle;” while programmatically connected to scripture, stylistically, they often let him
explore certain neo-classical qualities.30
In the last part of his life, Bloch composed a series of six suites for unaccompanied string
instruments: two for violin, one for viola, and three for cello, which in a way demonstrate
Bloch’s admiration for Bach.31 The first two cello suites were composed in 1956 and dedicated
to his favorite cellist, Zara Nelsova (1918–2002), who had performed his Schelomo and Voice in
the Wilderness several times. A misunderstanding between the two precluded her from the
dedication of the third suite (1957).32
Benjamin Britten
Benjamin Britten (1913–1976) was a British composer, pianist and conductor. As one of
the most dominant English composers during the twentieth century, he strove to revive a keen
interest in English national music in areas such English opera (Peter Grimes, 1945; The Rape of
Lucretia, 1946; Billy Budd, 1951The Turn of the Screw, 1954; etc.), choral music such as the
War Requiem (1962), music for children—especially The Young Person’s Guide to the
29
Kushner, “Bloch, Ernest (USA).”
30
Ibid.
31
Walter Simmons, Voices in the Wilderness: Six American Neo-romantic Composers (Lanham, MD:
Scarecrow Press, 2004), 99.
32
David Z. Kushner, The Ernest Bloch Companion (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2002), 135.
12
Orchestra (1945) —, as well as chamber and instrumental music and film music. He also
concertized and recorded as a pianist and conductor.
Britten’s style is eclectic and his influences include a variety of past and
contemporaneous composers, including Bach, Beethoven and Brahms—especially in his early
years—Debussy, Ravel, Schoenberg, Berg, Delius and Stravinsky, among others.33 Although
exposed to vastly different styles of his own time, he developed a unique tonality of his own
style that is accessible to both performers and listeners, far from the isolationism of the postwar
avant-garde. He often fused these materials with those adapted from various non–Western
musical traditions (Asian cultures).34
Britten composed three Cello Suites: Suite for Cello, Op. 72, Second Suite for Cello, Op.
80, and Third Suite for Cello, Op. 87. His relationship with the world-renowned cellist Mstislav
Rostropovich greatly influenced these and other cello works, and Rostropovich, himself,
premiered all three suites: the first two at the Aldeburgh Festival in 1965 and 1968,
consecutively, and the last at the Maltings, Snape in 1974. These suites are among the most
difficult cello suites. They include numerous idiomatic techniques, unique sounds, and strenuous
attention to expression, and they showcase the cello’s entire capacity. They seem to draw from
Rostropovich’s own love of Bach’s suites as well as the great cellist’s masterful virtuosity.
33
Jennifer Doctor, Judith LeGrove, Paul Banks, Heather Wiebe, and Philip Brett, “Britten, (Edward)
Benjamin,” Grove Music Online, 2001; Accessed March 1, 2018, https://www-oxfordmusiconline-
0000046435.
34
Ibid.
13
Hans Gál
An Austrian composer and musicologist, Hans Gál (1890–1987) studied composition and
music history at Vienna University researching Beethoven’s early style for his doctorate.35 After
graduating, he began his career as a lecturer and composer and received the Austrian State Prize
in 1915 for composition and later, the Columbia Shubert Centenary Prize in 1928 for his
Sinfonietta. After the success of his second opera, Die heilige Ente, he became the director of the
Mainz Conservatory.36 He was suppressed under Hitler’s regime, his new works blocked and his
music banned, so he fled Austria and settled in Scotland in 1939. After he started teaching at
Edinburgh University in 1945, he became a member of the Edinburgh International Festival,
where he distinguished himself with various musical works. This period was one of great
creativity; more than half of his published works were composed at this time.37
Generally, his music remains largely within the German Romantic style, and he is seen as
an heir to the legacy of Brahms, but he also established his own distinctive musical language and
expression:
His personal style cannot be derived from any single or specific “influence”, but one can
identify certain particular affinities on his part: the early classics, whose clarity, plasticity
and playful humour are basic constituents with Gál; Brahms, whose lyrical yet restrained
romanticism is similarly fundamental to him; the chromatic harmony and extended
tonality of the pre-serial early moderns; a Schubert-like love of melody; counterpoint,
35
Conrad Wilson and Alexander R.C. Scott, “Gál [Gal], Hans,” Grove Music Online, 2001; Accessed
March 1, 2018, https://www-oxfordmusiconline-
0000010508.
36
Ibid.
37
Ibid.
14
which was part and parcel of his style from early on, and which, through his life-long
concern with J. S. Bach, became second nature to him.38
In his later years, as with other composers, he wrote chamber and solo instrumental music
which seem to indicate his isolation as he approached his death.39 Like Reger and Bloch, Gál
wrote his Suite for Solo Cello (Op. 109b) very late in his life and career. It is dedicated to his
grandson, Simon Fox– Gál, and was published with the solo Cello Sonata (Op. 109a). There are
two recordings of this suite, by cellist Alfia Nakipbekova (2012) and Matthew Sharp (2018).40
38
“Gál’s Music,” The Hans Gál Website: Music for Generations, Accessed March 14, 2018,
http://www.hansgal.com.
39
Ibid.
40
Ibid.
15
Chapter 2
Style and Technique in Bach’s Suites for Unaccompanied Cello
The General Form of the Baroque Suite
The suite is one of the definitive genres of the Baroque period. Developed from the
seventeenth-century French practice of arranging varying dances into sets called ordres, by the
time of Bach, the suite consisted of four main dances: the Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, and
Gigue, but other dances could be included as well. These dances were primarily in binary and
rounded binary forms and though they contrasted each other in terms of tempo and meter, they
were in the same key. Composers typically began these strict forms with an opening prelude in a
more improvisatory or fantasia-like style. Suites exist from the Baroque period mainly for
keyboard instruments as well as for orchestra.
Bach’s six cello suites each consist of a prelude and five dances. To the four traditional
Baroque dances, he added the Galanteries in the form of pairs: Minuets, Bourrées, and Gavottes.
Thus, the order of each cello suite is Prelude – Allemande – Courante – Sarabande – Galanteries
(Minuet, Bourrée, or Gavotte) – Gigue. Bach skillfully composed music of beauty and interest
while maintaining the conventions of each dance genre. Keeping with the traditions of the time,
his forms (except the preludes) are binary or rounded binary with modulations to the dominant
and subsequent returns. The lengths of the two sections are sometimes equal but often the second
section is longer than the first section.
Figure 1
Key and Galanteries in J. S. Bach, Six Suites for Violoncello Solo, BWV 1007–1012
Suite No. 1 Suite No. 2 Suite No. 3 Suite No. 4 Suite No. 5 Suite No. 6
G Major d minor C Major Eb Major c minor D Major
Minuet Bourrée Gavotte
16
1) Prelude
In the Baroque, the prelude belongs to the improvisatory-style pieces that were an
important contrast to strict imitative works and dance-derived music. Early preludes like the
toccata and fantasia included elements of each of these three main styles with quick changes of
music material, tempos, rhythms and moods. By the time of Bach, preludes were independent
pieces that preceded stricter forms. They were generally free in form and their main function was
to establish the key and occasionally musical materials for the dances that followed. Bach’s
preludes tend to differ from earlier preludes in that they are longer and typically develop or
“compose out” a single idea throughout the duration of the piece. Absent in his preludes are the
quick shifts and abrupt rhythmic changes. As such, by today’s standards, they often sound
meditative due to the nature of their focus.
In his cello suites, the major key preludes, Nos. 1, 3, 4, and 6, emphasize harmonic
progressions and regular rhythmic patterns rather than melodic lines. Preludes 1 and 4 consist
mainly of arpeggiations in simple rhythmic pattern which follow a harmonic progression.
Prelude 3 contrasts conjunct lines, mostly scales and scalar passages, with disjunct lines
comprised mainly of arpeggiated figures. Prelude 6 is notable for its virtuosity; while it features
regular rhythmic patterns, its arpeggios cover large ranges in a very fast tempo.
The minor key preludes, Nos. 2 and 5 open with lyrical melodies and employ varying
rhythms. In prelude 2, the opening triad is the essential material for the whole movement. Bach
evokes a Sarabande by his use of the triple meter and emphasis on beat two through durations
and dotted rhythms. The fifth prelude consists of two sections, a French Overture-like opening
followed by a fugue. Although many moments of fugal writing exist in the suites, this movement
constitutes the only full-blown fugue in this set.
17
2) The Four Main Dance Movements
Allemande
The allemande originated in Germany. It was a popular dance form in duple (2/2) or
quadruple (4/4) meter. Typically, the allemande begins with an upbeat which can vary from one
sixteenth note to three and then the melodic gesture typically descends from a longer note value
the first beat with shorter values through the phrase.41 Allen Winold divides Bach’s allemandes
into two types: dance (Nos. 3 and 4), “simple in rhythmic structure, melodic content, and form;”
and concert (Nos. 1, 2, 5, and 6), which include “more elaborate elements within the framework
of a slow tempo.”42 Although Allemandes 1 and 6 have similar opening gestures—a single
sixteenth note—, they demonstrate two different approaches. No. 1 has a continuous motion with
clear phrase structure, while No. 6 has a surprisingly wide variety of note values (Example 1).43
In the latter, the smaller note values decorate the larger ones on the first and third beats. This
allemande is the most lyrical in the suites and demonstrates the full capacity of the cello as it
works within a melody plus accompaniment texture.
Example 1
a. J. S. Bach, Cello Suites, No. 1, BWV 1007, Allemande, mm. 1–2
41
Boyd, 8.
42
Allen Winold, Bach’s Cello Suites: Analyses and Explorations (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University
Press, 2007), 34.
43
Boyd, 90.
18
b. J. S. Bach, Cello Suites, No. 6, BWV 1012, Allemande, mm. 1–2
a. Courante
The courante originated in France and spread to England, Germany, and other European
countries. Its name is derived from the French verb, courir, “to run.” There are two main types of
this dance. The Italian style, also known as the corrente, consists of running sixteenth or eighth
notes in a fast triple meter (3/4 or 3/8), while the French style, courante, is in a moderate tempo
with triple meter (3/2), and it is generally contrapuntal and more rhythmically complicated.44
Although dotted rhythms and hemiolas are not uncommon in the courantes in his suites,45 Bach
uses the full French style only once, in the fifth suite. This movement has an elegant mood and
displays the complicated rhythms and counterpoint mentioned above. It also mixes the 3/2 time
signature with 6/4 to offset the standard rhythms such as in measures 4 and 9 in which pairs of
quarter notes evoke 6/4 time (Example 2).46 The other courantes follow the Italian style with
straightforward phrases in 3/4.
44
Meredith Ellis Little and Suzanne G. Cusick, “Courante,” Grove Music Online, 2001; Accessed February
6, 2020, https://www-oxfordmusiconline-
0000006707.
45
Wallace Berry, Form in Music: An Examination of Traditional Techniques of Musical Form and Their
Applications in Historical and Contemporary Styles (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1986), 330.
46
Meredith Little and Natalie Jenne. Dance and the Music of J.S. Bach (Bloomington: Indiana University
Press, 1991), 115.
19
Example 2
J. S. Bach, Cello Suites, No. 5, BWV 1011, Courante, mm. 4 and 9
b. Sarabande
The Baroque Sarabande is a slow Spanish dance whose origins were a much quicker folk
dance with Latin American influences, the Zarabanda.47 It had slowed considerably by Bach’s
time and is equivalent to the Adagio in the classical sonata. It is generally in triple meter, (3/4
time signature), and characteristically, the second beat is stronger than the first beat, a feature
that is created through the use of longer values, a repetition of a note, a higher pitch, and
ornaments, or some combination of these.48 Sarabandes 1 through 4 demonstrate the typical
aspects of this dance with the second beat stressed through longer values in 1 and 3 and with
repeated notes and ornaments in 2 and 4. Sarabande 6 is slightly unusual in that he changes the
basic motive between the first and second sections though he still stresses the second beat by
way of repeating the pitch. Bach is most experimental in sarabande 5 in which he emphasizes the
second beat in a remarkable way: through the use of dissonance. The second beats are a series of
half-step neighbor motives (there are a few whole-steps) centering especially around the leading
tone and tonic but also sometimes a raised, scale-degree 3. These upward “sigh” motives are
47
Winold, 56.
48
Ibid.
20
occasionally approached with extreme dissonances like the tri-tone (m. 3) and they permeate this
movement, creating much tension and chromaticism and lending it a high degree of pathos.
Example 3
J. S. Bach, Cello Suites, No. 5, BWV 1011, Sarabande, mm. 1–4
c. Gigue
The Gigue, which originated in the British Isles, has a compound meter and a lively
tempo. This dance can also be divided into French (gigue) and Italian (giga) types. 49 The French
gigue usually includes a dotted rhythm and features wide leaps, but it also has a simpler texture
and slightly faster tempo. Bach uses this type for the gigue 5 (Example 4). The Italian can be
further divided into two types: giga I and giga II. In the giga I type, the harmonic rhythms are
slower and the emphasis is on clear continuous statements of the triplets as is the approach in the
gigue 4 (Example 5).50 The giga II rhythm consists of a triple eighth note pulse followed by a
four-note grouping of sixteenth notes (Gigue No. 1–3 and 6).51 (Example 6) This motive tends to
permeate the material of this type of gigue and it is the type Bach uses most frequently.
49
Winold, 77.
50
Little and Jenne, 153.
51
Ibid, 164.
21
Example 4
J. S. Bach, Cello Suites, No. 5, BWV 1011, Gigue, mm. 1–4
