Praeludium, BWV 1008

Praeludium, BWV 1008

Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 – 1750)

Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and musician of the Baroque period. Known as the father of classical music, Bach created more than 1,100 works, including roughly 300 sacred cantatas. His output is unparalleled and includes about every musical genre outside of opera. He is known for instrumental compositions such as the Brandenburg Concertos and the Goldberg Variations, and for vocal music such as the St Matthew Passion and the Mass in B minor. Since the 19th-century Bach Revival, he has been generally regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time.

The six Cello Suites, BWV 1007–1012, are suites for unaccompanied cello by Johann Sebastian Bach. They are some of the most frequently performed and recognizable solo compositions ever written for cello. Bach most likely composed them during the period 1717–23, when he served as Kapellmeister in Köthen. The title given on the cover of the Anna Magdalena Bach manuscript was Suites à Violoncello Solo senza Basso (Suites for cello solo without bass).

Suite No. 2 in D minor includes the following movements:
Prelude
Allemande
Courante
Sarabande
Minuet I / II
Gigue

The Prelude consists of two parts, the first of which has a strong recurring theme that is immediately introduced in the beginning. The second part is a scale-based cadenza movement that leads to the final, powerful chords. I made the transcription for classical guitar.

 
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