Cello Suite No. 6, By J.S. Bach (1685-1750)
A dance suite in 7 movements for unaccompanied wind soloist
arranged & edited by Neal Corwell
Instrumentation: one unaccompanied instrumentalist.
The lone instrument may be tuba, bass trombone, euphonium, trombone, trumpet, horn, clarinet, bassoon, saxophone, or almost any instrument.
The score is available in treble clef, bass clef, and tuba/bass trombone versions.
• The treble clef version is for all instruments that read treble clef, regardless of key. In other words, this part is good for trumpet in B-flat or C, Horn, Saxophone in E-flat or B-flat, treble-clef baritone, and so forth.
• The bass clef version is for all bass clef instruments, with the exception of tuba and bass trombone
• The tuba/bass trombone version of the piece, pitched a perfect 4th lower than the “bass clef version”, is designed to work well for the lowest members of the brass family.
• When ordering, please specify which instrument or clef part you desire.
Copyright: 2018
Duration: ca. 17:30 for all 7 movements in total, with individual dances averaging 2 to 3 minutes each. The prelude, at 5:00, is the longest movement.
Most dances average 2 minutes in length, but the prelude is over 5 minutes.
Range: E to b-flat-1
(but with the optional ossias, range is expanded to BB-flat to c-2)
Difficulty: III-IV
Publisher: Nicolai Music
Price: $10
Other Info: *When ordering, please specify your desired clef/part
TO PURCHASE
The Six Cello Suites by J.S. Bach are a great pedagogical and musical tool for all instrumentalists, not just cellists. When the suites were composed, around the year 1720, the cello was a new instrument. Therefore, the design of the instrument was not yet standardized. The final Suite in the set, Cello Suite No. 6, appears to have been composed for a variant of the modern cello, most likely a 5-string instrument with an extended range above that of the standard 4-string cello. Because of the extended upward range, when played as written, the final Suite’s higher tessitura make it awkward and less idiomatically feasible for brass players than the five preceding Suites. As a consequence, Suite No. 6 is rarely performed by brass instrumentalists, unlike Suite Nos. 1-5, which are quite popular as study and recital material.
For such a beautiful piece of music to be neglected simply because of it’s technical awkwardness seemed a shame, so Neal Corwell decided to create a new version that would be much more comfortable to play. He lowered the range, chose a key much more comfortable for a brass instrument, and did much carefully-considered editing, to create a version that lies well for a brass player and gives all wind soloists, quite literally, “a chance to breath”. In short, this new version is fun to play! It is the arranger/editors hope that this new adaptation will unlock the inherit musical beauty and genius of Suite No. 6 for those who may have, up until this point, remained unfamiliar with it charms.
This new arrangement of the Cello Suite No. 6 may be performed by almost any instrument. The solo part comes in three versions: treble clef, bass clef, and tuba/bass-trombone (also in bass clef). Because the piece is unaccompanied, instruments making us of the treble-clef version may be pitched in B-flat (baritone, trumpet, clarinet, tenor sax), E-flat (alto sax), F (French Horn) or some other key. The bass-clef part is designed for euphoniums, trombones, and bassoons, and the tuba/bass trombone version is obviously geared toward the lowest members of the brass family. When ordering, please specify your desired instrumentation/clef.