Example 5
Example 6
3) The Galanteries
Charles Medlam posits the reason Bach included galanteries in his cello suites: “It is
possible that Bach wanted to impose the rigor of classical suite form on himself as part of the
compositional process, or was attracted by a symmetrical approach for the whole set.”52 His
opinion is informed by Bach’s orchestral suites, in which Bach usually included galant pieces
and other pieces that have a light contrapuntal movement such as fantaisie, boutade, or caprice.53
In this regard, adding Galant-style movements in his solo suites would help assert the suites as a
genre and connect this work to his other works in the genre.
52
Charles Medlam, Approaches to the Bach Cello Suites: A Hand-book for Cellists. 2nd ed, (S.l.: Fretwork
Editions, 2013), 18.
53
Ibid.
22
The galanteries are grouped in pairs and are da capo, so that the first dance is played
again without repeats after the second dance. Minuets appear in the first two suites, bourrées in
suites 3 and 4 and gavottes in the last two. In the first three suites, the galanteries contrast each
other using parallel keys (Major to minor and vice versa), while the later three exhibit differing
moods or characteristics but remain in the same key.54
The minuet is the most famous French dance form and survives into the classical period
as a common third movement for symphonies, sonatas, and quartets, etc. It is in triple meter with
a moderate tempo and evokes elegance and sophistication.55 Bach’s minuets in Suites 1 and 2 use
the traditional minuet rhythms: half-note plus quarter-note, three quarters, six eighth-notes, or a
mixed grouping of quarters and eighths. The bourrée is a simple and light French dance in duple
meter (2/2). The gavotte is also a duple meter dance, whose phrases begin and end in the half
measure. Bach’s gavottes are technically demanding. Gavotte I of the fifth suite has a three-voice
texture with Italian figuration, and the gavottes in the sixth suite include four-voice harmonies,
multiple stops or arpeggiated.56 The Bourrée and Gavotte have very similar rhythm patterns
based on two short notes (eighth-notes) followed by a long note (quarter-note) that sometimes
has some variations. The second gavotte in Suite 5 is constructed with triplets and is thus
reminiscent of the slow Italian gigue pattern (Gigue No. 4).
54
Winold, 67.
55
Little and Jenne, 62.
56
Ibid, 58.
23
Musical Style in Bach’s Cello Suites
With the development and improvement of the cello, composers began to recognize the
possibilities of the instrument beyond mere accompaniment. It certainly has one of the largest
ranges of any instrument and allows for a wide variety of colors. While earlier composers had
explored some of the available techniques, Bach’s cello suites go further in this regard and are
full of variety and virtuosity. Although polyphonic music is difficult on the cello, especially
contrapuntal lines, Bach composes in a manner that approaches polyphony. The main techniques
of Bach’s style will be examined.
Harmony
In Bach’s cello suites, the harmonic progressions are closely related to the melodic and
rhythmic writing. But of these aspects, harmony is arguably the most adventurous. The majority
of Bach’s harmonic writing falls into typical Baroque practices using diatonic scales and
common tonalities. The genres (i.e. dances vs. prelude) reflect a basic divide; the dances are
mostly diatonic while the preludes are more harmonically varied and ambitious. This divide
reflects the respective heritages and natures of these types of pieces. In the dances, the first
section is overwhelmingly diatonic and the second section usually starts with a dominant chord,
often with a tonic chord in the dominant key area, after which the opening part of the second
section can be and often is extremely modulatory, reminiscent of the B sections of Da Capo arias
and a precedent to the future Sonata forms. In these middle sections that serve to lead the
function back from dominant to tonic are several noticeable characteristics including the use of
elisions that connect the cadence of one phrase with the next and pedal tones and prolongations
that reinforce significant cadential points/moments. A good example of this technique is found in
24
Gavotte 6, No. 2 in which a tonic prolongation with a D pedal-tone sounds between mm. 12 and
20 signaling the arrival of the concluding material. The preludes too use these modulatory
procedures. In Prelude 1, after a half cadence in m. 22, a long dominant prolongation over a D
pedal tone prepares the music for the last section beginning in m. 39. Similarly, in Prelude 4
between mm. 70–81, a dominant prolongation extends for three measures before the last chord is
heard.
Chromaticism can be rampant in Bach’s movements, but it noticeably tends to occur
towards the approach of a significant cadential point/moment. A good example is the chromatic
scale in prelude 1. In mm. 37–39, the moving notes within a bariolage gesture include a
chromatic scale from F to over an octave G in the last section. Further, many of the accidentals
reflect modulations to a tonicization or the use of secondary dominants. In the Prelude 5, mm. 3–
5, the middle voice moves chromatically downward; C–B–Bb and then arrives on the tonic of f
minor. Another example is in Courante 6 (Example 7). In mm. 53–55, the soprano line ascends
by semi-tones, B–C–C#–D, while the middle voice D–D#–E. Also in the suites, generally there
are circle of fifth moments at modulations. In the fugue of Prelude 5, Bach uses this technique to
arrive to the other key. In the second section of Gigue 4, in order to move from c minor to C
Major, mm. 15–18, he uses the circle of fifth: i42–iv65–bVII42–III65–VI42–ii65– C: V – I – V
(Example 8).
Example 7
J. S. Bach, Cello Suites, No. 6, BWV 1012, Courante, mm. 53–55
25
Example 8
J. S. Bach Cello Suites, No. 4, BWV 1010, Gigue, mm. 15–18
Rhythm
In line with music of the period, Bach consistently creates simple rhythmic patterns
which then permeate the movement in motivic writing. Common patterns include a grouping of
equal values, a long note followed by shorter ones, short notes followed by a long one, and
dotted-rhythms (Figure 2). Bach uses these rhythmic patterns throughout the suites, often in
combination, and relates them closely to the melodic lines and harmonic progression. As shown
earlier, Bach also follows the distinct rhythmic peculiarities of the various genres (Allemande,
Courante, etc.) as well. Among the dance movements, the Gigues, Courantes, and Galanteries
tend to have the most regular and repeating rhythmic patterns.
Figure 2
Rhythm Patterns in J. S. Bach, Six Suites for Violoncello Solo, BWV 1007–1012
a. Grouping of equal values
26
b. Long note followed by shorter ones
c. Short notes followed by a long one
d. Dotted-rhythms
Bach uses several methods to add variety to these patterns, such as inverting the pattern
in terms of the long and short values, extending or shortening the pattern or transforming the
pattern. In Gigue 3, the rhythmic pattern in m. 5 is the direct inversion of the first measure’s
pattern. Courante 6 includes an extension of rhythmic patterns. The eighth notes in the second
measure have been extended from the last eighth notes of first basic pattern and this procedure
occurs several more times in this movement. In the first three measures of Prelude 2, he
gradually divides the notes values of the original rhythmic motive. The two eighth-notes in the
first measure split into four sixteenth-notes in the second measure, and the tied quarter-note plus
sixteenth-note becomes a dotted eighth-note in the third measure (Example 9).
27
Example 9
a. J. S. Bach, Cello Suites, No. 3, BWV 1009, Gigue, mm. 1 and 5
b. J. S. Bach, Cello Suites, No. 6, BWV 1012, Courante, mm. 1–2
c. J. S. Bach, Cello Suites, No. 2, BWV 1008, Prelude, mm. 1–3
The preludes demonstrate Bach’s often extreme efficiency in rhythmic writing. Preludes
1–4 mostly use a four-note-pattern of equal values in which the first note of each group plays the
role of pedal tone or melodic interest. The first prelude is the most simple in its use of sixteenth-
notes, but preludes 2 and 3, employ this basic pattern with some different elements at play as
well. Prelude 4 sometimes uses eighth-note patterns and sometimes sixteenth-note patterns.
While the fifth prelude, as it follows the French Overture, and the sixth (related to the Gigue) are
more varied, regular rhythmic patterns are still the prominent features.
In contrast, there are a few movements in which rhythmic variety is featured (these
movements are almost always allemandes or sarabandes). In Allemande 6, there are many
diverse and quickly changing values that sound like ornamentations, while remaining in the
slower pulse. The largest degree of rhythmic diversity occurs in the Sarabandes, in which Bach
28
plays with the dance’s traditional strong second beat. In Sarabande 2, the stress on the second
beats is clear, but he often dots the first beat in every second measure of a two measure phrase,
creating a more “macro” stress in the middle of the phrase. The eighth-note runs following the
dotted quarter-notes also add strength by way of their repetition every even measure which in
turn answers the rhythms of the odd measures. Finally, ornaments are also used to stress the
second beats all of which causes one of the more complex rhythmic patterns at use in the suites
(Example 10). In case of Sarabande 3, at first glance, the first beat seems strong because of the
multiple stops played with its longer value (quarter note); however the melodic line stresses the
second through the use of the repeated note from the first beat. This affect generates a sustain
which places more weight on this beat. In Sarabande 4, the transformation of the rhythmic
motive is in use. In Sarabande 5—one of the most simple rhythmic pieces—, stress on beat two
is created by using a dissonant (half-step, leading-tone-like) neighbor tone, a similar method as
in Sarabande 2 (Example 11). Sarabande 6 is the most inventive as in the midst of simple
rhythmic patterns, he stresses the second beats by use of different voices, chord progressions,
dissonances, and the repeated notes that feel like sustains. While most of the courantes are
relatively simple, Courante 4 demonstrates much variety in the rhythmic patterns by changing
from duple eighth-note groupings to runs of sixteenth-notes and triplet patterns. Especially
between the duple and triplet eighth-notes there is a feeling of unrest created by the rhythms in
this movement.
Example 10
29
Example 11
Melodic Writing
Bach’s melodic writing in the suites is largely derived from the harmonic structures and
is motivic in nature. Excepting many of the Sarabandes and a few other movements, which can
have clear tuneful lines, most of the melodies outline the harmonic progressions. These melodic
lines are expressed in simple formations of broken chords, scales, added neighbor notes, or etc.
The melodic writing of whole movements is often comprised of motives introduced in the first
several measures and then developed throughout. Occasionally a few different motives are used.
In the case of the improvisatory preludes, the middles sections usually use different materials
than the initial motivic lines; scales and arpeggios are the most common techniques. For
example, Prelude 4 begins with a motive of 8 eighth notes, but in the middles section a different
rhythmic and melodic pattern is used consisting of scalar sixteenths, and dotted notes before the
first pattern returns in the closing section (mm. 49–81,). Allemande 6 is an interesting movement
because the abundance of written-out ornaments expands the motivic style into more of a tuneful
melody.
Due to the nature of motivic writing, irregular phrase patterns are common in these suites.
In the preludes, while repetitions of motives can seem at least at first to be in regular patterns
(especially Nos. 1, 3, 4, and 6), due to through-composed nature of the works and the inclusion
of passages of technical devices, even these are mostly not regular phrases. Often one phrase is
30
connected to the next one through shared notes (or motives) or elided cadential points. The fugue
in Prelude 5 has a comparably regular phrase pattern (8+8+4) with a pick-up note, but even the
transitions the pattern is usually 3 measures. Prelude 6 is fairly regular until m. 22 when more
improvisatory material begins and the phrases become intertwined. The allemandes and
courantes (No. 3 is very regular) are the most consistent in irregular phrasing, and the sarabandes
and galanteries the most consistent in regular phrasing though exceptions exist. The gigues are
comparably regular but No. 4, mm. 19–26 and much of No. 6 are irregular.
Bach uses several main approaches to manipulate the motives. The sequence is very
important. In these sequential patterns the motives usually move within a scalar bass line.
Prelude 2 is a good example. In mm. 5–10, there is a two-measures sequential pattern. The bass
line moves B-flat–A–G in mm. 5, 7, and 9, and E–D in mm. 6 and 8 (the bass line changes in m.
10). With a one-measure sequence, the bass line steps up from B to D in mm. 18–20. In mm. 26–
29, the first notes of the second and third beats in every bar move up one step, G–A–B-flat–C#–
D–E–F–G.
Bach also employs inversions for expanding the motivic writing. An example for
inversion can be found in Prelude 1, mm. 39–41. While the original motive builds the chord up
in sixteenth notes, in these measures, Bach inverts the direction. Similarly, in Courante 1, mm.
36–37 and 39–40, the direction of the melodic lines is reversed. In Prelude 3, mm. 21–26, the
direction of the first three measures in this passage is reversed for the next three measures
(Example 12). Also, the motive of Prelude 4 is an inversion and extension of the motive of
Prelude 1 (Example 13).
31
Example 12
J. S. Bach, Cello Suites, No. 3, BWV 1009, Prelude, mm. 21–26
Example 13
a. J. S. Bach, Cello Suites, No. 1, BWV 1007, Prelude, m. 1
b. J. S. Bach, Cello Suites, No. 4, BWV 1010, Prelude, m. 1
Bach uses the technique known as Bariolage quite frequently as well. A Bariolage is a
quick back-and-forth between a static note (usually on the top or bottom) and a moving note. The
static note—most commonly an open string—acts as a kind of pedal point. In many places
among the movements of the suites Bach uses this approach to create musical material within the
motivic writing. Prelude 1 includes a large Bariolage passage in mm. 31–38, in which gradual
scales (including semi-chromatic scales) are heard both ascending and descending. The last
