J. S. BACH-Two Suites For Unaccompanied Cello
No. 1 In G Major No. 2 In D Minor

Performed on the Bassoon by Paul Cammarota


THE MUSIC

The six suites for unaccompanied solo cello were written at Cöthen during Bach's very important intermediate period (1717-1723). These were probably the happiest and most musically satisfying six years in Bach's professional career. He was in the employ of Prince Leopold, a young man who was an accomplished musician in his own right and was well qualified to appreciate the value of his new kappelmeister. As Schweitzer wrote: "He was proud of him and took him on all his journeys…a cordial friendship grew between the two men, which lasted even after Bach left Cöthen…He had time for composition and there was no unpleasantness of any kind to mar his joy in his work." This last statement is very important, since it reflects on the circumstances surrounding these compositions. Bach wrote the major part of his great instrumental works during this period, and his relative freedom to experiment and try new approaches to his craft is nowhere better exemplified than in the cello suites, which were probably written during the year 1720.

Certainly no one before Bach had ever taken the cello as far out of its natural environment. Its normal function as a continuo instrument had been seriously challenged by making it completely exposed as a solo performer. It is generally believed that these pieces were composed for Bach's friend Christian Ferdinand Abel, viola da gamba player and cellist for the prince of Cöthen. Whether or not this is a true assumption, we know that they demanded the talents of a master. Unaccompanied works for violin already existed, and it would have seemed natural for someone to extend the practice to the larger instruments of the family with their tremendous depth and rich sonority, but the use of the cello in this form was truly a radical departure for Bach's time.

The bassoon has always been the woodwind counterpart of its cousin in the string family. Like the cello, it has been relegated to a supporting role for the major part of its existence. In the past hundred years, however, it has undergone certain refinements (especially in Germany), which have made it truly analogous to the cello in quality as well as in range. The modern bassoon, with its expanded register and rich variety in tone color and sonority is a natural vehicle for the expression of music, the quality and character of which is contained in these suites. The bassoon literature is growing, but it is sorely in need of real masterworks for the solo performer. There are concertos and ensemble pieces to be sure, but nothing of the magnitude of these works for the unaccompanied instrument. It is for this reason that I have undertaken to realize for the bassoon the first two of these suites. 

I have singled these pieces out primarily because of their emotional impact, but also because of their basically linear design, which lends them more easily to adaptation for my instrument. These works are horizontal in nature, but Bach's melodic lines, with their implied harmonies and pedal points, are so brilliantly conceived that they virtually guarantee the illusion of polyphonic and chordal writing in a monophonic setting. A perfect illustration of this phenomenon can be found in the opening prelude of the first suite in G major. In the first five measures, Bach's use of the "pedal" note G gives a unique effect during the performance of the piece. It seems to linger in the mind of the listener even when it is no longer being sounded. The culmination of the entire movement of course comes with incredible beauty, as Bach expands intervalically with the effect of oblique motion from measure 37 to the climax at measure 39 on the G major triadic passages (this time inverted with the pedal G on top). The amazing thing to me about this movement is that nowhere in the piece does Bach use simultaneously sounding strings except in the last measure. He achieves all the polyphonic and chordal effects one could wish for with a "mere" one-line melody.


The general form of the suites is as follows: prelude, allemande, courante, sarabande, a pair of minuets (or bourées or gavottes) and ending with the inevitable gigue. The preludes are constructed of broad arpeggios and weighty passages in the grand manner. The allemandes are, for the most part, slow and pensive pieces, very beautiful and expressive, contrasting greatly with the courantes, which are lively and nimble and of a generally cheerful quality. The sarabandes make use of long sustained melodic lines usually rather introspective in nature with possible melancholy overtones. In the first two suites, Bach introduces a pair of minuets to follow the sarabandes. The finale of each suite is a lively gigue, which never fails to end the proceedings on a happy note.

The mighty genius of J.S. Bach goes unquestioned and his mountainous catalogue of compositions is overwhelming, but even if he produced nothing else in his lifetime except the pieces for unaccompanied violin and those for cello, his place in music history would certainly have been assured simply by the quality and majesty of these works, plus their role in fulfilling the idiomatic promise of the solo instrument.

-Notes by Paul Cammarota

THE ARTIST

Paul Cammarota began his bassoon studies as a private student with Adelchi Angelucci, a member of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Mr. Cammarota later became a scholarship student at the Julliard School of Music, where he studied bassoon with William Polisi. After his conservatory training, he performed extensively in both the United States and Canada as first bassoonist with such organizations as the NBC Opera, The Bell Telephone Hour, New York City Opera, The Goldman Band, The Little Orchestra Society, The Longines Symphonette, and many others. Throughout his early playing career, Mr. Cammarota taught woodwind instruments and chamber ensemble both privately and at a variety of institutions, including The Horace Mann School and The Long Island Institute of Music. 

As a long-standing member of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Mr. Cammarota has performed extensively throughout the United States, Europe and Japan.