Perspectives on the Bach Suites

The festival closes with a recital taking JS Bach's famous Suites for solo cello as its starting point. Veronica Henderson, performing on a modern cello, looks back on the Suites from today's perspective.

The programme starts with the refreshingly familiar 1st Bach Suite in G major. This is followed by the Suite for Solo Cello of Gaspar Cassadó – whose teacher Pablo Casals was instrumental in the 20th-century 'rediscovery' of the Bach suites – and the Spanish-themed Iberian Notebook of living composer Michael Berkeley. The recital ends with the final Gigue from Bach's 6th Suite in D major. It's buoyant and cheerful, and gives a flavour of how far he developed the suite for solo cello, technically, within a short time.