prelude has an advanced form of the Bariolage in that the middle tone is the static open string,
32
which seems to take advantage of the Baroque period’s 5-string cello. In Allemande 3 (mm. 6–7)
the alternation includes double-stops in opposition to the open string and in Courante 1 (mm. 14–
15), the first three notes of the four sixteenth-note groups are repeated while the last one steps up
(Example 14).
Example 14
b. J. S. Bach, Cello Suites, No. 1, BWV 1007, Courante, mm. 14–15
One last aspect of Bach’s melodic construction is that he occasionally references an
earlier movement in a later one. In Allemande 3, Bach quotes the opening of the prelude in the
second half of m. 23 in a shortened version that is reduced to one beat. Although the pitch is
different, the Courante 1’s motive of descending eighth notes is reminiscent of mm. 26–28 in the
first Allemande, and it is heard in Courante 6 as well (Example 15).
Example 15
33
b. J. S. Bach, Cello Suites, No. 1, BWV 1007, Courante, m. 1
c. J. S. Bach, Cello Suites, No. 6, BWV 1012, Courante, mm. 13–14
Texture
A large majority of the music in these suites is monophonic. However, like in the violin
partitas, Bach employs a variety of techniques to produce more textures: pedal tones, multiple
stops, bariolage, arpeggios with stressed (melodic) notes surrounded by moving notes, and
alternations between registers all contribute to passages that create a polyphonic texture. Pedal
tones and double/multiple stops create thicker textures instantly and the suites are full of these
procedures. The Gavottes in Suite 6 use double stops in interesting ways. Gavotte 1 uses multiple
stops chordal support of the melodic line to create a homophonic texture. These chords form a
relatively slow-moving harmonic rhythm as they sound every couple beats or more. The texture
in the second Gavotte is much more contrapuntal as the double stops each follow their own
melodic lines (Example 16).
Example 16
a. J. S. Bach, Cello Suites, No. 6, BWV 1012, Gavotte I, mm. 1–4
34
b. J. S. Bach, Cello Suites, No. 6, BWV 1012, Gavotte II, mm. 41/2–12
Bach’s counterpoint is on full display in these suites. While there is only one fugue (the
second section of the fifth prelude), Bach creates several voices out of a single line through the
use of registral shifts. For example, between mm. 7–9 in the third allemande three voices can be
found in differing registers. The upper voice goes from F#–G–F#–E–D–C–B, the middle voice
goes from C–B–A–G–F#–E–D, and the lowest voice goes from D-B-G. Another example is mm.
3–5 in allemande 4 (Example 17).
Example 17
b. J. S. Bach, Cello Suites, No. 4, BWV 1010, Allemande, mm. 3–5
35
Chapter III
Select Twentieth-Century Cello Suites
The twentieth-century cello suites chosen for this document all demonstrate to varying
degrees use of Baroque suite characteristics and Bach-like elements in particular. Reger’s three
suites, Cassadó’s one, Bloch’s three, Britten’s three, and Gál’s approach the precedent set Bach’s
masterpieces in different ways. While none of these composers follow Bach’s formula for the
overall form entirely (Prelude, Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, [contemporary dance], Gigue),
similarities to his structure is noticeable in all of them. These suites (except Britten’s first two)
begin with an improvisatory-like and often through-composed prelude, followed by contrasting
dances or dance-like movements. Reger’s, Cassadó’s, and Gal’s forms are the closest to Bach’s
forms while Britten’s three suites exhibit the most varied approach. Bloch’s first two suites
resemble a Baroque Sonata da Chiesa with its slow-fast-slow-fast construction. Several of the
suites feature a fugue including Reger’s first suite, Gal’s suite and all three of Britten’s suites.
Britten’s first suite includes four chorale-like canto movements that serve as a ritornello for his
nine-movement suite. In addition to the overall forms, most of individual movements in these
suites except the preludes and fugues are in basic ternary forms, which is similar to Bach’s
rounded binary forms. These suites also allude to Bach’s suites in terms of genres, melodic
writing, harmonic language, monophonic homophonic and polyphonic textures, idiomatic
qualities and quotations. These issues will be explored in detail in this chapter.
36
Max Reger: Three Suites for Violoncello Solo, Op. 131c (1915)
Reger’s suites should not be understood as mere “copies” of Baroque style, but they
incorporate significant Baroque musical language, style and forms. In terms of the overall form
of each suite, Reger deviates from Bach’s formula while producing structures that nonetheless
similarly resemble Bach’s own. All of Reger’s suites open with preludes (präludium), and they
all include Baroque dance style movements, though only the second suite designates music as
such: movement II is a Gavotte and movement IV is a Gigue. In the first and third suites, Reger
employs tempo titles, such as Andante and Largo, etc, titles in the Baroque that were more
common in the (trio) sonata than in the suite. Thus, Reger begins a tradition that will be
important to later composers of the suites as well in that he borrows other aspects from Bach’s
oeuvre or other Baroque genres beyond the suites. For instance, in the first suite Reger composes
a fugue for the third movement. Though no complete fugue movement exist in Bach’s six suites,
(though there is a fugue section in Prelude 5), his name is almost synonymous with the genre.
The last movement of Reger’s third suite is a theme and variations, another genre important to
the Baroque and Classical periods.
Reger’s choices of keys for his three suites are similar to those of Bach’s first three. The
first two suites of each composer are in the same key and Reger’s third suite is in the relative
minor of Bach’s third suite. Within the suites themselves, however, Reger ventures further away
from the tonic than Bach. Outside of the second “galant” piece in which modal mixture occurs
(Suite 1, Menuet 2 is in Gm, Suite 2, Menuet 2 is in D, Suite 3, Boureé 2 is in Cm), Bach’s suites
do not change keys between movements. However, the middle movements of Reger’s suites are
in different keys, but they are in relative or subdominant key areas. In his first suite, the Adagio
is in C major, the subdominant key of G major. In the second suite, the Gavotte is in F major, the
37
relative major of d minor, and the Largo is in B-flat major, so that it is related to the Gavotte by a
fourth (the subdominant) and to the primary key of the suite by a third. In the third suite, the
Scherzo is in d minor, the subdominant of a minor.
Figure 3
Key schemes in Reger’s Three Suites for Violoncello, Op. 131c, Nos. 1–3
SUITE NO.1 SUITE NO. 2 SUITE NO. 3
(IN G MAJOR) (IN D MINOR) (IN A MINOR)
Präludium (in G Major) Präludium (in d minor) Präludium (in a minor)
Adagio (in C Major) Gavotte (in F Major) Scherzo (in d minor)
Fuge (in G Major) Largo (in Bb Major) Andante con variazioni
Gigue (in d minor) (in a minor)
The majority of the movements in Reger’s suites are in ternary form—ABA, sometimes
with coda; however, the fugue and variation movements are obvious exceptions. Further, Reger
tends to vary the returning A sections less than other suite composers, but often after the initial
return to A, there is some variation and mix of A and B materials (ABA’). These returns also can
include different dynamics, bowings, rhythms and textures. The Gavotte in the second suite
serves as a good example. The return to A begins in m. 47 with a divided rhythm that is often
divided and embellished with added neighbor notes as well as double and multiple stops. Further,
the pizz. markings in conjunction with the multiple stops is reminiscent of materials in the B
section (Example 18). Another example is the Präludium in the first suite. The third section starts
with the same melodic line as in the opening, but with different dynamics (mm. 1–4 and 52–55).
In the middle of this section (mm. 63–78), material that is similar to material in the B section is
38
included, causing alternation between two voices accompanied with double stops. Bach’s dance
movements are typically in rounded binary form, and while Reger’s Gigue in Suite 2 is rounded
binary, he mostly uses ternary forms that, while different, are still similar in overall affect.
Example 18
a. Max Reger, Three Suites for Violoncello, Op. 131c, No. 2, Gavotte, mm. 1–4 and 47–50
b. Max Reger, Three Suites for Violoncello, Op. 131c, No. 2, Gavotte, mm. 9–12 and 55–58
Reger’s first suite resembles Bach’s the most closely. The Präludium, especially,
demonstrates enough parallels that it seems clear Reger used Bach’s first prelude as a model. The
two pieces are in the same key of G, have similar ascending figures as a basic motive that will be
worked-out throughout the movement, have a similar regular rhythmic pattern, and use
counterpoint, melodic sequences and pedal tones. Further, a similar chord progression opens
each prelude. However, while Bach’s melodic lines are completely derived from the chord
39
progression, Reger’s manages to fit in the progression while producing a more lyrical melody.
He achieves this quality with sequential writing; during the first four measures, the highest pitch
of the measures are stepping up, B–C–D–E, following the motivic melodic sequences, with pedal
tone G (Example 19). Several melodic sequences occur in mm. 5–6 and 14–17. Reger, like Bach,
also employs the bariolage technique in the transition and modulations. For instance, as a
modulation, Reger writes the notes D and G around a circle fifth progression in mm. 12–13.
Especially, between bars 45 and 47, the melodic sequence has a descending chromatic scale with
held notes that is in the opposite direction to Bach’s chromatic bariolage section in measures 37‒
38 of Prelude 1. In the middle section of Präludium, the texture changes and double or multiple
stops are utilized. Also, Reger uses wide distances of registers between voices, making clearly
demarcated voices that move independently of each other and are often inverted.
Example 19
Max Reger, Three Suites for Violoncello, Op. 131c, No. 1, Präludium, mm. 1–4
In the opening measure of the Adagio, with its lyrical melody and triple meter, the music
is reminiscent of a Bachian sarabande, due to the use of quadruple stops and a sub-phrase that
often ends on the second beat of the measure.57 However, unlike what one sees in Bach’s music,
it has irregular phrasing and an extremely thick texture created by the use of multiple stops. The
57
Brenda H. Leonard, “An Analysis of Max Reger’s Suites for Unaccompanied Cello,” (DMA diss.,
University of South Carolina, 2012), 39-40.
40
register changes are much wider than in Bach’s. A further similarity occurs in the B section,
where the many scales of thirty-seconds is reminiscent of Bach’s Sarabande 6. The last five
measures of the coda section feature sequential movement similar to the short version of the last
sequences in Bach’s Prelude 2. The use of ascending lines that create scales or sequences in the
top notes is prevalent in the Bach’s suites (Example 20).
Example 20
a. Max Reger, Three Suites for Violoncello, Op. 131c, No. 1, Adagio, mm. 58–62
b. J. S. Bach, Six Suites for Violoncello Solo, No. 2, BWV 1008, Prelude, mm. 55–58
This first suite finishes with a quick fugue that resembles Bach’s fifth prelude. Reger’s
fugue demonstrates his full ability in counterpoint and it serves as a clear comparison to Bach’s
technique found in the prelude of the fifth suite. Because of the limitations of the instrument, the
fugues are both two-voiced fugues with no countersubjects and use a simple and clear fugue
structure.58 Reger’s rhythmic pattern in the subject resembles Bach’s; the meters and values are
58
Leonard, 43.
41
different but the arrangement of the note values are the same: long-short-short-short-short. Bach
uses different registers to distinguish the two voices. Reger, however, composes a complex
polyphonic texture including double and multiple stops in addition to registral shifts to clearly
isolate the voices. He draws the stems in different directions so that the performer is always
aware of the two voices.
Reger’s second suite includes two Baroque dance movements, a Gavotte and a Gigue.
They are composed in the same manner as Bach’s gavottes and gigues in both formal structure
and the musical characteristics of those dances, especially dance rhythms. Reger’s Gavotte is in
ABA form, the same as Bach’s galanteries which are played da capo; Gavotte I–Gavotte II–
Gavotte I. Further, each section, the A and B, includes repeat signs like in binary form. Reger’s
use of contrasting dynamics and alternations between pizzicato and arco reflect more
contemporary additions to the technique than used in Bach’s suites. He also uses the typical
gavotte rhythms in his suites, long-short-short. Gavottes usually begin with an upbeat of two
quarter notes, but Reger switches this to an appoggiatura.
His Gigue is composed in rounded binary form also and begins the opening of the second
section with an inversion of the opening of the first section—it starts with an octave upper, then
moves in opposite directions keeping same intervallic relationships between notes—, which is a
common technique used in Bach’s suites (Example 21). Also following Bach’s gigue style,
Reger’s has a fast tempo in compound meter (6/8) that stresses the short-short-short rhythms and
the long-short rhythms common to Italian gigue rhythmic patterns. As we can see in mm. 1–4, by
placing eighth rests on each of the seconds of the three eighths, a dotted rhythm like sound
occurs, but in a staccato context.
42
Example 21
Max Reger, Three Suites for Violoncello, Op. 131c, No. 2, Gigue, mm. 1–8 and 44–51
Reger’s writing, like Bach’s is full of contrapuntal writing. His score, like in many other
places throughout his suite, shows the voices through different directions of note stems (Example
22).
Example 22
Max Reger, Three Suites for Violoncello, Op. 131c, No. 2, Gigue, mm. 12 and 23
The last Suite reflects Reger’s digestion of Bach’s musical influence in a more developed
state than the previous two. The rhythms are often highly irregular, the harmony is much more
complicated, and the texture is heavier and thicker. Still, the melodic lines are often sequential,
inversions occur frequently, and the last movement keeps to a comparably more regular and
43
more rugged style. Following the later eighteenth-century manner for middle movements, Reger
composes a scherzo in the second movement. Although the Scherzo does not reflect a direct
dance origin, it gives the feel of being dance derived. In Reger’s Scherzo, the rhythmic and
