Suite No.1 in A minor for solo cello (1956)

Prélude

Allegro

Canzona

Gigue

All of Bloch’s suites for solo strings - three for cello, two for violin and one (unfinished) for viola - were written during the last three years of his life. His interest in the form had been awakened by the Candadian cellist Zara Nelsova who, he felt, after her inspired recording of Schelomo, was an ideal interpreter of his music. After initial doubts he acceded to her request for a cello suite by sending her three over the course of two years. The two violin suites were written for Yehudi Menuhin.

Of Bloch’s three cello suites, the first is the most Bach-like. It is obviously more liberated, since it avoids set forms, but traces of the baroque model remain, particularly in the first and last movements. Bloch acknowledges Bach not only by opening the Suite with a Prélude but also, at least to start with, by sustaining a regular rhythmic pattern. The basis of a characteristically impassioned improvisation, the four-note phrase does not retain its basic shape for long but nor is it forgotten. Neither of the middle movements, a bustling Allegro with a tiny lyrical episode set into it and a melodious Canzona, derives directly from Bach precedent - although they could be regarded as, respectively, courante and sarabande equivalents. The Gigue, on the other hand, is a clear tribute to the metrical features, melodic figurations and rhythmic vigour of Bach’s characteristically exhilarating last movements.