Suite No.2 in D minor for solo cello, BWV 1008 — Johann Sebastian Bach

Prelude

Allemande

Courante

Sarabande

Menuet 1 - Menuet 2 - Menuet 1 da capo

Gigue

It is quite clear from the sonatas and partitas for solo violin and the suites for solo cello that Bach had great faith in both instruments – and in the instrumentalists for whom he wrote them during his time as Kapellmeister to Prince Leopold of Cöthen. It is also clear, however, that he expected rather less of the cello than the violin. There is nothing in the Cello Suites, profoundly thoughtful though they are, to compare in contrapuntal interest with the Fuga movements of the three Violin Sonatas or, still less, the Chaconne of the Partita in D minor. This marginal difference in ambition between the violin and cello works did, on the other hand, leave room for development by later composers of pieces for unaccompanied cello, not least Benjamin Britten.

The Second in D minor might be the shortest of the six Bach Cello Suites but it is certainly not the least serious. While it cannot compete with No.5 in C minor in terms of eloquence and breadth of thought in a minor key, it is more intimate in manner and no less distinctive in personality. It would be going too far, perhaps, to describe the Prelude in D minor as melancholy, since it is so reserved in expression. Even so, whereas in most of the cello Preludes Bach prefers to keep an even rhythm going almost throughout, a significant aspect of the thematic material of this one is its rhythmic variety, which gives him the means to suspend the regular turnover of semiquavers. The emotional effect is not dramatic but it does hint at an unease that is finally confirmed by the unexpected harmonic departure following a pause and a short silence not long before the end.

It is much the same with the Allemande which, while it is not as demonstrative as that of the Suite in C minor, thoughtfully avoids the more or less even rhythms of its immediate predecessor in G major. Again, whereas the C minor Courante is in the more sustained and elaborate French style, this Courante in D minor is in the lively Italian style but with a sense of urgency not shared by its counterparts in major keys. The D minor Sarabande is the most overtly expressive movement and is perhaps the most inspired of all six of its kind, not excluding the comparatively plain example in C minor. The ternary arrangement of the two Menuets allows for a timely intervention of D major harmonies in Menuet 2 (which has a function similar to that of the trio section in a classical minuet) before the impetuously brilliant but still far from cheerful Gigue.