melodic patterns are similar to Bach’s Courante 3 in which alternations between triple and duple
meter occur. The closing movement, Andante con variazioni, consists of a simple melody in A
minor followed by six variations and a coda. The variations gradually evolve with increasingly
complicated surface-level changes, hearkening back to the ornamental variations of the
eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.59 There are similar motivic patterns including
arpeggios or scales to those found in the Bach suites. For instance, the third variation consists of
arpeggiated passages resembling Bach’s third prelude. The melodic materials of the theme are
developed in each subsequent variation, coupled with regular rhythmic patterns from the various
ornamentations.
The two composers differ most in their respective harmonic languages. Reger’s language
is extremely chromatic, sometimes obscuring any clear tonality. While chromaticism is
important to Bach’s style, it is limited in its harmonic scope to modulatory passages and
transitions and in its melodic scope mainly to passing-tones. Both composers have passages,
especially in the preludes but elsewhere as well, in which the melodic line is derived from the
harmonic progression; these passages are often replete with arpeggiated figures, but also include
frequent sequential movement as well.
As in Bach’s melodic writing, melodic and rhythmic motives and patterns often move in
sequence. These sequences are diverse in their shapes and lengths, from very short motives to
longer materials of a measure or more. For example, in Reger’s first prelude, sequential materials
59
Leonard, 71.
44
from mm. 8–9, moving every beat, were then used as a transition to D major. In another passage,
mm. 14–17, the melodic sequence moves measure by measure and the first note of each
sequential pattern becomes an ascending scale in the bass. This passage has a parallel in Bach’s
suite 1, prelude, mm. 29–31. In the coda of the Andante in the first suite, the arpeggiated chords
also ascend step-wise over a C pedal tone in the bass.
Reger also makes use of quotation. In mm. 10–11 of his first prelude, he quotes the
opening melodic material from Bach’s third suite. While the original melody was in C, Reger
transposes it to D and sets it in a different octave. This same material can also be found in mm.
132–133 in Suite 3, third movement, but now in d minor and in reverse order (Example 23).
Reger borrows his own material as well. The materials of measure 13 in his suite 2, prelude are
used in the Largo of this suite, mm. 34–35, but it is transformed to more than twice its original
length. This kind of quotation or borrowing had been part of Bach’s writing as well. The very
first melody in the Allemande comes from the first melody of the prelude of same suite
(Example 24).
Example 23
a. Max Reger, Three Suites for Violoncello, Op. 131c, No. 1, Präludium, mm. 10–11
45
b. Max Reger, Three Suites for Violoncello, Op. 131c, No. 3, Andante con variazioni,
mm. 133–134
Example 24
a. Max Reger, Three Suites for Violoncello, Op. 131c, No. 2, Prelude, m. 13 and Largo,
mm. 34–35
b. J. S. Bach, Six Suites for Violoncello Solo, No. 3, BWV 1009, Prelude, m. 1 and
Allemande, m. 1
In addition, Reger makes use of counterpoint between voices as Bach had done. As in
Bach’s Gigue 3, in which two voices alternated in “conversation,” Reger includes contrapuntal
dialogue sections in all of his suites. In the Präludium from Suite 1, mm. 30–32 (Example 25-a),
46
Reger’s counterpoint is on display as the upper line in parallel sixth chords alternates with a
lower register single line. Many idiomatic techniques are required of the cello due to the large
gap between the two voices and the double stops. Reger also goes further than Bach in
emphasizing the different voices by using distinct dynamics for each voice. The inverted version
(Example 25-b) and the slightly-transformed version often gets used together (Example 25). In
mm. 48–55 of the Suite 1, Adagio, the two-voice dialogue begins with a four-note pattern, but
gradually, it is reduced to a two-note pattern (Example 25-c).
Example 25
a. Max Reger, Three Suites for Violoncello, Op. 131c, No. 1, Präludium, mm. 30–32
b. Max Reger, Three Suites for Violoncello, Op. 131c, No. 1, Präludium, mm. 34–37
c. Max Reger, Three Suites for Violoncello, Op. 131c, No. 1, Adagio, mm 48–55
47
In conclusion, Reger’s three suites follow Bach’s suites closely in terms of overall
structure with each suite beginning with a prelude and with subsequent movements in the same
or related keys. He utilizes Baroque style elements, such as arpeggios, dance rhythms, regular
rhythmic patterns, melodic sequences, and Bariolage, etc., within contemporary harmony and
texture. He uses Bachian counterpoint and fugue, while requiring a more advanced idiomatic
technique. And he quotes from Bach’s melodic material paying homage to his model. Later
composers of the suite will have to consider Reger’s compositions as well as Bach’s.
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Gaspar Cassadó: Suite for Violoncello (1926)
Technically, Cassadó’s suite consists of three movements; Preludio-Fantasia, Sardana
(Danza), and Intermezzo e Danza Finale, but due to the last movement’s two-part design, the
suite feels as if it has four movements (or more). It adheres to Bach’s formula of prelude
followed by dances. These dances are derived not from the typical Baroque styles but are drawn
from Spanish folk sources, and in his suite he combines the formalism of the Baroque with the
style of Spanish folk-dance music.
Most of the forms used in this suite have elements of ternary, but are more complicated
than in Bach’s suites or Reger’s. The first movement, Preludio-Fantasia, is in an
improvisational-like style and though it is in three sections, it is more palindromic in its arch than
ABA. It is built out of three themes; the first two, short motives, generally are worked out
together, often in alternation. The third theme is longer and more lyrical in nature. In the first
section, theme one is introduced in mm. 1–2, after which, theme two is heard immediately in
mm. 3–5. After these themes interact with each other, the third theme begins in m. 17. The
second section starts in m. 40 in a similar manner: the first two themes, alternate with each other,
but this time with more and more variation to their initial construction. Then the third theme in a
much more simplified passage, a fifth lower than its original, follows in mm. 64–72. Finally, in
the last eleven measures, the first two themes are heard but in reverse order to their original
statements. Therefore, we can see the form in at least two ways. First, as two strophes plus coda
which restates the first and second themes. This approach focuses on the improvisational and
variation techniques used in the third theme of the first section and the first and second themes of
the second section, both of which break down into passage-work with cadenza-like material.
Second, is a more traditional ternary (or even sonata) structure, but with a palindrome for the A’
49
beginning in m. 64, where the order mirrors the beginning. This approach sees the B section as
essentially developmental and takes into consideration the harmonic aspect of the passage-work
serving as a transition that returns the music to the key of D and it allows for the third theme
being heard first in the fifth down before it is heard in the tonic. In either case, Cassadó’s form in
this movement is quite complex, but essentially based on alternating or building together
moments of thematic material with moments of improvisatory-like material.
Figure 4
Form of Gaspar Cassadó, Suite for Violoncello, Preludio-Fantasia
Strophe 1 Theme 1 & 2 (mm. 1–16) + Theme 3 (mm. 17–39)
Strophe 2 Theme 1 & 2 with Passage Work (mm. 40–63) + Theme 3 (mm. 64–72)
Coda Theme 1 & 2 (mm. 73–83)
or
A Theme 1 & 2 (mm. 1–16) + Theme 3 (mm. 17–39)
B Theme 1 & 2 with Passage Work (mm. 40–63)
A’ Theme 3 (mm. 64–72) + Theme 2 & 1 (mm. 73–83)
The second movement, Sardana, employs the circle dance important to Catalan culture.
In the folk style, this dance usually consists of an introit (Introduction) and two dance sections
(tirades), the curts and the llargs. These sections are often repeated in various ways. Cassadó’s
Sardana is mostly in line with this traditional structure. This movement’s introduction is ten
measures, and though it is in the same tempo as the curts in mm. 11–43, it has different musical
material, meter (6/8), and style. The curts is a lively section in duple meter, which works out a
50
single theme over the course of its passage. After first and second endings, a brief fanfare-like
passage appears, which resembles the contrapunt from this Spanish folk dance: a short call
played by the flabiolist to signal the last repeat of the llargs. Here it is expanded and introduces
the llargs in both repetitions. The llargs (mm. 53–72) is slower, is in the parallel minor key, and
is imbued with lyrical melodic lines. What follows in mm. 73–102, appears to be a second curts.
It returns to the original key and the tempo and style of the curts, but presents different musical
material and combinations of rhythmic patterns. A pattern of four sixteenth-notes and two
eighth-notes is used throughout the section, but Cassadó often changes the order, which gives an
unpredictable feel, before combining them in a very difficult conclusion. Though this material is
not a repetition of that heard in the first curts, there are similarities between the patterns. With
the repeat signs for both sections, this movement looks like the Baroque binary forms of Bach’s
suites; however, with the complex, three-part nature of the second section and the differing
musical materials, these parts seem to stand on their own—almost as separate dances—in a way
unlike the dances of Bach.
Figure 5
Form structure of Gaspar Cassadó, Suite for Violoncello, Sardana
A Introit (mm. 1–10) + the curts (mm. 11–43)
B Contrapunt (mm. 44–52) + the llargs (mm. 53–72) + the curts (mm. 73–102)
The third movement, Intermezzo e Danza Finale, also has a complicated structure.
Ostensibly two dances, slow and fast, both parts have an A–B–A’ form, and elements of the
intermezzo reappear in the dance. Namely the A section of the dance includes material from the
51
B section of the intermezzo and in the B section of the dance, there is a cadenza-like reworking
of the intermezzo’s A theme. Further, with stark differences between the A and B sections of the
dance—even the A’ has much that is distinct from the A including a greater amount of disruptive
passage work—and the improvisatory, almost recitative feel of the preceding intermezzo, this
movement almost produces its own suite of prelude and dances. It certainly affirms that Cassadó
favors intricately involved formal structures in this suite.
Figure 6
Form structure of Gaspar Cassadó, Suite for Violoncello, Intermezzo e Danza Finale
Intermezzo
A (mm. 1–9) + B (mm. 10–25) + A’ (mm. 25–33)
Danza Finale
A: a (mm. 34–85) + b (mm. 86–101) + a’ (mm. 102–131)
B: c (mm. 132–135)
A’: a” (mm. 136–161) + b’ (mm. 162–166) + a (mm. 167–199)
While the key schemes of this piece are mostly in line with common practice, Cassadó
does at times rely on modal center harmonic plans as well as some use of the church modes. The
first movement (minor) and second movement (major) both begin in the key center of D, and
visit the subdominant and dominant key areas, but there is material that lies outside of the
diatonic domain, including the mixolydian collection in the second movement. In the last
movement, the Intermezzo, while mostly in B minor, uses the Phrygian mode (on F#) to provide
52
inflection to the melodic lines (a hallmark of Spanish folk styles). The Danza Finale has key
centers of A and D.
Many of the rhythmic patterns in this suite are similar to those used in Bach’s suite, and
others are derived from Spanish folk dances. As the Sarabande, common in Baroque suites, and a
movement in all of Bach’s, is itself derived from the Spanish, this aspect comes as no surprise.
Indeed, Cassadó utilizes the rhythmic style of Bach’s Sarabandes in his Preludio. In all of the
three themes, to some extent. Cassadó emphasizes the second beat of the triple meter. Bach,
following the normative procedure for Baroque Sarabandes had done the same. A comparison of
the prelude’s mm. 11–15 to Bach’s Sarabande 1, mm. 1–2 and Sarabande 4, mm. 1–2
demonstrates this similar approach in emphasizing beat two (Example 26). In Cassadó’s passage,
the smaller divisions of the downbeats vary greatly, but they all still come to an emphasis on beat
two, which is a greater length and often ornamented. In the first theme, mm. 3–5, Cassadó uses
multiple stops to highlight the second beat similarly to how Bach applies this affect in Sarabande
6, mm. 1–2.
Example 26
a. Gaspar Cassadó, Suite for Violoncello, Preludio-Fantasia, mm. 11–16
53
b. J. S. Bach, Six Suites for Violoncello Solo, Sarabande 1 and 4, mm. 1–2
With the exception of improvisatory sections, the dance movements usually consist of
simple rhythmic patterns. The introductory section of Sardana hearkens back to the gigue with
its 6/8 meter. In the following Spanish Dances, the rhythms are quite regular, repeated often in
succession, at times with slight variations. The main patterns used are grouping of four eighth
notes, one eighth plus two sixteenth, one quarter plus four sixteenths and two eighths, and eight
sixteenths. Cassadó changes the order these are heard frequently, especially in the last curts.
The melodic writing, too, has elements of Bach’s tradition as well as the Spanish tradition. The
melodies in general are quite motivic and these motives are composed out through varying
techniques to build larger sections. The dance movements and sections are quite regular in their
phrasing and motivic and melodic makeup, and excepting their more boisterous rhythmic
patterns derived from Spanish influences, have much in common with Bach’s writing. The slow
movement and section (intermezzo), however, demonstrate a much greater contrast to their
earlier counterparts. The melodic phrases of these parts are often irregular and there are many
quick changes of time signature in quick succession. The nature of the melodic lines themselves
contrast greatly with Bach’s as well. While, still lyrical and motivic, Cassadó employs numerous
written-out embellishments that continually extend the original motive, and then places variants
of this technique one right after another. Thus, an improvisatory feel to these sections is
noticeable, but it is unlike Bach’s harmony-derived chord pattern improvisatory movements (See
Example 26–a and 27).

54
Example 27
Gaspar Cassadó, Suite for Violoncello, Preludio-Fantasia, mm. 17–24
In these examples, we can see that the grace note embellishments are not all the same
length, and there is use of irregular tuplets as well as many turn figures. All of these interjections
disrupt what would be a smooth melodic line. In the middle section of this movement, Cassadó
takes this basic approach to an extreme. Following a restatement of the opening themes, which
are simply stated, these embellishment/variants get much longer, but also much faster as the note
values decrease. Tuplets of different lengths, changes of time signature, complex subdivision of
note patterns, including different type of appoggiaturas, scales, or neighbor notes, are all
employed in order to elaborate the main melodic line. These techniques are all melodically
improvisatory; a true passage-work passage (following harmonic considerations) doesn’t break
out until the retransition to the last section. In a way, this style resembles Bach’s sixth
Allamande. However, while Bach’s shortest note value is thirty-seconds and is divided evenly,
Cassadó uses diverse forms of multiples (tuplets), subdivided to 6, 7, 9, and 11 (not always
evenly) (Example 28).
55
Example 28
Gaspar Cassadó, Suite for Violoncello, Preludio-Fantasia, mm. 49–51
Concerning texture, Cassadó’s suite creates more than one voice in several different ways
including multiple stops, accompanied parts, dialogues, and etc., in a manner very similar to
Bach’s. In the Sardana, the two dances demonstrate dialogue between voices. The first curts has
two voices and the second curts has three or more voices (Example 29) within the different
registers. While one voice moves, the other voice sustains a note and moves slowly, creating a
thick sounding texture. In measures 53–72, the lyrical slow melodic moves over a D pedal tone
for several measures, after which this bass line ascends chromatically, moving consistently
following the chord change in measure 61. In the Danza Finale, Cassadó also uses double stops
and multiple stops for polyphonic writing, making for a thick, vertical style. Specifically, theme
2, the monophonic simple line first heard in the Intermezzo, gradually evolves here with more
added texture as a bass D, plays on every beat (Example 30).
56
Example 29
a. Gaspar Cassadó, Suite for Violoncello, Sardana, mm. 11–14
b. Gaspar Cassadó, Suite for Violoncello, Sardana, mm. 73–76
Example 30
a. Gaspar Cassadó, Suite for Violoncello, Intermezzo e Danza Finale, mm. 86–89
b. Gaspar Cassadó, Suite for Violoncello, Intermezzo e Danza Finale, mm. 162–166
In addition, Cassadó demanded many idiomatic techniques: the entire range of cello is
used (five octaves), thumb-position passages, various harmonics, double and multiple stops,
embellishments and grace notes, and crossing all four strings. These techniques show the
diversity of sound of the cello, but are often used specifically to evoke the exotic sounds of
57
Spanish music various traditional instruments. There are two examples. In mm. 52–55 movement
one, Cassadó calls for an advanced technique for making artificial harmonics: the hand poses as
it does for double stops (thumb plus finger) and it is in a high position. In the introduction of the
second movement, he calls for high position and natural harmonics. Those two examples create
color.
Cassadó’s suite fuses his Spanish heritage with Baroque formal structures. He adapted
Bach’s suites format while including Spanish dances rather than the traditional Baroque dances.
Although this suite relies on Spanish sources to create folk-sounding melodies, harmonies, and
rhythms, some aspects of Bach’s style are also present. The suite has very clear thematic form,
combining regular dance rhythms with freely improvisatory passages. Among the three
movements, the first movement, Preludio-Fantasia, most resembles a Bach sarabande, in which
all themes stress the second beat. There are also arpeggios used for transition materials. The
other two movements of Spanish dances have mostly regular dance rhythm patterns as well as
dialogue between the voices. Cassadó also exploited the full capacity of the cello, high positions
and harmonics, and requested idiomatic techniques of the cellist in order to make various sound
in the manner of Spanish instruments.
58
Ernest Bloch: Suite nos.1–3 for Violoncello Solo (Nos. 1 and 2, 1956, No. 3, 1957)
Bloch’s three suites, while demonstrating influence from and connection to Baroque
style, tend to be more subtle in their historicism than the suites of Reger. Several elements
though, such as contrasting meters and tempos between movements, simple rhythmic patterns,
and straight-forward rhythmic and melodic motives are used in similar ways to how Bach had.
Walter Simmons points out that the suites have “regular note patterns, symmetrical phrase
sequences, and strong tonal centers, despite some Blochian flights of Chromaticism.”60 Still
unlike Reger’s suites which clearly show Baroque elements and whose overall sound is similar,
Bloch’s suites offer more of an allusion to Bach while situated within a more contemporary garb.
The overall forms of Bloch’s suites are relatively straight-forward; the first two suites
open with a prelude followed by three movements and on the surface, they resemble a Sonata da
Chiesa (Church Sonata) with their slow-fast-slow-fast construction. The First suite is the closest
to the baroque suite in terms of formal design. While Bloch uses different tempo markings for
the movement names (other than Canzona), which he will do for the other suites, this suite
resembles a Baroque suite quite closely: It begins with a fantasy-like prelude; the second
movement follows in a clear Allemande style that incorporates the running-note rhythms; it
includes a lyrical Canzona (which resembles a Sarabande); and, it concludes with a Gigue-like
movement. The second suite has a similar structure to the first, Prelude-Allegro-Andante
tranquillo-Allegro, but all the movements are connected. This suite is most similar to a Baroque
sonata though the inner movements build to a major climax in the last section. The last suite
consists of five movements, Allegro deciso-Andante-Allegro-Andante-Allegro giocoso. It does
60
Simmons, 99–100.
59
not have a prelude and differs from the first two suites in that it is fast-slow-fast-slow-fast. The
second and third movements, which are joined together, follow the first movement with an
attacca. The last two movements are also connected.
The forms of the movements themselves are not as consistent as they had been in Bach’s
and Reger’s suites. In his first suite Bloch utilized ternary forms, but in the first and last
movement, the middle section is expanded with an extra section, and codas are employed in both
movement two and four (I: A–B–C–A`; II: A–B–A’–coda; III: A–B–A’; IV: A–B–C–A’–coda).
The forms of the movements of both the latter suites are more through-composed in nature,
rather than clearly defined structures. This through-composed attribute exists throughout the
suites as well and creates intricately cyclical compositions in that Bloch uses elements from
earlier in many repetitions and in varied guises. This style separates Bloch’s suites from his
predecessors. While both Bach and Reger had used cyclicism, neither come remotely close to the
degree to which Bloch favors this strategy.
Bloch’s rhythm writing is different as well. Comparatively and generally, Bloch
composes simpler rhythmic patterns in his suites than Reger. He prefers groupings of three to
four notes, generally of the same length. Peppered throughout however, are dotted rhythms, long
note followed by short note(s) patterns, gigue-like rhythms and simple triplet rhythms especially
in the slow movements. In this aspect, he is closer to Bach’s compositional methods and his
patterns are sometimes closely related to Bach’s. Dissimilar to Bach’s style are the passages of
quickly changing time signatures—often with improvisatory music—which create irregularities
in the rhythmic patterns. This approach occurs primarily in the second and third suites rather than
the first, which is simpler and built out of regular patterns.
60
Rhythmic patterns are coupled with melodic motives and are developed, used in
sequences, added to or subtracted from or altered with the changing time signatures. For
example, in mm. 19–27 of the first prelude, a two-measure rhythmic sequential pattern occurs
twice before on the third iteration (m. 23), the initial motive is heard in quicker succession. The
triplet pattern that occurred on each second measure, is lengthened to quarters and eighths,
before a longer triplet passage begins again in m. 25 (Example 31). In the last section of this
prelude, Bloch, varies the melodic material introduced in the first section by adding an extra note
to both the first and third beat thereby creating triplets (Example 32). Accompanied by a greater
amount of chromaticism, this section serves as an important climax leading to the end of the
piece.
Example 31
Ernest Bloch, Suite No. 1 for Violoncello Solo, Prelude, mm. 19–27
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Example 32
a. Ernest Bloch, Suite No. 1 for Violoncello Solo, Prelude, mm. 1–4
b. Ernest Bloch, Suite No. 1 for Violoncello Solo, Prelude, mm. 28–30
Bloch’s three suites also include Baroque dance rhythm patterns. These rhythms along
with tempo and meter are the major defining elements of a particular Baroque dance. While
Bloch does not use dance designators for his movement titles, his movements often reflect one of
the dances. As such, the Baroque dance-like rhythmic patterns can be found more in the first
suite but they are present in the later ones as well. In the first suite, the second movement
resembles a Courant in tempo and overall feel, while its time signature and rhythms are more in
line with a Bachian Allemande, complete with the running sixteenths (Example 33-a). The slow
movements, a Canzona (Suite 1) and Andantes in both Suite 2 and Suite 3, also reflect the
Sarabande in meter, rhythm, and some emphasis on beat two (Example 33-b), while some of
Allegro movements (at least one in each suite) are similar to the gigue in that they are in
compound meters and use gigue-like rhythmic patterns (Example 33-c).
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Example 33
a. Ernest Bloch, Suite No. 1 for Violoncello Solo, Allegro (2nd mvmt.), mm. 1–4
b. Ernest Bloch, Suite No. 2 for Violoncello Solo, Andante tranquillo, mm. 159–167
c. Ernest Bloch, Suite No. 3 for Violoncello Solo, Allegro, mm. 1–5
In his suites, Bloch’s melodic writing often approaches Bach’s melodic style quite
closely, although again, it is tempered with irregularities and more modern stylistic elements.
Generally, the melodic lines are built out of smaller motives or they are extensions and
developments of arpeggiation figures outlining the chord progressions. Bloch’s first prelude
focuses on broken chord figures in which the basic pattern repeats through various chord changes
as it expands. The first phrase (mm. 1–4) consists of eighth notes in four-note groups with each
group beginning on an open string (pedal C). It has a general rising motion that reaches its peak
on G4 in measure 3 before generally descending again through the end of the phrase. In measure
two, the low note changes—A-flat, G, A-flat, F, D-flat, until it comes back to the low C in m. 5.
63
(Example 32–a) This approach helps Bloch formulate a dramatic style within the arpeggiated
form, but it is also a style much derived from Bach’s examples.
The first theme of the second suite is similar to Bach’s prelude 2. It opens with a short
motive that in its subsequent statements ascends much like had occurred in the Bach piece. This
melodic pattern (one longer note and four sixteenths) along with pedal G gets varied in measure
3 with five sixteenths. During the first three measures, arch-shaped melodic phrases define this
material and in these up and down motions, the peak of each small phrase ascends sequentially
(C–D–F). (Example 34) In reality, this kind of melodic shape and sequential, motivic writing is
ubiquitous throughout all three suites and defines Bloch’s melodic writing. Prelude 1, mm. 19–
27 includes this type of motion, and while not completely sequential, includes a high note at the
top of each small phrase that does move sequentially higher (Example 31, Ab–Bb–C#–D–Ab).
Bloch’s expressive language is clearly produced by this procedure. Another example of
sequential moving happens in the second movement of Suite 1. In this Allegro an ascending
pattern in perfect fifths is heard three times in mm. 3–4 (Example 33–a), as well as three more in
mm. 24–27. The first note of the second pattern moves down by step creating a sequence.
Example 34
Ernest Bloch, Suite No. 2 for Violoncello Solo, Prelude, mm. 1–4
64
In addition, the Bariolage pattern, a typical melodic convention in Bach’s music, can be
found several times in Bloch’s three suites. In the first suite, Allegro, the basic pattern is
presented in mm. 5–7. Here, the moving note descends from high D while the A string serves as
the alternation. Due to the high register, this instance is already a little more advanced than those
found in Bach’s music. Even more advanced cases of the bariolage are found in the second and
third suites. In the second suite’s prelude, mm. 4–7, Bloch’s bariolage includes double stops
over the static note, G, a technique the Reger had employed in his suites. In the third movement
of Suite 3, mm. 43–45, the alternation follows the natural long-short rhythms often found in the
gigue creating an angular quality to this melodic writing (Example 35). Also, in the last
movement of Suite No. 1, Bloch composes a bariolage pattern in triplets very similar to one in
Bach’s last prelude. While Bach used an open string on the middle note in every three eighth-
note group, Bloch uses the open string on the last note of each three eighth-note group. Triplet-
pattern bariolages are used several times also in the third suite, but in mm. 80–82 of the third
movement, the order of the figure is changed. Now, the open string is in the middle of the
triplets, very much like the pattern in Bach’s prelude (Example 36).
Example 35
a. Ernest Bloch, Suite No. 2 for Violoncello Solo, Prelude, mm. 4–7
b. Ernest Bloch, Suite No. 3 for Violoncello Solo, Allegro, mm. 43–45
65
Example 36
a. J. S. Bach, Six Suites for Violoncello Solo, No. 6, BWV 1012, Prelude, mm. 1–2
b. Ernest Bloch, Suite No. 1 for Violoncello Solo, Allegro (4th mvmt.), mm. 83–86
c. Ernest Bloch, Suite No. 3 for Violoncello Solo, Allegro, mm. 80–82
Bloch also employs the self-borrowing technique that Bach often used, in which melodic
elements from earlier passages reappear. However, as mentioned above, Bloch takes this
compositional approach to a much farther extreme than Bach. Certain elements of the first suite,
including the prelude’s opening theme, but also spots from other movements as well, the spots
are presented both later in this suite and in the other suites. For example, in mm. 117–120 of the
last movement, the motivic melodic materials, C–(Db–C) –(Eb)–Ab–G, was drawn from the
opening melodic line, C–(G) –Ab–G, and transformed into triplet eighth-notes. This same
material is also used and developed in the last movement of the second suite, transposed up a
fifth (Example 37). This later aspect differentiates the two composers. While Bach had kept his
borrowing to within the suite itself, Bloch borrows from his earlier suites. In the gigue-like
Allegros of the third suite there are several passages similar to the materials in the last movement
66
of the first suite (ex. No. 1 mm. 83–90 and third movement of No. 3 mm. 17–20). Also, the first
four measures of the last movement of the third suite seem to be a mixture of the materials from
the last movement (mm. 33–36) and the second movement (mm. 3–4) of first suite. Meanwhile,
the opening motive of the second movement in suite 1 is heard in mm. 44–45 of the fifth
movement as the opening materials of the passage, but in an inverted direction and with
sequential movement (ex. No. 1, movement 2, mm. 3–4 and No. 3 movement 5, mm. 44–45). In
the third suite’s Andante, (movement 4), several elements are borrowed from the first suite’s
Canzona; mm. 12–15 of the Andante is from mm. 14–16 of the Canzona, and mm. 22–25 of the
Andante seems to come from a combination of the Canzona’s mm. 24–25 and 41–42. These
borrowings help to unify movements, and suites, as well as the whole of Bloch’s suites together.
Example 37
a. Ernest Bloch, Suite No. 1 for Violoncello Solo, Prelude, m. 1,
and Allegro (4th mvmt.), mm. 117–118
b. Ernest Bloch, Suite No. 2 for Violoncello Solo, Allegro (4th mvmt.), mm. 391–394
67
In addition, two other aspects of Bloch’s melodic writing are important. First, he often
inverts the melodic motives. For example, in mm. 40 and 41 of Suite 1, movement 2, Bloch
inverts the opening melody, which is common in Bach’s writing. At the beginning of the
movement, the melodic patterns ascend, but in the later incarnation, they descend while
maintaining the rhythmic pattern. Second, his slow movements are quite tuneful and lyrical.
Differing from the other movements which consist of worked-out, motivic lines fitting within the
harmonic progressions, slow movements such as Canzona and Andante have tuneful melodic
lines. The third movement Canzona of Suite 1 begins with a lyrical and quiet melody in a high
position that is in triple meter like a Sarabande, but without the emphasis on beat two. Bloch uses
pizzicato and harmonics in the accompaniment figures to isolate the texture and highlight the
melody to a greater degree.
A significant characteristic in Bloch’s suites is the chromaticism that permeates within
two-note sigh motives. In the opening section of Suite No. 1, every two notes in the four-note
group has a slur and every second pair is a half-step appoggiatura (see Example 32–a). A similar
appoggiatura motive can be found in mm. 1–2 of Bach’s Suite 5, Sarabande (Example 38). In his
use of this appoggiatura, Bach creates tension on the second beat. Bloch, however, creates much
more tension through the heavy use of chromaticism in these appoggiaturas. This method of
writing becomes a significant feature for all his suites and in this particular use of chromaticism,
he goes beyond Bach’s style and even Reger’s. The second suite’s Andante tranquillo also makes
use of this figure to an extent that is reminiscent of Bach’s sarabande writing, and they are also
half-step motions that drive the listener to the second beat (See example 33–b).
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Example 38
J. S. Bach, Six Suites for Violoncello Solo, No. 5, BWV 1011, Sarabande, mm.1–2
In terms of texture, as both Bach and Reger had done, Bloch creates polyphonic passages
out of the cello’s single line. He achieves this style in various ways: with a pedal tone, using
contrapuntal textures, double or multiple stops, and through registral shifts between the voices.
The middle section of the first allegro in Suite I demonstrates the first technique. There are two
voices; one is a lyrical melody line, and the other a pedal with open strings (G and D), sometimes
with harmonics, in double stops. (ex. second movement in suite 1 mm. 14–23) This passage is
very difficult due to the high positions and different positions. The canzona in the first suite is a
good example of Bloch’s contrapuntal writing. The first phrase of the movement is introduced
with a pedal tone open C, after which, the theme is developed with a contrapuntal texture
through two moving lines and the use of multiple stops. Also, like in Bach’s second sarabande,
where voices move separately (ex. Bach’s second sarabande mm. 25–28), in mm. 48–52 of the
Canzona, Bloch’s three voices move separately. The lower voice starts on A and descends like a
walking bass between statements of a higher melody, while the middle voice interrupts with
multiple-stops and pizzicato (Example 39). Also, there is a dialogue between the voices in mm.
4–7 of the second prelude through the use of registral shifts and this technique is prevalent in the
other movements of the second suite (see Example 35–a). In general, however, Bloch’s Suite has
thinner textures overall than the other twentieth-century composers in this study.
69
Example 39
Ernest Bloch, Suite No. 1 for Violoncello Solo, Canzona, mm. 48–52
Bloch’s three cello suites have many allusions to Bach’s cello suites. He uses Baroque
forms and techniques but casts them in a more contemporary garb. Baroque style elements are
included to a great degree in these suites, including the period’s dance rhythms, arpeggiated
melodic motions, motivic and sequential writing, clear counterpoint, Bariolage, and
improvisatory-like passages. Simultaneously however, he also draws from modern compositional
techniques: advanced harmonics, extreme chromaticism, and use of the full range of the
instrument. He even draws from pre-Baroque style, such as his reliance on church modes.
Further, while baroque style musical elements are included in his suites, unlike as with Reger, it
seems to show his experiments with modern cello techniques and his searching for a variety of
sound colors. He utilized the cello’s full capacity such as advanced harmonics, which makes
technical demands of the performer, but he also created full resonances by way of many open
strings.
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Benjamin Britten: Three Suites for Cello (Op. 72, 1964; Op. 80, 1968; Op. 87, 1972)
Britten’s suites are structured and devised in a vastly different way than Bach’s or even
earlier twentieth-century suites, those of Reger, Cassadó and Bloch. While dance music had been
the focus of these earlier suites even if their titles were not always used for the movements,
Britten’s three suites depend upon vocal genres and techniques to a much greater degree. With
designations such as canto, recitativo, serenata, lamento, declamato, dialogo, and barcorola, these
suites are full of references to Baroque vocal music. Britten also draws from non-dance Baroque
instrumental music and in these suites there are two marches, a ciaccona (chaconne), a
passacaglia, and in each suite a fugue.
Other differences are noticeable as well. None of Britten’s three cello suites begin with a
prelude. The first and third include more movements than in Bach’s originals, and even the
second has more movements than most of the suites of the other twentieth-century composers.
Britten’s first suite includes four chorale-like canto movements that serve as a ritornello for six
movements in this suite. The second suite has five movements and the last has nine movements.
There is also the use of borrowed materials in these suites. He quote Shostakovich’s Fifth
Symphony at the beginning of this Second suite and in the third suite, he bases the composition
on four tunes from Tchaikovsky’s folk song arrangements as well as a hymn tune from the
Kontakion class of hymns, taken from the English Hymnal.61 He presents these at the end of the
suite.
61
Benjamin Britten, Three Suites for Cello, Op. 87, London: Faber Music Limited, 1986, 35.
71
Figure 7
Structure of Britten’s Three Suites for Cello, Ops. 72, 80, and 87
Op. 72 Op. 80 Op. 87

Canto primo:
I. Declamato: Largo I. Introduzione: Lento
Sostenuto e largamente
I. Fuga:
II. Fuga: Andante II. Marcia: Allegro
Andante moderato
II. Lamento: III. Canto: Con moto
III. Scherzo: Allegro molto
Lento rubato
Canto secondo:
IV. Andante lento IV. Barcarola: Lento
Sostenuto
III. Serenata:
V. Ciaccona: Allegro V. Dialogo: Allegretto
Allegretto (pizzicato)
IV. Marcia:
VI. Fuga: Andante espressivo
Alla Marcia moderato
Canto terzo:
VII. Recitativo: Fantastico
Sostenuto
V. Bordone:
VIII. Moto perpetuo: Presto
Moderato quasi recitativo
VI. Moto perpetuo e Canto IX. Passacaglia:
quarto: Presto Lento solenne
Britten’s three suites make use of the Baroque elements that were important in the suites
of Bach, but also earlier twentieth-century suite composers such as arpeggiated material,
composing out of motivic material, inversions, improvisatory-like material, bariolage, dance
rhythms, regular rhythms, polyphonic writing, pedal tone, etc. However, these suites are
approached with Britten’s own distinguished musical style with elements of tonality, atonality,
and tonal centers. There are many creative sounds and more difficult techniques than in previous
cello suites.
72
In a manner much like Bach’s, the melodic lines or thematic materials in the movements
are usually developed out of the opening material or expanded upon gradually from smaller
motives to form a larger theme. With improvisatory techniques, Britten changes the rhythms and
pitches often by extending motives with additional beats in the subsequent statements. The first
suite’s Lamento demonstrates this practice of developing or working out the initial motive
throughout the entire movement. In the first measure a motive is introduced in which the last two
of the five beats are a descending E chord. Each of the next four measures contains a varying
number of beats (7, 11.5, 12, and 6) than the previous one as Britten plays with the opening
motive, but each measure ends with the same descending E chord. The sixth measure sounds
only the E chord. In mm. 7–10, Britten again varies the motive as now the E chord is inverted
and extended with additional tones (E–G–B in bar 7, E–G–B–E in bar 8, and B–E–G–B–E in bar
10) In mm. 11–13, the three statements of the E chord change into other major chords (G, C, and
A) including chromatic inflections (E-flat, A-flat/G-sharp and F-natural), and in the final three
measures it returns to the original descending pattern of E chords though it is an octave lower.
The final statement recasts the chord in triplets rather than the short-short-long pattern that had
been heard earlier. The overall shape of the line, large waves of descending material (except in
the middle where it is ascending), is also a large part of the compositional working out. In the
third suite, the first section of Allegretto also lengthens each re-statement of the initial motive by
adding beats. For instance, the motivic phrase is in the first four measures, but in its repeat,
beginning in m. 5, Britten adds a beat to the first measure of the motive and expands the motive
further with additional beats at the end (5 measures).
Another way in which Britten composes in a Bachian style are in the many arpeggios,
broken chord lines, and Bariolage, all of which are very important in Bach’s suites. One good
73
example is in mm. 37–45 in the first fuga. This passage includes arpeggiated patterns mixed with
short instances of bariolage (Example 40–a). He writes a 5-note turn at the end of every
sequence causing an irregular sounding rhythmic pattern. After this passage (mm. 37–44), the
next three measures present a shortened version of this material in inversion (Example 40–b),
followed by a continuation of the arpeggiated figure in sequence (Example 40–c).
Example 40
a. Benjamin Britten, Suite for Cello Op. 72, I Fuga, mm. 37–44
b. Benjamin Britten, Suite for Cello Op. 72, I Fuga, mm. 45–47
c. Benjamin Britten, Suite for Cello Op. 72, I Fuga, mm. 53–55
In mm. 35–38 of the Ciaccona in the second suite, arpeggios with harmonics occur.
These harmonics appear as grace notes. Mm. 65–72 includes arpeggiated passages over a D
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pedal tone, and he adds to the drama of this passage with an accelerando. The Lento (barcarola)
in the third suite consists of arpeggiated passages (Broken chords) throughout whole movement.
He complicates the arpeggios with diverse rhythmic patterns in a manner untypical in Bach’s use
of arpeggiated figures.
Sequential movement is very important in these cello suites and many of the examples
above also include sequences. Mm. 118–124 of the Ciaccona includes sequences in which the
Bass note ascends in mm. 118–122 (D–E–F#–G#–A) as the scale figures in varying tuplets in the
upper voice also ascend; whereas in mm. 122–24, while the bass continues to step up (A–B–C#–
D), the upper voice scales are now descending. This passage also demonstrates one of his
primary melodic characters: he stretches the beats and rhythmic patterns as he varies the motives
(here the 5-note figures grow to 6 and 7).
In addition, the bariolage technique is used several times in his three suites. In mm. 14–
15 of the Bordone in the first suite, at the transition, there are alternations on the same pitch note,
as the two voices meet on a pedal-tone. It should be played with different left hand positions: the
thumb is in the first place of the fourth position on the G, and the third finger is in the upper
position on the C string. This technique is reminiscent of a passage in Bach’s sixth prelude,
which also includes differing alternations of the same note. In the Ciaccona of the second suite,
the bariolage passages in mm. 136–51, includes changing rhythms. The Lento (introduzione)
and Allegro (Marcia) in the third suite also see sections of alternation the middle of their
movements.
In terms of rhythms, generally speaking Britten’s suites are more complicated than the
suites of previous composers. Like with earlier composers, larger patterns are developed from
smaller motivic patterns, but the components are often very diverse and irregular and Britten’s
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propensity for extension is ubiquitous. On the other hand, Britten also employs some of the
Baroque rhythmic patterns and qualities in his suites as Reger and Bloch had done, but these are
approached with his own style as well. In the last movement of the first suite, Moto perpetuo, the
music is written in continual sixteenth notes in which every two has a slur up or down. It
resembles the regular patterns Bach often uses, though Britten disrupts it through irregularly
changing meters and unexpected accents. Another example is from the Ciaccona in the second
suite. This movement includes rhythms associated with Baroque dance forms including dotted
rhythms and triplets. The Allegro (Marcia), Lento (Barcarola) and Presto (moto perpetuo) in the
third movement have comparably simple rhythmic patterns.
The most important aspects common to Britten’s cello suites is the polyphonic writing
found in them that goes well beyond any of the previous suites. This writing again is almost
always associated with previous vocal models. Even many single-lined passages like the
Lemento in the first suite, the song tunes in the middle of the passacaglia in the third suite, and
some other places throughout the suites, seem to reference monophonic styles: chant and folk
songs especially. He draws from Bach’s own manner especially in the use of multiple stops and
differing registers to create textures. But, he also employs varying articulations and cello
techniques to create more voices. Many of the movements in Britten’s three suites clearly
differentiate between disparate registers to express other voices. Especially, in the Fuga and
some parts of the other movements, Britten alternates between registers in a manner that sounds
like a conversation between voices (Example. 41). Also, one or two voices often play on either a
pedal tone or small moving sustained tone as an accompaniment.
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Example 41
Benjamin Britten, Suite for Cello Op. 87, Passacaglia: Lento Solemme, mm. 1–6
Another way Britten separates the voices is through different sounds/techniques that
accompany the register shifts. In the first suite’s Marcia, Britten presents the melodic and
rhythmic sections of a “band” playing a march by setting them far apart (often as much as two
octaves), alternating them measure by measure, and through contrasting techniques. The top line
states a fanfare-like melody that outlines chords and is heavy on the intervals of the fifth and
fourth while simultaneously playing with harmonics. In the measures in between, the cello plays
low perfect fifths (first C and G, then G and D) in a long-long-short-short-long rhythm with
variants. This rhythm along with the affect, col legno, (striking the string with the stick of Bow),
conjures up the feeling of a snare drum. In mm. 10–13, two voices—one still played with open
strings—play in what normally would sound like conventional double stops in a relatively
narrow range (no more than a raised octave), however, because Britten continues the use of open
strings in one voice, the two lines are clear in their one-to-one counterpoint (Example 42).
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Example 42
Benjamin Britten, Suite for Cello Op. 72, Marcia, mm. 10–13
Further, the lines cross frequently adding to the polyphonic nature of the passage.
Through the stem directions, we can see the voice moving on the printed page, but through the
use of differing techniques, arco and col legno, we can hear it during this movement. In the
second suite, Op. 80, Britten separates two voices through the use of pizzicato and arco in the
Andante lento. These two voices are further isolated as their particular rhythms, duple and triple,
intersect with each other. In the third suite, the first movement, lento, includes a pizzicato pedal-
tone during the entire movement, and in the Allegretto, Britten also uses pizzicato to separate
voices.
Britten takes this technique to an extreme in the Bordone movement of his first suite. A
pedal-tone, D3, sounds throughout the entire movement between an upper and lower voice.
These voices are also contrasted through the use of arco and pizzicato and they cross at times as
well. The pizzicato is played with the left hand, which is considered a more modern technique,
sometimes even considered to be an extended technique. In m. 13, the pizzicato disappears, and
in m. 14, all three of the previous voices are now playing the same D3, but Britten separates
them by position and string. (Example 43).
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Example 43
a. Benjamin Britten, Suite for Cello Op. 72, Bordone, mm. 1–2
b. Benjamin Britten, Suite for Cello Op. 72, Bordone, m. 14 (transition)
The four canto ritornellos of the first suite are some of the most interesting of Britten’s
use of differing registers. Through the consistent use of double stops, as well as the oblique
motion coupled with registral shifts that take place every few notes, Britten is able to give the
illusion of a three-voiced vocal piece, often four voices. Two voices are almost always sounding
in these passages, and one voice sustains while the other voice moves. The middle voice serves
as the sustain during the registral shifts that creates a sound similar to the common realization of
multiple stops (broken chords from the bottom to top). The chords in these cantos are usually
built top down though, rather than bottom to top. The middle voice has a narrow range, mostly
moving around A and B through step-wise motion or short leaps. The lowest note is F and the
highest is C, excepting a brief moment in mm. 15–16, when there is an ascent from G# to an
octave higher G#. While there are no chorales in Bach’s suites, Britten draws from a genre for
which Bach is specifically known and thus imbues his first suite with structural qualities
borrowed from the cantata as much as it is borrowed from the suite.
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All three of Britten’s suites contain a fugue and they demonstrate the full capabilities of
his polyphonic writing for the instrument. Bach, Reger, and Bloch had all included a fugue in
one of their suites, and for each there is a subject but no countersubject. Britten solves the
complexity of including a countersubject in an ingenious way. While the previous fugues for
cello in these suites had used rather conventional “Bach” sounding subjects, Britten carefully
includes space in the rhythmic writing in order to allow for a countersubject to be interpolated
within the subject. The fugue in Op. 80 demonstrates this procedure well. The seven-measure
subject in 3/4 time has many rests. When the countersubject enters in m. 8, it works in those
places where silence had been. This fugue also demonstrates the polyphonic qualities with
register contrasts as well as harmonics. Op. 72’s fugue includes a countersubject through the
creative use of double-stops and rests as well. The subject is varied by being extended, inverted,
and with added rhythmic materials. The countersubject is sometimes used as the pedal tone, on
open stings or the natural harmonics of the cello (C, G, D, A), which creates dissonances but also
allows for more resonances. (mm. 19–22). The Third Fugue has the simplest subject.
Britten’s three suites differ substantially from the other composers we have examined:
Reger, Cassadó, and Bloch. Although there is much derived from Bach’s legacy, Britten imbues
this music with many new ideas, contemporary sounds and highly-advance cello techniques.
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Hans Gál: Suite for Solo Cello Op. 109b (1982)
Gál’s suite has four movements: Introduzione and Fughetta, Alla marcia, Cavatina, and
Rondino. Although the names are different than those used in Baroque suites, the formal
structure of this suite follows the Baroque and is a prelude and dance movements. These
movements, in a similar manner as the Baroque suites, also come from a variety of different
origins and cultural sources. Like Britten, Gál includes a march and a songlike piece, the
Cavatina, which is the term for a short eighteenth-century aria without da capo.62 The first
movement, Introduzione and Fughetta, resembles Bach’s fifth prelude, in that they both are in C
minor and consist of prelude and fugue. Also, the subject of the fughetta is similar to the
Baroque style fugue, constituted of simple and clear rhythmic patterns. The second movement,
Alla Marcia, is reminiscent of the galanteries in Bach’s cello suites. It is in two sections, like a
pair of Bach’s galanteries, and each section consists of two repeated parts. After the second
section, there is a da Capo, but unlike in Bach’s music, it also has a coda. Further, the A section
and B section demonstrate differing styles and use parallel keys: G minor and G major. The third
movement, Cavatina (Eb Major), is a slow (Adagio), tuneful song in triple meter. Excepting a
lack of stress on the second beat, it resembles the Sarabande of Bach’s suites. The last
movement, Rondino, is essentially a gigue. After the first movement, each following movement
has an A–B–A structure, often including a coda. The Rondino extends the ternary design into A-
B-A-C-A’-B’-coda (A: a+b, B: a+c, A: a+b).
The harmonic scheme of this suite is quite traditional, relying on diatonic scales and firm
in its tonality. The key schemes also follow common traditions. Most of the chord progressions
62
“Cavatina,” Grove Music Online. 2001; Accessed January 24, 2020, https://www-oxfordmusiconline-
0000005215.
81
are simple and clear, with dominant to tonic cadential points. Secondary dominants, and
augmented 6th chords are often used towards cadences and in transitions. The introduzione
consists of numerous chords (double and multiple stops), and features a melodic line derived
from the chord progression in a manner very similar to Bach’s. Pedal tones are often used to
prolongate the dominant or to reaffirm the key.
Gál’s rhythmic writing is also similar to Bach’s. It mostly consists of simple rhythmic
patterns: dotted rhythms, long notes followed by shorter ones, and groupings of equal values.
The most significant rhythmic pattern in this suite is the dotted rhythm. In the introduction, the
motivic pattern, a dotted quarter note and eighth note, first heard in mm. 1–2 is important as it is
continually worked out in this movement, and reappears in later movements. Sometimes, this
motivic pattern is heard in variation. For example, in mm. 24–25, two voices are included in this
passage, but the upper voice has the first note and the last sixteenth, and due to the register
change, the dotted pattern of the first motive is heard clearly (Example 44). Other variations of
the motive include diminution, in which the eighth-note is dotted followed by a sixteenth. This
dotted rhythm pattern often stress the strong beat sometimes accompanied by a multiple stop,
which creates a full sounding gesture. The subject in the Fughetta has the clear and simple
patterns of longs and shorts reminiscent of both Bach’s and Reger’s fugues. While Reger’s fugue
moves vertically following the harmonic progression and using numerous double and multiple
stops, Gál’s fugue feels more horizontal, with conversation-like melodic lines. Also, in the first
section of the Alla Marcia, in order to express the march rhythms, Gál uses the dotted rhythm
along with groupings of shorter values in conjunction with scales that move to the downbeat to
create a drive to the music. The upbeats, especially, reinforce this rhythmic stress (Example 45).
While the A section includes these stresses on the downbeat with the dotted rhythms and triplets,
82
in the B section, he writes more sustained lyrical melodic lines and embellishes these melodies
with arpeggiated notes or pizzicatos in different registers. The Cavatina in triple meter has
simple groupings of values, often in triplets or quintuplets, which serve to decorate the tuneful
melodic line. While the B section of the Rondino focuses on lyricism and uses simple rhythmic
groupings that follow arpeggiated figures (mm. 17–18 and 23–24), the A section has Gigue-like
rhythm patterns. In fact, all three types of gigue rhythm seen in Bach’s suites (and explained in
the chapter 2) are combined in this movement along with more advanced patterns, such as
triplets in place of the last eighth-note (Example 46).
Example 44
Hans Gál, Suite for Solo Cello Op. 109b, Introduzione, mm. 1–2 and 24–25
Example 45
Hans Gál, Suite for Solo Cello Op. 109b, All Marcia, mm. 1–4
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Example 46
Hans Gál, Suite for Solo Cello Op. 109b, Rondino, mm. 1–2
The melodic writing in the suite generally follows regular phrasing, except at transitions
where extension or contraction often occurs. The melodic lines themselves are quite simple;
there is some motivic writing, but others are formed out of scales and broken chords,
embellished with neighbor notes. The melodies of the first movement use motivic patterns and
sequential patterns. In the introduzione, the first motive has a focused step-wise melodic line,
Eb–F–F#–Eb–D–C, over a pedal tone C. In mm. 13–17, while some notes of the first beat are
held, the highest note on second and fourth beats moves up a step in sequence. In mm. 20–23, the
two measures melodic pattern of broken chords is repeated in the next two bars up a half-step
with the same intervallic relationship.
The third movement, Cavatina, has the most tuneful melodies. Accompanying the
numerous sustained values, grace notes and arpeggiated figures embellish the melodic line,
which is the same as in the second part of the Alla Marcia. The last A section of Cavatina, from
the pick-up to m. 50, proceeds like a variation form, with little changes which divide more or less
the length of notes. For example, the eighth notes are divided as triplets (Cavatina 2 and 51), the
quarter notes into two eighth notes (Cavatina mm. 4–5 and mm. 53–54), the triplets into four
sixteenths and the four sixteenths into a five-note pattern. (mm. 7–8 and mm. 56–57). This
simple variation lends an improvisatory sound reflective of Bach’s suites. (Example 47).
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Example 47
a. Hans Gál, Suite for Solo Cello Op. 109b, Cavatina, mm. 1–8
b. Hans Gál, Suite for Solo Cello Op. 109b, Cavatina, mm. 49–57
Other techniques for melodic material include inversion and borrowing. In the Fughetta,
the melody in m. 21 (A–C–Bb–F–F–Ab) is inverted for m.38, which forms the basis for the
material of the subsequent episode, and reverses the direction of the music (Example 48). An
example of borrowing occurs in mm. 80–81 of the Rondino, when materials from the first
movement serve as the transition back to the A section (Example 49).
85
Example 48
Hans Gál, Suite for Solo Cello Op. 109b, Fughetta, mm. 20–21 and 37–38
Example 49
a. Hans Gál, Suite for Solo Cello Op. 109b, Introduzione, mm. 32–33
b. Hans Gál, Suite for Solo Cello Op. 109b, Rondino, mm. 80–81
In this suite, the polyphonic writing is significant. He employs many pedal tones, double
and multiple stops, and registral shifts. His clear demarcation of stem directions in the score
allows the performer to accurately and expressively differentiate between the voices. In both the
Fugue and Rondino movements, dialogue between the voices is of upmost importance. In the
Fugue episodes, the voices alternate and the high-voiced melodic line is answered later in the
lower registers. (Fughetta mm. 9–10). The Rondino also has a clear example of dialogue between
86
the voices (Rondino mm. 54–58), and, as in the Cavatina, sustained notes in the lower part
creates a diverse chord color (Example 50).
Example 50
Hans Gál, Suite for Solo Cello Op. 109b, Rondino, mm. 64 and 68
In Gál’s cello suites, the overall form is within the tradition of Baroque suites, fugal and
improvisatory music is heard, and clear dance-derived rhythms with regular phrasing are key
features. He also uses dialogue between voices, pedal tones or sustained notes, double or
multiple stops, and broken chords melodic lines to achieve a style that is similar to Bach’s.
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Chapter IV
Conclusion
This document has shown a relationship between Bach’s cello suites written in the early
eighteenth century and various twentieth-century cello suites. Composers beginning with Reger
were influenced by Bach and incorporated many of the styles, forms, genres, and techniques
found in his masterpieces, while also imbuing their suites with their own distinct musical styles.
Among the five composers studied in this document, all except Cassadó wrote their cello suites
in their later years. Perhaps the difficulties in approaching this kind of works for solo instrument
and the expression required, or respect to Bach’s heritage, or that this genre provides for a very
introspective and intimate self-reflection may be an answer as to why.
Regarding similarities to Bach’s precedence, all of these composers to a greater or lesser
degree show his influence. In terms of form, Reger, Cassadó, Gál, and Bloch (first two suites)
begin with a prelude followed by dances. Reger’s suites includes an actual gavotte and a gigue in
the second suite, while the other movements are named with tempo titles; but, even these
movements and those of Bloch’s which are also named with tempo titles bear many
resemblances to the dances of Bach. Gal’s suite, though using some titles such as march,
cavatina and rondino, also follow Bach’s dances in many ways. These three composers,
especially Reger and Gal, create forms within the movement that are most similar to Bach’s
binary forms. Cassadó’s suite, even though it technically only has three movements, is quite
close to Bach’s overall suite form as well, due to the nature in which he combines different
dances into the same movement. As each of his movements begins with an introduction of sorts,
followed by at least two dance-like sections in differing styles: it is almost like they are mini
suites in themselves. Of all of the composers, his individual movement forms are the most
88
complicated, going beyond well beyond ABA and towards a more through-composed manner.
Also, his use of strictly Spanish dances instead of the more cosmopolitan nature inherent to
Baroque suites makes for interesting separation from Bach’s suites. Formally speaking, at least
in overall suite form, Britten’s suites are the most unlike Bach’s as he draws more from vocal
and non-dance related Baroque instrumental music. All of the composers have passages that are
very strict and passages with a more improvisatory feel.
There are also many similarities in the rhythmic and melodic writing of these composers
and their predecessor. They all use motivic writing to a high degree, sequential patterns,
Bariolage, chordal melodic patterns, and arpeggiations much like Bach had, and their rhythms
are generally regular and often simple, like as in Bach’s manner. Bloch, in terms of these
characteristics is perhaps the closest to Bach; if it were not for his unique harmonic language, his
suites would look and sound much like Bach’s. Cassadó’s rhythms, though more aggressive—
with accents, change of meter and hemiolas—than the others do rely on regularity for the most
part. Britten’s rhythms are the most complicated, but even in his suites, like as in the others,
there are moments that incorporate the gigue patterns, Sarabande beat two emphasis, and
characteristics of the allemande, etc. With each composer, there is self-borrowing, though Bloch
tends to rely on this approach to the greatest degree. They also apply many of the textural
techniques of Bach including counterpoint between registers, dialogues, pedal tones, and double
or multiple stops to create thicker textures and a rich polyphonic tapestry.
As one might expect, it is in harmonic writing where the biggest differences from Bach’s
suites can be found. Reger employs much chromaticism in addition to the diatonic palette as does
Gál, though not to the same degree. Cassadó utilizes different modalities, tonal centers, wrong-
note techniques as well as quirks from the Spanish folk influence. Bloch relies heavily on pan-
89
diatonicism and modal writing, and Britten draws from many disparate twentieth-century
harmonic techniques; his, by far, are the most adventurous. While, Cassadó, Bloch, and Gál use
some harmonics and extended techniques, Britten, in this regard too, goes much farther as he
uses artificial harmonics, diverse bow techniques such as Col legno, and quick alternations
between pizzicato and arco, and etc. All of the composers, though, expand upon the range,
especially in the upper registers, inherited from Bach.
Through this style study of these five composers and the comparison with Bach’s suites,
one can see the development of cello instrument in the twentieth century. It is also interesting to
view the concern with joining the old with the new. As a performer, the study of these
contemporary cello solo works is a worthwhile exercise that will help create vivid programs
bridging the past and present.
90
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The Legacy of Bach’s Cello Suites in Twentieth-Century Solo Cello Suites

The Graduate School

in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS

in the Performance Studies Division

B.M., Hanyang University, Korea, 2008

Committee Chair: Samuel Ng, Ph.D.

Figure 1. Key and Galanteries in J. S. Bach, Six Suites, BWV 1007–1012 16

Figure 2. Rhythm Patterns in J. S. Bach, Six Suites, BWV 1007–1012 26–27

Figure 4. Form of Gaspar Cassadó, Suite, Preludio-Fantasia 50

Figure 5. Form structure of Gaspar Cassadó, Suite, Sardana 51

Figure 6. Form structure of Gaspar Cassadó, Suite, Intermezzo e Danza Finale 52

Figure 7. Structure of Britten’s Three Suites, Ops. 72, 80, and 87 72

Ex. 13–a. J. S. Bach, Cello Suites, No. 1, BWV 1007, Prelude, m. 1 32

Ex. 13–b. J. S. Bach, Cello Suites, No. 4, BWV 1010, Prelude, m. 1 32

Ex. 15–b. J. S. Bach, Cello Suites, No. 1, BWV 1007, Courante, m. 1 34

Largo, mm. 34–35 46

Ex. 26–a. Gaspar Cassadó, Suite, Preludio-Fantasia, mm. 11–16 53

Ex. 26–b. J. S. Bach, Six Suites, Sarabandes 1 and 4, mm. 1–2 54

Ex. 27. Gaspar Cassadó, Suite, Preludio-Fantasia, mm. 17–24 55

Ex. 28. Gaspar Cassadó, Suite, Preludio-Fantasia, mm. 49–51 56

Ex. 29–a. Gaspar Cassadó, Suite, Sardana, mm. 11–14 57

Ex. 29–b. Gaspar Cassadó, Suite, Sardana, mm. 73–76 57

Ex. 31. Ernest Bloch, Suite No. 1, Prelude, mm. 19–27 61

Ex. 32–a. Ernest Bloch, Suite No. 1, Prelude, mm. 1–4 62

Ex. 32–b. Ernest Bloch, Suite No. 1, Prelude, mm. 28–30 62

Ex. 33–c. Ernest Bloch, Suite No. 3, Allegro, mm. 1–5 63

Ex. 34. Ernest Bloch, Suite No. 2, Prelude, mm. 1–4 64

Ex. 35–a. Ernest Bloch, Suite No. 2, Prelude, mm. 4–7 65

Ex. 35–b. Ernest Bloch, Suite No. 3, Allegro, mm. 43–45 65

Ex. 36–c. Ernest Bloch, Suite No. 3, Allegro, mm. 80–82 66

Ex. 37–a. Ernest Bloch, Suite No. 1, Prelude, m. 1, and

Allegro (4th mvmt.), mm. 117–118 67

Ex. 39. Ernest Bloch, Suite No. 1, Canzona, mm. 48–52 70

Ex. 43–b. Benjamin Britten, Suite Op. 72, Bordone, m. 14 (transition) 79

Cello Solo Literature: History and Survey

peut jouer seul, Op. 40) are notable examples.4

featuring some of the more current trends of his day.

the words of Carlos Pietro:

Bach’s unaccompanied violin and cello compositions also epitomize virtuosity,

Heinrich Romberg (1767–1841), Adrien-François Servais (1807–66), Auguste-Joseph

Franchomme (1808–84), Carlo Piatti (1822–1901), Georg Goltermann (1824–98), Friedrich

Grützmacher (1832–1903), Karl Davydov (1838–39), David Popper (1843–1913), Wilhelm

Cello: A Bibliography of the Unaccompanied Violoncello Literature, Dmitry Markevitch

provides information on a myriad of these compositions by many notable composers: Paul

Hindemith (Sonata Op. 25, No. 3, 1923); Eugéne Ysaÿ

La Rocca (Secret Thoughts, 1986).14

writing, harmonic language, monophonic, homophonic and polyphonic textures, idiomatic

qualities and quotations. These issues will be explored in detail in my document.

Background of the Composers

Max Reger (1873–1916) was active as a composer, performer (pianist, organist,

Der Einsiedler (1915) and the Hebbel Requiem (1915).

programmatic connection.15 Walter Frisch describes Reger’s general compositional style as

“Historicist Modernism,” and explains:

understanding of and relationship to Bach’s suites.

Gaspar Cassadó (1897–1966), hailing from Barcelona, Spain, was an internationally-

made numerous transcriptions for cello of instrumental pieces by C. P. E. Bach, Mozart,

in 1940 when he took a position at the University of California, Berkeley (1940–52); he

composed the three suites. He died of cancer in 1958.